How Do You Vote Your Faith? Week 1
Sixteen days from now is election day. Millions of Americans have already voted by mail and by early voting. There are stories of polling places all across the country where people are waiting hours in line to cast their vote. Here in Indianapolis over 50,000 voters have already cast their votes by mail or in person. I saw a video on the Indy Star website of the downtown polling location. The camera started at the front of the City-County building and took several minutes to follow the line back hundreds of people and several blocks until it reached the end. Thankfully, next Saturday, the 24th, several more early voting locations will open. You can visit vote.indy.gov/early-voting to learn more.
Every presidential election is important, but for many this year’s election seems even more crucial and momentous. We are electing the president for the next four year, but there are many other offices on the ballot. U.S. Senators and Representatives, state legislatures, governors, and mayors. We are in the middle of a deadly pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Many people’s financial and employment situations are tenuous at best. This election also takes place amidst a time of great division in our country, where people can’t even agree on basic facts and everyday reality.
Anxiety about the election is very high right now.
Given how much the election is dominating our thoughts right now and looming over much of society, it makes sense that we talk about it as a church and as Christians. What is the role of the church in an election? What is the role of a Christian during an election? Or as the title of this message says, “How Do You Vote Your Faith?”
Some people believe that religion and politics should be separate. But politicians on all sides of the aisle are very explicit about bringing faith into the election. Trump has declared that he has saved Christianity, has gone out of his way to be seen with religious leaders, and had a controversial photo op in front of a church in Washington D.C. holding a Bible. Joe Biden’s campaign has emphasized Biden’s Catholic faith and practices. Each night of both Democratic and Republican conventions included opening prayers as part of the program.
Candidates have brought their faith into politics, but we only have to turn to the Bible to see that the scriptures themselves are not silent about politics, and neither was Jesus.
We’ll be hearing from Jesus in our second reading this morning, which comes from Mark 12:13-17. This passage is one of three similar passages that all take place in the Temple, where certain religious and community leaders of the day try to trick Jesus into saying something damaging to his movement by presenting him with situations with no easy answers.
Then they sent to [Jesus] some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they were utterly amazed at him.
It was an impossible question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” Now when they said “lawful” they didn’t mean according to civil law, Roman law. They meant according to Jewish law. “Does God want us to pay taxes to the Romans?” They were basically asking him, “To whom should our allegiance be, to God or to Caesar?”
If Jesus says, “Yes. We should pay taxes,” then they can get him into trouble with some of his followers. There were some groups within 1st century Judaism that thought paying taxes broke Jewish law, specifically two of the ten commandments forbidding worship of other gods and making idols. The coins, as we see later in the passage, had the graven image of Caesar on it. Often the coins had inscriptions that attributed some form of divinity to Caesar. We don’t know which exact coin Jesus was shown in this passage, but this is a coin of similar value from the 1st century. On it is inscribed the image of Caesar Tiberius on one side and his wife, Livia, on the other – depicted as the goddess Pax. Inscribed on Caesar’s side is, “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus.” So Some Jews believed that paying taxes with these kind of coins was the same as worshipping other gods.
If Jesus says that taxes should be paid, he could be alienating part of his followers. To use a modern political analogy it’s like trying to get Joe Biden on record saying that he won’t support the Green New Deal or universal healthcare, because if he doesn’t support those he may alienate potential voters.
Well, what if Jesus just says that Jews shouldn’t pay taxes to Rome? Well, then he gets in trouble with Rome, right? He’s advocating sedition! There’s no good answer. They are going to use his words against him either way. What is Jesus to do?
Well, like many great teachers, he doesn’t give a simple yes or no. Instead he asks to see a denarius, a common coin. He asks whose image is on it, and when they answer, “Caesar,” he says a phrase that we are now familiar with, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
And in my opinion, this is one of the clearest statements that Jesus gives about the relationship of the church to government, the relationship of faith to politics. “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” With this statement Jesus declares that there are things that are the jurisdiction, the responsibility of the government, but there are also things that are the jurisdiction, the responsibility of God, and as people of faith we have responsibilities to both.
Although it’s interesting to note that Jesus doesn’t specify what things belong to Caesar and what things belong to God…or does he? Let’s take a closer look. Jesus says that the coin, which bears the image of Caesar belongs to Caesar, so then it makes sense that those things that bear the image of God belong to God. That could be confusing because Judaism explicitly forbids making images of God. There are no coins, no currency that are printed with God’s image. Where do we find God’s image? Where do we find God’s image?
Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God they were created; male and female God created them.
“In the image of God they were created.” Caesar may get all the coins, but humanity belongs to God. There are things that are Caesar’s and there are things that are God’s. This is one of the tenants of our faith when it comes to how we deal with politics. Our Presbyterian tradition has affirmed that the church and the government each have their roles and appropriate functions, and we would do well not to confuse them. But our highest allegiance is not to our government, not to a flag, not to our nation, but to God.
What functions belong to the government and what functions belong to the church? Our tradition teaches us that the government makes laws and enforces them. It is not up to the church to determine what is legal and what is not, even if we’d like something to be a law. Blue laws are a good example. Not too long ago many cities and states had laws against businesses being open on Sunday, because Sunday was the Christian sabbath – a day for worship and honoring God. That may seem like a good thing, and it is to many Christians. But the Christian church should not be part of making laws that force people who aren’t Christian to follow Christian teachings. No church should be able to do that. How would we feel if businesses were closed from Friday evening until Saturday evening to observe the Jewish Shabbat?
In a similar fashion the government shouldn’t make laws restricting the practicing of Christian faith, or any other faith. There are countries around the world that forbid wearing religious clothing or symbols, or symbols or clothing from certain religions. Our tradition says that that is the government overstepping its role and moving into things that belong to God.
Of course, these matters aren’t so simple sometimes. There are times when the government has good reason to restrict the practice of religion. We are living in one of these times right now. It is appropriate for the government to restrict in-person worship services in the time of a pandemic, as they restrict other gatherings of people. And there are times when the church, and individual Christians, should be trying to shape laws or advocating for particular issues.
As Presbyterians we do draw a clear line at not endorsing, supporting, or opposing candidates for elected office. One reason for this is that to do so would be violating the requirements we have as a tax-exempt religious organization, but we do it for a more important reason as well. If the church becomes partisan - simply attaching itself to one political party or another, then we have traded God’s guidance and will for a party platform. There is no one party, or single candidate, that speaks for God.
But that being said, Bishop Michael Curry, who is the Presiding Bishop in the Episcopal church, shared some powerful words in a sermon he gave on the role of the church and Christians in the time of an election. He said that “Partisan neutrality does not equal moral neutrality.”
Partisan neutrality does not equal moral neutrality. (end pic 4) Bishop Curry goes on to say that an election, especially for president, is a contest of ideas about how to shape the future of a nation, and to some degree that future of the world. It is a contest of moral values and their relationship to public policy. Think about it; the results of an election will shape the lives and well-being of millions of people. That means that voting, that means that your vote, is an act of moral agency. It matters who we elect to make and enforce our laws.
When we vote, when we advocate for public policy and specific legislation, we are acting on our faith. Christian faith teaches love, justice, and compassion. Jesus calls us to seek the good and the welfare of all people, even the stranger, and even our enemies. And sometimes, often, we can’t love our neighbor or love the stranger, without advocating for just and compassionate laws and lawmakers on their behalf.
Several years ago, Matthew Tully wrote an Indy Star article on School 93 and the new principal there, Nicole Fama. He wrote about the first day of school and one child in particular. Tully wrote:
On Monday morning, a first-grader walked into the building and got a hello from Fama, who noticed that the boy’s new basketball shoes were on the wrong feet. “Sweetie,” she said, “let’s fix your shoes.” He did and walked away, toward his classroom, not saying a word. A minute later, though, he was back. And now he was sobbing.
“I want to go back home,” he said, tears streaming. “I want to see my mom.”
For the next several minutes, Fama brought the boy back from his sadness. She assigned him to be her helper, giving him her iPhone to watch, even letting him read text messages for her. She asked him to walk a kindergartener to class at one point and later told him about her two dogs. It’s all about building relationships and trust, she said later.
Within minutes, the student was calm and sharing his story. Here it is: This 7-year-old boy, on the first day of school, got up by himself, got dressed by himself, looked for something to eat by himself, and then walked to school. By himself. All without seeing his mom or another adult.
“Can you imagine?” Fama asked.
I can’t. That story breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes each time I read it. But do you know what’s going to help the first-grader, and other students like him? It’s not enough if we volunteer our time in schools like his. It’s not enough to support great programs like our REAL reading program at School 43. What is going to help him and the hundreds of thousands of children in similar situations is your vote as an act of faith and a moral act. Your vote that supports lawmakers and laws that work to help those in need. Your vote that supports lawmakers willing to acknowledge and address the racism that has been part of our society and government for centuries. Your vote that helps to create laws that enable accessible jobs that pay a living wage, so single moms don’t have to work two jobs to barely have enough money for rent.
What is the role of a Christian during an election? What is the role of the church? It certainly isn’t to “stay out of politics,” because voting isn’t simply a political act, it’s a moral act, and it’s an act that expresses our love for neighbor and stranger. It is an act that expresses how strongly we believe in God’s call to love, compassion, and justice. Beliefs are shown more strongly in actions than they are in words, and what we do in the voting booth shows what we really believe.