Rendering Rightly

Rendering Rightly
Words of Faith 2-29-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Mark 12
[13] Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. [14] They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? [15] Should we pay or shouldn't we?"
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." [16] They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied.
[17] Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
And they were amazed at him.

If you want to divide religious people, the arena of politics is generally a good place to start. If you want to get people divided in their allegiance to a man, ask what his views are on tax reform. This was the ploy of the parties called Pharisees and Herodians.
The issue used was the Temple poll tax, which was very unpopular with the people. It constantly reminded the Israelites that they were being controlled by Rome. This was just one of Rome's taxes, which totaled about one-third of a person's income. So, this was clearly something they thought would catch Jesus. They knew that if they could catch Jesus in some statement, either the crowds would turn against Him or He would provoke the Romans and they would move in.
These religious antagonists attempted to ingratiate themselves with the crowd by complementing Jesus' integrity, and then they tried to pin Jesus in a corner. But Jesus answered with stunning wisdom: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
There is great truth in such a simple statement that is now familiar. The word translated "give" or "render" means to pay back a debt. Jesus said that we owe the government a specific debt. We are to give or "render" to the government what is rightly owed to the government: taxes, military service, and participation by voting, to name a few. Rendering means participating, questioning, voting, and complying with the law. This is part of being a good citizen.
Later, the Apostle Paul would write the Word of God regarding our government responsibility. "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. [2] Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. [3] For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. [4] For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience" (Romans 13:1-5).
The hardest part of this text is not the matter of taxation. The most challenging part is to "render" or "payback" to God what is God's. Even when we surrender all, the truth is that we can never repay the great debt that God paid on our behalf for our salvation. The Bible does talk about other things that belong to God and are to be rendered to Him. Our words are accountable to Him. Our oaths are before Him and reckoned to Him. We are responsible for the people entrusted to us and the witness given to us. We are accountable to God for the blessing entrusted to us. We are accountable to God for tithes and offerings.
Question: Are you rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's? More important, are you rendering to God what is God's.

Lord, I choose to be responsible for rendering what belongs to the government. I choose to be accountable in rendering to You all that is Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.