Feasting when you are already full.

We Americans really do have it made. Nearly all of us have access to food, clean water, shelter, and clothing. In addition to that, most of us have quite a bit beyond that, i.e. a house, furniture, comfortable bed, household appliances, etc. But then, even beyond that, a good portion of us also have access to a variety of entertainments, education, the ability to travel, and regular medical care. And for some, beyond these things there is a little left over.

I do not think we should apologize for what we have as Americans. In most circumstances, we have what we have because we work hard for it. Americans may have access to more resources than 95% of the world, but we pay for it. Americans work harder and longer than nearly any other nationality. Most parents at least try to instill in their children that money does not grow on trees, and they have to work hard to earn it. But I wonder sometimes what we are missing, living the “American dream.”  Since 1950, the typical American’s level of happiness has steadily declined. At the same time, the Christian world view has also declined in America. A slowly growing feeling of unease has taken its place.

Mark 12:13-27
“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. 18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" 24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising-have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” 

In both instances here, the religious leaders try to trap Jesus with questions. To render unto Caesar meant acknowledging his authority, in a way, endorsing and accepting the domination of Israel by Rome, known as the Pax Romana or Peace of Rome.  To resist paying the required tax risked charges of treason, but it was also considered patriotic for Jews. The poor hypothetical woman who was married to seven brothers was put to Jesus to try to show the fallacy of belief in the resurrection. In both cases, Jesus shows how the Kingdom of God operates on completely different principles than that of the world. Its goals are entirely God-centered, whereas the world system is tilted in favor of the powerful.

In the same way, as Americans we must not apologize for who we are, but we must acknowledge that we are who we are and we have what we have because of the world system. American has only 5% of the world’s population but we use around 75% of the world’s resources. We live the way we live because the world system is tilted in favor of the powerful, and we live in the most powerful country in the world. But what do we do about it? How do we render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, when Caesar keeps us comfortable and devotion to God is fading? At what point do even the Christians forget there is an alternative to the Pax Americana?