{"id":619,"date":"2014-10-19T19:14:35","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T00:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=619"},"modified":"2014-10-19T22:26:17","modified_gmt":"2014-10-20T03:26:17","slug":"rendering-to-god-what-is-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=619","title":{"rendered":"Rendering to God What is God’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time<\/span><\/h2>\n

Is 45: 1, 4-6; 1 Thes 1: 1-5b; Mt 22: 15-21<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0Larry Brockman<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sounds good, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>\u201cRepay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.\u201d It just means we have to pay our taxes and obey the law of the land, right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Or does it mean something more profound- <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>especially in today\u2019s world; especially in this country?<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let me give you an example of what concerns me.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I read in the news where the mayor of Houston has subpoenaed certain pastors demanding that they send her office copies of their sermons.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They want to determine whether Houston\u2019s new non-discrimination ordinance has been violated.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This ordinance safeguards the \u201crights\u201d of gays, lesbians, and persons with gender identity problems.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It seems that these pastors, some 400 of them, are against the ordinance, which, among other things grants men the right to use the ladies room.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, you heard me right, it grants men the right to use the ladies room- because what matters is who you identify with- not how God made you.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Sounds a lot like the Pharisees\u00a0in the Gospel!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By the way, over 50,000 signatures have been gathered opposing the ordinance for these and other reasons, but Houston\u2019s Mayor and City Council have turned a blind eye.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now in case you haven\u2019t heard, \u201cgender identity\u201d is becoming a big issue country wide.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>And if you think it isn\u2019t affecting us here; think again because the same kind of thing has already happened in our Orange County Public Schools.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Last year the Orange County School Board approved Gender Identity rights in writing- I heard them vote on it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Kids can now choose whichever bathroom they want in our Public Schools.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s part of our School System\u2019s directives to all the schools.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If you don\u2019t believe me, check it out.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Why do I bring this up?\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Because it\u2019s time for us to render unto God the things that are God\u2019s.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It isn\u2019t just about paying our taxes- it\u2019s also about the other side of the coin, pardon the pun.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s about living our lives in a fundamentally Christian way; it\u2019s about maintaining a society and a system of laws which are based on Christian values and principles; and it\u2019s about having the freedom to stand up for those values in public.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s about majority rule; not minority rule for political correctness.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s time for all of us God-fearing Christian Americans to become more proactive in defending and protecting our faith, and rendering to God what is God\u2019s.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I am sure that all of you have heard those multiple reports in the press about groups lobbying to remove the Ten Commandments from public buildings in lots of places country-wide.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Do you suppose that our founding fathers, and their equivalents in all the states, listed the Ten Commandments on the walls of their courthouses because they wanted to establish a \u201cstate religion\u201d?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Certainly not!<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The Ten Commandments are held in such high regard because they are the basis for our entire system of laws.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We cannot and ought not separate our Judeo-Christian heritage from our Government.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I like to think of it this way.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>The Founding Fathers of this country represented numerous religious persuasions, many of which, including Catholics, Presbyterians, Quakers, Jews, and Methodists, had been persecuted for their beliefs in one way or another in the \u201cold Country\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They came to North America to get away from all of that.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And so, they collectively worked to establish a secular state; one in which they could live in peace according to their own Faith.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>But they did it by using what they believed in common to formulate our government and laws.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The three branches of government may just be patterned after the Trinity; and our basic law draws from the foundation laid by the ten commandments. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Our first reading describes Cyrus, the great Persian King, as the liberator of the Jews held captive in the great Israeli exile.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Isaiah says Cyrus was the anointed one; even though he did not know God as such.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That means he was a man chosen by God.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Indeed, Cyrus was a man who God moved through his heart to do the right thing.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And Cyrus responded to that prompting by God\u2019s spirit- with a little help from Daniel.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the same way, God moved our Founding Fathers collectively, and what resulted was a system of government that has withstood the test of time.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>It is a government that established secular laws and methods of government based on Judeo Christian values, values that recognize everyone\u2019s rights to practice their own Faith.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And they guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now this whole issue of balancing allegiance to Caesar and God becomes increasingly more important when one considers the latest threat to Christianity- namely, Radical Islam.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>You see, the Islamist Radicals have every intention of going back in time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They reject the whole American experiment with a secular state.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They want to establish a world-wide Theocracy based on Islam; that\u2019s what a Caliphate state is intended to do.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Then they intend to force everyone, believers or not, to abide by Sharia Law.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Sharia Law is the literal \u201claw\u201d prescribed in their scriptures, the Koran, and associated writings.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Wherever Islamic radicals get a foothold- like Iran, Yemen, Somalia, and now ISIS- that\u2019s what they do; and that\u2019s what they advocate.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We can no longer choose to be \u201ctolerant\u201d of radical ideas and methods like that.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Because being tolerant doesn\u2019t render to God what is God\u2019s.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What we need are people like Paul describes in his letter to the Thessalonians.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We need to become a people where \u201cthe gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with much conviction.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Most of us are in that category when we defend our heritage and our values by living our faith prayerfully.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And so, let us say this one more time because the antiphon sums it all up:\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cGive the Lord glory and honor\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time Is 45: 1, 4-6; 1 Thes 1: 1-5b; Mt 22: 15-21 \u00a0Larry Brockman \u00a0 Sounds good, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 \u201cRepay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.\u201d It just means we have to pay our taxes and obey the law of the land, right.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[305],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=619"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":638,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619\/revisions\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}