6 This is also why you pay taxes, for
the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you
owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if
revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.- Romans 13:6-7
20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be
sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so
that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and
teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of
God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 He
saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and
inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 He
said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is
God’s.” 26 They were unable to trap him in what he
had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.- Luke 20: 20-26
The deadline to
file and pay your 2016 taxes happened this week. I look at tax filing and collection in a
little different way than most people because of family connections to the tax
business. First, my Dad served as tax
collector for my hometown of Burlington, NC for 7 years back in the mid to late
1960’s. Even though I was a child and
a teenager in those days, I saw the stress in my Dad and heard negative comments from friends about paying
taxes. Secondly, my wife, Ann, is a
professional tax preparer and has been the same for many years. Sometimes, she is the messenger of good news
for a client and other times she shares bad news. She does not make the laws that affect
people’s tax burden, but only is the messenger for how the tax laws impact
hard-working people in our state and nation.
Everyone pays taxes whether they like it or not
whatever their age. In the place I reside, you pay taxes when you
purchase such items as a snack at the store, a new or used car, or the clothes
you will wear on your back. Most
everyone wants some of the things that our tax dollars provide such as good
schools, good roads, care for our elders, and a strong national defense. However, it is safe to say that none of us
completely agree with how our tax dollars are used on the local, state, or
national level and we voice our complaints about the same from time to time. Yet, let us never forget that decisions about
how our tax dollars are used are made by persons elected by the people and that
we have a say about who are elected when
we go to the polls and vote for the candidates of our choice.
Paying our taxes is our civic duty and obligation as
much as voting, serving on jury duty, or serving in military service. When I
was younger, I saw my payment of federal
taxes as a way to help provide social security income for my grandparents. In more recent years, I have seen my payment
of taxes as a way to provide the equipment that my son in law needs as he serves
in our nation’s military or providing social security income for my
parents.
While people are taxed in the United States whether
they have faith or no faith, it is very fair to say that the Lord Jesus and early
Christian leaders like Paul had no problem with paying taxes. Paul clearly affirms the payment of taxes in
the passage printed above. While there are some subjects that Jesus does
not speak about, he does speak about paying taxes and certainly is not contrary
to the same. So, let us pay our taxes. There was a price that was paid for followers
of Christ Jesus to know salvation, and so there is price that must be paid
through our taxes for us to live in this
land where we call home. Have a
joy-filled week. - Pastor Randy Wall
Prayer: O God, give us eyes to see beyond the dollar
signs to what our taxes provide in this land.
We pray for wisdom for our leaders who make decisions about how our tax
dollars are used; through Christ Jesus
our Lord. Amen.
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