Brief synopsis of the readings: Speaking through Isaiah God announces that Cyrus is the anointed one who has subdued nations and opened the gate. Cyrus was chosen “though you knew me not” and is armed “so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other.” Matthew’s Gospel shows the Pharisees hoping to trap Jesus by asking if they should pay the census tax. Jesus, seeing the trap, calls them hypocrites and asks for a coin that bears Caesar’s image. He then instructs them to “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

Any religion that lasts more than a few generations has to face how it interacts with people of other faiths and our readings today give us a few insights. Our first reading, alas, needs some explanation and I promise it won’t take the entire sermon.

The darkest time in the Old Testament was when the Israelites were conquered by the Babylonians and their leader Nebuchadnezzar. Their temple was destroyed and their leaders were sent into exile. Many Israelites feared this would mark the end of their history. But after a few decades the Babylonians were themselves defeated by the Persians led by our friend Cyrus. When asked, Cyrus had no problem with the Israelites’ return and facilitated the building of the new temple. It’s odd that Cyrus is referred to as “anointed” as he was a pagan; here it shows that God uses Cyrus even though he isn’t one of the chosen.

Given this, how are we to deal with those who don’t share our faith? Well perhaps we begin with how they see us. As I said, Cyrus probably didn’t give much thought to the exiles but had no problem with their return. As for Casar, the rules were pretty simple: follow my rules and don’t make trouble for me. If you want to worship in your temple and worship your God, that’s fine as long as you pay your taxes and make no hint of an insurrection; after that you can do pretty much what you want. It’s worth noting that the Romans crucified Jesus out of their belief that Jesus was calling for the overthrow of Rome and saw himself as the “king of the Jews.”

And that’s how the Pharisees tried to trap him. Some Jews of the time, that we call “Zealots,” were so offended by Roman domination that they advocated violent resistance including the refusal to pay Roman taxes. The Pharisees thought themselves clever by making Jesus show his cards. If he argued against paying Roman taxes he would have run afoul of the Romans. But if he advocated paying taxes he could be seen as dupe of the Romans, or worse, a sellout.

I’m always amused when someone tries to outfox Jesus if only because they show just how foolish they are. As you might expect Jesus did not take the bait and told those gathered that Caesar and God demand different things from us. It sounds pretty simple: pay your taxes, follow the law, and recognize that we belong to God.

So where do we find the conflict of Church vs. State these days? I’m always amused when someone tells me that religion is the cause of all the wars in history because they are telling me how little they know of history and how angry they are at religion. If you’re looking for an answer when you get this, ask them how religion factored into the start of World War I (there are other examples but virtually everyone involved in the start of World War I was Christian).

Most of us will never need to worry about Cyrus or Caesar. And most religious conflicts aren’t about beliefs or rituals. As a matter of fact the current conflict in Israel and Gaza is more about territory and grudges; the Palestinians aren’t trying to convert the Jews and the Jews are not demanding that Palestinians become Jews. Too often we hear about the “war on Christians” that is nothing more than the 24 news cycle creating fear in search of higher ratings.

That said there are times when do need to recognize that we have divided loyalties. In the last sixteen months in the United States several states have changed their laws on elective abortion and twenty seven states have provisions for capital punishment; both violate Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life. When I was growing up in Virginia the government subsidized tobacco farmers, a violation of my asthma. I could go on. Obviously we who are blessed to live in democracies have the power to choose leaders who share our values but we are nevertheless required to follow the law.

But if we drill down on Jesus’ response we can see the similarities. Generally governments have no problem will our call to love one another and God is fine with us stopping at red lights. Caesar cares only for our actions and doesn’t care about our moral compass. If I rent apartments I may not agree with marriage equality but as long as I don’t refuse to rent to a gay couple I’m good.

God, on the other hand, requires much more of us. We begin with our moral compass, with our values and beliefs. And these need to translate into action; frankly that was the problem Jesus had with the Pharisees who only wanted to trap Jesus.

And so, at the end of the day we can find Caesar on his coin. But where do we find God’s image? Obviously since the 2nd of the 10 Commandments prohibit graven images we don’t have a “God coin.” But again and again we learn that God’s image isn’t on something external but is written on our hearts. We see God’s image whenever we choose discipleship over selfishness and the Kingdom of God over the kingdom of us.

Oh yes, and one last point: both Cyrus and Caesar come to us during times of oppression. It’s worth noting that every time we thought some event will mark the end of us, we learn that it isn’t. Oppression will end, liberation will come, and with God our story will always have a happy ending.