Our Lord instructs us to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s (Mt 22; Mk 12; Lk 20). But as Christians, what position do we take when the realms of Church and State intersect? Last Saturday a massive rally against the current Iranian regime was held in Berlin. Iranians from all over Germany convened with a variety of political aims: to demand justice for the probable murder of Mahsa Amini; to call for freedom for Iranian dissidents currently held in prison; to denounce those seeking to reestablish the nuclear deal with Tehran; to call for the return of the Persian king (shah); and even to demand the complete removal of the mullahs and the ouster of the entire Iranian regime. All 100% political. At the same time, our Iranian parishioners in Hamburg were begging me to support their cause by joining them in this huge rally for freedom for the Iranian people. And what better place to hold such a rally than in Berlin—close to the Brandenburg Gate, where Pres. Reagan once famously exclaimed, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!” and within view of the Victory Column (see my FB video in another post, below)? Wishing to stand with my Iranian parishioners during this very tumultuous time, I chose to travel to Berlin with them. It was a fascinating experience. Ironically, the highlights were when I met an Iranian pastor also wearing a clerical collar and then accidentally bumped into an Iranian parishioner from Hamburg, with whom I will this week begin to study the Augsburg Confession, in which we read among other things that “the Church’s authority and the State’s authority must not be confused. The Church’s authority has its own commission to teach the Gospel and to administer the Sacraments. Let it not transfer the kingdoms of this world to itself” (AC XXIII 12,13). And yet, sometimes we *can* have it both ways—when we are given the opportunity to share Christ’s love—even in a totally secular environment.
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