The Rev. Canon John Bedingfield's sermon from October 22, 2023

 

 

            Finally.  Today we hear Jesus saying something that we can instantly understand.  For the last several weeks we’ve had a series of cryptic sayings, parables and allegories.  But this morning we get a good old saying that we can sink our teeth into.  “Give … to (Caesar) the things that are (Caesar’s), and to God the things that are God's.” 

            This morning we find Jesus in the Temple teaching.  The Pharisees are still trying to trap him into saying something that will make him appear in a bad light.  So, they send some of their disciples to ask him a very carefully crafted question.  “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”  It is not often that someone of my limited Greek scholarship disagrees with translators, but this is one such time.  The original Greek does not use the word, “pay,” here, but rather the word doumai (doumai) meaning, “give,” or “give back.”  That will be important in a minute.  Now the trap that they set is obvious for modern readers who know the story.  If Jesus says yes, it is lawful under Torah to give back your taxes, he incurs the wrath of faithful Jews who resent Roman occupation and dominance.  If he says, “No, it is not lawful under Torah,” then the Romans have grounds to arrest him for sedition.  But Jesus knows this. 

            Jesus’ response to his questioners though, is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit.  He asks these disciples of the most scrupulous adherents of Jewish law, the Pharisees, to give him the coin used for taxes.  Apparently one of them whipped out a denarius.  This is interesting because the denarius was equal to a full day’s wages – some say that it would be roughly equivalent to $100.00 today – and this disciple (a student of the religious leaders) had this much in his pocket.  More interesting though is the fact that one of these devout Jews had this coin in his pocket, in the Temple.  After all, they only used Temple currency in the Temple, not Roman coinage.  Jesus asks the pointed question, “whose image is on the coin?”  His questioners respond that it is Caesar’s image.  In actuality, what was on the denarius was the reason that no devout Jew would have been carrying one in the Temple.  The coin indeed had Caesar’s face on it.  But it also had an inscription that said, “Tiberius Caesar, August son of the divine Augustus, high priest,” which made it blasphemous (for holding Augustus out as being divine).  So, Jesus had already exposed the questioners as being hypocrites. 

But then comes the coup de gras.  Here, the Greek uses the word, apodote (apodote), which is related to the word doumai (doumai) but means, “to give back.”  So, Jesus tells them to give back to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to give back to God that which is God’s.  And it is here that our lesson this morning takes its interesting turn.

            Rather than what we have most often been taught in our lives, Jesus was not trying to define a distinction between the secular and religious worlds here.  Not at all.  Rather, what Jesus was doing was pointing out the absolute and awesome truth of the world.  That which bears Caesar’s image, belongs to Caesar.  Caesar minted it.  Caesar decided its value.  Caesar circulated it.  Therefore, Jesus says, if you believe it appropriate to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, then do so.  However – and this is a huge “however” – you must also give back to God that which belongs to God.  The implications there are a big deal.

In the first chapter of Genesis, we get the stage set for this statement, when it says that God made human beings in God’s image, “He made them in His image.  Male and female, He made them.”  Give to Caesar all that bears his image and was made by him.  Give to God all that bears God’s image and was created by God.  Suddenly we’re not talking about giving a part of what we have as our weekly, monthly or quarterly offering.  Suddenly we are talking about all that we have – indeed, all that we are, belonging to God and our need to give that back.

            I will tell you that part of what Jesus is talking about – just a part, but part nonetheless – is money.  Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that we should “lay not up for ourselves treasure on earth, … for where your treasure is, there also will be your heart.”  Truly, Jesus knew that if you follow the money, you will most often find people’s priorities.  But here, Jesus is not saying, just give the first 10% to God and all will be well.  This goes much farther than that.  This is about dedicating our lives to God.

            How it will look when we take the opportunity to give back to God, to answer God’s call, will completely depend upon where each one of us is in life.  Remember a couple of weeks ago when the Gospel was the parable of the wicked tenants?  Well, what God wanted from the tenants was for them to give back to God that which God had given them.  What did Isaiah say to us that day about what to give back?  Justice and righteousness. 

Some of us don’t feel like we’re in any position to greatly impact issues of justice and righteousness.  Some of us don’t feel like we have much in the way of money to give back.  Some of us have what we believe to be an absolute dearth of time to give back.

            It is up to each of us to look deep inside – to look critically at our own lives and to actively listen for God’s call as we try to discern what it is that God is calling us to give back.  What, in each of our lives, will be so central to who we are that when we give it, it will feel like we have given it all back to God?

            At the church where I interned while I was in seminary, there was a man who was, by most standards, wealthy.  He gave more to the church than any other, single giver in the parish.  But to him that did not feel like he was giving it all back.  That’s why he volunteered to handle all of the building and grounds issues at the church.  He didn’t write checks to repairmen, he learned how to do the repairs himself and spent his precious time and energy getting them done.

            I knew a young woman in another church, who really struggled financially, but went out of her way to come a long distance to the church so that she could help with the children’s education program.  It felt like it was what God was calling her to do, so she gave the time – difficult though it might be on any given Sunday.

            And I know many people who have given up lives that were successful and full in many ways, in order to follow God’s individual calls to them and to seek ordination, with all of the secular uncertainty that that decision brings.  They have given back their careers because that is what they believe God called them to do.

            Are these people better, or more holy, or closer to God than all of us?  No, just different.  Everyone is called by God, but as St. Paul says, it is to exercise the individual gifts we’ve been given.  So this week, let’s all look critically at where the things are that can separate us from God and begin to rid ourselves of them.  Then let’s starts, one day at a time, to try to discern God’s call, heed that call and give back to God ALL that God has given us, by walking in the path God has given us and living into the wonder of a life lived, faithfully serving.  We all have to give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s.  Now let’s see if we can treat God as well and give to God ALL of that which is God’s.

In the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Proper 24A Sermon 102223, Isaiah 45:1-7; Psalm 96:1-9, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22