Give to God what belongs to God

Oh Lord, uphold thou me, that I may uplift, thee. Amen

I’d like for you to paint a picture in your mind of a busy, bustling space filled with people. It’s hectic, with lots of movement, and a palpable energy. Place yourself in the middle of that and capture where you are. Take a moment to explore and start to include your other senses. Describe for yourself what you hear, smell, or maybe even what smells lead to something you taste. 

As I explored this imagery myself, I first found myself at an airport. Not an unfamiliar place for a frequent traveler and Airport Chaplain. I could hear the announcements overhead. I could feel the hurriedness in the passengers hoping to make their connections. I could smell Auntie Anne’s pretzels and fresh Cinnabon’s. I could also conjure images of a Farmer’s Market on a busy Saturday. Patrons rushing about collecting vegetables; children doing their best to adhere to their parents' request not to run among the vendors. Or one of my favorites, the NC State Fair which comes to a close today. It’s easy for me to place myself on the midway. The smells of the food, the screams from the carnival riders, the smells of the food. If anyone leaves early, I’ll assume that it’s your hankering for a deep-fried Oreo and certainly not the new face behind the pulpit.   

Whatever you imagined on your own, or even if you took some inspiration from these examples… Hold that image in your mind for a moment as we explore today’s gospel from Matthew.

Over the past few Sundays, as we have traveled through Matthew’s gospel, we see the confrontation between Jesus and his opponents is escalating. They overtly questioned his authority and he responded with parables that question their devotion to the Father’s kingdom. 

Today, we find everyone standing in the courtyard of the temple. This is the moment for that image you were saving in your mind. The courtyard of the temple lies just mere feet from the holy of holies where God resides just as our courtyard does here at St. Martin’s. It’s Passover week, so the temple is teeming with Jews in town for the high holiday which remembers the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. As a result, Jerusalem is overflowing with Roman soldiers on high alert for anyone who might be looking to start a new exodus by overthrowing the Roman occupation. 

Among the crowd are two important political groups in Jerusalem—the Pharisees and the Herodians— and they are about to gang up on Jesus. But the two groups didn’t like each other, they were antagonistic to one another, if not downright enemies. It’s a strange partnership. We’re talking the Jets and the Sharks. This is Batman teaming up with the Joker, or Republicans and Democrats in a bi-partisan royal rumble against an agreed-upon common enemy whoever that poor soul could be. 

So, these two political groups, the Pharisees, a group based on strict religious rule-following, and the Herodians, a group of Jews who were intimately tied up in Roman law put aside their huge differences to trap Jesus in his own words. 

They set the trap for Jesus, opening with a bit of flattery, and eventually posing one of today’s big questions “…Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” Now, this was not an abstract debate about political philosophy or the relationship between Church and state. It was a perfect set-up, a very clever trap. 

If Jesus says, “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar” then the Pharisees could easily whip up the whole crowd of Jews against him and all credibility for his message is lost – paying taxes to Caesar is the constant reminder that their promised land was once again under the authority of someone other than their God. 

If Jesus answers, “No, it is not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar” then the Herodins could use their influence with the Roman authorities to have him arrested and crucified for treason, which will happen in just a couple of days, but the time is not yet right.

When he answers them, Jesus slips out of the trap on a technicality. He asked for a coin (notice that Jesus doesn’t have one, but the Pharisees do). It’s a special minting of the denarius. The coin is marked with Caesar’s name, and below that, the image of the emperor is pressed into the metal. To any good Jew, the coin itself was an abomination. It violated the first commandment by claiming that Caesar had divine pretensions, and it violated the second commandment by containing an image of this false god.

A big part of what Jesus said was simply “give the cursed thing back.” It could belong to no one but Caesar; it

could certainly not belong to anyone who worshiped the God of Israel.

This answer was a brilliant counterstroke by Jesus. It avoided the trap, and it allowed that particular tax to be paid with that particular coin—not as an act of political submission, but as a sign of religious fidelity. It was a very specific, and very narrow answer that made it possible for Jesus both to escape the trap and to preach a bit.

But this answer, good as it is, doesn’t directly address the broader questions. Clearly, that coin belonged to Caesar—but what else does? No doubt some things belong to God, but what are those things, and how does one decide? 

Jesus is neither giving a theory about the relationship of religious people to their government nor making a simple division of life into two neat and distinct parts—this is Caesar’s, this is God’s—he is, on a much deeper level, doing something subtler, something more profound.

Remember, that coin belonged to Caesar because it was stamped with Caesar’s image and marked with Caesar’s inscription. The coin was made by the emperor for the emperor’s purposes. All that is a pretty good claim to ownership—a claim that Jesus recognized, at least for that coin.

The next question that naturally flows is: “What, then, belongs to God?” Well, what is made in the image of God? What is stamped in the likeness of God and created for God’s purposes? Do you see where he’s going here?

I’ll throw down a quick hint. It’s us. It’s you. It’s me. We ALL belong to God. It’s our central definitive characteristic, what it is that makes us human beings, is that we are created in the image of God. 

We received a wedding invitation in the mail recently. At a time in life when we’re mostly getting emails about children’s birthday parties, a formal invitation was a welcomed surprise. Inside the envelope, the contents were wrapped with a wide ribbon that came together on the front with a stamped wax seal. My wife looked admiringly at the beautiful packaging. I was a little caught up with how much time must have gone into such a craft project and a bit hopeful for the groom that it was a bridal party project.

The Greek word for dip… like how they dipped the seal into the wet wax. That word is Baptizo. In Baptism, just as in creation, we bear God’s image. In our baptism, we are stamped; we are inscribed - quite literally with the sign of the cross and marked as Christ’s own forever.  

Our image and likeness, and what is written upon us, is that of God himself. To whom, then, do we belong? To whom are we to render, to surrender, ourselves?

This, the question of our ultimate loyalty and our deepest allegiances, is what Jesus is really talking about as he deals with the plots and the traps of his enemies. The Lord is saying simply that what belongs to God is nothing other than we ourselves. 

Alas, all of this does not provide us with any easy answers when we face problems with a particular moral or political question. It does not automatically tell us who to vote for, or what organizations to support with our hard earned money. It fails to address sustaining versus terminating a pregnancy, how to interact with the person soliciting for money at an intersection, or what to do about the friend whose loyalty is no longer to us.  Problems like these will continue to be difficult and ambiguous, and that difficulty and that ambiguity will not change if we toss these few verses from Matthew at them about who’s on what coin. Still, what Jesus said to the Pharisees and the Herodians can provide us with a very good place to start.

Give to God what is God’s—for God owns that which he has made in his image, and he is Lord over that which bears his inscription. It’s that image, in ourselves and in others, that leads to concrete imperatives for justice, compassion, and righteousness. It leads us to fill the Split Cloak Pantry. It leads us to be a host for our RITI guests. It leads us to lean in - even to something new, even when it makes us nervous and uncomfortable.  

The big question remains - How will you give of yourself in response to God’s great love? 

Maybe it’s to your friends. It could be that you and your peers are busy dealing with the complexities of teenage life. The academics, the ever-popular “where are you going to college” question, the social status, all the feelings. But you watch out for each other. You create ways to communicate with each other when things really aren’t okay. So, at that moment, the friend group rallies and ensures that whoever is struggling knows that they matter and that they’re loved… reminding them through action that they are made in the image of God. 

Maybe it’s to your family. To your children sitting next to you in the pew… that you’ve been silently praying would make it through the service (or maybe just this sermon) without too much fuss. Those children that you pour into day after day. Even in that moment of parental despair, when you’re certain that all of their behaviors must come from your partner’s side of the family. Even in that moment, they, too, are created in God’s image. 

Perhaps it’s at work. It might be that one co-worker. The one with the inappropriate jokes and sexist attitude who treats people horribly leaving you shaking your head. Causing you to question… am I doing anything right? is the job worth it? Is the paycheck worth it? As hard as it might be to imagine… dig down deep and remind yourself that they, too, are created in God’s image. 

This isn’t easy work. Easy work is ignoring. Easy work is passing judgment and writing someone off. The hard work is what we’re called to. We give to God what is God’s by leaning in, knowing that everyone is created in God’s image, and caring for them as God calls to do.

Amen.