Scripture Passages: Genesis 1:25-28 & Matthew 22:15-22 Sermon: “Giving God His Due” 1. The Pharisees confronted Jesus with a question that was sure to get Him in trouble no matter how He answered it. All they asked was if it was lawful to pay taxes to Rome or not. A simple question, but it was a very tricky answer. For Jesus to say that Israel should pay taxes to Rome was to sound like a traitor. These Romans were invaders of God’s Holy land, land that belonged to God and not to the Israelites or the Romans. They deserved nothing in the way of tax or tribute. To say they did would be for Jesus to turn the crowds against Him. On the other hand, to say that they should not pay taxes to Rome would make the Roman guards take notice. He would then be seen as a rabble rouser and trouble maker, one trying to stir up insurrection among the people. It looked like the Pharisees had Jesus right where they wanted Him. In response Jesus asks for a Roman coin. That is a problem for the Pharisees who quickly produced one from among them. That coin had the head of Caesar’s likeness imprinted on it. Tiberius Caesar was a self-proclaimed deity. Jews were not allowed to have graven images of God. The Ten Commandments forbade it. Worse yet, it was the image of a false god. No good Jew ever dealt in Roman money, or even touched one. Jesus now had the upper hand. They were hypocrites. Then Jesus asks them to tell Him whose likeness is on the coin. They must admit it is Caesar’s. “Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” says Jesus. “And give to God what belongs to God.” They had been had. What is Caesar’s is of little consequence. What belongs to God is of great importance to those Pharisees...and to us. 2. So what belongs to God? Well, our whole lives, of course. More to the point, however, if we are created in God’s image, as Genesis tells us, then that which is of His image certainly belongs to God and should be offered back in some appropriate way. I think that would include the attributes of God that we possess. For example, God is our Creator and He has given to us that gift of creativity. God created the world and now it is up to us to use that creativity to make it work. We can be creative on the job or in our hobbies, but what about creativity in the way we deal with people. We can surprise them in our loving creative responses even to their anger. We can be creative in our ministries and ways of sharing the Gospel message. We can be creative problem solvers, helping people in everything from overcoming world hunger to marital issues. We can be God’s creative people. God is also caring, and all that creativity can express our care as well. We can help people care about each other as we care for them. We can make sure our words and actions are always expressing our care for others. What about compassion? Our God is compassionate. If people in Haiti can’t enjoy true life in their poverty, then we need to find ways to compassionately lift them out of it. Life is to be celebrated, but many things prevent celebration. We use God’s compassion to work for the good of those around us so that they too can celebrate life. Our God is also just, peaceful and merciful. His attributes can show us how we can give to God what belongs to God. Since we are made in His image, it should be pretty easy. Just be what God is. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 20:56:25 +0000
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