GIVE BACK TO GOD WHAT IS GOD’S
Let us pray: God of all glory you have blessed us with all that we need – and yet we want always, more. Help us to know that in your constant care for all of your creation what we have is enough, and that what we are is enough. In the ministry of your Holy One, Jesus the Christ, you show us the way to your Kindom among us; yet we try to complicate and confound your simple message of love and care for those among us who poor and rich, old and young, sinner and saint. Be with us, O God of grace as we strive to understand the good news and share it in your holy name. Amen.
(SUNG) TAKE MY HANDS I GIVE THEM TO YOU LORD
AND USE THEM FOR YOUR KINDOM HERE ON EARTH.
CONSECRATE THEM TO YOUR CARE,
ANOINT THEM FOR YOUR SERVICE WHERE,
YOU MAY NEED YOUR GOSPEL TO BE SOWN.
The author of Matthew’s gospel narrative, which we hear this morning, begins with “The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said.” They have been plotting against the Christ for some time (since back in Chapter 12) and have tried twice (once in Chapter 16 and again in Chapter 19) to trip Jesus up and failed, now they are at it again. Only this time they don’t send out the Varsity team – but rather the JV’s. Its not that they think Jesus will be an easy mark – quite the contrary, they have had their experiences and been burned badly – and they don’t want to risk the ridicule of their people again. They are looking for a way to cut Jesus down to size, and they have no intention of risking their own reputations again. So the Pharisees turn to their disciples. They turn to the students with no reputations to risk, and with very little to loose. They design their trap question and train these young disciples to use it against Jesus. First, however, they train the young students to set Jesus up; before they spring the trap question they butter up the teacher from Nazareth with praise. “Teacher”, they say, “we know that your are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth.” They do not believe this, and are merely using it as a tactic to push Jesus off guard so that they can spring the carefully crafted question that they believe will trap this radical rabbi once and for all. Then they ask the question, which had been, so well rehearsed with their teachers; “tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor (the Greek translates Caesar) or not?” I’ve seen the following several times, and it seems particularly appropriate in light of today’s gospel story, “if someone asks you a question, and you don’t want to answer, simply smile and say why do want to know?” The beauty of the question which the Pharisee’s disciples asked was that it offered Jesus only two options – yes or no. If Jesus said yes, it would offend those who hated Caesar’s tax. If Jesus said no, the Roman soldiers would arrest him for sedition. Either way, Jesus would loose and the Pharisees would win.
Jesus, however, didn’t say yes and didn’t say no. Jesus said, “you hypocrites, why are you putting me to the test?” That brought everything out into the open, didn’t it? Jesus knew exactly what they were trying to do, and made sure that everyone else knew it too, “why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?” That wasn’t enough to save Jesus, if Jesus said nothing more, it would look as if he were just evading the question. So Jesus said, “show me the coin used to pay the tax,” and they brought out a denarius.
A denarius was a significant coin -- wages for a day -- worth perhaps a hundred dollars in today's money. But it was significant in other ways too. The denarius bore Caesar's image, and was inscribed, "Tiberius Caesar, August son of the divine Augustus, high priest." The Hebrew people found both the image of Caesar and the inscription offensive. For one thing, the Ten Commandments forbid graven images, so they hated the image of Caesar on the coin. For another thing, they didn't believe that Caesar was divine. They didn't accept Caesar as God.
BUT -- and this is significant -- the disciples of the super-religious Pharisees brought Jesus a denarius. Where did they get a denarius? One of them must have had one in their pocket. Where were they? They were in the temple. Why did they bring a graven image into the temple? They brought it into the temple because they were so used to carrying these coins in their pockets that they had given it no thought. Jesus had called them hypocrites, and the fact that they could produce one of these offensive coins proved Jesus' point -- proved that they cared more about money than about God.
Then Jesus asked, ‘whose head is this, and whose title?’ they answered Caesar’s” Then Jesus says, “give therefore the things to Caesar that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The Greek word, which Jesus is quoted as using, is “apodote” which is best translated as “give back.” So better translated, Jesus says, “give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” Then Jesus says, “Give back to God the things that are God’s.” What is it that belongs to God? Well, a better question might be what doesn’t. If God creates all things then all things belong to God. Perhaps, more importantly, WE belong to God. Just as the coin bears Caesar’s image, we bear God’s image. We’re told that, at the very beginning of our scriptures…, “So God created humans in God’s image, in the image of God created them.”
(SUNG) TAKE MY HANDS, THEY SPEAK NOW FOR MY HEART,
AND BY THEIR ACTIONS THEY WILL SHOW THEIR LOVE.
GUIDE THEM ON THEIR DAILY COURSE, BE THEIR STRENGTH
AND GUIDING COURSE, TO EVER SERVE THE TRINITY ABOVE.
We are created in God’s image, and so therefore it is appropriate to give ourselves, all that we are and all that we have back to God. We are part of God’s realm and God’s Kindom, and God lays claim to all that we received in God’s grace. What does that mean, too give back to God the things that are God’s? In a few short weeks, we will begin to examine our own stewardship within the context of our lives as followers of the Christ. The Stewardship team is busy at work putting together the materials and engaging in training for our “Celebration Sunday” when we will be asked to determine for ourselves what belongs to God from all that we have been given. We have all watched with anxiety and concern the wild and rollercoaster ride that our financial markets and the markets of many European and Asian nations have taken; up by nine hundred plus points one day, and then down by 700 plus points the next. The current financial climate and forecast in our nation and in our world looks precarious at best and downright disastrous at worst. What we will give and what we will need may have some adjustments in that context, yet still Jesus tells us to give to God what is God’s. Still we are told in the context of the Christian message that what we will need, we will be given; and that what we have been given we need to share with others who are in greater need. In light of those questions; what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God and what is ours to keep and what is ours to give, perhaps it would be helpful to define our answers in terms of what it would not mean. Wilbur Rees wrote a tongue-in-cheek prayer for half hearted followers of the Christ, followers who are willing to give back to God only a little bit of their lives. Rees writes:
"I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please,
not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don't want enough of God to make me love a black man
or to pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please."
(SUNG) TAKE MY HANDS; TAKE MY HANDS – O LORD.
The message, which Jesus delivers in the author of Matthew’s gospel, which we shared this morning, was not a complicated one – in fact it is the essence of simplicity. Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and give back to God the things that are God’s. When we present the offering of our lives and labors at God’s holy table later in our worship, it has often been the custom of the Church to pray, “All things come of you, O God, and of your own we have given you.” That prayer taken from the Hebrew text of the Twenty ninth Chapter of the first book of Chronicles was part of David’s farewell statement with the assembled leaders of Israel in a final act of worship before his death. That prayer has become our Christian Church’s corporate statement of stewardship, offered to the God who has given us every blessing and grace, which fills our lives. Let us with joy filled and grateful hearts hear what Jesus asks and respond from the depth of our gratitude to offer back to God the things that are God’s.
Amen.
Let us pray: God of all glory you have blessed us with all that we need – and yet we want always, more. Help us to know that in your constant care for all of your creation what we have is enough, and that what we are is enough. In the ministry of your Holy One, Jesus the Christ, you show us the way to your Kindom among us; yet we try to complicate and confound your simple message of love and care for those among us who poor and rich, old and young, sinner and saint. Be with us, O God of grace as we strive to understand the good news and share it in your holy name. Amen.
(SUNG) TAKE MY HANDS I GIVE THEM TO YOU LORD
AND USE THEM FOR YOUR KINDOM HERE ON EARTH.
CONSECRATE THEM TO YOUR CARE,
ANOINT THEM FOR YOUR SERVICE WHERE,
YOU MAY NEED YOUR GOSPEL TO BE SOWN.
The author of Matthew’s gospel narrative, which we hear this morning, begins with “The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said.” They have been plotting against the Christ for some time (since back in Chapter 12) and have tried twice (once in Chapter 16 and again in Chapter 19) to trip Jesus up and failed, now they are at it again. Only this time they don’t send out the Varsity team – but rather the JV’s. Its not that they think Jesus will be an easy mark – quite the contrary, they have had their experiences and been burned badly – and they don’t want to risk the ridicule of their people again. They are looking for a way to cut Jesus down to size, and they have no intention of risking their own reputations again. So the Pharisees turn to their disciples. They turn to the students with no reputations to risk, and with very little to loose. They design their trap question and train these young disciples to use it against Jesus. First, however, they train the young students to set Jesus up; before they spring the trap question they butter up the teacher from Nazareth with praise. “Teacher”, they say, “we know that your are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth.” They do not believe this, and are merely using it as a tactic to push Jesus off guard so that they can spring the carefully crafted question that they believe will trap this radical rabbi once and for all. Then they ask the question, which had been, so well rehearsed with their teachers; “tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor (the Greek translates Caesar) or not?” I’ve seen the following several times, and it seems particularly appropriate in light of today’s gospel story, “if someone asks you a question, and you don’t want to answer, simply smile and say why do want to know?” The beauty of the question which the Pharisee’s disciples asked was that it offered Jesus only two options – yes or no. If Jesus said yes, it would offend those who hated Caesar’s tax. If Jesus said no, the Roman soldiers would arrest him for sedition. Either way, Jesus would loose and the Pharisees would win.
Jesus, however, didn’t say yes and didn’t say no. Jesus said, “you hypocrites, why are you putting me to the test?” That brought everything out into the open, didn’t it? Jesus knew exactly what they were trying to do, and made sure that everyone else knew it too, “why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?” That wasn’t enough to save Jesus, if Jesus said nothing more, it would look as if he were just evading the question. So Jesus said, “show me the coin used to pay the tax,” and they brought out a denarius.
A denarius was a significant coin -- wages for a day -- worth perhaps a hundred dollars in today's money. But it was significant in other ways too. The denarius bore Caesar's image, and was inscribed, "Tiberius Caesar, August son of the divine Augustus, high priest." The Hebrew people found both the image of Caesar and the inscription offensive. For one thing, the Ten Commandments forbid graven images, so they hated the image of Caesar on the coin. For another thing, they didn't believe that Caesar was divine. They didn't accept Caesar as God.
BUT -- and this is significant -- the disciples of the super-religious Pharisees brought Jesus a denarius. Where did they get a denarius? One of them must have had one in their pocket. Where were they? They were in the temple. Why did they bring a graven image into the temple? They brought it into the temple because they were so used to carrying these coins in their pockets that they had given it no thought. Jesus had called them hypocrites, and the fact that they could produce one of these offensive coins proved Jesus' point -- proved that they cared more about money than about God.
Then Jesus asked, ‘whose head is this, and whose title?’ they answered Caesar’s” Then Jesus says, “give therefore the things to Caesar that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The Greek word, which Jesus is quoted as using, is “apodote” which is best translated as “give back.” So better translated, Jesus says, “give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” Then Jesus says, “Give back to God the things that are God’s.” What is it that belongs to God? Well, a better question might be what doesn’t. If God creates all things then all things belong to God. Perhaps, more importantly, WE belong to God. Just as the coin bears Caesar’s image, we bear God’s image. We’re told that, at the very beginning of our scriptures…, “So God created humans in God’s image, in the image of God created them.”
(SUNG) TAKE MY HANDS, THEY SPEAK NOW FOR MY HEART,
AND BY THEIR ACTIONS THEY WILL SHOW THEIR LOVE.
GUIDE THEM ON THEIR DAILY COURSE, BE THEIR STRENGTH
AND GUIDING COURSE, TO EVER SERVE THE TRINITY ABOVE.
We are created in God’s image, and so therefore it is appropriate to give ourselves, all that we are and all that we have back to God. We are part of God’s realm and God’s Kindom, and God lays claim to all that we received in God’s grace. What does that mean, too give back to God the things that are God’s? In a few short weeks, we will begin to examine our own stewardship within the context of our lives as followers of the Christ. The Stewardship team is busy at work putting together the materials and engaging in training for our “Celebration Sunday” when we will be asked to determine for ourselves what belongs to God from all that we have been given. We have all watched with anxiety and concern the wild and rollercoaster ride that our financial markets and the markets of many European and Asian nations have taken; up by nine hundred plus points one day, and then down by 700 plus points the next. The current financial climate and forecast in our nation and in our world looks precarious at best and downright disastrous at worst. What we will give and what we will need may have some adjustments in that context, yet still Jesus tells us to give to God what is God’s. Still we are told in the context of the Christian message that what we will need, we will be given; and that what we have been given we need to share with others who are in greater need. In light of those questions; what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God and what is ours to keep and what is ours to give, perhaps it would be helpful to define our answers in terms of what it would not mean. Wilbur Rees wrote a tongue-in-cheek prayer for half hearted followers of the Christ, followers who are willing to give back to God only a little bit of their lives. Rees writes:
"I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please,
not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don't want enough of God to make me love a black man
or to pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please."
(SUNG) TAKE MY HANDS; TAKE MY HANDS – O LORD.
The message, which Jesus delivers in the author of Matthew’s gospel, which we shared this morning, was not a complicated one – in fact it is the essence of simplicity. Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and give back to God the things that are God’s. When we present the offering of our lives and labors at God’s holy table later in our worship, it has often been the custom of the Church to pray, “All things come of you, O God, and of your own we have given you.” That prayer taken from the Hebrew text of the Twenty ninth Chapter of the first book of Chronicles was part of David’s farewell statement with the assembled leaders of Israel in a final act of worship before his death. That prayer has become our Christian Church’s corporate statement of stewardship, offered to the God who has given us every blessing and grace, which fills our lives. Let us with joy filled and grateful hearts hear what Jesus asks and respond from the depth of our gratitude to offer back to God the things that are God’s.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment