The things that are God’s

October 22, 2023

Year A; 21st Sunday after Pentecost

Exodus 33: 12-23

Psalm 99

Matthew 22: 15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Homily by Rev. Megan Limburg

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

Our Gospel lesson today tells of a conversation that took place in the final week of Jesus’ earthly life. He has already made his entrance into Jerusalem to the waving of palms and shouts of hosanna.

And the tension is high in the city, it is a tinderbox waiting to explode, reminding us sharply today of how painful and grief-soaked and complex the history of the Holy Land has been.

The story unfolds as the religious leaders in Jerusalem are trying yet again, in that final week, to trap Jesus with calculating questions. This time, the question is:

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

They ask a question that has no good answer. It truly is a lose-lose question.

If Jesus says no, do not pay the taxes to the emperor, he will sound disobedient to the Roman authorities that occupied the land, and demanded loyalty and taxes from the Jews. But if he answers yes, pay the taxes to the emperor, Jesus will look disloyal to his Jewish faith, and he will look unfaithful to God.

A lose-lose question, indeed, and the city is crowded, and the people press forward to hear how he will answer.

But Jesus does not choose, the lose or lose, the rock or the hard place. Instead, he chooses the coin, and asks for a denarius, worth about one day’s wages for a laborer, the coin that would be used to pay the tax.

While holding the coin, I picture Jesus moving it slowly through his fingers, the image of the emperor appearing and disappearing. Then Jesus asks a question: “Who’s head is this, and who’s title?” An easy question, and the leaders quickly answer, the emperor’s. Then Jesus tells them to give to the emperor what is the emperor’s, these are his coins, return them to him.

And then Jesus’ words fill with light, the darkness is pushed back, the so frequent lose/lose disappears, and we glimpse God, like Moses did, a hint of God’s back as God slips close by us, in the rest of Jesus’ answer:

“…and to God the things that are God’s.”

The emperor gets what is his, the coins, the money. And God gets what is God’s.

Which leads to the unspoken question: What is God’s?

What bears God’s image? The coins show the emperor’s likeness, what shows God’s likeness?

What shows God’s likeness? Oh, my! The answer is, us.

As we have heard in the book of Genesis:

“So God created humankind in God’s image,

in the image of God, God created them.” Genesis 1: 27

We bear God’s image, God’s imprint, every one of us, from our birth, and too from our baptisms.

In just a little while Samuel Reed Townsend, better known as Sam, will be baptized here, and immediately afterwards I’ll make a cross on his forehead with oil and say:

Sam, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever. (BCP, p.308)

So what is God’s? We are God’s, from birth, from baptism and forever.

All the days of our lives, at our best and at our worst, we are God’s, children of God’s heart.

We are God’s when helping is easy and our hearts sing. We are God’s when we feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. We are God’s when we care for the widows and the orphans, when we welcome the foreigner and the stranger. We are God’s when we are close by, as close as we can be to God, folded into God’s love, we are God’s.

And we are God’s when we turn away, and ignore the poor and the hungry on our corners and around the world, we are God’s when we laugh at others and embrace hate, and have moved so far away from the God that loves us, we are still God’s.

When we are prodigal and selfish and far from home, we are God’s, still God’s.

Give to God the things that are God’s. Give to God, ourselves, heartfelt, flawed, prejudiced, hopeful us. Give to God, us.

That’s all Jesus asks.

Amen.