Sermons
What Belongs to God?
BY THERESA MCCONNELL |
October 19, 2008
Matthew 22:15-22
A Bit of History Prior to the Reading: These experts in the law, the Pharisees, sent their followers (disciples) to question Jesus. They expect “to expose the naiveté” of this wandering preacher. The Herodians, likely to be closely associated with the Roman Governor, Herod, whose task it was to stop riots against Rome and soften the resentment against Rome,” are the others who come.(Loader, lectionary resources, online). Knowing who they are helps us hear the irony and manipulation of their ingratiating remarks prior to questioning him. So now hear the word.
Matthew 22:15-22
The Question about Paying Taxes
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16So 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. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21They 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.’ 22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. (NRSV)
A young lady was soaking up the sun's rays on a Florida beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She was surprised by the question but she replied, "Why, yes, I do." Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?" Again, her answer was "Yes!" He then asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray everyday?" Again she said, "Yes!" By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and said, "Will you hold my quarter while I go in swimming?" (Brett Blair & staff, sermons.com, What’s Caesar’s and What’s Gods?, Matthew 22:15-22).
Who can you trust to hold your money? This young boy was doing his best to find out whether this woman would hold his money for him even if tempted to spend on something or give it to someone who looked in dire need or to hide it away as her own. He needed her to understand that the coin belonged to him and he only wanted her to hold it in safe-keeping.
The questioners of Jesus wanted to know if they could trap him into taking sides…revolt against Caesar or relinquish their heritage of “bowing down to no graven image”. When looking at the coin Jesus would not only have seen some image of Caesar like we might see the image of George Washington, but one would also have seen words referencing Caesar as “son of the divine” (Edgar Krentz, Conflicting claims - Matthew 22:15-22 - Living by the Word – Column, Christian Century, Oct 9, 1996 , http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n28_v113/ai_18774389/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1)
So, the trap was set for Jesus to choose!
Jesus answers the question with a question: “20Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21They 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 (NRSV).'"
Both parties would have been satisfied with the first part of his response – the Pharisees because they “got him” and the Herodians because he was not a subversive after all. It was the second part of the response where Jesus laid the challenge back to them: “and to God the things that are God’s.” The conflicting claims upon your life are to be dealt with knowing all things belong to God.
One NT Scholar puts it this way:
“Conflicting claims run through our entire society, inviting conflicting commitments at every age. Career opportunities and parenthood may pull in two directions. Teenagers may waver between familial or ecclesial loyalty and the pressure of peer groups with their own codes of conduct. The need to put bread on the table may lead one to be silent in the face of tainted business practices, even though one's personal moral code, shaped by one's Christian faith, conflicts with it. Political pressure and the need to fund education may lead a government official to support legalized gambling, even though he or she recognizes the cost that addiction to gambling takes on the lives of people seduced by the (almost empty) promise of riches. Life-threatening addictions of every kind claim us (tobacco, alcohol, food--name your own), even when we know the threat to our well-being. How do we deal with conflicting claims?”
That put the responsibility for deciding between two legitimate authorities squarely on the questioners' shoulders and that responsibility continues today…Conflicting claims lead to temptation--or temptations. And temptations often come in subtle fashion. One temptation is to avoid responsibility by asking someone else to decide for us, as the Pharisees did in this story. Another is to give a simple, definitive yes or no; that is, to recognize one claim but deny the other. Another temptation is simply to choose the authority that is comfortable at the moment. We all make choices. Perhaps, this story can help us with making choices.
Two friends were walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, one of them said, "What an interesting place to hear a cricket."
His friend said, "What? You must be crazy. You couldn't possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!"
"No, I'm sure of it," his friend said, "I heard a cricket."
"That's crazy," said his friend.
The man, who thought he had heard a cricket, listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed.
"That's incredible," said his friend. "You must have superhuman ears!"
"No," said the man who heard the cricket. "My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you're listening for."
"But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in this noise."
"Yes, it's true," came the reply. "It depends on what is really important to you. Here, let me show you."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs.
"See what I mean?" asked the man who heard the cricket. "It all depends on what's important to you." In the end the Pharisees heard from Jesus what they were listening for. (Keenan Kelsey, Making Choices, esermons.com, illustrations for Matthew 22.15-22)
We must choose how we are to live in the midst of competing claims to our time and energy and money. But that’s just it, isn’t it. Is it really “our” time, energy, money? That’s Jesus’ point. All that we have and all that we are belongs to God.
God wants us to know that we belong to him… we are cherished and beloved by him! When we are listening to great music, we are a loved and cherished by God.
…………dancing on the parking lot, we are a loved and cherished by God
………….praying on bended knee, we are a loved and cherished by God
…………helping the person who is worse off than we are, we are we are a loved and cherished by God
…………deciding whether we will cheat a friend, we are we are a loved and cherished by God
…………thinking about inviting a friend to church or even about the person we hesitate to invite to church, we are we are a loved and cherished by God
We, and all that is in this world, belong to God. God wants us to choose to be in relationship to him and to do the will on God on earth as it is in heaven. The question for us is not, “What belongs to God?” The questions for us are: “How shall we take care of all that God has given us? How do we use what we have for God’s glory? How do we show love to our neighbor?” But most important of all: “Does God have my heart and am I listening to God?”
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