Pentecost 21 Stewardship Sunday

and Pie Social

Happy 31st Wedding anniversary on Tuesday to Sue and Duey Stelzner

Welcome to our annual stewardship Sunday!
I was shocked to discover that on the day we talk about giving money to the
church:
We were handed a Gospel text that talks about money.
(I swear I didn’t plan it that way!)
And it’s not just about Money:
But everyone’s favorite topic:
Taxes!

But this story isn’t actually about taxes at all.
And it’s also not really a debate about the relationship between Church and State.

Instead, Jesus is stuck in a conversation with some people who are trying to trick
him,
Under the guise of taxes.

It started out as a plot to get Jesus in trouble,
Or at the very least arrested,
And at the most, killed.

Matthew, the Gospel writer says upfront that these Pharisees were trying “to
entrap Jesus in what he said.”
They were plotting against him:

Trying to trick him and trap him.
They think:
They HOPE:
That if they ask him if it’s lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not,
That no matter which way Jesus answers,
Someone will want to go after him.

If Jesus says that it’s NOT lawful to pay taxes to the emperor,
Then he could be arrested for treason.

If he says that it IS lawful to pay taxes to the emperor,
Then he is discredited as a good and faithful Jew:
Because in that time, in that empire,
paying the emperor was like claiming his divinity:
Making the emperor into a God and idol:
A big no-no for the Jews.

No matter what:
Jesus is trapped.
The Pharisees ask him a yes or no question,
Knowing that both answers will get Jesus in trouble in one way or another.

But as we’ll see,
As we KNOW:

Jesus will not be tricked.
And Jesus will not be trapped.

Instead, he asks for a coin.
And that coin was not too different from our own coins today.

Instead of an image of a president:
That coin had on it the image of the emperor.
And pointing to the image on the coin Jesus says the famous words,
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the
things that are God’s.”

Holding the coin, Jesus refuses to fall into the trap,
He refuses to answer yes or no,
And instead, he basically says, “give it back to whom it belongs.”

And since it has the emperors face on it,
it obviously belongs to the emperor.
It’s not actually a statement about taxes.
It’s not a statement about the relationship of religious people to their
government.
But it is a statement about ownership.
And about belonging.

As usual, Jesus doesn’t make it easy.

And his words aren’t simple.
All he says is, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s
and to God the things that are God’s.”

He doesn’t tell us which is which.
He doesn’t give us a clear division:
That this is the emperors,
This is God’s.
And this is what you get to keep yourself.

So we have to draw on what we already know,
In order to see that what Jesus is talking about is much deeper than taxes, money,
and politics.

The coin belongs to the emperor because it was stamped with the emperor’s
image.
It was marked with an inscription that probably said, “Tiberius Caesar, majestic
son of divine Augustus, High Priest.”

At the very least, that particular coin, belonged particularly to Caesar.
It literally said so.
It was made BY the emperor for the emperor’s purpose.

If the coin is stamped and marked in the image of the emperor,
it belongs to the emperor.

So what belongs to God?
What is stamped and marked in the image of God?
What is created for God’s purpose?

I think you know the answer.

We are.
One characteristic of human beings in particular:
Over all other animals:
Is that we are created in the image of God.

And that’s not all.
As Christians,
We believe that we are further marked,
Or using the same language as the coin:
We are stamped, and inscribed with the sign of the cross in baptism.

As my favorite line in the prayer book says,
The words that the priest says when anointing a recently baptized person:
“You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism,
And marked as Christ’s own forever.”

It’s who we are.
Humans, made in God’s image,

Marked as Christ’s own forever.
BUT even THAT’S NOT ALL.

As Christians,
We also believe that GOD:
Became human, in the person of Jesus:
Became ONE OF US.
So that we might become even more like him.

The image of us,
the image of God,
The image of Jesus himself,
Are all wrapped up in each other.
Belonging to each other.

When Jesus says, Give to the emperor the things that are the emperors and to
God the things that are Gods,”
He’s not merely talking about money, taxes, or politics.
He’s talking about our deepest allegiances,
Our ultimate loyalty,
And the REALITY of who we really are,
Who we are made to be.

We belong to God.
And all that we do is to be marked by that conviction.

All the competing claims for our lives,
And for our allegiances,
Should be understood in the light of who we are,
And whose we are.

Whose image, likeness, and stamp we bear.
That same one: JESUS:
Who took on humanity in its fullness,
In order for us to bear that stamp even more deeply.

This doesn’t make our politics easier.
It doesn’t give us answers about the tax code,
Or what kind of tax reform might be best.
But it does remind us of who we are, and whose we are.
And that should guide our efforts as we move throughout this broken world.

Give to God what is God’s--
For God owns that which he has made in his own image.
God is Lord over that which bears his inscription.
It is God’s image,
In ourselves,
And in other.

That should guide our actions,

For justice, compassion, righteousness, and truth.

It is God’s image that gives value and meaning to what we do,
And to who we are.
It is God who marks us,
Seals us,
And with love breathes upon us.

It is God’s image that assures us that who we ARE matters.
That what we DO matters.

And today, in just a moment,
we have the opportunity fill out a pledge card for our giving to God:
Particularly to God through St. John’s Church.

And if we’re being honest:
We know that our money is huge part of our lives:
(Not the only part: And not the most important part) but certainly a big part.
Our money is also a huge part of our selves:
And our lives, our selves:
Our image and our likeness is that of Gods.

I urge you now:
To take a few moments of silence,

Fill out your card:
And you’re ready: come up and offer it on the altar,

And Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s.
But Give to God the things that are God’s.

Amen.