Year A

Matthew 22:15-22

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Coins of God’s Kingdom

A group of chess enthusiasts had checked into a hotel, and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. “But why?” they asked, as they moved off. “Because,” he said, “I can’t stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.” Chess is a brilliant metaphor for so much that happens in the Gospels. Those opposed to Jesus try to play a move that gets Jesus in trouble. The thing about Jesus is that he is a really good chess player. And with some real skill, Jesus today does not simply play a move that gets him out of trouble, but also takes the opportunity to establish a vitally important theological truth. Ultimately, everything belongs to God.

Jesus is in Jerusalem during the final week of his life. He is in deep conversation with the authorities who are trying to entrap him into disclosing something about himself that will clinch their attempts to indict him. They ask him what seems to be a loaded question about paying taxes to the emperor. If we are talking about the law of Rome, of course it’s legal to pay taxes to the emperor—it’s illegal not to! It’s the way of the world for thousands of years. And just so Jesus can’t fudge a bit on the answer, there are among the authorities members of the Herodian party, supporters of the king, toadies to the Roman government, listening to his answer. If Jesus so much as hints that the taxes paid to Rome are illegal, the full force of the law will be down upon him.

However, he can’t just say, “Why of course, pay your taxes” because there with the Herodian’s are some Pharisees, the guardians of Jewish purity, law, and piety, who are sticklers for religious correctness. There were serious religious objections to paying taxes to the pagan Roman occupiers because the coin used to pay taxes bore a graven image of the emperor which was strictly against Jewish law and the inscription upon the coin identified that emperor as a divinity, son of the divine Augustus Caesar. How could any person who believed in the one true God pay tribute to someone who claims to be God? Therefore, if Jesus gives an un-Jewish answer, he will be completely discredited as a teacher, a Rabi of his people and most likely lose their support.

So it seems no matter how Jesus answers, he is in trouble which is exactly what they want and it appears as if they have him over a barrel. Yet, Jesus’ reply is cause for challenging reflection: give the emperor what is due, and to God what is God’s. This thorny question of allegiance is a familiar one to us. Who among us hasn’t struggled with how to respond to some situation in the world, or to a personal moral quandary? For example, a question we all face in this consumer society which exists mainly in a poor and hungry world is: do I live for God’s kingdom of integrity, justice, and peace? Who do I pay my taxes too symbolically speaking?  Like it or not, we are under Rome. 

We live in a consumer society and we have to abide by its values. You know, when in Rome do as the Roman’s do. Now that may sound like a concession to the realities of this world. We may believe its ok to live as unabashed consumers all week long, so long as we come to church and say our prayers on Sunday. And Jesus says, yes, the coin belongs to Caesar. Let him have it. But give to God what belongs to God.

So, if the coin belongs to Caesar and should be given to Caesar, than what should be given to God, what belongs to God? Caesar can stamp his picture and pedigree far and wide, but he cannot come near the true commerce that gives us life. Caesar will get many or most of our coins, and be flattered by how well his likeness is rendered in the cold hard cash; but the coin of the realm of our flesh and blood bears the divine image of God.  Every life is marked with the image of God. Way back in the first chapter of Genesis it tells us, “God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image according to our likeness…’ and so, “God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God, God created them, male and female.”

And God then set the human beings as God’s agents in the world, to exercise stewardship over the creation on God’s behalf. We are the coins of God’s kingdom and God’s likeness is stamped on us therefore, we belong wholly and entirely to God. All the power of human thought, action and love belong to God and if we do these properly, if we actually give to God what belongs to God (all the love of our heart and soul and mind and strength), the coin is a non-issue. We, who are wholly given to God will not fail to use our money in a God-honoring, kingdom-building manner, no matter whose picture is on it.   

Paul today is thanking God in his letter to the Thessalonians for the image of God blessings that are constantly being revealed in the life of the congregation at Thessalonica. Paul says there are three exciting witnesses to the power of God in the life of that congregation: the works of faith, the labors of love, and the endurance inspired by hope in Jesus Christ. George Barna, president of the Barna Research Group, recently reported that a survey of active believers said their faith is constantly growing, helping them to feel connected to other people, and helping them to feel good about life and to take care of themselves and others. That is part of the work of faith in our lives. Somewhat disrupted right now by COVID.

But, when Paul talks about the work of faith, he is talking about the effects of faith in our lives. The work of faith is the change that the image of God produces in the heart and mind of the believer. It is the work of faith to provide us a way to live with all the contradictions into a meaningful and purposeful way. Life is full of contradictions yet, everyday enormous spiritual work happens in the mix of paradox and contradiction. Four big ones: God is everywhere, yet invisible. Life is lived forward, but only understood backward. Happiness is best pursued through selflessness. The incarnation is at the center of the Christian story, but just try explaining it to a stranger. It is the work of faith to take all the pieces, the contradiction of the coins, and hold them together in a miracle of purpose and meaning.

To live as Christians in a consumer society is no easier and no harder than to be faithful Jews in a Roman-ruled world or to be the early church at Thessalonica. God knows we have to play by the rules, and Jesus’ answer acknowledges that. We will participate in the normal life of our society—but not uncritically or without thought to its impact on others, for we are citizens of God’s kingdom. The coins of God’s kingdom and we share God’s concern for all of humanity and the whole creation. Jesus reminds us, by his answer and by his own life and death in full obedience to God, that we are body and soul, the people of God, created in God’s likeness living here as stewards of all that God has made. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God everything because everything belongs to God. May we remember every day, in whose likeness and for whose purpose we are created.