Whose Image?
Sermon by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.
Scripture: Matthew 22:15-22
The picture on the front of the bulletin shows faces on cash, connecting with today’s scripture and reminding us we are in our annual stewardship season. Next Sunday, we will be invited to turn in commitments for using our talents and our money to support the ministry of St. Andrew. February is also the time we construct the church budget for the new fiscal year which begins April 1. Pledging and budget construction happen at the same time, but we do not make a pledge to meet a budget. We give our time, talents, financial gifts, and service as a faith response to God. We commit money and talents because God is overwhelmingly abundant in blessing us.
Money has always been a matter of discussion for people of faith. Back in the days when Rome occupied the Jewish homeland, they had to mint two coins called a denarius. A silver coin had an image of the emperor enthroned and labeled divine; the other was bronze and bore simple religious symbols. Some Jews wouldn’t even carry the silver coin which called Caesar a god. They considered it blasphemous. But a denarius (either silver or bronze) was exactly the coin needed to pay the Temple tax. (No stewardship drive for them. The government just accessed and collected a tax to maintain the Temple.) Then Jesus enters, not just saying take care of the needy, but warning the wealthy that God is displeased. “Woe to you who are rich; and blessed are the poor.” No wonder Jesus was known as a rabble rouser. So some of the local power mongers decide to corner him. Does God agree with our paying taxes? In other words, should we give allegiance to the laws of the false god, Caesar? The questioners are pretty certain no matter what he answers, he will get in trouble. Either he will support the tax, which seems blasphemous to some; or he will refuse to pay, which could get him arrested for sedition. Stop and read Matthew 22:15-22.
Some demands on us make sense. We all have responsibilities which appropriately tap our personal resources. To say it plainly: it’s necessary to pay some bills, like our taxes. Since we expect certain things from our society, we pay taxes. If we get home after coffee hour and our house has been broken into, we expect someone to be on the other end of our 9-1-1 call. We also expect the polls to be open on election day, with plenty of personnel to keep everyone honest, with voting machines working smoothly, and a system in place to tally the results. And we pay property taxes because we believe our society benefits from an educated citizenry, so we want public education available for every child.
But we have other appropriate demands besides taxes. Like if we want to have a place to live, we need to pay rent or take out a mortgage. We might have plenty of cash, but some of it has to go towards life’s necessities, like food and clothing. And of course, if we have people who are dependent on us, like children, we have additional demands on our income (like more food, clothing, transportation, and their education). Such responsibilities are normal in our society. A parent would seem crazy who argued they shouldn’t have to supply their infant child with food and diapers. Providing for a child is part of being a parent; just as taking care of our own needs is part of being an adult; and paying various kinds of taxes is part of living in our society. Certain demands on us are just part of life.
But everything belongs to God. Here’s an important reminder. Every created thing belongs to God. Scripture says, “The cattle on 1000 hills,” but in today’s terms that means the cars in our garages, the balances in our checkbooks and 401ks, every thing, everywhere. Reformer John Calvin claimed, if God were to withdraw God’s hand from creation for even a moment, everything would dissolve into nothing, because God made everything and sustains the universe every second. So everything belongs to God.
But most importantly for our thinking today, we belong to God. When the adversaries try to trap Jesus about taxes, Jesus asks for a coin. The image on it is Caesar’s so the one carrying it is already bearing a certain allegiance to Caesar. Might as well pay the tax. Jesus is making a bigger point than arguing a tax issue. He is asking us to remember whose image we bear. External coin or no coin, each of us is created in the image of Yahweh God. Caesar might get the little tax coin, but every single person (and every single created thing in the entire world) belongs to God. If the tax coin is going to support the Jewish Temple, go ahead and pay it. Jesus is calling us beyond a mere question about taxes. He calls us to pay attention to how we spend all our time (which totally belongs to God), all our money (which totally belongs to God), all our possessions (which totally belong to God). He is calling us most importantly to notice in whose image we are each created. Whose image is stamped on us? Excuse the sexist reference here: The first chapter of the Bible says: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them...” (Gen. 1:27) So Jesus is asking us to recall the One who made us; whose love and breath animate us; and who deserves our everything, because of course, all we possess belongs to God anyway. We know God loves us with outrageous generosity, so each of us belongs completely, totally, unconditionally to God.
So, we respond by giving. Our inner being needs to acknowledge God’s love by offering love in return. In our deepest parts we are connected to God, whose holy love for us sustains us every day. So it makes sense that we respond with generosity. Now granted there are lots of ways we can respond to God’s merciful generosity. Here, each Sunday we offer our worship. And we serve in various ways to carry out the ministry of Jesus through St. Andrew. We also reach out to those who are hurting or in need. We commit to following the teachings of Jesus. As we prepare to turn in our talent commitment sheets next Sunday as part of our stewardship season, we appropriately consider ways we offer our talents for God’s use. And we also take time to consider how our lives respond to God by our financial giving. Our loving Creator is the One who pours out blessings on us every day, so we make offerings to show our gratitude.
In the First Testament, people were taught to make offerings of the first part of their harvest, bringing the actual produce to the Temple, or burning certain oils to offer God pleasing odors, or even offering animal sacrifices. We don’t usually make those kinds of offerings anymore, but we can still make various kinds of offerings. Every Sunday we are invited to respond to God’s unconditional love of us by making a financial offering. Putting something in the plate or clicking through with a contribution on the website is a way to give thanks to God for all God does for us. Certainly God doesn’t need to see us make an offering to know how grateful we are, but when we make an offering, it reminds us of our gratitude to God. In addition, with each offering, we further God’s purposes for love, mercy, and justice for the Earth.
We know, our offerings support the important ministry St. Andrew does in the name of Jesus Christ. For instance, we can bring anyone here to worship, knowing they will be welcome. But it’s more than merely welcoming folks on Sunday. A member once told me of a death in the family of an unchurched neighbor. Before talking with me or anyone else in leadership, she said to the neighbor, “If the family needs a place, I know you can use our church.” And she was right, of course. St Andrew is a place where we extend the love of Christ, however it’s needed. So of course, we give, because as a congregation, we are attempting to live out our Christian faith in tangible ways, trying to show our love for Jesus by being the church we believe God is calling us to be. So out of gratitude for God’s abundant blessings poured out on us, and out of a desire to see St Andrew continue to flourish carrying out the ministry of Jesus Christ into the decades to come, of course, we give.