Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him 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.
-Matthew 22:15-22
“Render unto Caesar …” These words, which amazed Jesus’ audience with their astuteness, have become so familiar that today they roll off the tongue with hardly a thought; a handy shorthand, perhaps uttered with a sigh, for taking care of necessary bureaucratic affairs, the costs of being part of an organized society. Maybe, with a bit more reflection, these words help us to make our peace with the material world and its sometimes-unsavory aspects. Considered in this way, they can lead into a comfortable coexistence of the secular and the spiritual. Each can prevail in its sphere, and one needn’t trouble the other.
Yet, there is something that troubles me. I realize that this framing ends up giving more weight to the “things of Caesar.” It’s easy to focus in this story on the vexing question of what to do with material, secular, even unholy things. And having found some relief and clarity on those matters, I fall into the trap of the Pharisee’s trick question, breezing right past the last part of Jesus’ instruction: to dedicate to God “the things that are God’s.” What does this really mean? What do these “things of God’s” encompass, and what shall I do with them?
As I’ve been sitting with these questions, carrying them through my day, viewing my life and interactions through them, the scope grows. What, really, does not belong to God? Isn’t God present with us at every moment, giving us the opportunity to draw closer through our choices and actions and even simple habits of attention and intention? Doesn’t every material good ultimately come from God’s bounty? Even as we relinquish our dues to the emperor, is there anything, really, outside the scope of God’s love and concern?
As I’ve practiced carrying this expanded God-consciousness through my days, I find that doing so makes everything lighter. When I remember that everything and every moment belongs to God, I treat them more tenderly and more reverentially. From small things to large, they take on a shimmer of hope and possibility, and I wonder: is this what Jesus was trying to show us as a way-out of the trick question? Not an artificial separation between the things of the world and those of God, but a unified awareness that ultimately restores everything rightfully to God? What could my life, and yours, and our collective reality, look like if we lived in the light of this awareness?
Musical Reflection - When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God - Van Morrison
Almighty God, whose loving hand has giving us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor you with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for the Right Use of God’s Gifts, BCP p. 827
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