Whose Coin Is It Anyways - A Sermon for Sunday October 22 2023

GOSPEL: Matthew 22:15-22

The holy gospel according to Matthew.

Glory to you, O Lord.

After Jesus begins teaching in the temple, religious leaders try to trap him with questions. First they ask if God’s people should pay taxes to an earthly tyrant like Caesar.

15Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap [Jesus] 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.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Why was Jesus killed?

Scripture teaches us that there are 3 main reasons:

Jesus was accused for being a traitor,

a terrorist, and a blasphemer.

The focus is often on the latter -

that Jesus claimed to be God.

Yet Jesus was killed on a Roman cross;

Big or small,

Jesus was a threat to the Roman Empire,

Jesus was considered a terrorist because

he spoke about tearing down the temple

and rebuilding it in 3 days.

It was a metaphor,

Jesus was talking about his resurrection,

but to some it sounded like terrorism.

It is hard to make claims like this

in a Roman occupied city

and live to tell about it.

The Romans were quick to crucify zealots and insurrectionists:

they wanted peace,

and not the kind of peace that Jesus is talking about.

Maybe that’s what Jesus meant by saying

“I didn’t not come to bring peace, but a sword”

We’ve heard stories and parables in recent weeks

that arose after Jesus tossed

the money changers tables at the temple,

driving dove-sellers out with a whip -

interrupting,

challenging,

attempting to overturn

this economic system that was

oppressing the people

and helping to procure

Roman taxation.

Today’s text is another story in this saga

of Jesus’ teachings which some considered problematic.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?

By lawful, think Torah, think about God’s law,

Is it in accordance with the Torah

that we pay taxes to the emperor?

This was a trick question, and Jesus knows it -

If Jesus openly says “don’t pay taxes”

then the Pharisees & the Jews will like it,

riots and insurrection would likely follow,

and Jesus will certainly be in trouble

with the Roman authorities.

If Jesus says “pay taxes” then the Jews will think

he is condoning an oppressive taxation system,

from the colonizing powers

who usurped the land that belongs to God.

There was also a common belief,

one that is still out there today,

that the governing authorities are in power

because it is God’s will,

so you have to obey the government.

So Jesus does what Jesus often does with the trick question -

Jesus reframes the question.

Jesus asks for the coin used for the tax -

a brilliant move really,

because certainly Jesus does not have one

in his pocket.

Jesus lived a life of poverty -

Taxation was not really a concern

for how Jesus lived his life.

You can’t pay taxes on zero income.

Asking for the coin also shows that it is the people -

loyal and not loyal to Rome -

that they are the ones living in this dichotomy

and that they are the ones who need to make a choice. Earlier in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus spoke those words -

“No one can serve two masters,

a slave will hate the one and be devoted to the other,

or be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and wealth!”

Jesus’ answer to today’s riddle cannot be understood

as a compromise between

serving God and serving the emperor.

The coin itself that Jesus asks to see

would have included blasphemous writing -

essentially saying the emperor is God!

Further to this,

bringing forth a Roman coin

is producing a graven image

in the Jewish temple.

Graven images are forbidden by the Torah,

the Jewish law.

In that time and place,

producing the coin inside the temple

displays their allegiance

to the one claiming to be God

rather than obedience to the God of the Torah.

This trick question, this riddle if you will,

Jesus answers with a riddle of his own -

Jesus says

“Give therefore to the emperor

the things that are the emperor's,

and to God the things that are God’s.”

It is another way of saying who do you serve?

Do you serve God or wealth?

Who is your God?

The emperor,

or YHWH, the God of all history?

We should also recall that today’s story

happens immediately after a series of

Landowner parables

that Jesus has taught in the temple,

particularly to the Pharisees.

Jesus is clear - God is the owner of the land -

everything belongs to God.

They are in the Temple,

in the very place where Psalm 24 is proclaimed:

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it;

the world and all who live in it.”

and again from Leviticus 25: 23

the land shall not be sold in perpetuity,

for the land is mine.

If everything belongs to God -

then, even that coin with Caesar’s face on it

belongs to God.

It is quite easy for Jesus to be interpreted here as saying

“Don’t pay your taxes”,

and I am convinced that this is what

some people heard,

and it played a significant role in Jesus’ arrest.

Arguably, Jesus didn’t take this far enough

for the people

who lived under the plight of the conqueror.

Remember when Jesus was on trial,

Pilate offered to set one prisoner free:

Do you want me to release Jesus the King of the Jews,

or Barabbas,

the violent insurrectionist against the Roman Empire.

The people chose violent insurrectionist.

Is it lawful?

Ultimately, Jesus is saying “you decide”

Give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s,

Give to God that which is God’s.

But, everything belongs to God.

For us today,

I don’t think the question is quite the same;

I don’t think it’s about whether you and I

should pay our taxes or not.

The question is about allegiance.

We can ask ourselves;

who do we serve?

God or wealth?

Is our allegiance to God?

And more importantly - Who is our God?

Martin Luther wrote in the Large Catechism:

Anything on which your heart relies and depends,

I say, that is really your God.

or

that in which you place your trust,

that is your god.

When it comes to your security,

your comfort,

your purpose,

your identity,

that in which you place your trust,

that which you run to when things go wrong,

that is your god.

If you trust in your savings to keep you secure,

then that is your god.

If you trust in that app or that website

to make you feel better,

that is your god.

Do we find our comfort

with that device,

or with that food,

or sex,

or alcohol,

the list of possible gods is long.

Allegiance:

Church, denomination,

Governments, political ideology,

sports teams,

car brands,

the list is long of those seeking our allegiance.

The truth is there really is only one God worth trusting.

We are invited to take a leap of faith -

and trust that Jesus’ words

from the previous parables are true,

that God is the great Landowner -

That nothing belongs to Caesar,

everything belongs to God.

The shoes on my feet,

the house and land I live upon,

my car,

this building,

everything is God’s.

So the call for you and I,

in taking this leap of faith,

for people who want to follow Christ,

to be a disciple of Jesus

for more than just an hour or two on Sundays;

is to live our lives in a manor

that places our trust in God above all else -

the God who owns the earth and everything in it.

I’ve said this before,

we show what matters to us

with our visa bills and calendars;

with how we spend our time and money.

Take a look at the credit card bill or the bank statement -

it will show where our allegiance is -

it might just show in whom or in what

we really place our trust.

Believe it or not,

The decisions that we make

with how we spend our money,

make a significant impact in our society.

When we head over to the fast food restaurant

we are saying with our money that,

at least in that exact moment,

that convenience is more important to us than healthy food.

When you buy fair trade coffee,

you are saying that equitable farming

is important to you.

When we buy our groceries at a store

that pays its employees fair wages and benefits,

we are supporting equitable employment practices.

Consequently, when we spend our money at a store

that does not offer fair wages and benefits,

We are supporting unethical employment practices.   

When you give money to the church,

or Canadian Lutheran World Relief,

or to homeless ministry,

or to refugee ministries,

you are saying that that’s what matters to you -

You are saying that you want to get on board

with God’s work in the world in that way.

I’d like to invite you into an exercise,

one that helps us remember

where and in whom we place our trust.

I’ll ask the ushers to help hand out sharpies.

Friends at home:

I invite you to find a sharpie or permanent marker.

I invite you dig into your wallets,

your purses, your pockets -

I invite you to take out your credit card,

your debit card,

maybe your cheque book,

or even your wallet itself,

You can even do it with your smartphone

if you use that to purchase items.

I invite you to take out that sharpie

and mark the payment method

with the sign of the cross.

May it remind us that

the choices we make with our money

will make a difference in the big picture.

When we’re shopping,

when we see that cross -

may it remind us to place our trust in God

with how we spend our money.

It might seem like a tough task,

trusting God with our financial decisions

but take heart!

Like the coin,

like the land,

like everything that exists,

You too belong to God,

you too are of immeasurable worth in God’s eyes -

worth more than a coin with Caesar’s head on it,

worth more than the Visa bill,

in God’s eyes, you are worth living and dying for.

Give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar,

and give to God that which belongs to God.

Let us pray… God, we give you thanks that you are up to something in our community, that you are up to something in our hearts and minds. we ask for that gift of faith to trust in you above all else. Help us to see the impact that we have in our world, and we ask for the gift of your Spirit to move and guide us, that what we say and what we do would align with your will. So move us, so change us, O God, in Jesus name. Amen.