TO COIN A PHRASE

A Sermon by the Rev. Dr. John A. Dalles

Sunday October 18, 2020

Shadyside Presbyterian Church

Psalm 99; Matthew 22:15-22

 

Over in the West End, just off Noblestown Road there is a street you may have driven on. It has a funny kind of a name.  The name is Obey Street.  Obey Street may or may not make you wonder – Obey whom?  Obey our parents, our teachers, our boss.  Is that what comes to mind?  We obey the government. Especially when it requires us to do things like obey traffic laws.  Or to obey tax laws.

       When I hear the word Obey, I think of that phrase that Jesus coined in this portion of the Gospels.  Render unto Caesar. Of course this passage is familiar to us as it appears in the King James version where it says render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars. Give to the emperor is the updated translation, which may convey more clearly the message but the phrase rendering to Caesar has come down to us from this passage until today. It’s used by people who may not even know where it came from. But they do know what it means. It means that we have to give a certain amount of our wherewithal to the government. Like it or not.  

But there’s more to the story than that.  Because the reality is Jesus doesn’t answer the question that they ask him. Instead he takes the conversation to another level. He put before them the whole matter of deciding what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God.  He doesn’t state what those things are.  He wants them to understand it through the eyes of faith and in their hearts and their daily living. Well really, he wants us to understand it.  He’s pretty aware that neither of these two groups are really going to get it, anyway.

And so when he says RENDER UNTO CAESAR, He both deflects the question and calls upon us to search our hearts and minds in spirit for an answer. Probably one that will take us further than ever would’ve taken the Pharisees in the Herodians.

Before we leave the Pharisees and the Herodians behind. Which everyone is glad to do. Just a reminder first of all the denarius was Roman currency. Biblical scholars tell us that faithful Jews did not permit Roman currency into the temple precincts to be used as offerings. Yet isn’t it interesting when Jesus asks the Pharisees and Herodians to produce a coin, there in the temple precincts, what they have and hand him quickly but a denarius. So they were carrying that image of Cesar right into God‘s temple. They, who thought themselves superior in all matters religious to our Lord and Savior. Do keep in mind is that these two groups had nothing in common except the fact that they were not at all happy with Jesus. And the effect that he was having on the people. And the fact that he was exposing their own hypocrisy. Otherwise they had nothing in common. And hated each other‘s guts.

The question brings the occasion for everyone to ponder the question and Jesus’ reply.  To say, “All right what really does belong to and should be rendered unto Caesar. And what really does belong to God and should be rendered on to God?” When we ask those questions, our faith is shaped. We make decisions about how we use our resources. Our time. Our money. Our energies. And so much more. What will be buy. What will we save.  What shall we give. And to whom?

 

If we’re going to be paying our taxes to the government as we should, a modern-day version of RENDERING TO CAESAR, we are also called upon to give to God what is God’s. We give to God what is God’s whenever we love our neighbor.  We give to God what is God’s when we value one another. We give to God what is God when we respect one another. And we give to God even as we forgive others, and ask for their forgiveness.

Another way of saying it is, we’re going to give Cesar whatever is rightfully Caesars. But we’re not going to give Cesar anything more than that. At the same time, we’re going to give God what is rightfully God’s. And no matter which way we approach that philosophy, we end up with the same viewpoint: We are going to give God everything. All that we have.  All that we are. All that we hope for. All that is dear to us.

So, how am I using what God has given me?  When we understand that God has given us everything, then will ask that question about everything. For instance, we love our families dearly. How are we in trusting them to God, praying for them, guiding them in the paths that lead to righteousness, and honoring who they are? The same is true of everyone else we meet. The same is true of everyone that we work with. The same is true of every gift and talent that we have. Are we putting it to use for the very best and highest purposes, along the lines of Jesus Christ? Or for something less. Are we rendering it to God? Let’s pray that we are.

What belongs to God? Our deepest self belongs to God.  Just take a moment like that settle in. Our deepest self belongs to God; so of course we will give our deepest self to God.  We will render to God the things we are most worried about.  The things we pray about. The things that would otherwise keep us awake all night. There is that time of relinquishing these things. And saying: I give myself to you God. I give my worries and troubles to you God. I give my highest praise to you. What a wonderful sign of faith it is when in the worst of times, we give God our best. And in the most challenging of times, we give it to God in hopefulness and trust. 

Do you not know that God entrusted you with money (and all that it provides) so that you can: buy necessities for your families, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, as far as it will go, relieve the wants of all humankind?  We can and we dare honor the Lord by applying what we have to God’s great and good purposes. It is not so much whose face is impressed upon that coin, as it is whose love is impressed upon your heart.

We cannot say that "this part belongs to God, so I will give it to God." Everything we are and everything we have belongs to God. Everything we are and everything we have we are to give (back) to God. We are but mere managers or stewards of these gifts God has given to us.

Just off Noblestown Road there is a street named Obey…

When I hear the word Obey, I think of that old hymn – Trust and Obey.  That is what our scripture passage is reminding us to do.  

Trust and obey,

for there’s no other way,

to be happy in Jesus.

Than to trust and obey. Amen.