A worker at a U.S. mint inspects coins.
Originally posted October 19, 2011, at A Constant Stream of Grace. Republished with permission of the author.
When the Pharisees and Herodians tried to trap Jesus into saying something damaging, they asked him about paying taxes to the emperor. “Is that right or not?” “Should we or shouldn’t we?”
Jesus responded by asking to see a coin. Turning it over in his hand, he asked one question and then another. “Whose image is imprinted here?” “And whose title is this?”
“The emperor’s.”
“Then give it to the emperor. And give to God what belongs to God.”
Jesus asked them, “Who minted this coin? Who made this money?”
God isn’t much interested in the things that are made by emperors, and surely not impressed with their money — or any money for that matter.
See, money is nothing more than an agreement among people about the value of copper disks and pieces of paper.
Those coins and bills represent agreements that facilitate our bartering, trading and commercial activity. And, while helpful, they tend to spawn heightened greed and hoarding. Desire for money misdirects the hearts, minds and vocations of many.
Jesus says, “Give it all to the one who made it. And give to God the things God made.”
This should give us pause. If the emperor mints money, what does God mint? What does God make? What belongs to God?
When I try to answer that question, I come up with interesting answers. God invented joy. And shalom. And understanding, wisdom, might and compassion.
God minted generosity. And faithfulness. Family, creativity, hope and love. God minted mercy.
If I attempt to give back to God the things God has made, I find myself in a whole-body, whole-mind, whole-spirit, whole-belonging and whole-wealth endeavor.
A 10 percent tithe is not what God desires. God desires that my every action, every expenditure, every thought contribute to the kind of peaceable reign God has minted for all of us. No wonder the Pharisees and Herodians walked away in amazement.
Find a link to Laura Holck’s entry on the blog A Constant State of Grace at Lutheran Blogs.
You might also want to read:
Faith, prayer and taxes
What’s Caesar’s? What’s God’s?
What’s stewardship all about?
For all that God desires that our "every action, every expenditure, every thought contribute to the kind of peaceable reign God has minted for all of us", we're a long ways short of that mark. Where is God hiding this 'peaceable reign' that is supposedly minted for us? It's not in Afghanistan. It's not in Iraq. It's not in Libya. Given Occupy Wall Street, the violence associated with that, or the economy, it doesn't look like it's here in the US either. It's nice that God wants us to work for peace. What's God going to do about it?
Did Jesus just come back to remind the Pharisees about the Law? I recall a Pharisee declaring about 30 years after Jesus' death that without Jesus he was faultless in regards to the Law...similarly the Gospels record a lot of righteousness in the Pharisees and certainly attest to their knowledge of God's Law. The problem is that Jesus is not a reminder of the Law, He is the fulfillment of it. Those Pharisees react to Christ's fulfillment of the Law by crucifying and killing Him, rendering to Caesar what is Caesar and giving God His peace in a grave.
Yet, it is in the very midst of this that God is minting a peaceable reign. Where there is death, God is creating life. God has taken that peace of the grave and has made it a new peace... one of life. It's not about us giving back to God, but it is about us receiving from God. This is God's gift of mercy, for us. God gives us the forgiveness, joy, understanding, wisdom, might, compassion, generosity, faithfulness, etc. We receive that gift and we get to give that to others. And thus does God's Word come back to Him unempty, but full of the fruit it has borne in our hearts.