In today’s Gospel Jesus puts those who have come to trip him up in their place. They put a question to him which is meant to put him in what we family therapists call a “double bind,” a place either choice leads to trouble.
The Pharisees and Herodians themselves disagreed about paying taxes to the Roman government, but they were united in wanting to diminish the power and influence of Jesus. Their question was, “Is it lawful (in Jewish law) to pay required taxes to the Roman government or not?” If Jesus answered “no” to their question about paying Roman taxes, the Herodians could use it against him to say to Roman authorities that he was an insurrectionist. If he said “yes,” the Pharisees could use it against him with the people who saw him as a prophet, but who resented the tax because it was levied irrespective of income and because it had to be paid with a Roman coin with an image of Caesar on it, and using a coin with an image of a ruler was against Jewish law.
Jesus dodges their theological bullet by asking for a coin. “Whose image is on it?” he asks. They answer “Caesar’s.” He then replies, “Then repay to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God’s.”
Today, our taxes are often taken out of our paychecks before we receive them. If we were to pay cash, there would be no reason by our Christianity to refuse to use money with a President’s picture. The surface issue in the Scripture is not our issue. But the DEEPER meaning of “and repay to God what is God’s” is very relevant. This story and the other readings can lead us to consider some matters in our own lives about how we interact and set value in a culture which has many values that are very different from Christian standards.
Matthew 22:15-21
“Repay to God what is God’s.” What in our lives belongs to God? Four things this week came to me: Life, the Natural World, Stability, and Dominion. That is not meant to represent an exhaustive list. It is simply the list that emerged from prayer this week. I am at my beloved St. Meinrad Archabbey, taking stock of myself. I turned 75 last month. What is God’s will for me as I age? These are some ponderings…perhaps they will stimulate some pondering for you, too.
Life—God gives us life. Life and death are his to determine. God has a right to give life at conception and to call us home at death—a core, core concept of Jewish and Christian faith from the time of Abraham in Genesis up until the 20th century. How do I proclaim that by how I live as I age? Through friendships, as friends age and face serious illness? How do I continue to support life issues across the great polar divides: Against abortion, for social and medical supports for expectant mothers, their children, fathers, and families? For the needs and concerns of immigrants and refugees? For the needs and concerns of those who are different in any way? For the needs of those at war and those who are in harms way in war zones?
I’ve worked many years to support God’s dominion over life and death? I may be out of the front lines now, but what is still mine to do?
The Natural World—God created and continues to inhabit the natural world we live in—the seasons, time, ecology, the rhythms and forces of nature. One of those forces of nature is that older bodies and minds can’t do what young ones can. It is important to accept aging and work with it—which, in my case, means I need to spend more time attending to things like exercise and rest. How do I age with grace—God’s grace?
Stability—where God puts us, what God leads us to do, how we are meant to bloom in the particular garden God plants us in. How do I spend my time? How do I use my talents NOW? How do I care for people God puts in my life?
Dominion—that comes to mind from today’s first reading from Isaiah 45:1, 4-6. This reading is from what is often called “Second Isaiah,” chapters 40-55. This is an explanation for the Jews in exile of how come it is they will get to return to Israel now. One of the great gifts of the Jewish faith was that it put God in history. More primitive religions had the world of the gods and the world of people. The world of people was ruled by the world of the gods, but there was no sense of God choosing and working with people in time—with the events of history. We, as Christians take it for granted that that is how God works—that God continues to work in history, in time.
At a personal level, that raises the question, “How does God have dominion over me? To what extent is Jesus my Lord and Savior? What does it look like?
These are my questions, being answered this week as I attend a preached retreat and spend time thinking and praying. Are there similar questions for you in your life.
I Thessalonians 1:1-5b
In this brief greeting from the oldest Christian Scripture we have, this is what stands out: “how you were chosen. For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”
The Holy Spirit IS PRESENT in every baptized person, even more so in every confirmed person, even more so in each and every person who seeks to follow his direction. Ah, yes, the Holy Spirit IS GOD. The Holy Spirit is God alive in me.
Application
How do I give to God what belongs to God? How do I depend on the Holy Spirit to discern what is of God and what is not? How do I follow the Holy Spirit to give to God what belongs to God—including, by choices I have made and continue to make, me, his disciple.
Prayer
This prayer to the Holy Spirit by Cardinal Mercier comes to mind,
Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul. I adore you. Guide me, console me, strengthen me, enlighten me, give me your orders. I promise to do whatever you ask of me and accept whatever you permit to happen to me. Let me only know your will.
