29^th Sunday in O.T.; October 22, 2017

Is 45:1,4-6   Ps 96   1 Thes 1:1-5b   Mt 22:15-21

Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison & SJB

 

                        We’ve just heard one of the famous passages of the entire Gospel: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21). It’s teasingly straightforward, so straightforward that it can’t be made simpler, and yet its meaning is not so obvious.

Take this expression: American Catholics. What is the adjective and what is the noun? It’s important that we get it right because one interpretation reflects our right relationship with God. A false interpretation lands us in idolatry. How so? Some years ago the Pew Research Foundation polled Catholics as to what had their ultimate allegiance—the nation or their Catholic faith—and 60% of those surveyed opted for their country over their faith. That’s idolatry because there is only one true God and the U.SA. is not God and, therefore, is not due our absolute allegiance, but only our relative commitment: ‘relative’ to what: relative to God’s purposes. And, when there is a conflict, we give God our ultimate due.

Before we unpack what the Gospel quote may mean, let’s turn to our first reading taken from (second) Book of Isaiah, which tells us that God is one, there is no other; there are no other gods other than the Lord. Nothing trumps God—even the powerful Cyrus. Emperor of the Persians, he was part of larger plan, namely Salvation History in which this non-believer would play a part in allow the Israelites to return home from their Babylonian Captivity. There is God and there are his creatures: therefore, only God can claim our absolute allegiance in which we surrender our whole heart and soul because he is the ground of our being and our destiny. He is the center of our lives and everything else, including our national allegiance, is secondary and relative to him and his purposes.

With this backdrop, let’s now look at the Gospel passage about the legitimacy of the tribute paid to Caesar which contains Jesus’ famous one-liner.   Jesus was being goaded by the Pharisees, who wanted to give him a religious exam in order to trip him up, to trap him. What is the trap? Would Jesus align himself with the foreign occupiers by accepting payment of taxes to Rome, and so offend the Jewish religious sensibilities or would he reject payment of taxes to Rome, which would be deemed seditious and potentially treasonous to the Roman occupiers.

In the past Jesus was very comfortable in avoiding questions designed to trap him, but in this case, regarding the source of authority he felt compelled to address the relationship between God and emperor, or church and state. This was a relevant and urgent question as it is today.

Jesus asked the questioners, therefore, to “show me the coin used for the tax,” and they showed him a denarius. Its image was most likely of Tiberius, who styled his coins to as “Tiberius Caesar son of the divine Augustus,” thereby attributing divinity both to his father and himself. When the Pharisees identify the coin as Caesar’s, Jesus says, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

            So, who is owed what? The tribute to Caesar must be paid because his image is on the coin. Give to Caesar what is his due: taxes are needed to run the country. But, for a human being we do not put Caesar’s image on our countenance. Rather, we carry in ourselves another image, that of God, and it is to him alone that each one owes his or her existence. Caesar doesn’t give us our being, but God alone does. That’s why God is due our absolute allegiance and not the state.

An anonymous writer of the Early Church put this beautifully: “The image of God is not impressed on gold, but on the human race. Caesar’s coin is gold, God’s coin is humanity…Therefore give your riches to Caesar but keep for God the unique innocence of our conscience, where God is contemplated….Caesar, in fact, asked that his image be on every coin, but God chose man, whom he created to reflect his glory” (Anonymous, Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 42).

O.K., we give to Caesar his little denarius of that is what he wants, but that is not what really matters. But, here’s the key: in the ultimate scheme of things, everything belongs to God! Since God is the creator of all, everything belongs to God including Caesar!

Brothers and sisters, this calls for acknowledging and professing publicly—in the face of any kind of temporal power—that God alone is the Lord of mankind, that there is no other.

            That is why we (render) “to God the things that are God’s,” which means being docile to the Father’s will, devoting our lives to him and working for his kingdom of mercy, love, and peace.

So, People of God, who’s image is on your face? Caesar or God’s? If it’s God, then give God his due: namely, give him everything you are and everything you have. In so doing embrace the mission of the Church, which is exactly the same as Christ’s: to speak of God to all nations, to remember that he alone is due our allegiance because he, not Caesar, is our absolute sovereign, and to remind all, especially Christians who have been seduced by culture, who have lost sight of their true identity, of the right of God to what belongs to him, that is OUR VERY LIFE! Amen.