October 16-22
October 19, 2014
Cross~Wind UMC
Title: Christianity:
Is it as Simple as Giving?
Image: Quarter or
dollar bill – what is on it?
Introduction – see
article
Jesus said, “Show me the money.”
Actually, he said, “Show me the coin.” So, let’s talk about coins.
The first national coin was minted in 1776, fully authorized by the
Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin provided the basic design for this
pewter dollar, inscribed with the word fugio — Latin for “I fly.” This word was
paired with an image of a sundial, to depict how “time flies.”
Franklin must have anticipated how money would fly away someday — at
the gas pump.
According to mental_floss magazine (September-October 2007), the coin
also bears the odd phrase, “Mind your business.”
What is that all about? Sage advice to the small businessperson? The
words of a cranky mint worker, telling outsiders to buzz off?
Hard to say. What is clear is that this sassy slogan has not hurt the
coin’s value. A Continental Dollar could be sold today for at least $1,500.
Look at a typical American coin today, and you will see the words E
Pluribus Unum, Latin for “From many, one.” Sounds like a noble sentiment,
describing the unity of our 50 diverse states. But the truth is that our
founding fathers plagiarized these inspiring words from the title page of a
British book, published every year by Gentleman’s Magazine. It was an anthology
of articles, and the slogan meant “From many magazines, one book.”
That is kind of like finding a new national slogan in the pages of GQ.
What does your money say to you?
So … what is in your wallet? What does your money say to you?
I fly? Mind your business? E Pluribus Unum? In God We Trust?
What the coin said to Jesus was: “Give to the emperor the things that
are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
There is a lot of meaning to be found in money.
Sociologist Robert Wuthnow points out that Americans have a
taboo against talking about money. In his book God and Mammon in America,
he reports that very few ever discuss personal finances with people outside
their immediate family. In the course of a year, “82% said they had never or
hardly ever discussed their income, 89% said they had not discussed their
family budget, 76% said this about their major purchases, 75% said they had not
discussed worries they might have had about money, and 92% said the same about
their giving to charities.”
In contrast, Jesus was never afraid to talk about money.
In his book A Stewardship
Scrapbook, William R. Phillippe notes that the Reformer John Calvin taught
that material goods are instruments of God.
“Money becomes the means God uses to help
persons. So God put wealth at our disposal … so that we may organize our life
and the life of our community … to bring shalom, the fullest possible,
sustainable life for all persons everywhere … to organize the society in which
we live in a responsible way, in solidarity with all others. But Calvin also
warned that the devil brings sin among us, and we become selfish and ingrown
and try to insulate and isolate ourselves from the community. Thereby, we
negate the good values of our money. We then come to idolize our money and give
it a place it should not have, so that it becomes divine and has power over
us.”
Maybe these reflections should lead
us to re-consider the roll of money in our lives.
Who steals my purse steals trash—
‘tis something–nothing,
‘Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands—
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
—William Shakespeare, Othello: Act 3, 3, 159–164; lines spoken by Iago
There is certainly a lot of meaning to be found in money. Jesus knows
that money is a major factor in the shaping of our lives, and he focuses on it
a great deal in his ministry — more than he emphasizes human sexuality. In
fact, his focus on money is second only to the kingdom of God.
Going deeper
Matthew 22:15-22 is a pronouncement
story on tribute to Caesar. The source is Mark. The context in Matthew is that
this incident becomes the first of four test questions Matthew presents us in
22:15-46. For Matthew, the crucial factor is not the substance of the
controversies, but the fact that the Pharisees and other leaders are seeking to
discredit Jesus because they perceive him as a threat to their authority. The
response of Jesus tends to redirect his opponents back to the authority of God
rather than to the political or religious authorities in question.
Matthew begins by letting us know
that the Pharisees (religious authorities who combined strict Torah observance
with the political reality of going along to get along) plotted to entrap (with
deception and deceit) him in what he said. They sent their disciples to him,
along with secular political authorities from Herod who supported his continued
reign in Palestine. Thus, we already know that this is no innocent inquiry
seeking the opinion of Jesus. They want him to choose a side in a controversial
political and religious controversy. They want him to commit himself either to
subversion of Roman authority (if he counsels not to pay the tax) or opposition
to popular discontent with Roman rule (if he counsels to pay). According to
Josephus, the religious leaders helped to collect the tax, even though many
Jews objected to paying the Roman tax on theological grounds (Josephus, Jewish War, 2.403-5). Resentment of
Roman taxation had sparked pockets of revolt throughout Judea and Galilee in
recent years. The question of taxation by and for a foreign power represented a
rather heated topic, and one that could easily cause the crowds, who resent the
tax, to turn against Jesus on the one hand or cause the Roman officials to take
note of his revolutionary ideas on the other hand.
The questioners begin with
addressing Jesus as teacher, a title that Jesus did not earn through the formal
education of receiving instruction from a rabbi. Yet, the response of Jesus
here and in other controversies demonstrates he earned the title rightly. In
any case, the point of addressing Jesus in this way is to challenge the
validity of the title. They begin by saying that they know he is sincere, teach
the way of God in accord with truth, and show deference to no one for he shows
no partiality. While all of these things are true of Jesus, the point is to set
up Jesus. They use true statements for prideful and perverted purposes.
The questioners get to the point by
asking whether Jesus thinks it lawful (according to Torah) to pay taxes to the
emperor. The point of the question is to get Jesus to alienate himself from the
crowds, who hate the Roman tax, or to proclaim a treasonous political point of
view. The Torah forbids the selling of the land to outsiders, for it belongs to
God, as said in Leviticus 25:23. Thus, from a strictly literal view, Caesar, as
an illegal usurper of God's holy land, is clearly not entitled to collect taxes
or tribute from God's people.
Jesus was aware of their malice. He
addresses them as hypocrites. He is accusing them of strict adherence to
details of religious tradition and adherence in contradiction to true
righteousness and faithfulness. They see clearly violations of strict religious
law, but they are blind to the in-breaking of God’s kingdom in Jesus and his
teaching. They are more concerned with protecting their own authority and
prestige than with ascertaining God’s will and way in their lives and the lives
of the people they lead. Jesus asks why they test him. The term for “test” is
used in Matthew 4:7; 16:1; and 19:3 to denote circumstances where opponents
have sought to lure Jesus away from his purpose and direction or to trick him
into stumbling into trouble. He then asks them to show him the coin used for
the tax, and they brought him a denarius. It was a brilliant stroke of debate.
They fell right into Jesus' trap. Their ability to do this blatantly validates
Jesus' reference to them as "hypocrites." The excruciating precision
of Pharisaic obedience to Torah law would include forbidding the observant from
handling, much less dealing with Roman coinage. As cleverly demonstrated by
Jesus in the continuing discussion, Caesar's likeness is clearly stamped on
these coins‑‑a violation of the law against "graven images" (Exodus
20:4). A typical Roman coin of this era would be stamped with the image of the
reigning emperor's head on one side, while the flip side would be inscribed
with the ruler's title and divine status:
"Tiberius Caesar, Son of the Divine Augustus." He then asked
them whose head and title is on the coin. They answered the emperor’s. His
pronouncement is that they are to give to the emperor the things that belong to
the emperor, and to God the things that belong to God. Jesus’ retort to the question
of taxes is a masterful bit of mysterious wordplay. He avoids the trap laid for him by the
question without really resolving the issue: he does not advise them to pay the
tax and he does not advise them not to pay the tax; he advises them to know the
difference between the claims of the emperor and the claims of God. Jesus
offers the kind of witty reply that does not really answer the question posed
to Jesus. He does not tell his
questioners what to do, other than to decide the claims of God in relation to
the claims of the emperor. That sounds
like the perplexing answers Jesus typically gave those who put loaded questions
to him. The logic Jesus applies here seems straightforward. Since the denarius
is stamped with the Roman ruler's image and scripture, it is clearly his. What does this imply about the second half of
Jesus' response‑‑ "and to God the things that are God's"? Using the same logic, Jesus is saying that
all which bears God's image and inscription is God's. In Genesis 1:26, that
which bears the image of God is clearly identified‑‑ you and me. Thus,
"what belongs to God" is none other than one's entire self. Contrary to some interpretations of this
text, Jesus does not divide human existence into two distinct realms: one
secular and the other sacred. These are not "separate but equal"
demands made on human beings. The denarii Jesus counsels giving to Caesar are
pitifully insignificant in comparison to that which one owes to God‑‑one's
whole being.
The response of those who hear was
amazement. They left him alone.
The early Christian interpretation of this story affirmed
the Christian obligation to pay the tax.
Paul struggled with this issue in Romans 13:1-7 and came out on the side
of expedience: pay everyone their proper dues, including the civil authorities,
which have received their appointment from God.
Application
An essential part of love is giving. In love between persons, you give
yourself. Love involves sharing material goods, which we do at a personal level
in our families. The love God has for us means the giving of life and all that
surrounds us to sustain it. Our love for God is what we express in stewardship,
recognizing that we do not own anything. God has entrusted us with its care for
the time we are here.
It is true that we have to give some coins to the emperor — death and
taxes have been two of life’s certainties.
Nevertheless, beyond this we have a great deal of freedom to exercise
in the use of our assets, and it is good for us to learn how to be generous
with the money we have. “Giving is the way we can feel abundant,” says writer
Anne Lamott. “Giving is the way that we fill ourselves up.”
Sam Lloyd, the dean of Washington National Cathedral, has some
tremendous insights into stewardship — he makes the point that since we live in
a consumer culture, we need help in learning how to be generous. The poor can
help us, since they tend to practice greater generosity than the rich. The
Bible can help us, since it recommends the tithe — a 10-percent gift that helps
us to give in a disciplined way. Money is an important part of our spiritual
life, and we need to learn how to express our beliefs not only with our words,
but with our wallets.
So … what is in your wallet? What is it saying to you? And how are you
going to use it?
Lloyd notices that people will give generously when they believe that
there is an important mission at work, and when they see real opportunities to
advance God’s interests in the world.
Conclusion
Take a look at a typical American coin, and you won’t see the
inscription “Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, high priest.”
Instead, you will see the words “Liberty” and “In God We Trust.”
The phrase “In God We Trust” challenges us to rely on our good and
gracious God, and to believe that he will care for us in the future, just as he
has cared for us in the past. The word “Liberty” reminds us that we are free to
be generous in our giving, as faithful stewards of the great abundance that the
Lord has given us.
In a loving and generous God we trust, with liberty to support God’s
work in the world.
That is the meaning of money.
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