22nd Sunday after Pentecost Proper 24

Then he said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22;21

I did not preach on the gospel lesson this week, so a few thoughts about that lesson.

Jesus says we are to render what is Caesar's and render what are the things that are God's. But aren't all things God's? Don't we receive from God all that there is, all of us all of our abilities?

I think Jesus is trying to say that we should first and foremost render to God, thanking and praising Him for everything, then give to our government.

And notice, Jesus has in a sense separated the state from religion. Give to Caesar, give to God.

But I think he is also saying that God is above all things including Caesar.

A closing story says it well about where our priorities should be.

"What we need," a wise member reasoned, "is to cultivate generous hearts."
We then made a covenant to invite people every Sabbath to the cross. Every
sermon, every song, every drama would in someway highlight the cross of Jesus.

We agreed that as people contemplate the generous grace of God, their hearts
would naturally respond in generous grace to God.

That proved to be a life-defining moment. Not only did the experience revamp
giving in our church (for the next four years we rarely missed making our
budget), it also caused me to do some deep reflecting about my own motives for
giving to God.

Really, there is only one reason to give to God, and that is because He's
given so generously to us.

Milo Kaufman said it well: "Christian stewardship most certainly is not a
scheme to deprive men of their cash. It is the natural consequence of an
experience with God-the natural reaction of the human heart that has been
touched by the divine spirit." 1



1Karl Haffner is senior pastor of the Walla Walla College Church and writes
from College Place, Wash.