Giving to God
Good Morning Friends,
The Bible has story after story…experience after experience of God giving to humankind so we might reflect this constant image of love in how we are Giving to God.
Scripture: Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Matthew 22: 15-22 (NRSV)
27So God created humankind* in his image, in the image of God he created them;* male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s devotional is about money and images and kings. It is about what we own and what we do not. It is about the art of giving and the reality of hypocrites in the world. So let’s unpack this encounter with the Herodians and the Pharisees as these masters at deception and manipulation join together to try to discredit Jesus by asking him a clever question. First the setting. Jesus is feeding the multitudes and healing people and raising the dead and a growing group of people are thinking that he might be the Messiah and that his kingdom would be a kingdom of the people. Jesus would be a great…unstoppable leader. But there was a problem. Israel already had a power structure. One of the kings, King Herod had already chopped off the head of John the Baptist and in the background of it all was the power of Roman and Caesar. Here King Herod’s followers, the Herodians are joining forces with the Pharisees in an uneasy alliance and trying to bully Jesus to stop stirring up trouble. They wanted to trick him into answering a question that they could use to discredit him. It is really kind of comical how they try to butter up God and how Jesus sees right through the whole thing. When they ask, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Jesus asked them to look at the coin and explain whose image was on the coin, whose inscription. He was forcing them to confront the truth. When they replied ‘Caesar’s’, Jesus told them, famously, that the answer to their question was to ‘give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar — and to God what belongs to God.’ Now let’s get to the meat of the situation. Friends, God created us in His image. God made us to share this image in relationship with one another. So how we give…how we relate makes a difference. Here is the deal…our giving…our relating needs the stamp of God’s approval. We were created to bear His image and to render to God that which is worthy for Him to receive from us: our thanksgiving, our praise, and our service in the Kingdom. Our giving is only valuable to the Kingdom when it has the image of God…His love… stamped on the exchange. Friends, we were created to become like Christ so we might truly be giving to God.
Pray we realize that because we are in the image of God that God owns us. Pray we submit to the King of the universe Pray that we are more forgiving. Pray that we are more real. Pray that we impart truth through our actions. Pray that we embrace each other, reaching out to others with love. Pray that we are not selfish. Pray that we are dedicated. Pray that we learn to give generously. Pray we bear the image of God in our interactions with others.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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