Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time- October 16, 2011

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“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” The Pharisees hated Rome and were opposed to paying the tax. Herodians were fellow travelers who sought favor from Rome, so they supported the tax. The question put to Jesus is a trick – a dilemma. It is a carefully crafted question, a question designed to lure Jesus away from the sacred middle way and place him in an extreme position that will lead to his destruction. If he says pay the tax, he will have acknowledged the sovereignty of Rome and offend his fellow Jews; if he says don’t pay it, he might have been charged with sedition by the Romans. Jesus not only avoids punishment by both extremes, he also communicates important responsibility to God and state.

In the ancient world, altar and throne were usually united. They demanded absolute submission on the part of the people, taking the place of God. With his response, Jesus put an end to the idea that the state is the expression of both political and religious authority. Since people owe their whole being to God, they owe him adoration and worship; the Jewish people knew this. For them, all belonged to God. People also have an obligations to the state, such as paying taxes and obeying just laws.

By introducing the word image, or Eikon, into the argument, Jesus raised the stakes, and Tertullian was one of the first to interpret Jesus’ intent. Reasoning that humans are created in God’s own eikon, Tertullian called men and women “the coins of God” who belong to God as surely as Caesar’s minted coins belonged to Caesar. So, first and foremost, we are created in God’s image, and belong to God. This belonging demands mutual and universal respect and reverence. We who are God’s are thereby made holy; let us live accordingly.

What a wonderful understanding for stewardship. The quality of our stewardship is measured in our giving based on our ability and our awareness that all that we are and all that we have discovered ourselves to be as loved beings with gifts, abilities, talents, time, thoughts, emotions and life itself. As Paul gave thanks for the people of God in Thessalonia, we give thanks to God not only in the eucharist as we reap the mercy won for us by Jesus’ death and resurrection, but also in our sharing of our gifts in love.

In our culture where most people love money and material possessions more than God, we get very little support to live a life contrary to those mistaken priorities. Isaiah puts this challenge another way in today’s first reading. God used a Gentile Emperor of Persia named Cyrus and called Cyrus by name and chose him to do God’s work. How unlikely is that choice in the time the book of the Prophet Isaiah was written. Be that as it may, Isaiah in three different times in this short passage states on behalf of God, that God is the only God, and there is no other. I am convinced that the quality of our relationship with God is directly proportional to place God has in our hearts. If He is indeed first in our hearts, then that relationship should be strong and loving. If other things like money and material possessions, to name only two are first, then we need not wonder why we feel distant from God. And that feeling is not because God wants to keep us distant, but that we keep Him at a distance. There is another dynamic that gives us pause for reflection. Keep in mind that Jesus has already entered Jerusalem at this point in Matthew’s Gospel to be arrested and put to death. The Pharisees and religious leaders are plotting as best as they can to trap Jesus and to find an occasion to have him arrested and crucified. Jesus knows their intentions and the malice in their hearts. He is not persuaded by their empty complements to him either. How do we respond and feel when we are attacked with malice, or when we perceive malice in a confrontation?

We reflected on this as a pastoral staff this week. And for most of us, such attacks rarely come when we are prepared for them. Most of the time, they clip us from behind and sometimes from people we never expected to be on the offensive in such a destructive manner. My first response is to be defensive. Then, when I have calmed down, I can reflect on what the person said to me and why there was so much anger, hatred, and rancor. If I can let the anger flow through me even if it seems like a personal attack, then I may be better able to hear the message, both verbally and from non-verbal communication. I am convinced that calling them a hypocrite like Jesus did in today’s Gospel would not bear much fruit! Yet, we can find the balance between not stooping to the level of hate while maintaining protection for ourselves. We can work to find solutions that bring peace and healing. And when that won’t work, we can pray for the person or people.

I conclude with words found in one of our songs in English, “Take Lord, Receive,” I believe it is called. I read this week that these words come to us from St. Ignatius of Loyola. These words speak of a wonderful exchange from us to God and God to us. May we make this our prayer and put it into action! “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, understanding, my entire will. Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me – your love and your grace are enough for me.”