The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Isaiah 45: 1 – 7; 1 Thessalonians 1: 1 – 10; Matthew 22: 15 – 22
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21)
So says Jesus as the denarius, the emperor’s coin, is held up before Him.  It’s a clever response and a neat sidestepping of the trap which the Pharisees and Herodians have attempted to set for Him.  But what does this saying of Jesus mean to us, now, in this month when we’re thinking about our own stewardship of our time and money.  Does it help us to sort out our priorities?
Our Gospel passage comes after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  He’s been feted by the common people as their coming King; the one they hope will deliver them from all that makes their lives difficult, not least their poverty.  He’s then entered the Temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers because they were making extortionate profits from people coming to make sacrifices.  Unsurprisingly, Jesus now faces a series of conflicts with different religious authorities. In our Gospel passage, the Pharisees and Herodians, who would otherwise have had little in common, have banded together to seek to trap Him with a difficult question.  The question is as to whether it is permitted according to Jewish law to contribute to the Roman census.  This was a tax on agricultural yield and personal property collected through census or registration. Although the Jewish authorities assisted with the collection of the tax many resented it.  Some objected to it on religious grounds because it was God alone who owned the land of Israel. The census of 6 or 7 AD had caused a revolt.
If Jesus supports the tax, He will be siding with the occupying Roman powers and will lose popular support.  If he resists it He can be branded as another troublemaker.  He quickly sees the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herodians who are able to easily to produce one of Caesar’s coins and clearly have no real qualms about using them.  However, He does more than just answer their question:
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21)
It is Caesar’s head on the coin.  Of course they should pay their taxes to the temporal authority.  It’s false to divide up the sacred and the secular, for all authority ultimately comes from God.  Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah reminds us that even Cyrus, the great conqueror through whom the  Persian empire succeeded that of Babylon, can be regarded as god’s ‘anointed’ (Isaiah 45:1).  God used Cyrus for His purposes, and He has allowed Caesar power for this moment. 
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s …………. and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21)
I wonder if Jesus might have paused mid-sentence as I did just then?  Then He might be interpreted as saying something more like this:  “If the emperor wants a few denarii give them gladly because giving them up will remind you that a person’s life doesn’t consist in the abundance of his or her possessions.  What counts is living in accordance with God’s will.”  Once we have paid what we owe to the state, how then do we live in accordance with God’s will? What difference does our faith make to the way in which we view our time and our possessions?
So how then do we respond? 
In the Old Testament there are rules about giving to God, but now it’s left much more up to us.  The people of Israel were required to give a tithe; that is one tenth of the yield of the land, grain and animals, must be given to God annually, (Leviticus 27: 30 – 32, Deuteronomy 14: 22 – 24); those who were scrupulous about this were still tithing in Jesus’ time (Matthew 23:23).  The early church was entirely dependent on offerings made by its members; by the fourth century payment to the church of one tenth of the produce of all lands began to be taught as a Christian duty.  Tithes received were divided between the Bishop, the clergy, the fabric of the church and the poor. However, this system was not consistently observed and during the 19th and 20th centuries was commuted and finally abandoned. 
Contrary to what we might think, the Church of England is still almost entirely dependent on our offerings to maintain its ministry.  We wouldn’t want to go back to rules and to be legalistic about our giving.  Clearly we need to pay our taxes, and I heard on the radio this morning that Christian Aid has made a statement about tax avoidance – or tax evasion – by companies.  But does that figure of 10% of our income perhaps still offer us some kind of benchmark for our giving to church and to charitable causes?  After all, it leaves us with 90%.  For some people, those on very low incomes, 90% is not enough to live on.  They can’t afford to give so much.  But some Christians still aim to give away 10% of their income, usually after tax.  Some perhaps can afford to give more.  Some people are called to significant acts of philanthropy.  What applies to our money is also true of our time; some can give more than others.  Whatever we decide to do or to give, Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees and Herodians reminds us that it’s our attitude to God which is most important.
“Give to God the things that are God’s” (Matt 22:21).  As Isaiah reminds us “I am the Lord and there is no other.” (Is 45: 5) or, as we sometimes say in our liturgy quoting King David “All things come from you and of your own do we give you.”
Amen