“Divine Currency”
Rev. Katelyn
B. Macrae
October 19,
2014
Prayer: Dear Lord, may the words of
my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight.
O God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
What’s the value of a dollar? What
can a dollar buy?
At the Rummage Sale that our church
hosted on Friday and Saturday, we learn that a dollar can buy quite a bit,
especially with $5 bargain bags on Saturday morning. I got a DVD player for $2!
It doesn’t have a remote, but it works.
When I first got my driver’s license,
I remember a time when you could get a gallon of gas for $0.95. However, now
even a chocolate bar at the grocery store, especially the fancy ones, cost more
than a dollar.
In the time of Jesus, a day laborer
in the vineyard typically earned one denarius per day.
A rabbi earned half a denarius a day, and a
scribe earned 2 denarii
At the market bread cost 1/12 a
denarius.
A cucumber or an amphora of olive oil
cost 1 denarius.
Rent for a house was 4 denarii a
month, a calf cost 20 denarii and an ox cost 100 denarii.
Then, as it is now, people struggled
to make ends meet. Then, as it is now, the people were taxed. Have you heard
the saying that there are two constants in life – death and taxes?
Some things haven’t changed in 2,000
years.
In Jerusalem there were two kinds of taxes
and two kinds of currency – as I showed the Sunday School kids during
children’s time, there were several kinds of coins in use including the shekel
– a Jewish currency, and the Roman currency, the denarius, which had the image
of Caesar Augustus on it and the words Tiberius, Caesar Augustus, son of the
Divine Augustus and Pontiff Maxim – High Priest.
The temple tax, which was mandated by
Moses, required every Jewish man 20 years of age or older to pay a half shekel,
which was used for the upkeep of the temple.
The second tax was a toll for the
public use of bridges and gates. However, when Judea became a Roman Province
under Emperor Caesar Augustus, he also levied a tribute tax, which was required
to be paid in one’s birthplace and in the roman currency, the denarius. If you recall the birth narrative from the
Gospel of Luke, when Mary was pregnant, she and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem
in order to register for the census and pay their taxes.
Undoubtedly, people felt burdened by
their taxes. In addition to the tax, there was also the expense of having to
travel to their hometowns to pay them. However, few people dared speak out
against the Roman Empire.
This is situation we find ourselves
in in the Gospel of Matthew today.
Our story begins a chapter after
Jesus has banished the money changers from the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus has
already irked the ire of the Jerusalem authorities, and they are watching him
closely.
The Herodians – people loyal to Herod Antipas
and the Pharisees collude together to trick Jesus.
First they flatter him.
Jesus, we know that you show no
partiality.
They lay it on thick.
Then, here comes the question – is it
lawful to pay taxes to Cesar or not?
If Jesus answers yes, then he will be
seen by the Pharisees as anti-Jewish and in cahoots with the Roman Empire. For
the coin used to pay the tribute tax goes against the first two commandments,
thou shall have no other gods before me, or make any idols.
If Jesus answers no, then he will
probably gain more popularity with his followers, but such a response could
spark an insurrection against Rome.
Jesus saw through the trap. Or as
Matthew writes, he perceived their wickedness and asked “why do you tempt me,
you hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. (Matt 22:17-19).
Jesus didn’t have any denarii on
him….
Which was part of his point.
Jesus would not be carrying the coin
with the image of Cesar Augustus, and the words, divine son of God, in his
pocket.
Jesus has caught them in their own
game.
Whose coin is this? Whose image is
this?
It’s Caesar.
Well then, that’s who it belongs to.
In Jesus response, “render to Caesar
what is Caesar's, and God what is God’s” he upends the entire system of Roman
authority that viewed Caesar as divine.
Jesus doesn’t tell people to stop
paying taxes – sure, give Caesar back this coin with his image on it.
But give to God what is God’s.
And what is God’s?
Everything is God’s.
The prophet Isaiah says,”See I have
inscribed you in the palm of my hand.” (Isa 49:15-16).
We’ve been minted, imprinted, inscribed,
pressed, molded, shaped and created with divine intention. Our whole being
bears the image of God.
The entire world, including us, is
God’s divine currency, and therefore, we must render to God what is due to God
– and that is everything!
When Associate Conf. Minister Jim
Thomas came to speak at Richmond Congregational Church a few weeks ago he
pushed us to think about Stewardship as a year round endeavor, and to consider
all of our resources – including, but not limited to our dollars and cents, as
gifts God has entrusted us with to use for God’s purposes.
All that we have and all that we are
comes from God.
Our US currency is actually minted
with a reminder “In God We Trust.”
Unlike the Roman denarius which
proclaimed Cesar Augustus as God, our currency reminds us to trust in God and
use the principles and practices of our faith to guide how we allocate the
resources that have been entrusted to us.
I will be the first to admit deciding
how to use resources, particularly my fiscal resources, is challenging. I have
many things I render unto Caesar – student loans, rent, car payment, credit
cards, utilities, gas, and groceries.
After rendering unto Cesar, there
doesn’t seem like there’s a lot left over and it’s downright frustrating. It
doesn’t put me into a spirit of love and generosity or gratitude for the gifts
that God has given me.
Please do not hear this as a
complaint about pastoral compensation.
I’m using myself as an example
because I have struggled with my relationship with money for a long time. In
this text from Matthew I hear Jesus’ challenge loud and clear, what are you
rendering unto God and how are you doing it?
Our Stewardship theme this year is
blessed to be a blessing. For we have each been blessed with this life, and we are
each called, as followers of Jesus, to be a blessing to others in whatever way
we can.
Our church is called to this mission
too!
How could we shape this local
community, and even our global community if we not only viewed all our
resources as gifts from God, but got together to allocate them?
At the rummage sale this week, one
person’s trash became another person’s treasure.
For some, the rummage sale is an
opportunity to clean out the detritus that occupies our garages and attics.
For others, the rummage sale is a
place to find a great bargain – and for some – perhaps one of the only places
that one can afford to go shopping.
A local Methodist pastor came to the
rummage sale and found several kitchen items to help a homeless family who is
moving into an apartment.
In addition to being a clearinghouse
for low-cost items, the rummage sale also provides community for the people who
work the sale, and the folks who come in and have an experience of hospitality
while shopping. There were baked goods and apple juice for free at the door.
You don’t find that when you walk into Macy’s.
But for the first time this year, the
rummage sale decided that they would donate a tithe, 10% of the proceeds from
the sale to Our Community Cares Camp – a 6 week summer camp at the middle
school that feeds kids for free - as a way of sharing out from the resources
entrusted to them – to help it go a little further to help even more people in
the Richmond Community.
This is a shining example of how the
church can get together and be a vehicle for sharing God’s resources.
Here’s a secular example.
In Seven Days this week there was anarticle about van pooling. Vermont Transit is trying to increase vanpooling and
carpooling initiatives in Vermont. The challenge to getting more people on
board is helping them to give up some of their autonomy of having their own car
and the flexibility that gives them in their commute.
The vanpool commuters report that the
advantages of vanpooling outweigh the disadvantages. They report savings in
commuting costs, the reduced stress of driving and the friendships developed
with fellow commuters, and the ability to distress from the day and transition
on the ride home. In addition to having more fiscal resources, these commuters
also perhaps have better mental resources when they get home from work!
Friends, these two examples
illustrate what can happen when people try something different by getting
together to share the resources they have. It’s no longer every person for
themselves - its neighbor helping neighbor.
So, here’s my challenge, and I invite
you into it too.
In the 12-step community they have a
saying, ‘Act as if.”
If you change your actions, your
thoughts and attitudes will begin to change too.
Usually I reach for my phone and
check my email each morning before getting out of bed. That is not the way to start my day!
I get a UCC daily devotional email
each morning, but lately I admit it’s not the first thing I read. So I’m going
to read it first and pray. I’m going to start my day with an attitude of
gratitude.
And I’m going to say “thank you” to
God when I pay my bills instead of complaining, because God has given me the
resources to do it.
And most importantly, I will take a
serious look at my personal budget to see where I can make different economic
choices that help better support the community and spread God’s resources
further.
I’m going to commit to these actions,
and I’m going to report back to you to how it goes in November. I invite you to
join me in intentionally discerning how God is calling us to allocate the
resources God has entrusted to us – these resources are fiscal, emotional,
physical and mental. God has entrusted us to be good stewards of these
resources, and Jesus encourages us to “render unto God what is God’s.” Friends,
may we rise to the challenge.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment