In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     Again, today, we're talking about stewardship. Warren Kipps showed me a "Kudzu" cartoon from his hometown newspaper in Virginia last Sunday--where there's a preacher standing at the pulpit, looking out over his congregation, who says, "My daddy always taught me to milk the cows whenever they come to the barn, because you're never quite sure when they'll show up again. So, now", the preacher says, "we're going to take up the offering."

     That's what many folks think about when we say the word "stewardship" in church. We think about the pastor taking up an offering whenever there's a crowd at church, because you never really know when these folks are going to show up again. When we say "stewardship" in church, some people think about fundraising, and building programs, and capital appeals aimed at squeezing the last penny out of poor parishioners. Others think, right away, about Jesus, driving the money-changers out of the temple--and they conclude, see, Jesus didn't want people talking about money in the church. Most of which, isn't really true. Because Jesus never hesitated to talk about money, and personal treasure, and wealth. Because in fact, Jesus told lots of stories and parables teaching his disciples about the proper use of income and possessions--from the parable of the man who built bigger and bigger barns to hoard his wealth and then died, to his words to the rich young man, saying, "To inherit eternal life, sell all you have, give it away, then come follow me--but the young man went away sorrowful, because he had many possessions." Really, anywhere you look in the gospels, on almost any page of these holy books, Jesus is saying something about possessions, and priorities, and sacrifice, and greed and generosity, and--well, what we call "stewardship"! That word isn't actually in the Bible, but it is the lifestyle, the orientation of "the steward", which is mentioned often in the Bible, as God calls us, through His Word, to be good, faithful, trustworthy stewards of His gifts. And here we are again, hearing Jesus teaching us about stewardship in our gospel lesson for today.

     Now, you might not think of this passage as being about stewardship, upon first hearing it. Of course, the occasion for Jesus' words are the Pharisees' and scribes' increasing attempts to trap Jesus, to get him to incriminate himself so that the Romans would arrest Jesus, and hopefully, silence Jesus. Matthew tells us that the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus by what his own words. So, they sent their disciples to Jesus, along with the Herodians, to trick Jesus into saying something that would present him as an enemy of the state. And what strikes more deeply at the heart of the welfare of the state, than taxes! It's true now, as it was true then. You want to end up in prison posthaste, oppose the government's right to collect taxes. Which is just what the Pharisees were hoping Jesus would do--when they sent their toadies to ask Jesus, right out, in public, about taxes.

     This was a big issue in Jesus' time, because the Jews resented the Roman occupying force, and the head, or poll tax required of every man, woman and slave between the ages of twelve and sixty-five. From the Roman's perspective, this was the price of living in and enjoying rights as a subject of the Roman Empire. From the strict Jewish understanding of the Law, it was considered blasphemy to use Roman coinage which bore an image of the emperor Tiberius, with the inscription, "Tiberius Caesar, Augustus, son of the divine Augustus"--which implied, intentionally, that Tiberius was divine as Augustus was divine. Either way Jesus answered, he was stepping into hot water. If he said it was acceptable, in light of the Torah (the Jewish Law), to pay taxes, Jesus would offend the strict Jewish nationalists. If Jesus said it was not lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Rome, he would anger the Roman officials and endanger himself. All of which the Pharisees knew, as they sent their followers to Jesus. Beginning with flattery, they first said to Jesus, "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." And then, they got to the question about taxes. And then, Jesus saw right through them, asking them, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?" And then, asking for a coin, he turned the tables on them, telling them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things that are God's." And when they heard this, Matthew tells us, they were amazed, and they left Jesus and went away. I wonder if they went away amazed, or just confused? Because--what did Jesus really say? We hear the words, but, what did Jesus mean?

     Well, let's consider his words for a moment. At face value, Jesus meant what he said--if the coin has Caesar's inscription on it, it is Caesar's coin--so pay to Caesar what is Caesar's. But--what then do we give to God? Jesus says, "the things that are God's". And what are the things that are God's? Everything belongs to God, the creator and redeemer of all. There is nothing in all the universe that doesn't belong to God--even the gold, silver, and nickel from which coins are made--even the special paper used to make paper currency--even the computers, the internet, to which we log on to transfer funds to pay bills--if Jesus says we are to give to God what is God's--then, we are to give God everything, for everything belongs to God. Ah--and therein lies Jesus' meaning and message! Jesus will not be mocked by our human attempts to separate our lives into what is our's, or what is the government's, and what is God's. Jesus will not be deceived by our human maneuverings to keep more for ourselves to give less to God. Because when you come right down to it, Jesus says, "Everything is God's--so, give to God what is rightfully his!" Which, if you think about it, isn't just, money, income, possessions, home, car, wealth.

     Unfortunately, the New Revised Standard Translation translates the Greek as, "Whose head is this?", when the word in Greek is "Whose IKON is this--whose image?" The same word used to describe how it was that God made man--and woman, in His own "IKON". And this is significant because, what Jesus is saying is, "Caesar has coins imprinted with his image--but God--the one true God, has created humanity, and imprinted each and every man, woman and child--with His own image." So, Jesus says, "give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's--give to Caesar the silly little metal objects you keep in your pocket; but give to God the things that bear God's image--which is, nothing less than yourself!" Jesus is saying, in not so many words, that we owe our entire lives, to the God who has created us, and whose image and likeness we bear! Jesus is saying our very being, we owe to God--and there is no way getting around that, or getting out of that! Which means, that our every penny, nickel, dime and dollar, belong to God, to be used for His purposes. But even more, our every breath, our every word, our every moment, hour and day, are to be given to God, to be used, by Him, for His purposes. And for what purpose, would God use us?

     It would be easy for me to say, today, that God wants to use our time, talent and treasure, to build His Church in this place, as we celebrate Saint Luke's Sunday, and make our commitments to our capital appeal. It would be easy for me to say, God wants you to give your time, talent and treasure, to His Church, to be used for our mission and ministry here at Saint Luke's. It would be easy to say that, because yes, that's true. But God's purposes are far greater than that! God wants more from us, than just our money, our financial offerings, our gifts of income and investments. In the words of St. Paul in our second lesson, God desires that we become imitators of Paul, and of the Lord, so that we may become examples--examples to other believers, and unbelievers alike--examples that show how we, too, have turned to God from idols and idolatry of self, to serving a living and true God--as we await the return of His Son from heaven, the Son whom the Father raised from the dead. This, is what we are to be about, as we give ourselves to God, heart, soul, mind and strength--we are to be examples--imitating Paul, and Jesus, as we seek to serve the living and true God--in our every thought, word and deed, with our every penny, nickle and dollar.

     All that we have and are, belongs to God--God has created me, and you, and all that exists. Let us indeed, give to God, the things that are, already, God's!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.