I always smile when I hear this Gospel because it
reminds me so much of what you hear on the TV and radio when someone
being interviewed is pushed into a corner and the journalist tries to force them to give a yes or no answer. ‘Do you agree with this
proposal or not, yes or no?’ They try to catch people out. They
were doing the same thing 2000 years ago at the time of Jesus too.
Should we pay taxes or not; yes or no? If Jesus answered yes he was
acknowledging the Roman occupation, if he said no, he was insulting
the emperor. But in his wisdom he gives a response which completely
catches them out because he looks at it from a totally different
perspective. He basically says, ‘Who do you belong to?’ It is
right that we respect the laws and customs of the country we live in, but if we see ourselves as children of God primarily,
then our loyalty belongs to God first. We pay our debts to our
society and government through taxes and working to make it a
better society because we have a duty to do so, but our goal is a
much greater one than this world. Using our gifts and talents gives
glory to the Father in heaven who has given us all these gifts. And
it is good that we develop our talents to the best of our ability.
We often hear about the importance of protecting and
saving American lives and trying to improve the American economy and
there is nothing wrong with that. But a Christian perspective
reaches farther and so we talk about the importance of protecting
human lives, not just people who belong to one country or
another. We take pride in our own nation and so we should, but faith
transcends borders and doesn’t, or certainly shouldn’t
discriminate between different people. We see ourselves as children
of God first, regardless of where we come from and regardless of what we
believe. Ultimately we believe we will end up in the same place with
God if we make that choice.
Coming here to the US from Ireland has helped me to see that in
a new light. I take pride in my country as all of us do, but it is a
wonderful thing to be able to go to another country and preach the
same message of Jesus there, regardless of different customs and
laws. The laws of God don’t change. The call of Jesus
is the same to us no matter where we come from and how we see the
world and there is a great freedom in that. Politics changes and
governments come and go, but the presence of Jesus is the same
everywhere and is much greater than anything we will ever encounter
in this world.
Who do we belong to? The money is stamped with a
government mark. It belongs to the government. What stamp is on us?
Sometimes one of the things that happens when we are
faced with something like Ebola and all these other frightening
things around the world, is that they make us sit up and listen. We
suddenly start thinking about what is really important. If one of your children or someone close to you becomes sick, the things that we consider important usually change drastically. We ask
different questions and probably more important ones. Who do I belong
to? What is my life on earth about? Is it just about acquiring as
many comforts and material things as possible, or are these things
really trivial? When we are faced with possible catastrophies they help us to listen and hear what is important.
Who do I belong to?
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