Give to God What is God's
Give to God What is God’s – Matthew 22:15-22
· Eddie George, former Governor of the Bank of England
o “There are three types of economist; those who can count and those who can’t”
· Pharisees coming up with a cunning plan to trap Jesus (v15)
o Jesus was speaking against them (21:45-6)
§ ask Him about paying taxes to Caesar (v17)
· this was a problem for the people of Judea (only)
o taxes are rarely popular anyway (“But in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes” – Benjamin Franklin)
o being paid to an occupying force
o the coinage itself had Caesar’s image on it, breaking the 2nd commandment (Exodus 20:4)
§ to pay it you would have to handle an idol-image
§ inscription; ‘Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus, chief priest’ (vv20-21)
§ protesting against the tax got people crucified
§ encouraging/accepting its payment would brand you a Roman sympathiser
· although the Pharisees had access to a coin... (v20)
· The coin was is Caesar’s
o give it to him
§ ajpodivdwmi – to give back, refund
§ perhaps disdainful, but not openly revolutionary
§ the tax can be paid, but not bowing to it
o the perfect sidestep – Shane Williams would have been proud!
§ but then the match-winning try:
· We are God’s
o they/we are made in His image (Gen 1:26-7)
o His Law to be inscribed on their/our hearts (Jer 31:33)
o we should give ourselves back to Him
§ a biting comment – ‘you aren’t doing this!’
· Serving God with every part of our lives
o Romans 12:1-2
§ easy to separate life into different compartments
· family/home and work
· private and public/social
§ easy to do with faith and church
· spiritual and unspiritual things?
· 11:00 – 12:30 is the time when we go to Church
o the time we give to God
· How can we worship (as per Romans 12) outside of church?
o not what we do but how we do it
§ ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord...’ (Colossians 3:23)
§ encouraging one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
· ‘...spur one another on toward love and good deeds’ (Hebrews 10:24)
§ being in private what we are / would be in public
o offering God our thoughts, actions, time, finances et al
· Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength is quite an ask!
o being made in His image and inscribed by Him reminds us that everything comes from Him
§ every breath is a gift from God
§ every moment of eternity offered through Jesus’ saving act
o let’s live all our life for Him
§ offer ourselves as living sacrifices
§ give to God what is God’s