Rendering unto Caesar

Dear Friends,

In the gospel reading for this week, Jesus is being baited by his legalistic opponents. They ask, “Is it right to pay taxes?” He answers with a conundrum: “Whose face is on this coin?” And then, in response to their confusion come his famous words: “Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and to God the things that are God’s.”

For years, I used to focus on the first part of this response, the “render unto Caesar what is Caesar's” part. It’s the part that I associated with the separation of church and state and my conviction that we needed a civil realm to maintain an ordered society, pay for public goods, keep the peace. And that meant keeping religion out of politics and dinner conversations!

But more and more, my focus on this passage has changed. More and more I ask myself, what does it mean to “render to God what is God’s?” What belongs to God? Surely it is my very life, and yours. The mystery of life itself, of creation itself, belongs to God. 

As the news of war and bloodshed in the Holy Lands weigh heavily on my heart, I have made a point to remind myself that everyone, everything, on all sides of the conflict, belong to God, too. I have made a point to imagine how each person, whatever religion or ethnicity, wherever they stand in all of this, whether up close or far away, watches for the sunrise, breathes in and breathes out, hopes things will get better with another day. Just like you and I do. And as I imagine this, I feel the scope of my own caring expand beyond lines and divisions, beyond agreement and disagreement, to include fresh air and early light, rustling autumn leaves, whispering rain, and far-off geese. 

All of creation continues to sing, even when we cannot sing ourselves. Perhaps the one thing we can do right now is listen. Listen and look for the early colors of dawn’s promises and breathe thanksgiving for another day. That is just one small way we can, in the meantime, in the time we have now, render unto God the things that belong to God.

In Christ,

Amelie+