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A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, October 19, 2008 (Proper 24, Year A)
by the Rev. Paris Coffey

The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus. . . saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one. . . Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." - Matthew 22:15-22

In the J B Phillips' translation of the New Testament, Jesus says to Pharisees who try to entrap him, "Show me the money." What he means is "show me the money with which you pay taxes to Caesar," but at the beginning of St. Christopher's annual giving campaign, what it reminded me of was the movie Jerry Maguire. You may remember this film and the scene that immortalized the line "show me the money" where wide receiver Rod Tidwell gets into a shouting match with sports agent Jerry Maguire. It's a very funny scene, but I wonder if you remember the meaning beyond the line "show me the money," which we first glimpse when materialistic Maguire has a change of heart about his business.

This change comes late one night when Maguire, facing a crisis of conscience, realizes that he hates himself or at least his place in the world. He can't sleep, but paces the floor of his hotel room until suddenly something clicks. He sits down at his laptop and begins typing as he narrates, "It was the oddest, most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a mission statement - not a memo," Maguire recounts, "but mission statement - a suggestion for the future of our company. A night like this doesn't come around very often, and I seized it. What started out as one page became 25. Suddenly I was my father's son again. I was remembering the simple pleasures of the job, how I ended up here out of law school, the way a stadium sounds when one of my players performs well on the field, the way we were meant to protect them in health and in injury."

"With so many clients," Maguire continues, "we had forgotten what was important. I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. And I'm not even a writer. I was remembering the words of the original sports agent, my mentor, the late, great Dicky Fox, who said, 'The key to this business is personal relationships.' (And) suddenly it was all pretty clear. The answer was fewer clients, less money, more attention, caring for them, caring for ourselves, just starting our lives, really." The statement gets him fired soon after he shares it, but it also sets Maguire on the road to reclaiming the sense of mission and passion he had lost as his work had become more fixated on money and power.

It's quite a turnaround, making me wonder if the same thing could have happened to the Pharisees in today's Gospel if they'd been willing to listen to Jesus. Certainly they must have once loved God and felt passion for God's truth, but they had come to love power more. At least this is what today's Gospel suggests when the religious rulers of the day come to Jesus NOT to discern God's truth but to entrap him. They come to silence whatever truth he has that might challenge their power and position, choosing what they're SURE is a failsafe plan to either discredit Jesus with the Jews or land him in Herod's jail.

"Tell us, o wise one who teaches the way of God in accordance with truth," the Pharisees say smugly with forked-tongued flattery. "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?" Their question seems innocent enough, but in fact is a set-up. It is purposefully and publicly posed for optimal entrapment, for if Jesus says "no" in front of Herod's partisans, whom the Pharisees have conveniently brought along, Jesus will land in jail for civil disobedience. On the other hand, if he says "yes" amid the religious fervor of Passover, he will lose the crowd's faith in his teachings, since the Jews disagreed on taxes. On one end the Sadducees espoused cooperation with Rome, while on the other, Essenes and Zealots demanded ACTIVE resistance to cooperation. Apparently taxes were as potentially incriminating a topic for Jesus as for presidential candidates John and Barack, challenging one's party loyalty.

In fact, the Pharisees' question of church versus state is a shrewd challenge to Jesus' very identity as a Jew. At the same time, Jesus' question is far shrewder, confronting the Pharisees' hypocrisy. "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?" he snaps at his inquisitors. "Show me the money used for the tax." Not surprisingly, Jesus - who once told his disciples to take no gold, silver or copper for their journey (Matthew 10:9) - has no coin of his own. The Pharisees, however, do and produce a denarius, which was not only a day's wage but the standard coin used for all taxes except the Temple Tax.

"Whose image is this," Jesus asks the Pharisees, "and whose title?" referring to the glorified likeness of Caesar on the coin and its accompanying inscription. The Pharisees answer that it is the emperor's image on the coin, along with the inscription, "Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, great high priest." Judging this image and its inscription to be idolatrous, some Jews viewed the Roman tax to be a violation to Yahweh's covenant with the Jews. Jesus, on the other hand, discounts their argument, knowing that the hypocritical Pharisees violate covenant with God in greater ways than this.

In fact, the greater question might be, "Whose image and title are on you?" rather than, "Whose image is on your coin?" After all, if we're created in God's image and called by God's name - our lives should reflect God's love, inclusivity and generosity - which the lives of the Pharisees do not. This means that when Jesus says, "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's," it is a greater command than it appears. It is a command to give our all - our time, money, talent, our very lives - for all things belong to God. Practically speaking the government is entitled to a portion of what we have, and yet governments are under God's jurisdiction as well, including the tax and coins of Tiberius Caesar.

Perhaps, then, our challenge is to think of ourselves as God's coins - imprinted with the image and title of our Creator. We are God's resources to fulfill God's vision for the world. Indeed, this is the mission of the Church, requiring each of us to give to God the things that are God's. It's not just our money we are asked to give - it is our hearts and our lives. And it's not just to the church to which we're asked to contribute - but to one another in the love and generosity of Jesus Christ. We're asked to give of ourselves as the late, great Dicky Fox reminded his protégé, Jerry Maguire.

"The key to this business is personal relationships," Fox asserted, meaning the business of being a sports agent. The key to Christianity is personal relationships are as well, just as they are to every parallel point in Maguire's mission statement. They're key to giving more attention to God. They're key to caring more for one another - those right here in our midst and those beyond our doors; those we know well and those we barely know but need to know better if we are to be the Body of Christ. They're key to caring for ourselves, especially our spiritual selves, which are often overshadowed by the demands of work, sports, entertainment and even sleep. Finally personal relationships are key to giving our time, talent and money to God's mission in this church that we call home. It's not just about what St. Christopher's needs to pay the bills or stay afloat, but about what WE need as well - to come together for worship, to give back what we've been given, to deepen knowledge of God and to be Christ's hand and feet, hearts and arms in the Church and in the World.

Amen.