To understand today’s gospel, it will help to consider the context. We just heard a dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees on the question of paying the census tax. Every adult in the Roman Empire under the age of 65, regardless of gender or status had to pay this tax, which for many people was the equivalent of a day’s wages. They returned to Caesar something that already belonged to the emperor, a coin bearing his image. For the Jews, that was scandalous for unlike the Romans, they did not see Caesar as a deity.
Instead of taking sides, by saying yea or nay to the question about paying the census tax, Jesus replies with one of his unforgettable lines, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
What belongs to Caesar is easy enough for us to know. The many different government agencies, from the county auditor to the IRS, find ways to tell us what we owe in taxes. But what do we repay to God? That is a question that a fair number of us pay little attention to.
At the moment I suspect you are thinking, “There goes Father, talking about money again,” and for good reason. We owe God much more than the loose change in our pockets. We owe God our very existence. What to repay God is an expression of our gratitude for all that God has blessed us with.
Admittedly, many people think of stewardship simply as a way for the parish to raise money. I won’t deny that, but more importantly, stewardship should be seen as a personal and spiritual journey, not just another fund-raising technique. You could say that stewardship is an attitude of gratitude.
The contrast of Caesar and God is a timeless reminder of the world we live in, a clash between the earthly and spiritual powers that compete for our attention. As people of faith, we are continually challenged to travel a road less traveled. That means seeing our relationship with God as an ongoing daily journey, fully conscious of the many spiritual and worldly blessings that we have been given. Such a lifestyle is a dramatic departure from our society’s consumer mindset with its emphasis on wealth, materialism, and individualism.
As people of faith, we are called to share what we have, serve others, and be actively engaged in a faith community. In the typical family setting, its members usually come to realize that each person has an important role to play if the family is to thrive. In the family setting, we can see stewardship at work. When everyone pitches in, life on the home front is richly blessed.
Speaking of families, the late Danny Thomas shared how he was introduced to stewardship as a young man. At a time when his wife, Rosie, was expecting a baby, he lost his life savings of $600. Danny worked part time jobs so Rosie could buy groceries. It was a tough time in his life.
A week before the baby was born, Danny had the grand total of $7.85 to his name. What would he do? “My despair led me to my first exposure to the powers of faith.” That Sunday morning, Danny went to Mass. When the collection basket was passed, he put in his usual one dollar. But something unexpected then happened. The priest announced that another collection was being taken up for missions. Danny felt that he had to give something. “I got carried away and ended up giving my seven dollars.”
He had given away all his money that day. What was he to do? After Mass, he walked up to the altar rail, got on his knees and prayed aloud, “Look, I’ve given my last seven bucks. I need it back tenfold because I’ve got a kid on the way, and I have to pay the hospital bill.” He went home with 85 cents in his pocket…all the money he had in the world.
“You won’t believe this,” Danny later wrote, “but the next morning the phone rang.” It was a job offer for a part in a commercial. It wasn’t much but the pay was good…$75. “I literally dropped the telephone receiver,” Danny related, “First I whooped for joy; then an eerie feeling came over me. The $75 fee, unheard of for me at that time was almost exactly ten times the amount of money I had donated to the church.” Those who remember Danny Thomas will recall that he continued to repay God many times over, raising funds for St. Jude’s children’s hospital in Memphis, TN.
Giving of their time, talent, and treasure may seem a bit overwhelming to most people since they have so much going on in their lives, yet repaying God is something we must all do if we are in fact grateful for all that God has given us in this lifetime.
A married couple in our diocese gave a beautiful testimony to this. They talked about their financial struggles and the decisions they were faced with in the family budget. Worries and troubles overwhelmed them until they started to look at things differently. When all is said and done, they realized, everything comes from God. It all belongs to him. On their
checks, right above the signature line, they had these words imprinted: God owns it all. What a difference that made!
Consider how different your life and mine would be if that truth could penetrate our hearts. God owns it all so, as Jesus said, repay to God what belongs to God.