In the passage from Matthew that is read today we have the very famous quote which is often misused for either political or pecuniary gain; "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's" (Matt. 22:21b) or similar depending on translation. Even today this is applicable but what is Caesar's and what is God's; how do we discern what is correct; do we have to rely on some formulaic response or does everything belong to God? The saying raises so many questions as to what is appropriate and what is not. It can have so many meanings that we have to worm our way around many corners of interpretation to find one that applies to ourselves in the current age. Perhaps in our complacency we try not to make any decision as to what we actually need to give either financially or in time and talent to God. What is clear through out the Gospel and Paul's letters is that we need to give our all.
To render to Caesar and to God could look something like this for many Parish churches throughout the world. A particular parish in the Anglican Communion there is a joint plant between the Anglicans and the Presbyterian denominations. In their founding documents it was agreed that they would give away all the loose change that was placed in the Sunday plate to God, that is mission work throughout the world. In order to satisfy Caesar (the Diocese and the need for ongoing running costs) the decision was made to rely purely on the envelope system at the time (we would now call it DG or direct deposit). Their faith understanding was that they were obliged to give to God and did so by placing their loose change, notes etc that they had in their wallets when they came to worship. In addition to this chance giving all of the parishioners gave money to their best ability to Caesar by way of the envelope or DG. The parish continues to thrive through the blessings of God as they maintain their commitment to this way of honouring both God's presence in their lives and the needs of Caesar in the form of the Parish expenses.
When we read scripture in this way we find an additional means for us to secure our commitment to both God and the needs of the everyday. It is on occasions such as these that we can see why we often neglect what can be seen as something that is apart from but close to God. We are often very good at giving to God in terms of our charitable works but Christ also mentions Caesar in this passage. We make sure that this refers to our civic duty (taxes, rates, etc) over which we grumble and moan. We then do not see anything else but ourselves as we understand that we have made our commitments in the small amounts of energy we place on the side for the work of God and the ongoing work of the denomination we belong to. When things that we love or have loved deteriorate we then find it in ourselves to blame everyone but ourselves for the lack whether it is in ministry, charitable donations, advocacy or anything else inside or outside of the Church. Our lack of foresight in terms of the things we love are often the issues around our sense of dedication and commitment. Often the issue is we do not apparently own the buildings, owe for electricity, need to maintain the Church's property (note not ours). It all belongs to the nebulous 'Church' and is their responsibility without realising that we are the Church.
In Isaiah 45, God sends Cyrus to raze the nations and to take up the reigns of righteousness let lose by the people of Israel. The lack of commitment has passed things over to another, so that they learn the lesson of commitment to God as their wishes and wants have turned them away from God's presence in their covenant and its promise. Paul is quick to praise the Thessalonian church (1 Thess. 1:1-10) for its steadfastness in God. They have become an example within the burgeoning faith community due to their commitment. It is a commitment in faith to those things that bring God into the midst of the community. If we allow ourselves to be drawn away from that commitment then we languish and it will come as no surprise as our presence in our communities contracts. Often this contraction is due to our contraction in being committed to our faith journey with the other in community as we rely on, not God, but alternate agencies to do what we used to do to foster community.
We need to be active in the same way as the Thessalonian church was active but not in the same way. I know that this is a contradiction but we are not living in the Roman Empire. Our actions need to be the same in that they need to be outpouring of God's love in the life of the community. This means that however aged we may be, however incapacitated we may be, however neglected we think we are and however impoverished we believe we are; we need to be active in the application of God's presence and the outpouring of God's Spirit in the world. We are not as poor as we believe. I suspect that if each of person was to forgo a cake, a coffee, a drink, a lunch, a piece of chocolate and the money / time we spend on the frivolities of our lives went towards God or Caesar in our faith community our communities would be a richer places. I am truly amazed at our own selfishness in terms of time, talent and finances within our communities. I have had people come looking for food and petrol with the latest technology dangling from their hips who have rejected the food that those with no finances have donated for their need. Yet this selfishness has been conveyed to an impoverished generation by their forefathers in the faith community as they have denied the other and indulged themselves. God cannot be seen face to face if we do not show God's face to our communities and we cannot do that if we are ourselves selfish with out time, talents and money.
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