Reflection: On “Giving to God the things that are God’s”
Matthew 22:15-22
It was Thanksgiving Monday when I read this week’s scripture on my phone. Holding the phone above my head, I laid down on the carpet of my living room which is now quite nicely decorated with a comfortable cream-coloured sofa and red and yellow autumn-coloured pillows that mirror the view through the living room windows. It was a peaceful and restful thing to do after the great turkey feast we had at our place with our friends, and I read, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” For things in the world, it’s hard and even seems inappropriate to divide and separate what is God’s and what is not. Ultimately, there’s no division where we can draw the line permanently, as if “We will give Caesar what is his, but nothing more; we will give God what is God’s, and that’s everything.”
I began to ask, what are the things of God which we must give back to God? I asked, is this abundant sunlight I receive through the windows God’s? In that late morning, I was in delight - all of my body’s senses were focused, to consume what I saw in my eyes – the beauty and esthetics of light, its delicacy as it illuminated my home. Is this light God’s? The light created a beautiful image of shadows through the rolled-down window shade, brightening the piano on the other side of the living room. The shadows looked like piano keys to me. What are the things that belong to God? I thought about time. Is the moment I was enjoying God’s? Am I granted God’s grace to enjoy this minute and second and feel I am fully alive? Is anything and everything we can appreciate and express genuine gratitude for, God’s? Every object in the living room, everything I see in the natural environment, every material wealth, every sense of joy that springs up from the inner depth of our being, everything good and nurturing and faithful, everything that challenges us to grow in relationships and through the works we do, is all of that God’s? If someone else asked me if that is so, I would say yes as the minister, but as myself, I would invite my companions to reflect on what we mean when we say certain things in our lives and in the world are God’s. Asking similar questions of myself, I realize that I have an issue with using my customary thought processes to think about God or things of God in the language and image of possession. Perhaps thinking about things as if they are permanent and that permanence originally belongs to a permanent God who acts like a human who owns and claims something as their own may be the source of my puzzlement, or the start of our misunderstanding about God and our relationship with God and God’s relationship to us.
At this point, I stood up and walked to the window and stood there, putting my face close to the glass surface and looked at the world; I saw - - the open field and trees of the Seine River. As more and more days greet us with a cold wind blowing from the north, the wind swoops up all the leaves to fall eventually (most trees on the right side were already bare, left with only their dry parched bark). All the tall grasses will also swoon and fall to the ground when the first frost freezes them and the millions of snowflakes begin to cover them to lie on the flat ground for the next long season of winter. There is no assurance of permanence, the woods are full of evidence of change, and yet there is a profound trace of God; God is present and changing our world as God-in-the-world, itself, as a personhood, and also as the ultimate ground of being and source of life, changing and evolving to the new path.
What is interesting to me in today’s reading is that the rulers could show Jesus precisely what belonged to Caesar. It was a coin for paying tax, a denarius, on which the image of the emperor was stamped. Metal, forged and shaped, something that appears permanent, obvious, and unchanging. Things that are God’s are hard to show and prove, as the things and relationships in which we can find the image of God are not in permanence - they are flowing and fluid, changing and evolving. They nourish and feed the creation and our beings and lives, and as grace is given, it flows in a form which is neither quantifiable nor measurable… What belongs to God is what we, you and I, all creation, embody in our beings, both physical and metaphysical. If we are to pay God as we pay our taxes to Caesar, it is by loving our neighbour, by respecting each other, by being mindful of the use of our body, mind and heart, awareness of our breathing, speaking in love, deep listening, so that the roots and the image of God’s love grow stronger and deeper in us, in our relationship with the world. We are getting better at recognizing and embodying God’s life-giving and empowering, counter-cultural images, when we are aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing and oppression, when we learn to practice generosity in our thinking, speaking, and acting, when we express our commitment not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; when we share our time, energy and material resources with those who are in need. Especially when we begin to look deeply to understand that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from our own; also, when we express our faith in the power of living intentionally to reverse the process of global warming. When we practice Right Livelihood (Thich Nhat Hanh). It is how we give to God the things that are God’s, and praise the love of God in the world, putting down deep roots in the ground of our beings.
As I was writing this reflection, I got up from the desk and went up
close to the glass of the living room window and looked at the outside and how
the wind was blowing so hard. In the meantime, I got a phone call from my older
son, who said, “Mom, I think I need to go to washroom really soon, and it’s too
cold outside. Could you come and pick me up from school, just for today?” Of
course, I said no, and smiling, I looked up to the sky, now going outside, the
gray cloudy moment on the Thursday, and gave thanks to God for giving me a new
awareness every day about how I am part of the whole universe. I also offered a
prayer that I might nurture the actions and commitment necessary to live more
intentionally in my faith, hoping to embody God in actions and work. For now, I
practice deep listening to myself, and giving myself a loving speech, reminding
myself - start again. Give God the things that are God’s every day.
Hymn: VU 820 Make a Joyful Noise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCf_kfiThoA
%5EJ%202023.jpg)
