On the Money

​Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia
Proper 24, Year A
October 18, 2020
 
Whose face is on the money?  Of course, that depends which coin or bill.  But whose face is on the standard of unit of our money?  That would be George Washington.  I had to think about it for a minute.  Funny how we chase it relentlessly, create particular vessels to hold it, take serious measures to protect it but almost never keep it as cash, at least not for long.
 
It is worth reading a dollar bill now and again.  It is a Federal Reserve Note, printed at one of two facilities and then issued at one of the Reserve’s banks. It is six inches long, given a specific serial number, covered with symbols and imagery including the statement that “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private,” and the words “in God we trust.”   Each note is particular and specialized in its printing so it is nearly impossible to counterfeit.
 
Each bill of succeeding denominations has a similar, but particular design, and a different face.  It is a big honor to make it on the money.  That is true not only in our nation, but around the world.  We love good old George Washington: the honest and brave general of the American Revolution, father of our country, first president, and all that.  It makes sense that he makes it on the primary unit of American money.
 
Of course, we do not believe George Washington, or any other of our national leaders to be holy, righteous, and blameless all of the time – certainly not to be divine.  There have been a number recent kerfuffles lately as to the beliefs and actions of those whom history has tended to lionize.  Some of that is warranted.  Some of that has become a purity test that no one could pass, if we are honest.  Even Mother Theresa had her hot-tempered moments.  Many have passionate views on the subject, and that is not what this is about.  What it is about is that we take money seriously and the images we engrave on it makes a statement of importance.
 
When Jesus is in the Temple, he is asked about money directly.  It comes in the form of a gotcha question about the lawfulness of paying taxes to the occupying emperor.  The Herodians and the Pharisees, who are not even friends, get together to try and trap Jesus in either religious heresy or Roman rebellion.  They start out with lavish compliments about his credentials, acting as if they are friends and admirers.  They are neither, and Jesus knows it.  The controversy is about the money itself and the practice of paying taxes.  The Pharisees do not wish to support Rome.  They believe taxes should be paid to the temple.  The Herodians support Rome and comply with their taxation.
 
Jesus asks them to produce a denarius.  A denarius is standard monetary unit for Rome.  Someone produces one for him and he asks whose picture is on it.  He uses the word icon – a word we used to use for an image that points beyond itself as a window into deeper truth.  Nowadays, an icon has become a little image upon which we click to get into a computer application, program, or file.
The icon, they say, is of Emperor Tiberius.  Further, the inscription calls him the son of Divine Augustus, which is quite a claim.  Everyone gasps.  It is not kosher even to have such a graven image in the Temple, so Jesus is on dangerous ground.  But then he diffuses the whole thing, saying, “give to the emperor what is the emperor’s and give to God what is God’s.”
 
Jesus is not talking about the separation of church and state and some have opined.  He is talking about the reality of all creation.  Nobody asked what is the emperor’s and what is God’s because that answer is really self-evident.  Everything is God’s creation, thus everything is God’s.  Our lives are a pass through.  We bring nothing in, and we take nothing out.
 
Even so, money is a very real symbol for us and it is really important to us.  Almost every culture and civilization has developed money of some kind.  Jesus never says that money does not matter.  If fact, he says quite the opposite.  Even his little community of followers keeps a purse to feed and clothe themselves.  But Jesus tells us is that money itself is an icon, a symbol pointing to something beyond itself to a deeper truth.  It may not be able to buy me love as the Beatles remind us, but money does give us choices, and the power to make choices.  We work for that power, we esteem that power, and yes, in this critical season, we vote according to what we believe about the part we play in directing that power.
 
Far from trying to take us to some pie in the sky utopian world without money, Jesus gets down in it with us.  He knows that we think about and contend with money as a matter of human interaction and survival.  Most likely, we think and worry about money as much as anything else.  And if we are honest, one of our biggest concerns is if there will be enough: enough to provide for our families, enough for education, enough for retirement, enough to have choices about where we live, what we do, and where we are able to go.
 
Jesus comes to it from a different angle.  Over and over he points to the earth and all that is in it as God’s.  He sees this life as only a part of larger life.  He preaches and teaches and shows abundance in love, mercy, and forgiveness.  Not only do we have enough, we are enough and we are filled with possibility for being God’s hands, feet, and heart for this world.  Money, then, is a tool and a symbol of how and where we choose to thrive.  What we do with it tells us who we are, and what we value.  When we work out of abundance and not scarcity, we chase away the worry and welcome the opportunity.  That is easy to say and hard to do.  It is a spiritual challenge.
 
Seasonally, this is stewardship time in the Church.  We are all crafting a budgets for 2021.  I am suspicious – no, I am sure -- that the lectionary committee, the people who plan and select the thematic readings for each Sunday, plant this lesson here to help out the cause.  In reality, stewardship is not a season but an everyday practice of taking what we are given, everything we are given, and using it to value what matters to us.  Given our history and practice, you all really value Emmanuel and our work as the local Jesus Movement.  The place, the people, the hopes and dreams of God we encounter here really matter to us.  As we do the right things, money will follow.  There will be opportunities in this season to think, pray, and make a commitment. 
 
One of the devotionals I read offered me this, a great reflection on this lesson:
 
“Where is God’s impression in the coinage of my daily life?”  It is a lovely question and it cuts to the heart of how and what we give in this life.  If we are there, thinking, praying, and acting as God’s beloved vessels, no matter what, we are on the money.  Amen.