Scripture Scribbles: October 22, 2023
the Gospel
Mathew 22:15-21
The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion,
for you do not regard a person's status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."
the devotion
Death and taxes…right?
The two guarantees we all have in this life! There is so much we are not guaranteed… even tomorrow is not a guarantee, yet we make all these plans, all these assumptions about our tomorrows don’t we?
Close your eyes. I’ll wait. Are they closed? Ok, maybe not but imagine in your mind's eye I am holding out a gift to you. This gift is beautifully wrapped and just waiting to be opened. You take this gift and look at me with anticipation… I tell you, “Oh, this is not a gift from me, it’s from, God.” You untie the beautiful bow, gently remove the wrapping, and there you have, a moment, this moment, today, it’s your gift!! Do we consider our days as gifts? I know for me, I totally forget to do this! Somehow, this past week, our oldest child turned 26! All the doubts poured in, did I read enough books to him? Was I gentle with my words, was I intentional with my time, did I hug him, hold him, laugh with him enough? Did I encourage his independence, his courage, his strength, enough? Did I notice when “mommy” became “ma” did I notice when his little hand wasn’t in mine to cross the street? I didn’t…more babies came after him, sweetness and tears and laughter filled the days. Many gifts were showered down on our growing family, but did I open them? Or did I just assume I would receive the same old “gift” tomorrow and sweep it to the side?
Going back to the Gospel, The Pharisees and the Herodians were trying to entrap Jesus by asking him about the tax money. What does Jesus say? Not the answer they expect…“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Here’s the big question, the one that I can so easily and happily miss when I’m sitting in a pew listening to the Gospel. What belongs to God?
Everything!
The coins have Caesar's image on it, whose image are we made in?
God’s.
Genesis 1:27 tells us, “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”
He’s expecting us to be “returned” to Him! He’s expecting our children to be “returned” to Him. Not only that, but this world everything, is created by God. He expects us to be good stewards of these gifts and, give them back one day. So we don’t really have a choice if we want to be good stewards. We must live our lives with intention, acknowledging the gift that is right now. Let’s not be stingy with our love, our time, our talents. Let’s give it all away for this moment so when we look back after years have flown by we can say, I opened that gift every morning and we can hold up our days, when they are joyful or a complete and total mess and say I’m offering this to you God. I hope I have taken good care of what has always belonged to you and what is rightfully YOURS!
Today’s devotion is written by Beth Brennan
