Blessed be God.
Praise be Jesus Christ,
now and forever. Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit. Fill us with Your joy.
Set our hearts ablaze with Your presence. Amen.
I would like to begin with a story.
One Sunday afternoon during my college years,
I spent the day with some friends
partying on a houseboat at the Ouachita River.
As often happens when young people gather together,
confidence began to grow.
Challenges began to fly back and forth.
One by one,
people started climbing over the railing of the top deck
and jumping into the river below,
feet first.
Then they turned to me.
I said, "No."
But that answer wasn't accepted very well.
The teasing began.
"You're scared."
The words were a little more colorful than that,
but you get the idea.
I didn't want to be labeled afraid.
I didn't want to be the chicken in the group.
I jumped of ice chest I was sitting on
and dove headfirst into the river.
That was dangerous and stupid.
In fact, it was stupid because it was dangerous,
and dangerous because it was stupid.
I plunged into water whose depth I did not know.
I had no idea what was beneath the surface.
I knew nothing about the current.
When I finally surfaced,
I was nearly thirty yards downstream
and had a deep gash running from below my knee to the top of my foot.
All because I allowed the crowd to pressure me
into proving something that never needed proving.
That experience taught me something.
The crowd is not always right.
And following the crowd can be dangerous.
Not just physically.
Spiritually.
In many ways, this is a dangerous time of year.
Our values are being challenged.
Our consciences are being tested.
Our attention is constantly being pulled in a hundred different directions.
The world is full of voices demanding our loyalty.
We hear them in our culture.
We hear them in politics.
We hear them in entertainment.
We hear them on our phones, our televisions, and our social media feeds.
The world constantly says:
"Look over here."
"Focus on this."
"Be angry about that."
"Be afraid of this."
And little by little, our eyes are drawn away from God
and fixed on something else.
We are pressured to choose sides.
To think like everyone else.
To speak like everyone else.
To embrace whatever the culture declares acceptable.
Sometimes we are even told
if we truly love others, we must approve of everything they do.
And if God's teaching disagrees with the spirit of the age,
then somehow God must be wrong.
It is an old temptation.
And it is the very temptation we encounter in today's Gospel.
The Pharisees approach Jesus,
not because they are seeking truth,
but because they are setting a trap.
"If we pay the tax to Caesar, are we betraying God?"
"If we refuse the tax, are we rebelling against Rome?"
They think they have Jesus cornered.
Either God or Caesar.
Either faith or public life.
Either religion or reality.
But Jesus refuses their false choice.
Holding up a coin, He asks:
"Whose image is this?"
"Caesar's," they reply.
And then comes the famous answer:
"Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."
Jesus is doing far more than escaping a trap.
He is revealing a deeper truth.
The coin bears Caesar's image.
So give Caesar his coin.
But what bears God's image?
You do.
From the beginning of creation,
humanity was made in the image and likeness of God.
Caesar's inscription may be stamped on silver and gold.
God's image is stamped upon the human soul.
Your heart belongs to God.
Your conscience belongs to God.
Your worship belongs to God.
Your life belongs to God.
And that changes everything.
The question is not political.
The question is spiritual.
Who do you belong to?
The first reading gives us another important reminder.
Cyrus, a pagan king who did not know the Lord
and did not worship the God of Israel.
Yet God used him to accomplish His purpose
and to free His people.
Think about that.
A ruler who did not even know God
became an instrument of God's providence.
God is not limited by governments.
He is not limited by political parties.
He is not limited by cultural trends.
He is not limited by secular institutions.
Even those who do not know Him
can unknowingly serve His plan.
While the world sees elections,
leaders, and shifting powers,
God sees the whole picture.
God remains sovereign.
God remains in control.
God remains at work.
Perhaps that is exactly what many of us need to hear today.
Sometimes we look around and wonder
if the world is spinning out of control.
We worry that evil and darkness is winning.
We fear that the forces opposed to God
have become too powerful.
Yet Scriptures invite us to lift our eyes higher.
The same God who guided Cyrus still guides history.
The same God who freed Israel still guides His Church.
The same God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead
still reigns over every nation,
every leader, every election, and every human heart.
Nothing escapes His providence.
Nothing frustrates His purposes.
Nothing is beyond His reach.
That does not mean our choices do not matter.
They do.
We are called to fulfill our earthly responsibilities faithfully.
We vote.
We participate.
We work for justice.
We stand for truth.
But our ultimate loyalty is not to a party,
an ideology, or a candidate.
Our identity is found in Jesus Christ.
That is why Paul praises the Thessalonians
for their work of faith,
their labor of love,
and their endurance in hope.
Their confidence was not in the changing powers of the world.
Their confidence was in God.
And because of that, they became lights shining in the darkness.
That is our calling as well.
Not panic.
Not despair.
Not fear.
But faith.
To speak the truth with charity.
To love others without compromising the Gospel.
To engage the world without becoming captive to it.
To become lights shining in the darkness
Because the deepest question in today's readings is not about taxes, politics, or civic duty.
It is about ownership.
Who do you belong to?
The world will place many labels upon you.
Citizen.
Voter.
Worker.
Parent.
Republican.
Democrat.
Conservative.
Liberal.
But beneath every label is a deeper truth.
You bear the image of God.
You belong to Him.
So give Caesar his coin.
But give God your life.
Because the coin carries Caesar's image.
You carry God's.
Be good. Be holy.
And preach the Good News
That you belong to God in Jesus Christ
by the way you live each day,
by the way you love others,
and by the way you forgive.
Praise be Jesus Christ,
now and forever. Amen.
