22nd Sunday after Pentecost 13 Nov 2011 Sermon

22nd Sunday after Pentecost 13.11.11 God and Caesar

The world financial crisis is in the news, as well as the stock markets and the economy generally. Our society makes a lot of fuss about money.

We spend a lot of time giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s, maybe not so much to God what is God’s.

For many people there is nothing at all that belongs to God; it is all for Caesar, all about making money, getting on in this life. Money is all there is.

And this is why it takes up so much of our news services and so much of human time and effort.

We are not getting the balance right. There is too much Caesar and not enough God.

The love of money is the root of all evil, St Paul says (1 Tm 6,10). Notice he does not say, Money is the root of all evil. Money is just a medium of exchange; it facilitates the flow of goods and services. It is just there to serve our needs.

But like anything it can be misused. When it is used as a way of taking advantage of others, improving one’s own position at the expense of others – then we have the beginnings of abuse.

For the world financial system by far the biggest problem is the presence of greed - which can lead to crime, and then every kind of imbalance.

When money becomes a false god in pursuit of other false gods such as status, pleasure, possessions, then we have trouble.

When people love money too much, they love each other too little (to say nothing of loving God.)

The system is in crisis because we cannot and do not trust each other.

We would be able to trust each other if we observed the other half of Our Lord’s command: to give to God what is God’s. If we got back to where it all started. God has given us good things for free, abundant resources (cf the Psalms, such as Ps 104).

To give God what is His: this means in its most obvious sense, to give Him worship, trust, obedience, allegiance.

In doing this much we will be less preoccupied about earthly possessions.

To take the command a little further: one thing that belongs to God is His view of humanity.
We owe it to Him to set up a world where everyone looks out for the needs of everyone else; so that no one is dying of hunger, or lack of shelter; that everyone has enough to live on in dignity.

It is His world and the people are His children. We can give Him the pleasure of seeing His own children looking after each other.

Money is just there to be used for this higher end. We are stewards of all God’s creation and in particular this very powerful agent, which can be used in so many ways.

It is not necessary that we all have the same amount; just so long as everyone has enough. It is not a sin to be rich as long as the person realizes higher obligations, giving God what is His.

The Bible warns us against putting too much trust in riches ‘even when they increase’.

This is another temptation: self-reliance. I don’t need God because I have plenty of money.

The remedy: humility and childlike simplicity. Look how the sun shines and rain falls. Let God be God and look towards Him to provide for us as He does for the lilies of the field.

It gets back to that amount of simplicity. Simply do not grasp more than we need and there will be enough for all.

If we do give to God we will certainly get more back than we give.

In the meantime we will have to put up with the distorted values of the world as so many continue to miss the point. May all see, sooner or later, the futility of such a life, and seek the true riches of Heaven.