St. George's Episcopal Church
Roseburg, Oregon
The Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 24A
16 October 2005
Go To St. George's Home Page
Note: This page is optimized for a display size (screen resolution) of 1024 x768 or higher. How to change display size.
St. George's Episcopal Church |
|
Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99:1-9
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
The Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22)
God’s Coins
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
A quarter – a twenty five cent piece – won’t buy all that much these days. It won’t buy a cup of plain coffee, and it takes about ten or fifteen of these to buy a café mocha. But, since the Treasury Department started to issue new quarters every ten weeks beginning in January 1999 in the 50 State Quarters program, you just might have a quarter in your pocket worth $1,100.
The quarters are released in the order that the states were admitted to the union. The first quarter to be minted honored Delaware, and it was released on January 4, 1999. The last will honor Hawaii, and it will be released during August of 2008. The quarter honoring Oregon was released on June 6 this year honoring admission to the Union in 1859 (I’ll bet you didn’t think you’d be getting a civics lesson this morning!).
When the program began my daughter started collecting these quarters. We bought a book to hold them and began pestering our friends in the east to send quarters produced by the Philadelphia mint so that the collection would be complete. Things went smoothly for the program and for collectors until October 2004 when Wisconsin’s coin was put into circulation.[1]
 |
Pictures of the "leaf down " (left) and the "leaf up " (right) mint errors in the Wisconsin 2004 quarter. [2] |
Each time the mints make a new coin, about 500 million are produced at the rate of about 10 coins per second. Quality control procedures normally catch mistakes that are produced. But in the case of Wisconsin, some mistakes escaped detection and coins with mint errors got into circulation. And not just one kind of mint error, but two!
The state side of the perfect quarter features an agricultural theme with the head of a cow, a wheel of cheese, and an ear of corn bursting forth from the husk. The errors produced by the Denver mint make the ear of corn appear to have an extra leaf on the left side. In some of the coins, the leaf is tilted up; in others, it is tilted down.[2] Collectors went wild. Demand for these rarities grew, driving up their price. Flawed quarters are worth between $450 and $1,100.[2]
Today’s gospel recalls for us a time when Jesus was confronted by men who attempted to embarrass him and destroy his credibility. In front of a crowd, they asked him whether it was lawful to pay taxes to the emperor. The idea was that if Jesus argued against the tax, then they could accuse him of sedition. If he endorsed the tax, then he would appear to be sympathetic to Rome, and in collusion with the oppressors of the Jewish people. They thought it was the perfect trap – a lose, lose situation. They had no back up plan when Jesus refused to accept the terms of the question. He called for his challengers to produce a coin of the realm – probably a denarius, the coin that was the usual day’s wage. Jesus then asked them, “Whose image is this?” The coin was probably imprinted with the image of Tiberius (42 B.C.E. - 37 C.E.), the Roman emperor at the time.[3]
 |
A denarius from the time of Tiberius. [3] |
In telling his listeners to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, Jesus turned the whole thing upside down. He reminded his listeners that we are created in God’s image. We are God’s coins. But unlike the mostly perfect minted coins produced by the government mints, most of us have mint errors of one kind or another. But despite those flaws, God loves every one of us.
Ultimately, everything we have comes from God, and that is something we have to be reminded of all the time. And we should be as attentive to our responsibilities toward God as we are to the responsibilities of our society. Render to God what is God’s and render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.
Pride and our work ethic often get in the way of acknowledging that behind everything we are, and everything that we have, is God.
There was an old farmer who was very miserly in what he gave to his church. His minister visited him one day to try to convince him to render more to the church than he had been. The minister pointed out to him that the Lord had provided a very fertile piece of land, and had blessed him with abundant water and sunshine for his crops to grow. “You know,” the minister said, “this farm and everything you have is really on loan to you from God. You should be more grateful.” The farmer replied, “I don’t mean to complain, Reverend, but you should have seen the mess this place was in when God was running it by himself.”
We can all sympathize with that farmer can’t we? Our sense of pride in what we have accomplished and what we own makes us reluctant to share the credit – perhaps even with God. But to admit that behind all things is God, means that we understand two extremely important things. The first is that we too are part of God, and that God’s energy and love are part of us. Second, we acknowledge that we are God’s currency in this world. And we can spend our time, our talent, and our treasure doing things to help one another and to expand God’s realm, or we can spend ourselves on self centered pursuits and foolish ambitions. We can be good stewards or poor ones. That is our choice.
Susie Scott was a beautiful Playboy centerfold during the 1980s. For ten years afterward, she modeled, acted, did promotional work for Playboy and enjoyed the good life. After a failed marriage, she moved to Aspen, Colorado, where she married Joe Krabacher, a successful real estate attorney. She settled into a comfortable life of luxury.
A little more than a decade ago, Susie saw a TV documentary on orphans in Mongolia, and she was motivated to do something to help.[4] A friend of hers from the First Baptist Church in Aspen told her about Haiti, and the fact that it is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Susie flew to Cite Soleil, Haiti. She had no preparation and no real idea what she was going to do other than a vague notion to start an orphanage. She began by sleeping in a filthy hovel with a family of seventeen. That night was a time of transformation. The next day knew that she had found her vocation. So convinced was she of her calling to establish an orphanage, she threw away per passport so she would have to stay after her visa expired.
Over time, the Krabachers established Mercy House, an orphanage for children ages newborn to 15. They soon added a school and nutritional center, where many of her young charges received their only meal of the day. They eventually established the Mercy and Sharing Foundation which took over the operation and financing of four more orphanages and five schools.[5] Along the way, Susie contracted lice, scabies and mange, and has been treated for encephalitis. She has been threatened by gangs and troubled by bureaucrats.
Susie and her husband fund a good deal of the Foundation’s work out of their own pockets. The operating expenses come from donations, some of which come about because of Susie’s unique personal story and her Playboy background which shows that nothing is wasted in God’s economy. Susie realized that not only her money, but also her position of privilege, her celebrity, and her life experience itself, were all treasures on loan from God. And she put them all to use in a way that honors Jesus Christ.
Fred Craddock is probably one of the best known preachers in the United States. When he was a young man there was a program to promote friendship among the nations of the world called The Christian World Friendship Fund. It was a matter of honor and pride for young people to contribute to this fund. One summer at camp, he and his friends scraped together $140. After the closing consecration service and candlelight night of silence and all, they were going to figure out where to send it. There had been a natural disaster in some foreign place – a tidal wave, an earthquake, or some terrible thing – and they were deciding whether to send their money there when someone asked, “Is that country Communist?” Well they didn’t know. One of the counselors thought it was pretty heavily communistic, but he wasn’t exactly sure of the percentage. “Well then I don’t think we should send the money there,” someone said. Somebody else said, “Well those babies don’t know whether they are Communists are not. All they know is that they are hungry.” Another one warned, “If we feed those Commie babies today, we’ll just end up fighting them tomorrow, right?” Finally, after an hour of wrangling, the vote as taken. They spent the $140 to improve the recreational facilities at the camp.
We are all stewards. Some are wealthy and some are not. But all of us have treasures that are on loan from God – including our very lives. And we can manage our resources well, or poorly. We can help others or help ourselves.
Maybe we are not perfectly minted coins. But, as long as we can remember that we are all God’s coins, cast in God’s image, then it will be easier to be the best stewards we can be of everything God has entrusted to our care.
Note: The Back to Top button above requires Macromedia Plug In.
Click here to download Macromedia Player Version 7.
COMMENTS? E-Mail Me
Moses said to the LORD, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.” The LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The LORD’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” And the LORD continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”
1 The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
4 Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Timothy f. Merrill, Executive editor. “Mint Errors.” Homiletics 17(5):52-56, September 2005.
[2] See an on-line article about the quarters at http://www.coinworld.com/wisbulletin0209.asp.
[3] Image from http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~ekondrat/Augustus/Tiberius.jpeg.
[4] Valerie Richardson. “ From Cover Girl to “Mama Blanche” usie Krabacher’s remarkable charitable makeover” Philanthropy Roundtable. Downloaded 14 October 2005 at http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/magazines/2000-05/richardson.html
[5] Information about The Mercy and Sharing Foundation can be found at http://www.haitichildren.com/index.html.
The Mission of St. George’s Episcopal Church is to lead people to love Jesus, and, through worship and scripture, to become empowered as a servant body – to each other, to our community, and to the world. For information about St. George’s Episcopal Church and its life and mission, please contact us at 1024 Southeast Cass Avenue , Roseburg, OR 97470 or by phone at (541) 673-4048 or (541) 680-3465. Contact Bill by email at wgstroop@earthlink.net and visit our church at http://www.roseburgchurch.net |
To Bill Stroop's Sermon Index Page
To Bill Stroop's Current Year A Sermon Index Page
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2005, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
14 October 2005
With the exception of the two images that are potentially already copyrighted by the sources referenced in the bibliography, this publication, ie. this page and the preceding document that has a link to this page, are copyrighted. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part of it may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior permission of the publisher.
