The Pharisees and the Herodians sent their followers to Jesus with a question that was intended to entrap him. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” He asked them to show him the coin used for the tax. Of course, it bore the image of the Emperor, revered by many of his subjects as a deity. Jesus asked them, “Whose image 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.” (Matthew 22:15-22)
They couldn’t fault Jesus for his assertion that the Roman money belonged to the emperor. And as faithful Jews, they couldn’t fault him for reminding them that the whole earth and everything in it belong to God.
Whatever we have is a sacred trust from God and whatever we do with it matters in terms of our spiritual existence. I am not where I live, how much I possess, where I work, what I wear, which clubs I belong to, which soccer team my child or I am on. Those things are transitory. The only thing that can never be taken away from me is who I am in the eyes of my Creator as declared to me in my Baptism: “Ron, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.” Throughout life, whether I live in the lap of luxury or in a tent, it is my purpose in life and my joy to give myself to God.
I can face the future because the Creator of the Universe is already out there in the future, calling me to life. Give to mortals what belongs to them. But give to God what belongs to God. And what belongs to God? Everything.
Daniel B. Clendenin, has written, "As a friend of mine once observed, civilization is expensive, and taxes pay the tab. But absolute allegiance to an ultimate God, rendering our entire selves to Him without preconditions or limits, without hedging our bets, demands a higher order of magnitude. That takes a lifetime" (Show Me The Money: Unconditional Allegiance to the Unconditioned God, The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation).