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"Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money." So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

In the Name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

I hope you-all brought your wallets with you today. You heard our Lord's words: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." :-)

Seriously, I think most of you know where the religion of man will go with these words of Jesus. Sadly, they'll point you to your wallet, to give God your money; or to your heart, to give God your love; or to your hands or lips, whatever, to give God your good deeds--to show off to God, to show Him you are worthy of salvation. ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, of course.

Today Jesus saves us from such erring and false preaching, from religious synods and institutions, and from our own poor sinful hearts, which naturally believe, teach, and confess a god that's ultimately all about getting a hold of our money, our hearts, our stuff. Dearly beloved, our God is not a taker; He's a GIVER... the giver of every good gift.

Listen closely. I must make this very clear to you: God in heaven did not send His precious Son in order to get into your pocket... as if He needed anything from us, or as if that could secure our salvation in any way. No. He sent His Son, S-O-N, to give you the sun, S-U-N! (Rev. 2:28) In other words, to give you all things! He emptied out His bank account to make YOU rich. Jesus preached this from the start: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Don't be fooled. In these last days, the glory of God is NOT seen in how much people "give to God," as the world understands giving to God. No. The glory of God is revealed in the Gospel! The glory of God is revealed in JESUS, in the preaching and teaching of the Good News of Jesus. God is glorified when the merits and gifts of Jesus are delivered to sinners in need. When they are given forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation in His Name. When His incarnation and the emptying of himself are proclaimed for us and our salvation... when His perfect life and sacrificial death on the cross is made known as the accomplishment of our salvation, God is gloried. When we hear how Jesus is now raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and seated at the right hand of God the Father to secure and guarantee our salvation, God is glorified. The glory of God is revealed in Baptism, where He washes a sinner clean of sin, wraps him in Christ's perfect righteousness, gives him new life, and welcomes him into His eternal kingdom and family. God is glorified each time we are reminded of our Baptism and the promises He made to us there. When you hear the Absolution of your sins on account of His Son... when you eat and drink Christ's Body and Blood for forgiveness, life, and salvation. Get the picture? God is glorified and happy when His SAVING Gospel and Sacraments are being administered to needy sinners!

The way of the world and our sinful nature is to do something BIG FOR GOD, and to make a big deal about THAT. Build Him a BIG building; act like we REALLY LOVE Him; put on a BIG SHOW for Him. "THAT will surely glorify Him!" we convince ourselves. But isn't it really to glorify ourselves? Dear people, you can build God a St. Peter's Basilica in Rome or Kansas City, wherever,... you can talk all day about how you love Him with all your heart,... you can put on the biggest, most exciting, talent show in His name... but if His saving Gospel and Sacraments aren't proclaimed and delivered there, then His glory ain't there either. And nobody's saved from his or her sins.

Now in true faith and love you may build a church building, but that's not really giving to God either. He doesn't need it, nor has He commanded it. All the glory He wants to reveal to us comes from preaching and administering His saving Gospel and Sacraments, as I already said. He doesn't care whether that's done under the stars, in a stable or a hut, in your living room, in a borrowed building or owned, wherever. But in love for your neighbor, your family, and even for your own salvation, you may wish to build a building set apart for the preaching of the Gospel, decorated with art proclaiming many of its facets, so that you can invite sinners to come out of this evil world and be refreshed---focus on the Gospel for awhile each week, same time, same station. All this is for your neighbor, or for yourself, not God. And that's fine. But we must be on guard not to get this mixed up, like so many do, lest OUR religious zeal becomes the big thing and the Gospel gets lost. That's what happened to the Pharisees and Jews at the time of Jesus, and it is our inclination too.

When Jesus tells His hearers here to "give to God what is God's," He's NOT talking about tithing or anything of the sort. The religious Pharisees were already giving all of that to God---their money, their love, their good works, their religious virtues. And Jesus makes it plain: that won't save anybody. Jesus calls them to repent of their self-inflated religion, that He may save them with the Gospel. And this is written down now FOR US--to turn us and save us from that religion too. He is teaching us all how to stand and live before God each day and especially on the Last Day, which is just around the corner now.

The LORD of heaven and earth is no taker; He's a GIVER. He's THE GIVER. Unless you want to talk about taking away your sins, your idolatry. But all that is poverty and doom. That He would take away from you to make you truly rich forever. And that is exactly what He's doing in today's Gospel text.

The Pharisees and the Herodians want to trap Jesus. THEY WANT TO TAKE His good reputation, His livelihood, and His life. HE ONLY WANTS TO GIVE to them. He would save them and give them a life that never stops giving. See His glory, His mercy for sinners. It's Holy Week, and what do you suppose is on Jesus' mind? What was always on His mind and now surely more than ever---His mind is on the cross and saving us from our sins.

Isn't that just like Him throughout the Scriptures: always thinking of us and our salvation, always giving, while we're always scheming against God and our neighbor, always taking? No wonder we think He's a taker. We think He's just like us! We've created an idol in OUR own image. We don't know Him, do we? O dear people, see His glory: He will spare nothing for these Pharisees and for us all. He will give EVERYTHING, even His life to save us and make us rich. What joy for us sinners!

What's the trap they set for Jesus? The Pharisees, the religious leaders, and the Herodians, the government leaders, sent their thugs to Jesus, to ask him, "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Either way they figure they've got him and their will will be done, their evil will to wreck Him and get rid of Him. If Jesus says no, He's got government problems. If He says yes, He's in trouble with His peers, the Jewish people and their religion---those who hated to pay taxes to Caesar and looked all over God's Word for reasons NOT to pay.

Jesus is wise to their evil scheme, as always, but still in love He will call them to repentance and the Gospel, to save them. And then He will go to suffering and death for the forgiveness of all their sins. Ours too.

I have here a dollar bill. Whose image and inscription is this? Washington's. Give to Washington what is Washington's, and to God what is God's. What belongs to Washington will not save you. What belongs to God, will.

What is it that belongs to God that will save the Pharisees and you and me from our sins? It is Jesus. Jesus belongs to God. He's His greatest treasure, His One and Only Beloved Son. And Jesus was sent to give Himself to sinners that they too may stand and live before God safe and secure, loved and treasured, just as Jesus is.

Dear Redeemed, the Devil's most insidious preachers will tell you what saves you is your giving YOURSELF to God. "Give to God what belongs to God. That's YOU!" they'll tell you. "So commit yourself to Him fully, give Him your entire life, love Him with all your heart, trust Him completely, and you will be saved." As if we can actually do that. But because we are so sinful, so lost, so in the dark about God, they easily entrap us. We naturally believe them.

Thank God this morning; Jesus saves us from such lies and devilish scheming... and from despair and doom!

True, the 10 Commandments, God's Law, demand such commitment, love, and faith from us at the peril of our souls. But trying your hardest to keep the Commandments and impress God won't save you. That's OUR problem, our big sin---we DON'T do the things we should. In fact, now fallen, we CAN'T do them, not as we should. If our hope of salvation rests on OUR commitment to God, OUR loving God, OUR trusting Him completely, then the Devil, his preachers, and our own sinful hearts HAVE TRAPPED US, and we're lost.

If, like the Pharisees, you want to boast about your own hands and what they have done for God, the Law of God will simply tell you, "That's No big deal! You SHOULD do those things, AND MUCH MORE! That's no merit on your account---not BEFORE GOD. Besides, you are unholy and sinful by nature; that makes everything you do impure and damnable before God."

And this is where Jesus' words are so sweet and saving: "Give to God what belongs to God"---give to God not your hands but JESUS' hands! Learn from Jesus how to live out these last days. Put JESUS' hands before the Father, not yours: "Father, look not to my hands, my sinful hands and the things they have done, good or bad; but look to Jesus' hands alone and what THEY have done FOR ME. His good works done for me, credited to my account. His hands nailed to the cross to suffer in my place for my sins. All to accomplish my salvation whole and free. Father, for the sake of JESUS' nail-marked HANDS, have mercy. Those hands baptized me, and fed me His Body and Blood with the promise of forgiveness, eternal life, and your fatherly love. Treat me according to HIS hands, not mine."

When you find yourself boasting before God about your own feet and what they have done for God and your neighbor, REPENT! Turn from that. Instead, give God what He wants, what belongs to Him, what will truly save you from your sins and the damnation you deserve. Give Him... place before Him JESUS' feet, which walked the perfect life for you and suffered for you, and now keep coming to you through the feet of His servants to find lost little you, one of His precious sheep.

And when you find yourself counting on something IN YOUR OWN HEART for God's favor, like YOUR sincerity or YOUR love or even YOUR faith, turn from that too! Turn from ANYTHING of YOU! Repent and be saved! Get your glory from Jesus alone. Boast in Him alone! Put before God how HIS heart has perfect faith toward God and perfect love toward His neighbor; how HIS heart was perfectly obedient to the Father unto death; how HIS heart reached out to poor helpless sinners like you and me and gave Himself fully for us and to us, though it was pierced by much grief and crushed by our evil scheming, and bled to death for our sins. Give that to God and Jesus guarantees you will be saved from His wrath.

And when you pray these last days, do not pray as the religious Pharisees pray, boasting of THEIR tithing, THEIR works, THEIR love of God, and how they DESERVE God's blessings. No. Repent of all that too. Confess your sins. Don't ignore them or wash over them. But then give God Jesus. Put Jesus in His ears, in His eyes, in His way. "In the Name of Jesus... For the sake of Jesus... hear my prayer, O Lord, and grant me those requests that are good for me."

Same goes for interceding for your neighbor. It does him no good to go telling God how NICE your neighbor is and how he DESERVES to be saved and favored by God. Nor just tell Him how evil your neighbor is, and how he deserves to be sent to hell forever and ever because of what he's done to you. Repent and give glory to God. Remind Him how Jesus died not only for you, but for your neighbor and enemy too. Remind Him what Jesus has done for ALL mankind. That prayer may actually save him. Because Jesus is his only hope. Just like yours. And God hears such prayers.

And with Jesus before God for you and your salvation, rejoice, take heart, be comforted, be at peace in everything that comes your way, even death... even the Last Day, Judgment Day. For Jesus has given himself to you and has promised you everything that is His, which belongs to the Father too---mercy, forgiveness, salvation, sonship, love, patience, kindness, eternal life, His whole kingdom. It's yours today and everyday, and especially the Last Day and forever. He cannot go against His Word, and the Father cannot go against His Son.

In Him and through Him, now you belong to God too. You're just like Jesus in God's eyes, a beloved child of God. So go ahead; live like that, like Jesus. Practice for eternity. Give of yourself to others and for others--in holiness, in good works and acts of love, for your pastor, for your family, for your neighbor, for your enemy. That can even show in paying taxes. :-) Remember, God doesn't need your money or your works of love. Those around you need them. Our Lord is the giver of every good gift and He will see to it that you always have plenty to joyfully love one another in every good deed. Go ahead; be generous like your Savior and your Father in heaven. Live in and enjoy His glory!

And that gets me back to why I said, "I hope you brought your wallet today." :-) For one, so that you would guard it from the false preachers who would take it from you to glorify themselves. Don't let them near your wallet. Secondly, because in true faith and love you may gladly want to give an offering for your pastor and others in need. And thirdly, because if you break the law on the way home and the police stop you, I don't want you to get an EXTRA ticket because you don't have your license with you. :-) Keep in mind, if you're fined or "taxed", if you will, our Lord would have you give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

But much more, He wants to SAVE you from all your sins. So He then says, "and give to God what belongs to God," referring to Himself as your Savior. With nothing of us, and only Jesus and what He has done for us in the eyes and ears and way of God, our salvation is a sure thing, today and the Last Day. And God is truly glorified.

Now on to our Lord's Supper for more of Jesus and our salvation, more of His giving and forgiving, more of His promises, more of His comfort, and more of God's Glory... in Jesus' name. Amen.

Rev. Kirk McQuillan
Augsburg Lutheran Church, Olathe, KS
November 14, 2004