Give to the Emperor the things that belong to the Emperor and give to God the things that belong to God”. Coins at the time of Jesus were used to tell people various things – in this case the coin was likely to be telling the people which Emperor was currently in charge. Things have changed a little bit since the time of Jesus. It is about to be the King on our coins who is more a figurehead than the decision-maker.
For me the message from this reading is still about who we place in charge of our lives. We can place the things of this world as important to us or we can place God as the most important thing for our lives. They are certainly different ways of looking at life. We still have to obey the laws of this land – such as how fast we can drive a car on the roads or paying our income taxes and rates. However when we put God in charge of our lives we can receive direction for our lives as well as care and support and I think that is important to help us through our lives.
Shirley Bowers
Lay Preacher, Longford UC