Bethany Bullet-Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The U.S. Government is taking “In God We Trust” off of the newest dollar coin set to go into circulation soon. That is what the alarming email said that I opened this morning. Rather intriguing considering I used that exact example in my sermon yesterday.

Of course, my first thought was that alarming emails are seldom accurate. My second thought was that would indeed be alarming to many of us who rejoice in having those words printed upon our currency. A little checking on this email and while the motto will not be on the coin’s face, it will be embossed around the coin’s rim.

Now my thoughts return to yesterday’s text. (Luke 20:20ff) Take a minute to read it. The teachers of the law thought they had Jesus trapped. If Jesus upheld the responsibility to pay the tax to Rome He would be accused of supporting an occupying force of a hostile foreign nation. If, on the other hand, He denounced the tax then Rome would accuse Him of instigating an insurrection and inciting rebellion. Either way He was in trouble. Jesus opted not to answer the question but instead allowed His adversaries to spring the trap on themselves.

“Show me the coin. Whose inscription is on it? Whose image?

Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

They never saw it coming. They just naturally assumed that the money was theirs to begin with. If Jesus said they should give their money to the Romans, the people would abandon Him. If He said that they should keep their money and not pay the tax, the Romans would round Him up. Jesus ended up saying that the money wasn’t actually theirs. Some of it belonged to the government and all of it belonged to God.

Perhaps it is at this point that this Bethany Bullet becomes far more alarming than the email I referenced earlier. While we have not tried to trap Jesus, we too have fallen into the trap that the teachers of the law fell into. We naturally, in our natural, fallen state assume that our stuff, including our money, is our stuff. That all we have is ours to begin with. So while we get quite agitated with the thought of having the words, “In God We Trust” removed from our currency we don’t get as invigorated to live out the words by: affirming that all our stuff, including our money, is His to begin with; and returning a first-fruit portion of that gift back to the Lord, trusting that He will provide us with all we need. In other words we want those words to be seen on our cash but we are hesitant to see them “on” our checkbook ledger.

The LAW did its work. “Astonished by His answer, they became silent.” (Luke 20:26b) The Law has done its work on us as well; it’s easier to want “In God We Trust” on our money than it is to confess that we trust in God by how we use our money. The Lord isn’t finished there; there is more than just the Law. The GOSPEL follows. The Gospel shows our Savior and grants forgiveness. And thus forgiven, we are granted a desire to live for Him.

Luke records two events immediately following this episode. (Luke 21:1ff and Luke 22:1ff) One records the story of the widow who put in all she had and the other is the plot of Judas to betray Jesus for a sack of money. Read these two texts and you’ll find these three truths:

1. Giving is a proclamation that God has already given us everything. While Judas made some money on the deal, Jesus went freely to His death for us. He gave His all when He gave His Son.
2. Giving is a pleasure. The people giving alongside the widow did so to promote themselves…she gave to praise God. She sacrificed all she had and was pleased to do so.
3. Giving is planned. The widow didn’t decide once she was there what she would do…she came with the intention of giving what she gave. And in so doing, “In God We Trust” is not merely a phrase on our money but is seen in how we view and use our money.