Dear New McKendree Church Family,

You know the old saying: “The only two sure things in this life are death and taxes.”  I’ve never really liked that saying much — it’s a little too cynical for my taste. I’d like to think that those aren’t the only two “sure things” that this life has to offer. Nonetheless, I suppose there’s some truth to it. We all know that evading our physical death is futile, and evading taxes is both futile and felonious.

Thankfully, we’ve not been left to flounder with these issues on our own; Jesus has something to say about both. In fact, as for the first of life’s alleged “sure things”— death —Jesus offered himself as the antidote. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But, what about the second of life’s inevitabilities, taxes? Did Jesus have anything to say on this topic, or were such things too mundane for him to be bothered with?

Sorry about the loaded questions, but the answer is yes; Jesus did, in fact, weigh in on the topic of taxes. It seems that one day, while teaching in and around the temple, Jesus was approached by one of his religious elite antagonists. Hoping to get Jesus in hot water with the Romans, the esteemed religious authority asked him whether or not it was right to pay taxes. Personally, I wish Jesus had answered this one a bit differently. Wouldn’t it have been great if Jesus had divinely absolved us wage earners from the burden of paying taxes? Jesus, though, had something else in mind. In response to the trick question, Jesus asked the religious leader to show him a Roman coin. He then asked him whose picture and title were stamped on it. Starting to feel the tables turning, the religious leader responded, “Caesar’s.”  “Well then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

I love this story. It's one of my favorites. Even so, I’ve always thought that this story ended too soon. Is it just me, or does Jesus’ spot-on response beg a follow-up question or two? Maybe something like this: “So, what then must be given to God? What do I have that God would possibly want?”

I bet that if Jesus had been pressed with such follow-up questions, he would’ve most likely reminded his learned inquirer of the story of God’s creation. On the sixth day, “God created humankind in his image…male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Get the picture? Perhaps what Jesus was telling him (and us) is to let Caesar have his coin; after all, it’s got his picture and name on it. But in the same way, God has every right to claim that which bears his image; namely, you and me.

May God continue to bless and use His New McKendree image-bearers. 

Your brother in Christ,

Pastor Bryan Wendling