And [Jesus] asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22:20-21
“Caesar looks for his own likeness, give it to him. God looks for His own likeness: give it back to Him. Do not cause Caesar to lose his coin because of you. Do not cause God to lose His coin among you.”
Augustine of Hippo in Commentary on Psalm 57, 11 as cited by Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 503-504.
As we explore this powerful response of Jesus, the words ‘give back’ stand out to me.
Jesus wants us to demonstrate responsible citizenship on earth while living our lives wholly and completely for Him. Since God owns everything, including us (remember He purchased you and I with the blood of Christ), we get to give our lives back as living sacrifices.
This runs contrary to worldly thinking which beckons us to live for ourselves, to keep as much of the money we earn for ourselves, and to contribute as little as possible to the advancing the gospel as well as the common good.
I am not saying stewards should not minimize their taxes to maximize their giving. I am merely urging us to see everything as belonging to God so that “He does not lose His coin among us.”
In plain terms, if we say we belong to Him but we don’t look like Him, He loses His coin among us.
Father in heaven, in a world filled with toxic ownership and entitlement thinking, we want to live out faithful stewardship and generosity. Help us give back by reflecting your likeness in all we say and do, by the power of the Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.