Matthew 22:15-22 All He Wants Is You! Grace 10/19/2008

I’ve heard some very convincing reasons why Jesus couldn’t have been an Italian other than the fact that He was not born in Italy, but I can’t repeat them here. But, if Jesus was an Italian, when those in today’s Gospel asked Him the question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” do you think Jesus’ response would have been, “Show me da money!” [No? I didn’t think so.]

That IS however the literal translation of the Greek. “Show me the money for the tribute.” Today we read it, “Show me the coin used for the tax.” And when they give it to Him, and I look again to the Greek here, He says, “Whose image (έίκον) and inscription is this?” “The emperor’s”, they respond. Αποδοτε unto Caesar that which is Caesars, and to God what is God’s! Αποδοτε = give, pay, render; give back, repay, return; reward, keep or fulfill as with a vow. So Jesus says, Give, pay, render; give back, repay, return to Caesar what’s his – and to God what’s His.

So if one is going to give, pay or render to God what is Gods, one must first answer the question, What IS God’s? (ask for responses) [[creation, earth, trees, rivers , rocks, lakes and oceans, animals, Ps 50:10-11 says even the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God, the environment, manmade stuff belongs to God – we made it with His materials, even money – He gave us the means to earn it!]] It’s ALL His! And God has made us stewards over it all, managers of that which is His. And what He asks in return monetarily is 10% - a tithe. He allows us to use the other 90%, yet His desire is for us to use it, not just for ourselves but also to help others. So as you consider your pledge for a month from now, keep that 10% amount in mind as what God wants us to give, pay, render back to Him monetarily which is of course used to fund the ministries of the church.

Having said that, I want to look again at today’s gospel. You may or may not have caught it in the little Greek lesson. The word for likeness or image in Greek = icon (έίκον) and the Latin is imago. Whose imago / icon / image was stamped on the coin? Caesar’s as the Imago Romana = the image of Rome and so the coin for the tax is given to him. The image is the criteria for what is given, payed, rendered as belonging to the emperor because his image was on it.

Where is the Imago Dei, the image of God stamped? --- On you and me! WE were created in the imago Dei – the image of God. If God’s likeness is on us, then what we render unto God is ourselves. You see, we really get off easy by giving 10% of the money we have to God because it’s all ultimately His. Yet really, all He wants is you. The money is an external indicator of our willingness to give ourselves to God.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s! God is pleased with our worship of Him, He is pleased by our giving of 10%, He is pleased when we reach out to help others but in the final analysis, all He wants is you!

Here are the lyrics to a short song by the same name:

All He wants Is me, unreservedly.
Not just apart, He wants all of my heart.
All He wants Is all of me;
All He wants Is me.

All He wants Is you, No one else will do.
Not just a part, He wants all of your heart.
All He wants Is all of you;
All He wants Is you.

What will you do with the simple truth that All He Wants Is You? Amen