29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:15-21), Jesus is asked: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Matthew makes it clear that those who are asking the question are interested in one thing only – how they might entrap Jesus in speech and discredit him in the eyes of his followers. If Jesus answered “Yes,” he might forfeit his popularity with the crowds, who resented having to pay the tax and saw it as cooperation with the Roman oppressors who occupied their country. If he answered “No,” he would be denounced to the authorities as a revolutionary who was inciting the people to break the law. It was the classic “no-win” situation. Jesus did not fall for their trap. He did not respond with either of the answers that his questioners were looking for. Jesus replied: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

What belongs to God anyway? The answer is inescapable: everything! From God we receive all that we have and are, with the exception of sin. God has given us the gift of life. God has given us our talents and abilities: everything from the five senses, which we share with the animals, to the individual talents that make each human person unique.

If paying to God what is God’s is to mean anything, it must mean putting God first in our lives. Are we putting God first in our lives or are we giving him the leftovers – our spare time (if we have any); or our leftover gifts and talents once we have finished doing all the things that we want to do?

Jesus understood, and taught, that we must give God the “first fruits” of our labor - out of gratitude. This grateful giving of first fruits was based on the truth that everything comes from God, and thus everything belongs to God. If we truly want to give to God what belongs to God, we must put God first in our lives – in all areas of our lives. There must be no fenced off areas where God is second or third – or where God is not allowed to enter at all. When we put God first in our lives, we make a beautiful discovery. We find that what is left over for ourselves is always enough, and is ultimately more than enough! The simple truth is that God will never be outdone in generosity.