15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶ So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" ²¹ They answered, "The emperor’s." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s." ²² When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

I like talking about stewardship. I think it’s extremely important talk about and live out a life style that puts God first in your life. Stewardship is about your relationship to God.

On the flip side, I’ve never been a big fan of pledging, because that feels like something of the world. As someone who was taught at an early age that you need to give back to God first, the idea of writing down how much I am promising to financially contribute to the work of the church felt, in some way, wrong. It didn’t feel necessary. I understand that it helps the church to put together an appropriate budget, but I knew where my mentality was at, and if the church, as a whole was willing to move toward that place of giving back to God first, well, then you’re going to be able to pay for the things that you need to do. You won’t need pledging.

It was with that sort of mentality that at the last Inquirer’s Class I said to those who were assembled, and directly after Barb Coe said how important it was to pledge, I said "if you aren’t comfortable pledging, then don’t." Apparently this line stuck with Barb and stuck with her in a negative way, because this past week we had a conversation about the comment that I made some six months ago.

She said, "as soon as you said it, I wanted to kick you because it is important that everyone pledge." Now mind you that Barb and I have the sort of relationship where that sort of a comment is absolutely within bounds. We respect each other and know that we are both trying to serve God.

So I sat down and told her where I was coming from in regards to pledging, which was pretty much what I just said to you, that I thought that pledging was a worldly process and not about a Godly connection.

She took that in and she said, "yeah, but you’re weird. Most people don’t think about giving back to God first. They need to be reminded of what’s important and what’s real and the pledging process enables people to be reminded of the fact that they should give back to God first. We’re a fallen people. If we don’t remind each other of what we believe, and how we should be connected, we end up falling short of how God would have us live."

I thought about that as I stood by the coffee pot and said, "so your saying that the human process of pledging acts to counteract our sinful nature and helps to lead us back to the place of God focused stewardship where we are giving back to God first?"

She looked at me and said, "I would have never said it like that, … but yeah." To that I responded, "I like that. I really like that. That makes sense. Barb you’re right. Thank you."

Stewardship, being connected to God in such a way that we give back of ourselves to God first and foremost, is something that each of us are called to live out. It is also something that is incredibly difficult. Stewardship, thinking of God first, is so contrary to our nature. Our nature implores us to look at our own wants and desires, and if we have anything left after those wants are satisfied in totality, well, then maybe we will give that back to God. Maybe.

This understanding of giving back to God first is something that the antagonists in our story were also supposed to live out. They did not. In fact, they have lost complete sight of what true connection to God, what true stewardship is. They have become so bogged down by the world that when the Son of God is before them they are unable to see the truth that he does speak.

When the disciples of the Pharisees say, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality", they are saying it with such sarcasm that it is disgusting, and yet these are the religious leaders of their day. They had allowed their sinful nature to trump their call to put God first in their lives. God was standing in front of them in human form in the person of Jesus Christ, and all they saw was an impediment to their wants and needs being satisfied. The message of God’s love and forgiveness was being offered through Jesus, and the Pharisees were unable to hear how this message pertained to them, except that they felt that their power was being threatened. They were unable to give back to God, give back as God was so clearly calling them to do, because they had become bogged down in their own personal brokenness.

Jesus response to their trick question is wonderful because it does not come from a place of brokenness, it comes from a place a Godliness. "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s". This reminds us that we absolutely do have worldly obligations, but that we should also give back to God as the Almighty has first given to each of us. Our response to God is not contingent upon the world. Instead, it should be the barometer by which our response to the world is fashioned. As we have talked about over the past few weeks, where do your priorities lie? If they lie with the world, then you will be constantly and consistently worried.

However, if your priority is God, then you are able to give back to God first and foremost and not only not worry about the things of the world, but live knowing that God will support you regardless of how difficult the environment in the world appears to be. We need to give back to God what is God’s and we need to set that as the top priority. In doing so, our lives will begin to provide the sort of fulfillment that we were looking for all along. That is how we are supposed to live.

But as we know from our own lives, and as we are able to hear in our passage, putting God first, living a life that gives back to God first, is out and out hard. And that is why things like pledging exist. If pledging wasn’t there to hold the mirror up in front of us and remind us of where our priority should be, most of us, almost all of us, would find excuses as to why we can’t give back to the Almighty through the church. As I have seen various congregations, churches struggle with finances, not because they are short on money, but because they aren’t living lives with God as their focus. Instead, they have priorities that lead them away from living as God would have them live, and amazingly enough, when that happens, the monies start to come up short.

Giving back to God, whether that be through the church or some other organization is not something that should be viewed as an impediment. It is meant to be viewed as an opportunity to set God as the priority in your life.

This congregation here at St. John’s has made some wonderful strides in terms of living this ethic. The Deacon led Stewardship programs that we have had over the years have done a great job of reminding us where our focus should be, and because of that fact we have been able to increase our operating budget and reach out into the world in many of the ways God would have us do.

But there have been points where we have taken our eyes off of God and become worried about the things of the world, focused on what we would want rather than who God would have us be as individuals and as a family of faith. In those moments we have cut back on things like Mission and Outreach monies, saying that we didn’t have enough. Was it that we didn’t have enough? Or was it that in a moment of brokenness our focus was not directed as it should have been? I think it’s the latter.

We are sinful creatures, and as much as might like to pretend that our focus is always on God, we know it’s not. It is because of this reason that Barb Coe is absolutely right, we do need things like pledging, so that our focus in regards to things like stewardship is on God, and not on the world.

In whom do we trust? To whom do we belong? If we believe that the answers to these questions is God then we should give back to God what is God’s without worrying about the things of the world.

The church thrives when it lives as the Holy Spirit of God is leading it. I pray that this Stewardship Sunday is a day when we are able to focus on God, and in that focus, give back, first and foremost, to God.

Holy and gracious God, our focus is meant to be on You. However, each of us knows that there are many days when our sinful nature gets in the way of allowing this to happen and we end up becoming transfixed on our own personal wants and desires. God, on this Stewardship Sunday, we pray that our focus might be upon You so that as fill out our pledges, we do so recognizing that we belong to You mind, body and soul. It is in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.