Homily 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 22nd October 2023

what the Pharisees stood for. There was only One God, the Lord God Almighty whose chosen people were the Israelites. A promise to Abraham, whose name means father of nations.

The Pharisees sent their followers to trap Jesus. He was with his disciples who saw the tension between him and the religious authorities. He was constantly challenging them. Initially, the Pharisees’ men praised Jesus for his honesty in his behaviour and “teaching the way of God”. They recognised Jesus feared no one, especially those higher up in the hierarchy, including the Pharisees. Their question was simple, they wanted to know his opinion on whether to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

If Jesus had said, yes, it was right to pay Caesar, then he would be saying the self-imposed man-god should be honoured, something totally unacceptable to the Jews who followed the first of the ten commandments: “You shall have no other god before me”, and the second commandment “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth”.

If Jesus had replied, no, don’t pay taxes to Caesar, then he could have been accused of inciting disobedience and rebellion against the Romans, which would require the death penalty. The Romans would be doing the Pharisee’s dirty work.

Instead, Jesus was aware of their tricks and asked those questioning him to show him the money used to pay taxes. One of the Pharisee’s men pulled from his pocket a coin, instantly demonstrating his hypocrisy. He was happy to use the coin with the engraved image of Caesar, inscribed with words suggesting the emperor was divine. He had this idol in his pocket that broke the first and second commandments.

Jesus asked the group; “whose head was on the coin?” They replied “Caesar”. Jesus responded by saying; “give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”.

As Christians, we are called to be lawful citizens, accepting the civil laws of our land. We are to be good and responsible, helping to pursue the common good for our society. Within our communities, what we give back to others we are giving back to God what belongs to him. Until recently, State Laws have followed God’s Law, but in recent decades there has become a division within what Secular Laws have imposed on us, differing from the Law of God. Many believe this is because we have become more progressive and that we humans know better. Yet, in our world, we can see much confusion and distrust in the systems set up to control our lives. Most laws are there to better corporate needs to make a profit. The wealthy can persuade government leaders to favour their views and not the views of the people. It is becoming harder for Christians to follow state-guided morality.

We see in our news how wars around the world are becoming everyday talk. Not long ago, it was the war in Ukraine brought on by Russia’s invasion. Now we are seeing the Middle East flare up, with similar consequences. In Russia, a small number of powerful people are neglecting the will of the population, taking away their voice of protest, and enforcing harsh prison sentences for those who do not conform. Striking fear in their population. Echoing a time some eighty years ago, when a similar regime drove fear into its own population, and those in many European countries, forcing millions of Jews, Christian clergy, political opposition leaders, and many considered by that government to be subhuman to their deaths.

As Christians, Paul calls us to work for love and to persevere through hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah reminds us that all is nothing without God. Even though the devil would like us to believe that God is not with us, this is a simple lie. Through our prayers, through our readings of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, we can see the truth that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is with us always. All we have to do is recognise the fact and accept him into our lives. To follow him.

This Sunday is Mission Sunday. We are all called to share our faith with others. To actually speak out loud and profess our faith in the Lord Our God. The spoken word has great power. As it was for Joshua when his army surrounded Jericho, the power of their voices brought down walls. The power of our voice when shared with others in speaking about God, can bring down the walls that imprison those who are searching to find God in their lives.

There are many out there in the world who wish to trick us into being silent. Our mission is to equip ourselves with God’s armour and challenge the world. For without God, there is nothing. Our faith is everything.

Amen.

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