Our readings are from Exodus 33:12-23, Psalm 99, 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10, and Matthew 22:15-22. today, we’re thinking about the things that are God’s.
The first story is the story of Moses. Moses is wanting reassurance from God… now I have found favour in your sight, please show me your ways so that I may know you and find favour in your sight. That seems rather circular. But Moses really wants to know God. And God has dealt with him and has dealt with his people, he’s led them by fire and cloud, through statute and through decrees as it says in Psalm 99. But Moses wants to have the reassurance that God is with them, that God goes with them, and he knows that this is what will make the people distinct. In this way they shall be distinct, from every people on the face of the earth, the distinction is the Lord is with them.
And the Lord promises that they will have peace and favour in his sight. as he goes with them. But Moses pursues God even further and wants to see God. Moses says, “Please show me your glory.” Moses wants to know the glory of God. And God gives him his request. Though he does not show him his face, he shows him his back.
In the psalm, we can see that The Lord is proclaimed as king. Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned upon the cherubim. Let the earth quake. The Lord is great in Zion. He’s exalted over all the peoples. And then it goes on to say,
“Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity. You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”
These are the things of God that are proclaimed to Moses. Justice, equity, and righteousness. Not only does God execute justice, he is a lover of justice. And he establishes equity. Equity is provision based on need. It’s not equality. Some will get more, some will get less, but all will end up with the same. We know that God will give us what we need because God has established equity. He’s given out decrees and statutes. Towards the end of the psalm we learn of God’s justice, it says of the people in the desert, “Oh Lord our God, you answer them. You were a forgiving God to them but an avenger of their wrongdoings.”
In the psalm there’s a recognition that there are consequences of not following after the way of God. God withdraws his presence and allows things to happen that cause them anguish. And this appears to the people of God as vengeance. He’s an avenger of their wrongdoings. It’s a harsh word avenger of their wrongdoings. This is the God who is revealing to them his presence. This is the God who is accommodating their knowledge of gods.
We have a revelation of God that goes beyond that. We know and we hope that God is an avenger of wrongdoings. Otherwise, how could he be a God of justice? And we see that there are consequences, aren’t there? But we see that suffering in the world persists and is pervasive. It’s ubiquitous in this creation.
We have the letter to the Thessalonians to help us understand. In Thessalonians, Paul speaks of the message that’s been preached to the Thessalonians… our message of the gospel came to you not in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. And he praises them for being imitators of him. In spite of persecution, you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit. I’ll repeat that. In spite of persecution, you received the word with joy. We can see that there’s much persecution in the world. This isn’t the vengeance of God. This is a God who stands with us. He is with us, which is what is our distinctive, what distinguishes us. These people have been delivered from the worship of idols to serve a living and true God. We are delivered to serve a living and true God. And we are called to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath. How are we to perceive the coming wrath?
We’ve seen that in the Psalms the psalmist sees this as God being the avenger of wrongdoings. And we can see there’s much wrath in the world. We can see how for example Christians in Gaza are standing despite losing family members and close friends. They’re standing and they’re standing in the hope of Jesus and in the love of Jesus. And in the midst of all the turmoil, they’re providing education for all children. They’re providing safety for all peoples. They are going beyond their community and welcoming all within their gates. And this is despite the persecution, the anguish they suffer at the losses they experience.
And we can see that this is the wrath in creation; the freedom in creation allows this suffering. God is strong within this. He’s strong with his presence. He is a mighty king, lover of justice who establishes equity and executes justice and righteousness amongst us. We can see that does not necessarily make us the strong, we may find ourselves being the very weak and the brunt of much evil and there is much confusion in the nations. But we have God with us, his Holy Spirit with us, the word of joy within us. We can expect that God will work powerfully and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction, the full conviction that we are loved.
Now to the gospel today. The Pharisees plotted to entrap Jesus. He’d said many are called few are chosen. And as I proposed last week, the few who were chosen were the ones chosen to be thrown out. And we find, as a friend of mine pointed out, that Jesus is the one who is rejected. He is the one who’s crucified. He is the one who’s removed from Jerusalem, crucified outside the gates. He is the one who suffers, the consequence of this idea of God that the Pharisees seem to have. A God who we would find, I would find, difficulty in following. This is the repute of Jesus… you are sincere and teach the way of God in accordance with truth and show difference to no one for you do not regard people with partiality. He is the rebel. He is the one who stands out who will not acquiesce, will not allow his word to be tainted for convenience. Tell us then what you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Jesus is aware of their malice. They’ve just commended him, but he knows that they’re malicious. Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? That’s a strong calling out, a categorization of them. Show me the coin used for the tax. They showed him the coin. They brought him a denarius, a day’s wages at that time. Then he said to them, whose head is this and whose title? They answered, “Caesars.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed and they left him and went away.
Give to God the things that are God’s. The taxation system was very harsh. They were called to be joyful. They were wealthy. They were called to be generous. There’s no promise in the scriptures that we won’t be taxed and that we won’t be called to give tribute maybe to people who we do not want to give tribute to, do not see as being righteous, do not see as being equitable, do not see as being lovers of justice. And yet Jesus doesn’t pick a fight with them. He picks a fight with those who would cause Jesus to be brought into disrepute. And we know they know that he will say what he needs to say. He will speak the truth. And the truth he speaks to them is don’t worry about paying taxes. Pay your taxes joyfully. I would say live at peace, know the truth, and render to God what is God’s. God asks them to be lovers of justice. God wants them to establish equity. God is holy. That is what they need to render. They need to render hospitality. They need to render love. They need to render what is truthful.
We need to be those people whose repute went out, like the Thessalonians. The way they preached to the people around about them, sounded forth from them, proclaimed, was their ways; their imitation of Paul and of Christ proclaimed the message of God. For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom you raised from the dead, Jesus, who raises us, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Grace and peace to you.
Picture Attribute
Wesley, Frank, 1923-2002. Churinga (pure light, glory of God), from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/59222 [retrieved October 18, 2026]. Original source: Estate of Frank Wesley, http://www.frankwesleyart.com/main_page.htm.
