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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Taxes

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[April 16, 2009]   -- “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”-Matthew 22:21

HardwareAs tax day arrived this year there were protests around the country.  Angry taxpayers, frustrated over government bailouts and Wall Street mismanagement, took out their frustrations in cities and towns by shouting, waving placards and just making a general nuisance of themselves.  And who can blame them?  Many people do not pay their taxes so corporations can subsist.  Our taxes are paid for smooth roads, robust police and fire departments and sparkling schools, among many other things.  So when we feel like our money is being railroaded away from us, we can get testy.  If you are angry about paying taxes for these reasons than you get some idea of how first-century Jews felt.

They paid enormous taxes, not from their wealth but from their poverty, and they paid them to a tyrannical government that had forcibly subdued them.  They didn’t like it one bit.  So when some of them tried to trap Jesus with a question about money and to whom it should be offered, there was understandable interest.  But Jesus, unmoved by the trick, looked at a coin, noticed that it bore Caesar’s image and uttered the words above.  Give to the emperor what is the emperor’s and give to God the things that are God’s.  So today, as we wring our hands over the profligate federal government once again raiding our pockets I want to remind you of something.  I want you to remember that all that you give to God, your times, talents and money, is never squandered!  I want you to remember that the government may ask for our money but God asks for our lives and if we offer them to God then we will see our lives expanded ten-fold.  We will experience God’s love anew and we will see that we can play a small role in God’s work in the world.  As you put your taxes aside until 2010 remember, God will never waste what you give. 

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Prayer:  Holy God, thank you for all that I have been given and help me to give back to you.  Help me to freely and joyfully over what is mine to you in the sure and certain trust that it will be used to your glory.  I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

[Text from file received by Phil Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]

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