Sermon for Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 29) A | October 18, 2026 | A Sermon on Matthew 22:15-22 | by Luther H. Thoresen

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 Caesar 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, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’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.

Scripture quotations from: New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Note: The initial paragraphs in italics of this sermon might be used as the basis for a Children’s message. If not used that way, one might adapt it as the beginning of the “usual” sermon or insert part of it later in the sermon…or elsewhere in the service.

Good morning! This is a photo of an ancient coin.¹ It was called a denarius. It has a picture of the emperor on it. He was called Tiberias Caesar. In the Gospel story today, some people come and ask Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” Jesus does not answer directly with a “Yes” or a “No.” Rather he says, “Show me the coin.” They showed him a denarius, and then he asked, “Whose head is this and whose title?”  They had to say, “Caesar’s.” Jesus followed up, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

We might ask, “What belongs to God?” So, I ask you, “What belongs to God?” [accept answers, and engage in dialog as appropriate…then, continue, with something like this…] Yes, everything(!) belongs to God. You belong to God. You were created in God’s image. Also, at your baptism God said, “I have called you by name, you are mine,” and each one of you was marked with the cross of Christ forever. In creating each of you, and through your baptism, God has said, “You are mine, all the time.” Would you say that with me? “You are mine, all the time.” Would you look at one other person and repeat after me, “God says” [repeat] “You are mine”[repeat] “All the time.”

If we hear Jesus say, “Give to God the things that are God’s,” this might be a fun way to think about giving yourself to God. ____________ (fill in, or ask child’s name), would you please stand with one or both feet in the offering plate? Now could you say, “I give myself to God.” Thanks. This could be done by both children and adults. It’s probably not a good idea to stand in it at other times. However, anytime today or any other day, when you pass by an offering plate, or when it is passed during worship, you could touch the plate and say, “I give myself to God.”

Finally for now, I would teach you part of a song from about 45 years ago. It is called “Here I am.”² Please repeat these words after me (use short phrases): “Here I am; wholly available. As for me; I will serve the Lord.”  Now I will sing a bit at a time, and ask you to repeat after me (use the same phrasing) Now let’s sing it all together, and adults can sing, too. When you think about giving yourself to God, you could sing that little song.

I’ll have more to say in the regular sermon. But for now, would you pray with me? God, thank you for creating me in my mother’s tummy. Thank you for creating me in your image. Thank you for marking me with the cross of Christ in baptism. Thank you for sending your Son to give us life now and ever. Help us give ourselves to you always. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When I was significantly younger, in my late teens and early 20’s, there were times I would be driving in the winter when 2” – 6” of snow had fallen. Sometimes, I would be out before the ploughs cleared the snow during the daytime or at night. This was well before there were rumble strips on the outside of roadways or between lanes. This driving was difficult and sometimes I would “navigate between the fenceposts” as we called it. I don’t recommend it! In those situations, avoiding the ditch on either side of the road was essential. One might follow another person’s tracks, if there were any…but I still would not want to follow into the ditch. Anyway, vigilance and watchfulness were needed!

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus needed to be watchful and vigilant. He was in dangerous territory, like navigating between fenceposts. He needed to be careful, lest he end up in one ditch or another. Why? We heard that the question brought by the Herodians and the disciples of the Pharisees had been framed to entrap him. Together, they ask, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”

How is that a trap? How might Jesus end up in one ditch or the other? To begin with, Herodians and disciples of the Pharisees are odd partners. If I am correct, Pharisees were people like merchants and landowners, and they were religious, careful in keeping the laws of Moses. They were NOT priests, but business folks. Why would they be religious? For the sake of the Jewish nation in Judea and in Galilee. They wanted God to reward their faithfulness and bless the nation. These folks opposed what was called the poll tax. That is, each adult male was assessed one denarius per year. On the coin was an image of Caesar, of the emperor, with these words inscribed, “Tiberias Emperor Majestic Son of the Divine Augustus.” Can you see why they might think that the coin had an “idol” on it?

Plus, the math is something like this. The population of just Jerusalem at the time of Jesus was about 50,000 people…and it is a good guess that among these would be 20,000 adults of whom about 10,000 would be male. A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer. So, 10,000 denarii went to Rome annually. In today’s money, we could estimate that a day laborer could earn $15 per hour. In an eight-hour day, that’s $120. So, 10,000 men times $120 is $1,200,000 each year to Rome. Who wants that much money to go to a foreign government each year?

I would remind you that with the taxes that went to Rome, these monies provided no street maintenance, no garbage pickup, no water to drink, no Social Security, no food stamps, no benefits for the people. Taxes sent to Rome allowed the emperor and his family to live well. Taxes sent to Rome did allow the emperor to pay to build roads…to provide a way for the empire’s army to travel anywhere in the empire. Taxes to Rome allowed the emperor to pay the Roman army. Do you get the picture? It was common for Pharisees and others to resent sending even 1 denarius to Rome each year.

What about Herodians? We don’t know much about them. However, by their name, it seems that they were associated with local city or regional kings of the Herod family. These kings ruled by permission from Rome, and by agreement with Rome. Many saw the courts of this family of “kings” as collaborators with Rome. They benefited from Roman taxes, Roman favor and Roman rule.

So, when Herodians and the disciples of the Pharisees come together, you have Roman collaborators and people who resented Rome coming to Jesus together. So, if Jesus says, “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar,” he drives into the ditch on one side; he loses face; he loses popularity and voice with common people. But if Jesus says, “No it is not lawful to pay taxes to Caesar,” he would probably be arrested for opposing Rome outright; he would probably be arrested as a revolutionary. In this case Jesus has driven into the ditch on the other side of the road. You can see how the question is framed to entrap Jesus. With either a “Yes” or a “No” Jesus is discredited and out of the way. The status quo remains.

However, Jesus will not step into their trap. Jesus will not drive off the road into either ditch. Remember how Jesus stayed on the road? Remember how he avoided the trap? He said, “Show me the coin used for the tax.” They had a coin. Yup, they had an idol’s image with them on temple grounds. Jesus looks at the coin and says, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Again, if I understand correctly, the verb for “give” is more like “give back.” Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The coin has the image of the emperor, so “give it back.” For us, we could say that this means that we are to appropriately support our government, to participate as a citizen; as a local, state and country citizen. We might explore that part of the verse more…but not today.

I think Jesus’ primary emphasis fell on the last phrase – to give back to God the things that are God’s. I began this conversation with the children. What does belong to God? Everything, right? Psalm 24 reflects that with poetic words, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it, for he has founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers.” (v 1,2) In addition, Psalm 50 reflects this when the author speaks on behalf of God saying, “I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine.” (v 9-11) This perspective says that the whole earth, every animal and every bird already belongs to God. Today, Jesus says, “Give back to God the things that belong to God.” Accordingly, this is in part a call to steward, to care for the earth and all creatures because they do not belong to us, but to God.

Also, it is not just the earth and creatures that belong to God. You already know that you and I, each human being has been created in the image of God. The coin bore the image of Caesar. You and I and all people bear the image of God, our creator. To give back to God what belongs to God also includes caring for each other and all people are created in God’s image. Seeking the welfare of all the earth’s people is part of giving back to God.

Also, in the New Testament, in Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians, he wrote, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body.” (6:19-20) Since we are not our own, since our body is a temple of the Spirit, Paul calls us to give back to God what is God’s. In a similar way, in Paul’s letter to the Romans he writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.” We live in our bodies. To present our bodies to God is an act of worship. Jesus’ words invite us to “Give back to God what belongs to God.” That includes each of us…bodies and all.

We might sing the hymn, “Take my life that I may be, consecrated Lord to thee.” (LBW #406, and other hymnals). We might sing the hymn, “We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be; All that we have is thine alone, a trust O Lord from thee.” (LBW #410 and other hymnals) We might sing the Gospel chorus, “Here I am wholly available. As for me, I will serve the Lord.” Yet singing with our body, singing with our voice leads us to give our body, to give ourselves to serve God by serving others; to love God by loving others.

Let me tell you about Mrs. Detweiler. Pastor Phyllis Faaborg Wolkenhauer wrote about her.³ Mrs. Detweiler was a special education teacher at Murray Elementary School. She made her students feel special and loved…and not only the special ed students. Other elementary students wanted to be invited to Mrs. Detweiler’s room. Why? The walls of her classroom were covered with bright yellow construction paper cut in the shape of stars. At the top of a star in each column was written a student’s name – neatly and in bold permanent black marker. When a student finished reading a book, another star appeared beneath the star with the student’s name. The more books anyone read, the more stars in the column under their name. When anyone finished a book, Mrs. Detweiler made the student feel like a star. We could say that her ability to make students feel special and important and loved was a mark of the image of God shining through her.

People of God; __________ Lutheran (fill in the name of your congregation) People of God, you also bear the image of God, and it can shine through you. People of God, the whole earth is the Lord’s, all creatures are the Lord’s. Give back to God what belongs to God. Yes, steward and care for the earth and its creatures. People of God, each one of you was created in the image of God; each one of you and all earth’s people bear God’s image. Give back to God what belongs to God. Yes, care for yourself and all God’s children. People of God, you are not your own, you were bought with a price. Glorify God in your bodies. We only get one body…birth to death, womb to tomb. So, glorify God in song and action, in all of your words and deeds. People of God, I appeal to you, by the mercy of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Give to God what belongs to God.  Yes, love God by loving others, serve God by serving others. Find your way to be Mrs. Detweiler. Find your way to let the image of God shine through you.

God says to each of you, “You are mine, all the time.” With body and soul, you might reply, “Here I am, wholly available. As for me, I will serve the Lord.”

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

©Pr. Luther H. Thoresen, ELCA, STS, retired; thoresenluther54@gmail.com; Grundy Center, IA, USA

¹ The preacher might download a photo of a denarius from the internet and then print it to show to the children and/or the congregation. There are royalty free photos (without copyright) available for use in this way.

² “Here I am” was written by Chris Bowater Copyright © 1981 Sovereign Lifestyle Music. Complete lyrics are available in some print collections and several places online, as well as some recordings. I would respectfully not include all the verses appropriate in a Lutheran service. I am only suggesting the use of the refrain/chorus.

³ This anecdote about Mrs. Detweiler was in Wolkenhauer’s book Invitations To The Light (CSS Publishing) and I originally read it in the September-October 1999 issue of Emphasis magazine. The text here is my adaptation from the printing in Emphasis.