A man was on vacation in Mexico and was strolling along outside his hotel in Acapulco. He heard a woman screaming as she knelt in front of a small child. The man understood enough Spanish to realize that the boy had swallowed a coin.<\/p>\n

Seizing the child by the heels, the man held him up and gave him a few shakes. Suddenly an American quarter dropped from the child\u2019s mouth and on to the sidewalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, thank you sir!\u201d cried the woman. \u201cYou seemed to know just how to get it out of him. Are you a doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, ma\u2019am,\u201d replied the man. \u201cI\u2019m with the IRS.\u201d<\/p>\n

You know about taxes.\u00a0 Every April 15^{th<\/sup> ordinary Americans send their money to Washington while wealthy Americans send their money to the Cayman Islands.<\/p>\n}

You might be interested to know that when the federal income tax was signed into law in 1913, it was for 1 percent of the average person\u2019s income. One percent! A senator speaking in opposition to the bill stated: \u201cIf we allow this 1 percent foot-in-the-door, at some future date it might rise to 5 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about 35 per cent, depending on your tax bracket? Ah, the Infernal Revenue Service.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Gospel is about taxes. The Pharisees ask Jesus, \u201cIs it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?\u201d<\/p>\n

There were three taxes the Romans extracted from the Jewish people:<\/p>\n

\n
1. A ground tax – a man had to give the government 10% of his grain and 20% of the oil and wine which he produced.<\/li>\n
2. An income tax – one percent of a person\u2019s income.<\/li>\n
3. A poll tax – every male person from age 14 to 65 and every female from age 12 to 75 had to pay this tax, which amounted to one denarius, which was about one day\u2019s wages.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   The tax here in question was this poll tax \u2013 one denarius, one day\u2019s wages a year.<\/p>\n

   This taxing question must have seemed like the perfect ploy to the Pharisees. Would Jesus play to the crowd and encourage disobedience to Rome? Such boldness would have won him followers but at the expense of pitting himself against the Roman government. If, on the other hand, he sided with Rome, he would alienate those listeners who despised the outsiders who ruled over them. The Pharisees could not lose. Jesus could not win.<\/p>\n

   But Jesus said to them, \u201cShow me the coin used for the tax.\u201d<\/p>\n

   So they brought him a denarius, and he asked them, \u201cWhose head is this? And whose title?\u201d<\/p>\n

   \u201cThe emperor\u2019s,\u201d they replied.<\/p>\n

   Then Jesus said, \u201cGive therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor\u2019s, and to God the things that are God\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

   So we grumble and we complain and give back to Caesar, partly out of a sense of duty and partly out of a sense of fear. But giving back to God – that\u2019s a different matter. Why do we give to God?<\/p>\n

   One reason we give back to God is because we recognize that everything we have belongs to God in the first place. <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe earth is the Lord\u2019s, and everything in it,\u201d writes the Psalmist (Psalm 24:1).<\/p>\n

   Everything in this world belongs to God. We are only stewards of God\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n

   There is an old story that illustrates how easy it is to deny that what we have comes from God. A prosperous farmer was miserly in what he gave to his church. So his minister went to visit him in hopes of getting him to increase his giving. The minister pointed out to him that the Lord had given him a fertile piece of land and had blessed him with sunshine and rain so that his crops would grow. The pastor added, \u201cYou know, this farm and everything you have is really on loan to you from God. You should be more grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

   The farmer replied, \u201cI don\u2019t mean to complain, Preacher, but you should have seen what a mess this place was when God was running it by himself!\u201d<\/p>\n

   Can\u2019t you sympathize with that farmer? Theologically, the preacher was right that everything we possess comes from God, but we tend to believe that our prosperity has more to do with our work ethic and a college education than it does with a theological idea.<\/p>\n

   The word \u201csteward\u201d actually comes from a Greek word (oikonomos). It referred to someone who managed a household. In Greek culture, if a person was wealthy and had a lot of money and possessions, they would use a steward to manage their household. This person wasn\u2019t the owner, but they were empowered to act on the owner\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n

   It\u2019s kind of like Bill Gates. Twenty years ago, when Gates was worth only $5 billion, he hired a man named Michael Larson to manage his money. People jokingly call Larson the \u201cGateskeeper\u201d because he has final say on every financial matter. Larson, who received an MBA from the University of Chicago at age 21, has full control of Bill Gates\u2019 money and investments. His whole job is to be a good steward of the money he is entrusted with. He uses the money on behalf of Mr. Gates to benefit him and do his work.<\/p>\n

   These days, Bill Gates is worth $81 billion, and at a party he recently said that he has \u2018complete trust and faith\u2019 in Larson. The money isn\u2019t his, but he has been given control over it for a purpose.<\/p>\n

   Of course, Bill and Melinda Gates have themselves proven to be good stewards as they, through their foundation, serve humanity through billions of dollars of bequests.<\/p>\n

   Nothing truly belongs to us. We are mere stewards of that which is God\u2019s.<\/p>\n

   Another reason for giving is out of gratitude for all God has done for us<\/strong>.<\/strong> Most of us are not rich people, but all of us have been blessed in wonderful ways. And we want to say thank you and to tell God we love Him.<\/p>\n

   Pastor Adam Hamilton tells a story about a camping trip he took with his family in the Grand Tetons in Wyoming several years ago. The trip coincided with his birthday.<\/p>\n

   When they were done setting up the camp, Hamilton explained to his two daughters that they could have $20 each to spend the 3 days they were there. The girls in excitement dragged him toward a gift shop just beside their camp site.<\/p>\n

   His daughter Rebecca spied a baseball cap. She instantly picked it up and tried it on. \u201cWhat do you think Dad?\u201d she inquired with curious eyes.<\/p>\n

   \u201cYou look pretty in it, honey,\u201d Hamilton replied. \u201cBut that hat costs $20, and that\u2019s all you have . . . you won\u2019t have any more money to spend the next two days.\u201d<\/p>\n

   \u201cBut Dad,\u201d she said, \u201call I want is this hat and I don\u2019t really care if I don\u2019t have any more money to spend.\u201d<\/p>\n

   Hamilton tried all he could to talk his 10-year-old daughter out of the idea of buying that ball cap. But the more he tried, the more resolute Rebecca became.<\/p>\n

   Exhausted, Hamilton finally caved in. \u201cHoney, you can buy that ball cap, but you aren\u2019t getting any more money until three days\u2019 time is up,\u201d he said shoving the $20 bill at Rebecca. She instantly used the money to buy the hat.<\/p>\n

   Before going back to their camp, Hamilton took his two daughters for a walk, and then sat on a bench near the lake to watch the sun set. \u201cDad,\u201d Becca said, tapping on her Dad\u2019s shoulder. \u201cHere is my birthday gift for you.\u201d She said this as she handed him the hat. \u201cHappy Birthday, Dad. I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

   Adam Hamilton said he sat on the bench, took her in his arms, and started to cry. That cap, he says, is among his most treasured possessions, his most often worn cap to this day because every time he wears it, he thinks of Becca\u2019s sacrifice for him.<\/p>\n

   \u201cThat\u2019s how God looks at our acts of generosity,\u201d writes Adam Hamilton. \u201cWhen we share with God, our gifts are a way of saying, \u2018God, I\u2019m returning to you a portion of what I have . . . to say thank you and I love you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

   But here is the most thrilling thing about giving back to God. God takes that which we give Him and multiplies it to do far more than we can even imagine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

   That is the message of the story of the little boy who gave Jesus the tiny gift of the fishes and loaves with which Christ fed thousands of people. That is what always happens when people offer up gifts to the Master.<\/p>\n

   Whenever you give to the church, you are showing your love for God. We give because everything already belongs to Him and we are but stewards of His bounty. We do it out of gratitude for all God\u2019s done for us and because we love Him. And we do it because we know that God will take what we give to Him and will bless it and cause it to go further than we can possibly imagine. Give unto Caesar? We don\u2019t have much choice. Give unto God? Now that<\/em> is a wonderful privilege.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   A man was on vacation in Mexico and was strolling along outside his hotel in Acapulco. He heard a woman screaming as she knelt in front of a small child. The man understood enough Spanish to realize that the boy had swallowed a coin. Seizing the child by the heels, the man held him up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n