October 18, 2026 Trinity 20
October 18, 2026
Trinity 20
Letters. Diaries. Manuscripts of various kinds, written in ink on yellowed paper. All were composed by hand, during the Civil War.
A textbook included photographs of some of these manuscripts. Professor Drew Gilpin Faust, an American historian, asked her college class what they thought of the book. One student said the photographs were not very helpful to him, because he couldn’t read cursive.
“What?” the professor said to herself. “Had I heard him correctly?”
Cannot read cursive.
She then asked the class, “Who else can’t read cursive?” About two-thirds of the class raised their hands. “And who can’t write it?” she asked. Even more.
According to The Atlantic, cursive was omitted from Common Core standards for education back in 2010. Reminds me of seminary and my entering after they stopped doing extensive teaching in Latin. At that point, handwriting instruction had already been in decline for some time. Laptops and tablets were everywhere, so students began getting lessons in keyboarding. They were using their hands to type on a keyboard instead of writing on a pad of paper.
The result? Many students today cannot read a Civil War-era manuscript, or anything else written in cursive. We live in a cursive-less world. If I am honest, I do not write in cursive, even though I come from a generation where it was still mandatory in school. I can write it, but I have always been more of a printer. I have had instructors, during my seminary years, all the way until now, make comments about my printing. I once, however, would write calligraphy. One year I didn’t use calligraphy in my Christmas cards, and Abbott Gentzsch balled me out for not doing so! However, essential tremors now make it difficult just to print legibly.
The Pharisees also had a hard time reading what was in front of them, but for a different reason. In the Gospel of Matthew, they approach Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. They are trying to lay a trap for Jesus, much like the person who asks you, “Have you stopped beating your spouse?” If you say “yes,” you are in trouble, and if you say “no,” then you have an even worse problem.
The Pharisees try to get Jesus to make a decision about paying taxes, a choice they think will bring him into conflict with either the Roman government or the parties rebelling against the empire. Whether he says yes or no, he is going to be in hot water.
The Pharisees say: “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth.” They lay it on pretty thick, describing him glowing terms. They hope this praise will lower his resistance before they attack.
“Tell us, then,” they ask, “what you think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” This sounds like a simple question, but it’s really a loaded question. The Pharisees figure that if Jesus approves of paying taxes, then he’ll offend the people who are trying to rebel against the Roman Empire. But if he disapproves of paying taxes, then he could be reported to the empire and maybe even arrested. They are saying, in effect, “Do you support rebellion or Rome?”
They know that either choice can be used against him.
Fortunately, Jesus is aware of their malice and flips the choice back to them. “Show me the coin used for the tax,” he says. They give him a denarius, a Roman coin. “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answer: “The emperor’s.” Then Jesus says to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” He makes them read the writing on the coin, and he uses their failure to comprehend it as a way to slip out of their trap.
The Bible tells us that when they hear Jesus say this, they are amazed. They have no response, so they leave him and go away….. For a while.
The story is popular because it shows Jesus outwitting his opponents with cleverness and clarity of thought. But this tax question does more than reveal that Jesus was tough to manipulate. The story challenges us to discover for ourselves what it means to give to God the things that belong to God. And like those college students struggling to understand cursive — where a few letters may be recognizable but the connections between them are unfamiliar — Matthew’s message may not be entirely clear.
At first glance, it appears that Jesus is giving us a neat, clean way to serve both government and God. Give the emperor one thing and God another thing. Keep them straight; don’t let them get mixed up; focus on spiritual things on Sunday, and on secular things Monday through Saturday.
“Maintain separate silos,” Jesus seems to be saying. “Don’t let politics and religion mix. Respect the separation of church and state.” Jesus appears to be encouraging us to keep these important parts of our lives separate, divided into neat, clean and orderly compartments.
But if we jump to that conclusion, we are not learning to read the cursive on the coin. What is written on the coin is a title, “Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus and high priest.” This means that the coin is part of an empire that worships a godlike leader. Such an inscription is deeply offensive to both the Pharisees and Jesus, who consider only the God of Israel to be divine. When Jesus says, give “to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,” he is really saying to get rid of the coin. Give it back to the person who owns it.
After speaking of the emperor, Jesus says, give “to God the things that are God’s.” This is a perplexing phrase, because there is no tax we can pay to God, and no clear assessment of what we owe the Lord in terms of worship, stewardship or charity. Giving to the emperor is easy; giving to God is not. Although, it was religious law to give and make sacrifice to the temple, it was common to give to the temple priests livestock, food, or grain – the currency of the time was not given nor accepted by the temple.
(We do, in our modern times, offer our sacrifices to God via our donations to the church so that his work can continue – but we use federal currency, because giving of lambs and chickens will no longer keep the lights on and the pastor fed.)
But once again, we need to read the coin. The head on the Roman coin is an image of Tiberius Caesar. But is there a similar coin that contains the image of God? No, there’s not. Jesus would say that we should look at ourselves and look at our neighbors. Each of us is made in the image and likeness of God. We are stamped with God’s image, just as a Roman coin is stamped with the emperor’s image.
When we give to God the things that are God’s, we are offering to God our complete selves — body, mind, soul, heart. We are holding nothing back, seven days a week. We do not give to God only the things that are in the divine silo or the currency used in our day. No, we give to God everything we have.
Back in the third century, Rome was still the dominant power and Christians were undergoing persecution. In the year 258, the emperor Valerian commanded his Imperial treasury to confiscate all money and possessions belonging to the Christian church. Responding to this threat, the pope put a young man named Lawrence in charge of the church’s riches, and he also gave him responsibility for the church’s outreach to the poor.
The Roman emperor demanded that Lawrence turn over all the riches of the church and gave him three days to round it up. Lawrence quickly sold all the church’s valuables and gave the money to widows and to the sick. He then distributed all the church’s property to the poor.
On the third day, the emperor summoned Lawrence to his palace and asked for the wealth of the church. With great fanfare, Lawrence entered the palace, stopped, and then gestured back to the door. Streaming in behind him were crowds of poor, crippled, blind and suffering people. He proclaimed, “These are the true treasures of the church.”
Yes, the treasures of the church are the people made in the image of God. We give to God when we look for the face of Jesus in the faces of people around us — especially the strangers, the foreigners, the thirsty, the hungry and the sick.
The Pharisees looked at a coin and got a message. So can we. We can give to God the things that are God’s — our whole body, soul, mind and heart. And we can put our trust in a loving and generous God, with complete liberty to support God’s work in the world.
Let us pray.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us of our obligation as citizens to pay our fair share, ensuring that those in need in our society are properly cared for. We pray for honesty and responsibility in our community and country. We pray to the Lord.
On this World Mission Sunday, we pray for our Church that it be renewed in its mission to reveal the word of God to all his peoples. We pray to the Lord.
We ask God to bless all our missionaries who have dedicated their lives to spreading Christ’s message of love and salvation throughout the world. We pray also for the families who nurtured them, for those who support them and for those communities abroad who received and welcomed them. We pray to the Lord.
We pray that we, as followers of Christ, recognise that we too are missionaries and must promote His message with friends, family and neighbours through our words and actions. We pray to the Lord.
In ecumenical fellowship, we pray for Pope Leo that he make a successful recovery from his recent lung operation and that the Lord gift him with the strength and energy to give true leadership to our Church. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for peace and an end to warfare in our world. We pray for those grieving the sudden loss of loved ones, for hostages and captives, and for those whose homes have been destroyed. We pray for a miraculous de-escalation of this conflict, asking for love and reason to overcome rage and revenge. We pray to the Lord.
For the welfare of the sick and discouraged. May every person find financial and personal support during the ravages of disease and discomfort. May God ease the pain of us who wait for healing. We pray to the Lord.
For people suffering mental and emotional illness. May our minds and lives be eased by the healing grace of God’s love. May we find our home in the comfort of those who support us. We pray to the Lord.
We pray to God for an increase of clergy and religious for our denomination that we might spread the message of Christ to all peoples without exception. We pray to the Lord.
That those who believe in our mission, will consider a donation to help us to have better resources so that we can expand our outreach to more people and bring them the Good News. We pray to the Lord.
For those on our parish prayer list, that they may receive swift answers to their needs and that they may find consolation through Christ’s healing presence. We pray to the Lord.
We bow our heads and remember in silence our own personal intentions and the intentions of those who have asked for our prayers (pause). We pray to the Lord.
God, what are we doing here? We were taught that coming to church on Sunday is what you desire, but sometimes we just don’t feel like it. Too many things are pulling at our attention and distracting us. God, help us rediscover why we come to church. We know deep down what really matters: to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind, and to love and serve others in the name of Christ. During this time, help us tear down whatever is keeping us from meeting this calling. Help us rediscover who we are and what you’ve called us to do. We ask all these things, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
God Love You.
The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Chapel
San Diego, CA.
As a small parish, we come to you all as beggars! All non-profits compete for your support, and many serve the community’s great needs, and we do not ask you to stop giving to them. But maybe one week or month, we ask that you consider a small donation to our humble parish. Your generous support also allows us to continue these important projects that fuel the movement of progressive Christianity. God will look on your donation grant you his grace in abundance! Thank you and God bless you! +++
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