Render Unto Caesar

This week's Gospel is from Matthew's Gospel 22.15-22 "Render unto Caesar what belongs unto Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

We can’t fool God. We can’t play games with God. We can’t trick God. This is why for the Christian what is offered to God is central to his or her spirituality. Half-measures will not bear much, if any, fruit.

But let me digress for a moment on the idea of spirituality. I want to do this because I think this is something which churches struggle with. John Drane's (Theology Professor at Aberdeen) research has demonstrated that many post-modern people think that churches and Christians in general are not spiritual. We are religious, in their view, but not spiritual. We are not feeding them and they are turned off.

The churches then have a two fold problem in attracting people seeking 'spirituality'. One, is that we are on the wrong wavelength. By this I mean that we are (metaphorically) broadcasting on the wrong radio station. This is not a matter of doctrine but emphasis and ambiance. You could easily dismiss this as 'touchy-feely' talk. Spiritual seekers want to find here a way of life which will impact everything, not just one hour on Sunday. They want to know how they can change (transform) their lives. This is why they find candles, whale music, Reiki, Hinduism, the new age movement, lay lines, angels, Glastonbury, Buddism, etc, etc attractive. They come, if they come, looking for Jesus. I want to repeat that, they come, if they come, looking for Jesus.

The second challenge for the churches is that we cannot sell short Christianity. We cannot do a decaf version. The Gospel cannot be reduced to a new age movement. The spirituality of the Church is standing at the foot of the cross and wondering what can I give in comparison to this? You wont be fed until we come to that point. Likewise, it also means doing this in a non-judgemental loving way. We are not the elite. In God's eye the elite is the child this morning somewhere in Africa, searching for food among the rubbish. (I found on-line a picture of this which I shall never forget). We must not hate the world, we must not resent people who struggle with joining us. We must see them the way the Father sees them.

Render unto God. Let us render our hearts.