Whose Fingerprints Are On the Money?
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For October 18, 2026:
Whose Fingerprints Are On the Money?
by Mary Austin
Matthew 22:15-22
Everyone who works in the United States pays taxes every two weeks, or every quarter, if you work for yourself. Or, we catch up when a new year starts. These taxes disappear seamlessly from our paychecks and our eyes travel over the accumulation, right to the bottom line of the money we get to keep. Everyone who drives a car pays taxes whenever we get gas, invisibly folded into the price at the pump. Everyone who shops at stores pays taxes, added easily to our purchases.
When I visited my niece in the Twin Cities, every time we got a coffee or a meal, the receipts detailed the state, county city taxes, listing the amounts for housing for the unhoused, transportation, and more. It wasn’t just a big lump of money — it was money going to benefit people. I loved seeing where the amounts were going, small funds adding up to bigger changes.
The receipts made the taxes visible.
When the Pharisees and the Herodians join forces to ask Jesus about paying taxes, the conversation makes the taxes visible. They’re pointing to the empire that collects the taxes and revealing Ceasar’s involvement in their everyday lives.
In the News
Money is in the news a lot lately. People are in pain at gas pumps, in grocery store lines, and as they lose their insurance. In this election season, the White House says they have enrolled millions of children in “Trump Accounts,” and “every eligible child in the US should now have an account…Once accounts are opened for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, they will automatically be seeded with a one-time, tax-free government payment of $1,000. Due to an additional $6.25 billion investment from the philanthropists Michael and Susan Dell, children born from 2016 through 2024 who live in zip codes where the median family income is at or below $118,000 will also receive a $250 deposit into their Trump Accounts once they’re activated. Children living on military bases also qualify for the deposits.” The president’s likeness will be stamped on these accounts for years to come.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Medicare recipients are getting one-time payments of $90, in an another reflection of a coin stamped with the emperor’s likeness. “President Donald Trump says his administration will make one-time payments of $90 per person to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees pay for their Part B premiums. It will cost about $2 billion. Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients are eligible for the payments, which are expected to be sent out this week. Not eligible are roughly 35 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, millions of other people with disabilities and low-income Medicare recipients. The election-year promise that the Republican president made over the weekend comes as the Nov. 3 midterms are fast approaching, with the cost of living and healthcare expenses among the top issues for voters.”
If Republicans hold onto both houses of Congress, you may get a big check in the mail. “President Donald Trump is reiterating his promise of giving every adult US citizen a $5,000 dividend if Republicans retain control of Congress in November. “If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 Midterm Elections, I’m going to give all Adult Citizens in the United States of America $5,000,” Trump said in a Truth Social video post on Saturday, Oct. 3.” He added, “Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to signing those checks!”
Money and political identity are closely linked, with all kinds of candidates running for office attacking, or defending, the country’s economy.
In the Scriptures
Money fused with political identity is an old combination, as this story about Jesus and his interrogators remind us.
In the Interpretation commentary, Douglas R.A. Hare observes, “It should be noted that the question, while profoundly political, is phrased in religious terms: “Is it permitted … ?” (cf. 12:2). The question can be paraphrased: “Does it accord with Torah to pay tax to Caesar or not?” One facet of the legal question involves God’s ownership of the land of Israel: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine” (Lev. 25:23). Since Caesar is an usurper, is it not an act of disobedience to God to pay a tax to this pagan ruler?”
Brian Stofregen writes, There are four different words used in the NT for taxes. My impression is that the kensos in our text is nothing quite like any of our taxes — neither income, property, nor sales tax. The Oxford Companion admits that we know few details about this tax, but says: “... it consisted of a flat-rate personal tax on all men from age fourteen and women from age twelve to age sixty-five and was levied at least at the rate of one denarius (about a day’s wage) per year. Later (we do not know when) it was combined with a percentage tax on property.”
He adds that this particular tax is especially political. We need to keep in mind that Jews living in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus was nothing like living in America in the 21st century. Their God-given homeland was under foreign occupation. According to Boring (Matthew, New Interpreters Bible), the “census tax,” which was instituted in 6 CE when Judea became a Roman province, “triggered the nationalism that finally became the Zealot movement, which fomented the disastrous war of 66-70. In both settings, the annual payment of this tax to Rome was a painful reminder of being in lands occupied by foreign powers who worshiped false gods. The tax could only be paid with Roman coins, which were not just legal tender but also pieces of propaganda. Most of the coins contained an image of the Caesar with inscriptions proclaiming him to be divine or the son of a god.”
Jesus sees beyond the question to a lie and then to the truth. He asks someone for a coin, and they blithely hand it over. In carrying the coins, they have already gone against the rules of their faith. We can already see where their loyalty belongs.
In the Sermon
The sermon might contrast the role of God verses the role of our current Ceasars. Douglas R. A. Hare adds, “Since the question posed by the opponents is sufficiently answered by the object lesson and the first half of Jesus’ epigram, special weight must be attached to the second half, “and to God the things that are God’s.” Perhaps we should imagine Jesus pausing in the middle of the sentence, so that the full force of the conclusion will be felt by his audience. Although there is strict parallelism between the two halves, they are by no means of equal significance, because Caesar’s role is so vastly inferior to God’s.” How do we balance our obligations to God and to Ceasar?
The sermon could also explore how we structure out lives to give God what belongs to God — not just money, also our time, energy, and attention. It’s easy to give the world what belongs to the world. We get bills for the heat, for the lights, for our credit cards. We can’t avoid taxes. We buy food, clothes, and gas for the car. But God doesn’t send a bill. How do we give to God what belongs to God?
The tax in this story stirred up a lot of animosity for Ceasar. In our world, politicians are hoping to stir up admiration through the way they use money for our benefit. The sermon might explore how money changes how we feel about people — or ourselves. Do we look down on poor people? Do we think wealthy people don’t deserve what they have? What images of money are we carrying?
In the end, we are the coins that carry the image of God. As we travel through the world, spending our energy and time, we reflect God back to the world. May we be worthy of the image we carry.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Discovering God’s Presence in an Immanent Age
by Chris Keating
Exodus 33:12-23
“I don’t believe in a transcendent being,” a young adult told me recently. They are twenty years old and prefer “they/them” pronouns. I’ve known them their entire life, which sometimes causes me to stumble over pronouns. Still, they are slow to anger and quick to forgive, which makes for wonderful conversations.
We talked about God, and the way people search for meaning. My friend was quick to point out that while they don’t necessarily believe in a transcendent God, they also know sometimes leads to the dilemma of experiencing meaning in daily life. “I don’t believe in an afterlife,” they said. “Yet I also worry that somehow, I may ‘fall through the cracks’ of daily life and not find hope.” That they acknowledged this was astonishing to me.
Moses faces a similar dilemma. Having pledged fealty to God by accepting the Ten Commandments, the people’s clay feet quickly shatter. In response, they create a golden calf as a way of rendering the unseen God visible. It doesn’t work, of course. That shiny calf is barely cool to the touch before Yahweh erupts in a fiery rebuke.
Moses manages to tamp down God’s anger. Yet even Moses knows this stiff-necked people will be lost without the guiding presence of God. He intervenes once more with Yahweh, but it is clear Moses is a prophet and not a spiritual chiropractor. The danger remains that, as Walter Brueggemann observes, “this ‘people’ may become again ‘no people.’” (Brueggemann, Exodus, New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol 2, p. 937.) A crisis of transcendence ensues.
Philosopher Charles Taylor has observed that the last phases of modernity has led us into a time when it appears the “heavens are closed.” (See Taylor, A Secular Age). We live inside an immanent time frame where the notion of God may feel implausible. My young friend gives witness to this, even without any awareness of Taylor’s massive volumes. So many want to believe in God — including, I think, my young friend — but find the idea of a transcendent being as antiquated as rotary telephones.
For his part, Moses knows that answering God’s call to continue the journey toward the promised land will be a foolish endeavor if God is not present. “You have said to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me,” Moses tells God. Moses stands boldly before God in affirming that the people’s existence depends on Yahweh’s presence. If that door is closed, if no trace of God’s glory can be discerned, then life has lost not only its hope but its purpose.
Centuries later, our post-Christian age offers the same challenge. For preachers, there is an added twist: just how do we announce the presence of a God so many find elusive? In Moses’ case, his bold prayer results in God offering him the chance to peak at his backside. It may not be the most flattering view, but as Yahweh reminds Moses, “You cannot see my face for no one shall see me and live.”
I assume few preachers can stomach the idea of a dramatic representation of that verse. But it does strike me that we are surrounded by a host of witnesses who can speak to the longing for meaning voiced by Israel and others like my young adult friend. Among those voices are two who have recently passed from the beauty of this world into the splendor of glory — Wendell Berry, who died August 31, 2026, and Annie Dillard, who died September 15, 2026.
Both used the power of poetry and prose to reveal ways of discovering the beauty and glory of God in this world. Berry traded the streets of New York for a Kentucky farm. His poems explore the possibility that our lives discover true meaning in simple communion with each other and with the land. His works point to the golden calves so frequently worshiped today — greed, technology, domination of earth’s resources.
Berry reminded us of the possibilities of a creation-based spirituality. His stories and poems highlighted possibilities of finding God in a simpler, less convoluted world of mushroom forests, cow pastures, and small farms. Such places point us from the dangers of selfishness, avarice, or “the wrong kind of abundance.” Those dangers can be overcome only by the realization that in speaking of more abundant life, Jesus is not proposing to free us by making us richer,” he wrote in The Way of Ignorance. “He is proposing to set life free from precisely that sort of error. He is talking about life, which is only incidentally our life, as a limitless reality.”
A reality where God’s presence goes before us. A reality that pries open the door of transcendence modern life has slammed shut so that hope may appear.
Likewise, Annie Dillard took us with her in her explorations of wild places. She was an untamed mystic whose observations about God sometimes left muddy prints on the church carpet. Yet her investigations were powerful reminders of how the ordinary world is charged, as Gerard Hopkins wrote, with the grandeur of God.
Her Pulitzer Prize winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek reminded us to look carefully at nature in order to perceive such holy splendor. The result is a scientific yet deeply theological analysis of creation’s holiness. Christian Century contributing editor Amy Frykholm writes that Dillard’s work “contains an unrestrained hallelujah at a time when a defensive — even cynical — tone is more acceptable and celebrated.”
Frykholm notes that Dillard balanced two worlds with equal clarity. “In one world there are finches and turtles, sycamores and caddisflies. But in the other there is silence, deep, and mysterious, where they are no words.”
“I identify as a Christian,” Dillard told the Christian Century years ago. She had declined to submit an essay for the publication’s “How My Mind Has Changed” series, but replied with an email that she consented to be published. She noted that her faith resists dogmatic categorization. “I know only one thing for certain,” she concluded, “there is holiness. Stand there, a person can sing myriad songs.”
Berry reminds us that hope does emerge even in a weary world. His poem “The Peace of Wild Things” is a lesson in such hope. It invites us to consider that when discovering the “peace of wild things” we encounter the untamed mystery of a God who leads us beside still waters.
Neither Dillard nor Berry would ever have felt fully at home within the confines of a single theological tradition. Yet they helped us see signs of glory, even if it was only a fleeting glance at God’s backside. Those signs are a reminder that we may turn toward the future trusting that presence will indeed go before us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Nazish Naseem:
Matthew 22:15-22
The Words Matter
Our words matter. Through language, we communicate our thoughts, express our feelings, and reveal something about who we are. Yet words can also be used to manipulate, flatter, or trap another person. Sometimes, we say things that sound kind on the surface but serve a different purpose.
In Matthew 22, the Pharisees and the Herodians approach Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. Before asking their question, they flatter him: “You are a man of integrity, and you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” They tell Jesus that he is not influenced by others or concerned about their status. Their words sound respectful, but their intentions are quite different. They are trying to trap Jesus with his own answer. Jesus sees through their flattery and responds directly, calling them hypocrites. He recognizes the gap between their words and their intentions.
We face similar situations in our own lives. We may choose our words carefully, but do we always consider the intentions behind them? Do we speak with sincerity, or do we sometimes use words to manipulate, flatter, or protect ourselves?
Our words matter, not only because of what they communicate, but also because of what they reveal about us.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
What Does Our Gratitude Reveal?
I have always liked my name, Nazish, because of its uniqueness. Over the years, I have met other people with the same name, including a man. It was interesting to discover that Nazish is used by both women and men. I have also wondered about the meaning of my name, which is associated with pride. More recently, I began to think about pride differently. What do we truly have to be proud of, and how much of what we have is a gift from God? For me, this reflection leads back to gratitude for God, who gave us his Son.
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul gives thanks for the faith, love, and hope of the believers. Their faith was not something they kept to themselves. They became an example to believers in Macedonia and Achaia, and the message of the Lord rang out from them. Their faith had become known beyond their own community, reflected in the way they lived.
Their example invites us to consider our own lives. What are we thankful for in our families, our communities, our relationships, and the places where we live and work? Do we recognize the gifts we have received? And does our gratitude make a difference in how we treat others and live out our faith?
Perhaps gratitude is not only about recognizing what we have received, but also about how we live in response. What are we thankful for? And can others see that gratitude reflected in our lives?
* * *
Psalm 99
What Does God’s Holiness Mean to Us?
We often associate holiness with God, worship, and the sacred spaces where we gather to pray. But Psalm 99 reminds us that God’s holiness is not only something we worship; it also shapes how we live. The psalm describes God as King, whose greatness inspires awe and whose love for justice is reflected in what is right.
The psalmist reminds us that God loves justice and establishes equity. Moses, Aaron, and Samuel called upon God, and God answered them. They listened to God’s commands and sought God’s guidance, even though they were not without their weaknesses. Their lives remind us that worship involves not only coming before God but also responding to God’s word.
This makes me wonder about our own lives. We gather for worship, sing hymns, pray, and speak about God’s holiness. But how often do we reflect on what God’s holiness means in our relationships, families, workplaces, and communities? If God loves justice and what is right, how do we respond when we see someone treated unfairly? Do our words and actions reflect the God we worship?
The question for us is this: How does our understanding of God’s holiness shape the way we live and treat others?
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
Do We Know God’s Ways?
There are times in life when we want to know what lies ahead. We want clarity about the decisions we make, reassurance when we face uncertainty, and a sense that we are not walking alone. Sometimes, we trust that God is with us, yet still wonder whether we truly understand God’s ways.
In Exodus 33, Moses asks God to show him the way forward. He wants to know whom God will send with him, and he reminds God that these are God’s people. Moses does not simply ask for answers; he asks for God’s presence. He knows that reaching the promised land means little if God does not go with them. Then Moses makes a bold request: “Now show me your glory.”
God responds by revealing divine goodness to Moses, while also making clear that Moses cannot see God’s face. Even Moses, who has a unique and intimate relationship with God, cannot fully comprehend God. He must trust in the presence and goodness of the one who leads him.
We, too, may ask God to show us the way forward. We want to know what lies ahead, yet we cannot always see the whole picture. Moses reminds us that faith is not simply about knowing where we are going; it is also about trusting the one who goes with us.
Are we seeking only to know where God is leading us, or are we also learning to trust the God who walks with us?
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Observations
This is the oldest Christian writing. Paul wrote to the church he founded in Thessalonica a few months after visiting them, after he received a report of their faith, but also their problems, from Timothy.
Thessalonica is in Macedonia, the northern province on the Greek peninsula. Athens is in Achaia, the southern province; Corinth is also in Achaia.
As one might expect, the Christians in Thessalonica are under suspicion from their own families and the wider community. Christianity is a completely new faith; the wider community might regard them as modern Americans would regard a cult. Paul is aware that they are subject to persecution. He uses the Greek term “θλίψει,” “thlipsis” transliterated into English — do not try to pronounce this! — rendered as “persecutions” in the NRSV. This term also appears in Matthew 24, where it appears as “torture,” suffering” and “great suffering,” and Revelation 1:9, where it is translated as “persecution.”
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
Paying taxes, or not
This is the famous “render unto Caesar” passage. Jesus is approached by the Pharisees, we know who these dudes are, and the Herodians, a political group who supported the empire. They present Jesus with a dilemma, it seems. Either Jesus can say one should not pay taxes, thus doing an act of civil disobedience, advocating not supporting the occupying government, or one should pay taxes, thus acknowledging the legitimacy of the occupiers and disappoint faithful Jews. Remember, tax collectors had a bad reputation. They were Jews who were employed the Romans, and their reputation was that they collected more than they should have, using extortion to exploit their people. Does Jesus advocate paying taxes? Well, maybe not. One could read his response as leaving the people free to decide whether Caesar was a legitimate authority or not.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
The story unfolds
Last week’s passage from Exodus was about the Golden Calf that Aaron made for the people when they got nervous and scared in Moses’ absence. Moses talked God out of destroying the people then.
Today’s passage takes place with Moses at the Tent of Meeting, which has not been mentioned before. Moses needs reassurance, again, as he did back in Exodus 3, when the Lord first got his attention from the burning bush. The divine name, which God then revealed to Moses “I Am Who I Am,” foreshadows God’s promise to “make all my goodness pass before you,” a phrase that appears in verse 19 of today’s reading. Moses’ conversation with the Lord also recalls Abraham’s conversation prior to Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction in Genesis 18.
* * *
Psalm 99
Holy, Holy, Holy
While this psalm appears among today’s lectionary readings because it references Moses and Aaron, it can also be regarded as an echo, or foreshadow, of Isaiah 6:3:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.
The psalm can be divided into three parts. Verses 1-3 begin with a recognition of the Lord as supreme ruler. Verses 4-5 begin with “Mighty King.” Verses 6-9 recall Moses, Aaron, and Samuel crying out to the Lord because of the Lord’s supremacy. This might be a good basis for today’s Call to Worship.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
All: God sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
One: The Lord is great in Zion, exalted over all the peoples.
All: Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is our God!
One: Mighty Ruler, lover of justice, you have established equity.
All: You desire justice and righteousness in all creation.
OR
One: Come, let us render unto God all that belongs to God.
All: We offer ourselves and all that we have to our God.
One: Let us reject the way of Caesar that leads to death.
All: We gladly follow Jesus who leads us to eternal life.
One: Be a beacon so that others can find the way.
All: We will be faithful to God so others can follow.
Hymns and Songs
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
GTG: 15
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
GTG: 643
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELW: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
This Is My Father’s World
UMH: 144
H82: 651
PH: 293
GTG: 370
AAHH: 149
NNBH: 41
CH: 59
LBW: 554
ELW: 824
W&P: 21
AMEC: 47
Many and Great, O God
UMH: 148
H82: 385
PH: 271
GTG: 21
NCH: 3
CH: 58
ELW: 837
W&P: 26
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
GTG: 738
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
Open My Eyes That I May See
UMH: 454
PH: 324
GTG: 451
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
UMH: 382
AAHH: 449
NNBH: 206
CH: 588
W&P: 486
AMEC: 345
Jesus Calls Us
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
GTG: 720
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELW: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
What Gift Can We Bring
UMH: 87
NCH: 370
ELW: 685
STLT: 404
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who has all of creation in your hands:
Grant us the grace to know that all things belong to you
and to use creation for your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because all creation resides in your hands. All that was, and is, and ever shall be belong to you. Help us to use your creation for your glory. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we place power, wealth, and status above our devotion to God.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another, that we have sinned. We are a self centered people. When you give us all of creation to sustain and nurture all of life, we try to grasp it for ourselves. We let the siren call of greed block out your call to tend to and share creation. We chose the way of Caesar instead of the way of the Christ. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us. Amen.
One: God calls us to the path of Jesus the Christ and grants us the Spirit so that we are able to follow. As God forgives us let us go forth to forgive and to share with all people.
Prayers of the People
Glory and honor to you, O God, creator of all. Out of love you called creation into being. Out of love you created us. We praise your holy name today.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another, that we have sinned. We are a self centered people. When you give us all of creation to sustain and nurture all of life, we try to grasp it for ourselves. We let the siren call of greed block out your call to tend to and share creation. We chose the way of Caesar instead of the way of the Christ. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us.
We give you thanks for all that you have gifted to us. We are grateful for the abundance of creation that sustains us. We thank you for those who have chosen to follow Christ instead of Caesar. We thank you for their example and their encouragement.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who are caught in the web of Caesar. It is a web that traps and leads to destruction. We pray that we may be true to Jesus and be a shining light to lead others into the reign of Heaven.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN’S SERMON
What is Most Important to God?
by Katy Stenta
Matthew 22:15-22
Bring some kind of money to show if you can
Some religious people were getting jealous of Jesus’s popularity so they came out and asked him a really tricky question. It was about money. Pretty much no one likes questions about money.
They asked Jesus, “Do you think that it is okay that we are required by the Emperor to pay taxes to the Romans?”
Jesus said, “What would you pay the taxes with?” And the religious group got a day’s wages out and showed Jesus the money.
Jesus held up the money and asked who was on the money.
They said Caesar, who was the ruler at the time, was on the money.
And Jesus said, “Give Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God.”
This is a tricky answer because the money might be made and owned by the politicians and the religious people and everyone else, and the pictures of people might be owned by all of those humans. (Show the money.)
But who made the humans?
Who do humans belong to?
And what do you think is more important, money or human beings?
Humans keep thinking that money is more important.
But really humans are more important.
In fact, we are so, so, so, so important that we are made in the image of God.
The term for that is Imago Dei, it means made in God’s image.
So when Jesus is waving around the money, Jesus is saying this is really just paper or metal, it is not the image of God.
But you (point at the humans) are the image of God, and so are you, and you, and you… You are the thing that matters the most and you are so much more real than money.
So, the people asking the questions thought they were going to trick Jesus into giving a hard answer, but instead Jesus made the people rethink what was really important in life.
Let’s pray
Dear God
Thank you
For reminding us
That human beings
Are the most important
Things
And that we
Always matter
More than money.
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 18, 2026 issue.
Copyright 2026 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Whose Fingerprints Are On the Money? by Mary Austin based on Matthew 22:15-22.
- Second Thoughts: Discovering God’s Presence in an Immanent Age by Chris Keating. Like Moses, we yearn for signs of God’s glory and presence. Too often, however, our eyes are unable to focus on seeing those very signs.
- Sermon illustrations by Nazish Naseem and Tom Willadsen.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children’s sermon: What is Most Important to God? by Katy Stenta based on Matthew 22:15-22.
Whose Fingerprints Are On the Money?by Mary Austin
Matthew 22:15-22
Everyone who works in the United States pays taxes every two weeks, or every quarter, if you work for yourself. Or, we catch up when a new year starts. These taxes disappear seamlessly from our paychecks and our eyes travel over the accumulation, right to the bottom line of the money we get to keep. Everyone who drives a car pays taxes whenever we get gas, invisibly folded into the price at the pump. Everyone who shops at stores pays taxes, added easily to our purchases.
When I visited my niece in the Twin Cities, every time we got a coffee or a meal, the receipts detailed the state, county city taxes, listing the amounts for housing for the unhoused, transportation, and more. It wasn’t just a big lump of money — it was money going to benefit people. I loved seeing where the amounts were going, small funds adding up to bigger changes.
The receipts made the taxes visible.
When the Pharisees and the Herodians join forces to ask Jesus about paying taxes, the conversation makes the taxes visible. They’re pointing to the empire that collects the taxes and revealing Ceasar’s involvement in their everyday lives.
In the News
Money is in the news a lot lately. People are in pain at gas pumps, in grocery store lines, and as they lose their insurance. In this election season, the White House says they have enrolled millions of children in “Trump Accounts,” and “every eligible child in the US should now have an account…Once accounts are opened for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, they will automatically be seeded with a one-time, tax-free government payment of $1,000. Due to an additional $6.25 billion investment from the philanthropists Michael and Susan Dell, children born from 2016 through 2024 who live in zip codes where the median family income is at or below $118,000 will also receive a $250 deposit into their Trump Accounts once they’re activated. Children living on military bases also qualify for the deposits.” The president’s likeness will be stamped on these accounts for years to come.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Medicare recipients are getting one-time payments of $90, in an another reflection of a coin stamped with the emperor’s likeness. “President Donald Trump says his administration will make one-time payments of $90 per person to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees pay for their Part B premiums. It will cost about $2 billion. Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients are eligible for the payments, which are expected to be sent out this week. Not eligible are roughly 35 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, millions of other people with disabilities and low-income Medicare recipients. The election-year promise that the Republican president made over the weekend comes as the Nov. 3 midterms are fast approaching, with the cost of living and healthcare expenses among the top issues for voters.”
If Republicans hold onto both houses of Congress, you may get a big check in the mail. “President Donald Trump is reiterating his promise of giving every adult US citizen a $5,000 dividend if Republicans retain control of Congress in November. “If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 Midterm Elections, I’m going to give all Adult Citizens in the United States of America $5,000,” Trump said in a Truth Social video post on Saturday, Oct. 3.” He added, “Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to signing those checks!”
Money and political identity are closely linked, with all kinds of candidates running for office attacking, or defending, the country’s economy.
In the Scriptures
Money fused with political identity is an old combination, as this story about Jesus and his interrogators remind us.
In the Interpretation commentary, Douglas R.A. Hare observes, “It should be noted that the question, while profoundly political, is phrased in religious terms: “Is it permitted … ?” (cf. 12:2). The question can be paraphrased: “Does it accord with Torah to pay tax to Caesar or not?” One facet of the legal question involves God’s ownership of the land of Israel: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine” (Lev. 25:23). Since Caesar is an usurper, is it not an act of disobedience to God to pay a tax to this pagan ruler?”
Brian Stofregen writes, There are four different words used in the NT for taxes. My impression is that the kensos in our text is nothing quite like any of our taxes — neither income, property, nor sales tax. The Oxford Companion admits that we know few details about this tax, but says: “... it consisted of a flat-rate personal tax on all men from age fourteen and women from age twelve to age sixty-five and was levied at least at the rate of one denarius (about a day’s wage) per year. Later (we do not know when) it was combined with a percentage tax on property.”
He adds that this particular tax is especially political. We need to keep in mind that Jews living in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus was nothing like living in America in the 21st century. Their God-given homeland was under foreign occupation. According to Boring (Matthew, New Interpreters Bible), the “census tax,” which was instituted in 6 CE when Judea became a Roman province, “triggered the nationalism that finally became the Zealot movement, which fomented the disastrous war of 66-70. In both settings, the annual payment of this tax to Rome was a painful reminder of being in lands occupied by foreign powers who worshiped false gods. The tax could only be paid with Roman coins, which were not just legal tender but also pieces of propaganda. Most of the coins contained an image of the Caesar with inscriptions proclaiming him to be divine or the son of a god.”
Jesus sees beyond the question to a lie and then to the truth. He asks someone for a coin, and they blithely hand it over. In carrying the coins, they have already gone against the rules of their faith. We can already see where their loyalty belongs.
In the Sermon
The sermon might contrast the role of God verses the role of our current Ceasars. Douglas R. A. Hare adds, “Since the question posed by the opponents is sufficiently answered by the object lesson and the first half of Jesus’ epigram, special weight must be attached to the second half, “and to God the things that are God’s.” Perhaps we should imagine Jesus pausing in the middle of the sentence, so that the full force of the conclusion will be felt by his audience. Although there is strict parallelism between the two halves, they are by no means of equal significance, because Caesar’s role is so vastly inferior to God’s.” How do we balance our obligations to God and to Ceasar?
The sermon could also explore how we structure out lives to give God what belongs to God — not just money, also our time, energy, and attention. It’s easy to give the world what belongs to the world. We get bills for the heat, for the lights, for our credit cards. We can’t avoid taxes. We buy food, clothes, and gas for the car. But God doesn’t send a bill. How do we give to God what belongs to God?
The tax in this story stirred up a lot of animosity for Ceasar. In our world, politicians are hoping to stir up admiration through the way they use money for our benefit. The sermon might explore how money changes how we feel about people — or ourselves. Do we look down on poor people? Do we think wealthy people don’t deserve what they have? What images of money are we carrying?
In the end, we are the coins that carry the image of God. As we travel through the world, spending our energy and time, we reflect God back to the world. May we be worthy of the image we carry.
SECOND THOUGHTSDiscovering God’s Presence in an Immanent Age
by Chris Keating
Exodus 33:12-23
“I don’t believe in a transcendent being,” a young adult told me recently. They are twenty years old and prefer “they/them” pronouns. I’ve known them their entire life, which sometimes causes me to stumble over pronouns. Still, they are slow to anger and quick to forgive, which makes for wonderful conversations.
We talked about God, and the way people search for meaning. My friend was quick to point out that while they don’t necessarily believe in a transcendent God, they also know sometimes leads to the dilemma of experiencing meaning in daily life. “I don’t believe in an afterlife,” they said. “Yet I also worry that somehow, I may ‘fall through the cracks’ of daily life and not find hope.” That they acknowledged this was astonishing to me.
Moses faces a similar dilemma. Having pledged fealty to God by accepting the Ten Commandments, the people’s clay feet quickly shatter. In response, they create a golden calf as a way of rendering the unseen God visible. It doesn’t work, of course. That shiny calf is barely cool to the touch before Yahweh erupts in a fiery rebuke.
Moses manages to tamp down God’s anger. Yet even Moses knows this stiff-necked people will be lost without the guiding presence of God. He intervenes once more with Yahweh, but it is clear Moses is a prophet and not a spiritual chiropractor. The danger remains that, as Walter Brueggemann observes, “this ‘people’ may become again ‘no people.’” (Brueggemann, Exodus, New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol 2, p. 937.) A crisis of transcendence ensues.
Philosopher Charles Taylor has observed that the last phases of modernity has led us into a time when it appears the “heavens are closed.” (See Taylor, A Secular Age). We live inside an immanent time frame where the notion of God may feel implausible. My young friend gives witness to this, even without any awareness of Taylor’s massive volumes. So many want to believe in God — including, I think, my young friend — but find the idea of a transcendent being as antiquated as rotary telephones.
For his part, Moses knows that answering God’s call to continue the journey toward the promised land will be a foolish endeavor if God is not present. “You have said to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me,” Moses tells God. Moses stands boldly before God in affirming that the people’s existence depends on Yahweh’s presence. If that door is closed, if no trace of God’s glory can be discerned, then life has lost not only its hope but its purpose.
Centuries later, our post-Christian age offers the same challenge. For preachers, there is an added twist: just how do we announce the presence of a God so many find elusive? In Moses’ case, his bold prayer results in God offering him the chance to peak at his backside. It may not be the most flattering view, but as Yahweh reminds Moses, “You cannot see my face for no one shall see me and live.”
I assume few preachers can stomach the idea of a dramatic representation of that verse. But it does strike me that we are surrounded by a host of witnesses who can speak to the longing for meaning voiced by Israel and others like my young adult friend. Among those voices are two who have recently passed from the beauty of this world into the splendor of glory — Wendell Berry, who died August 31, 2026, and Annie Dillard, who died September 15, 2026.
Both used the power of poetry and prose to reveal ways of discovering the beauty and glory of God in this world. Berry traded the streets of New York for a Kentucky farm. His poems explore the possibility that our lives discover true meaning in simple communion with each other and with the land. His works point to the golden calves so frequently worshiped today — greed, technology, domination of earth’s resources.
Berry reminded us of the possibilities of a creation-based spirituality. His stories and poems highlighted possibilities of finding God in a simpler, less convoluted world of mushroom forests, cow pastures, and small farms. Such places point us from the dangers of selfishness, avarice, or “the wrong kind of abundance.” Those dangers can be overcome only by the realization that in speaking of more abundant life, Jesus is not proposing to free us by making us richer,” he wrote in The Way of Ignorance. “He is proposing to set life free from precisely that sort of error. He is talking about life, which is only incidentally our life, as a limitless reality.”
A reality where God’s presence goes before us. A reality that pries open the door of transcendence modern life has slammed shut so that hope may appear.
Likewise, Annie Dillard took us with her in her explorations of wild places. She was an untamed mystic whose observations about God sometimes left muddy prints on the church carpet. Yet her investigations were powerful reminders of how the ordinary world is charged, as Gerard Hopkins wrote, with the grandeur of God.
Her Pulitzer Prize winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek reminded us to look carefully at nature in order to perceive such holy splendor. The result is a scientific yet deeply theological analysis of creation’s holiness. Christian Century contributing editor Amy Frykholm writes that Dillard’s work “contains an unrestrained hallelujah at a time when a defensive — even cynical — tone is more acceptable and celebrated.”
Frykholm notes that Dillard balanced two worlds with equal clarity. “In one world there are finches and turtles, sycamores and caddisflies. But in the other there is silence, deep, and mysterious, where they are no words.”
“I identify as a Christian,” Dillard told the Christian Century years ago. She had declined to submit an essay for the publication’s “How My Mind Has Changed” series, but replied with an email that she consented to be published. She noted that her faith resists dogmatic categorization. “I know only one thing for certain,” she concluded, “there is holiness. Stand there, a person can sing myriad songs.”
Berry reminds us that hope does emerge even in a weary world. His poem “The Peace of Wild Things” is a lesson in such hope. It invites us to consider that when discovering the “peace of wild things” we encounter the untamed mystery of a God who leads us beside still waters.
Neither Dillard nor Berry would ever have felt fully at home within the confines of a single theological tradition. Yet they helped us see signs of glory, even if it was only a fleeting glance at God’s backside. Those signs are a reminder that we may turn toward the future trusting that presence will indeed go before us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Nazish Naseem:Matthew 22:15-22
The Words Matter
Our words matter. Through language, we communicate our thoughts, express our feelings, and reveal something about who we are. Yet words can also be used to manipulate, flatter, or trap another person. Sometimes, we say things that sound kind on the surface but serve a different purpose.
In Matthew 22, the Pharisees and the Herodians approach Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. Before asking their question, they flatter him: “You are a man of integrity, and you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” They tell Jesus that he is not influenced by others or concerned about their status. Their words sound respectful, but their intentions are quite different. They are trying to trap Jesus with his own answer. Jesus sees through their flattery and responds directly, calling them hypocrites. He recognizes the gap between their words and their intentions.
We face similar situations in our own lives. We may choose our words carefully, but do we always consider the intentions behind them? Do we speak with sincerity, or do we sometimes use words to manipulate, flatter, or protect ourselves?
Our words matter, not only because of what they communicate, but also because of what they reveal about us.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
What Does Our Gratitude Reveal?
I have always liked my name, Nazish, because of its uniqueness. Over the years, I have met other people with the same name, including a man. It was interesting to discover that Nazish is used by both women and men. I have also wondered about the meaning of my name, which is associated with pride. More recently, I began to think about pride differently. What do we truly have to be proud of, and how much of what we have is a gift from God? For me, this reflection leads back to gratitude for God, who gave us his Son.
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul gives thanks for the faith, love, and hope of the believers. Their faith was not something they kept to themselves. They became an example to believers in Macedonia and Achaia, and the message of the Lord rang out from them. Their faith had become known beyond their own community, reflected in the way they lived.
Their example invites us to consider our own lives. What are we thankful for in our families, our communities, our relationships, and the places where we live and work? Do we recognize the gifts we have received? And does our gratitude make a difference in how we treat others and live out our faith?
Perhaps gratitude is not only about recognizing what we have received, but also about how we live in response. What are we thankful for? And can others see that gratitude reflected in our lives?
* * *
Psalm 99
What Does God’s Holiness Mean to Us?
We often associate holiness with God, worship, and the sacred spaces where we gather to pray. But Psalm 99 reminds us that God’s holiness is not only something we worship; it also shapes how we live. The psalm describes God as King, whose greatness inspires awe and whose love for justice is reflected in what is right.
The psalmist reminds us that God loves justice and establishes equity. Moses, Aaron, and Samuel called upon God, and God answered them. They listened to God’s commands and sought God’s guidance, even though they were not without their weaknesses. Their lives remind us that worship involves not only coming before God but also responding to God’s word.
This makes me wonder about our own lives. We gather for worship, sing hymns, pray, and speak about God’s holiness. But how often do we reflect on what God’s holiness means in our relationships, families, workplaces, and communities? If God loves justice and what is right, how do we respond when we see someone treated unfairly? Do our words and actions reflect the God we worship?
The question for us is this: How does our understanding of God’s holiness shape the way we live and treat others?
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
Do We Know God’s Ways?
There are times in life when we want to know what lies ahead. We want clarity about the decisions we make, reassurance when we face uncertainty, and a sense that we are not walking alone. Sometimes, we trust that God is with us, yet still wonder whether we truly understand God’s ways.
In Exodus 33, Moses asks God to show him the way forward. He wants to know whom God will send with him, and he reminds God that these are God’s people. Moses does not simply ask for answers; he asks for God’s presence. He knows that reaching the promised land means little if God does not go with them. Then Moses makes a bold request: “Now show me your glory.”
God responds by revealing divine goodness to Moses, while also making clear that Moses cannot see God’s face. Even Moses, who has a unique and intimate relationship with God, cannot fully comprehend God. He must trust in the presence and goodness of the one who leads him.
We, too, may ask God to show us the way forward. We want to know what lies ahead, yet we cannot always see the whole picture. Moses reminds us that faith is not simply about knowing where we are going; it is also about trusting the one who goes with us.
Are we seeking only to know where God is leading us, or are we also learning to trust the God who walks with us?
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Observations
This is the oldest Christian writing. Paul wrote to the church he founded in Thessalonica a few months after visiting them, after he received a report of their faith, but also their problems, from Timothy.
Thessalonica is in Macedonia, the northern province on the Greek peninsula. Athens is in Achaia, the southern province; Corinth is also in Achaia.
As one might expect, the Christians in Thessalonica are under suspicion from their own families and the wider community. Christianity is a completely new faith; the wider community might regard them as modern Americans would regard a cult. Paul is aware that they are subject to persecution. He uses the Greek term “θλίψει,” “thlipsis” transliterated into English — do not try to pronounce this! — rendered as “persecutions” in the NRSV. This term also appears in Matthew 24, where it appears as “torture,” suffering” and “great suffering,” and Revelation 1:9, where it is translated as “persecution.”
* * *
Matthew 22:15-22
Paying taxes, or not
This is the famous “render unto Caesar” passage. Jesus is approached by the Pharisees, we know who these dudes are, and the Herodians, a political group who supported the empire. They present Jesus with a dilemma, it seems. Either Jesus can say one should not pay taxes, thus doing an act of civil disobedience, advocating not supporting the occupying government, or one should pay taxes, thus acknowledging the legitimacy of the occupiers and disappoint faithful Jews. Remember, tax collectors had a bad reputation. They were Jews who were employed the Romans, and their reputation was that they collected more than they should have, using extortion to exploit their people. Does Jesus advocate paying taxes? Well, maybe not. One could read his response as leaving the people free to decide whether Caesar was a legitimate authority or not.
* * *
Exodus 33:12-23
The story unfolds
Last week’s passage from Exodus was about the Golden Calf that Aaron made for the people when they got nervous and scared in Moses’ absence. Moses talked God out of destroying the people then.
Today’s passage takes place with Moses at the Tent of Meeting, which has not been mentioned before. Moses needs reassurance, again, as he did back in Exodus 3, when the Lord first got his attention from the burning bush. The divine name, which God then revealed to Moses “I Am Who I Am,” foreshadows God’s promise to “make all my goodness pass before you,” a phrase that appears in verse 19 of today’s reading. Moses’ conversation with the Lord also recalls Abraham’s conversation prior to Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction in Genesis 18.
* * *
Psalm 99
Holy, Holy, Holy
While this psalm appears among today’s lectionary readings because it references Moses and Aaron, it can also be regarded as an echo, or foreshadow, of Isaiah 6:3:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.
The psalm can be divided into three parts. Verses 1-3 begin with a recognition of the Lord as supreme ruler. Verses 4-5 begin with “Mighty King.” Verses 6-9 recall Moses, Aaron, and Samuel crying out to the Lord because of the Lord’s supremacy. This might be a good basis for today’s Call to Worship.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
All: God sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
One: The Lord is great in Zion, exalted over all the peoples.
All: Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is our God!
One: Mighty Ruler, lover of justice, you have established equity.
All: You desire justice and righteousness in all creation.
OR
One: Come, let us render unto God all that belongs to God.
All: We offer ourselves and all that we have to our God.
One: Let us reject the way of Caesar that leads to death.
All: We gladly follow Jesus who leads us to eternal life.
One: Be a beacon so that others can find the way.
All: We will be faithful to God so others can follow.
Hymns and Songs
All Creatures of Our God and King
UMH: 62
H82: 400
PH: 455
GTG: 15
AAHH: 147
NNBH: 33
NCH: 17
CH: 22
LBW: 527
ELW: 835
W&P: 23
AMEC: 50
STLT: 203
Now Thank We All Our God
UMH: 102
H82: 396/397
PH: 555
GTG: 643
NNBH: 330
NCH: 419
CH: 715
LBW: 533/534
ELW: 839/840
W&P: 14
AMEC: 573
STLT: 32
This Is My Father’s World
UMH: 144
H82: 651
PH: 293
GTG: 370
AAHH: 149
NNBH: 41
CH: 59
LBW: 554
ELW: 824
W&P: 21
AMEC: 47
Many and Great, O God
UMH: 148
H82: 385
PH: 271
GTG: 21
NCH: 3
CH: 58
ELW: 837
W&P: 26
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
GTG: 738
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
Open My Eyes That I May See
UMH: 454
PH: 324
GTG: 451
NNBH: 218
CH: 586
W&P: 480
AMEC: 285
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
UMH: 382
AAHH: 449
NNBH: 206
CH: 588
W&P: 486
AMEC: 345
Jesus Calls Us
UMH: 398
H82: 549/550
GTG: 720
NNBH: 183
NCH: 171/172
CH: 337
LBW: 494
ELW: 696
W&P: 345
AMEC: 238
What Gift Can We Bring
UMH: 87
NCH: 370
ELW: 685
STLT: 404
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who has all of creation in your hands:
Grant us the grace to know that all things belong to you
and to use creation for your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because all creation resides in your hands. All that was, and is, and ever shall be belong to you. Help us to use your creation for your glory. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially when we place power, wealth, and status above our devotion to God.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another, that we have sinned. We are a self centered people. When you give us all of creation to sustain and nurture all of life, we try to grasp it for ourselves. We let the siren call of greed block out your call to tend to and share creation. We chose the way of Caesar instead of the way of the Christ. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us. Amen.
One: God calls us to the path of Jesus the Christ and grants us the Spirit so that we are able to follow. As God forgives us let us go forth to forgive and to share with all people.
Prayers of the People
Glory and honor to you, O God, creator of all. Out of love you called creation into being. Out of love you created us. We praise your holy name today.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another, that we have sinned. We are a self centered people. When you give us all of creation to sustain and nurture all of life, we try to grasp it for ourselves. We let the siren call of greed block out your call to tend to and share creation. We chose the way of Caesar instead of the way of the Christ. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us.
We give you thanks for all that you have gifted to us. We are grateful for the abundance of creation that sustains us. We thank you for those who have chosen to follow Christ instead of Caesar. We thank you for their example and their encouragement.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for those who are caught in the web of Caesar. It is a web that traps and leads to destruction. We pray that we may be true to Jesus and be a shining light to lead others into the reign of Heaven.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN’S SERMONWhat is Most Important to God?
by Katy Stenta
Matthew 22:15-22
Bring some kind of money to show if you can
Some religious people were getting jealous of Jesus’s popularity so they came out and asked him a really tricky question. It was about money. Pretty much no one likes questions about money.
They asked Jesus, “Do you think that it is okay that we are required by the Emperor to pay taxes to the Romans?”
Jesus said, “What would you pay the taxes with?” And the religious group got a day’s wages out and showed Jesus the money.
Jesus held up the money and asked who was on the money.
They said Caesar, who was the ruler at the time, was on the money.
And Jesus said, “Give Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God.”
This is a tricky answer because the money might be made and owned by the politicians and the religious people and everyone else, and the pictures of people might be owned by all of those humans. (Show the money.)
But who made the humans?
Who do humans belong to?
And what do you think is more important, money or human beings?
Humans keep thinking that money is more important.
But really humans are more important.
In fact, we are so, so, so, so important that we are made in the image of God.
The term for that is Imago Dei, it means made in God’s image.
So when Jesus is waving around the money, Jesus is saying this is really just paper or metal, it is not the image of God.
But you (point at the humans) are the image of God, and so are you, and you, and you… You are the thing that matters the most and you are so much more real than money.
So, the people asking the questions thought they were going to trick Jesus into giving a hard answer, but instead Jesus made the people rethink what was really important in life.
Let’s pray
Dear God
Thank you
For reminding us
That human beings
Are the most important
Things
And that we
Always matter
More than money.
Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, October 18, 2026 issue.
Copyright 2026 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
