Sermon: "Sing to the Lord"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

It is a joy to be with you, the people of St. James, once again on this occasion – this occasion, that is, of confirmation, of dedication of the new altar, and of celebrating the Eucharist together. As Episcopal Christians, we know that it is good and appropriate for us to celebrate special times in our lives. Indeed, we do that pretty well.

The Psalmist writes of responding to life’s circumstances in appropriate ways in today’s Psalm. In awareness of God’s blessings, he gives the people this direction: “Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name.” “Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name.” In other words, this command directs the people of God to give God the honor that He deserves … the honor that God is due.

An appropriate follow-up question for us as people of God is this: How in the world can we do that? How can we give to God the honor that God deserves? And, of course, the short answer is that we cannot. There is no way that we can give to God what we owe God – for creation, for life, for all that we enjoy of this world.

Then the Psalmist continues: “Bring offerings and come into his courts.” Thus, we have before us from the Book of Psalms one of our familiar offertory sentences: “Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name; bring offerings and come into his courts.” In response to this direction, we must admit that we cannot give God his due in any complete way. However, we can bring offerings into the courts of God, to the altar of God’s house.

Certainly, our offerings of money provide one focus of the Psalmist’s attention here. But is that all? Indeed, can it be all? If we are attempting to give God his due, it is certain that money – any amount of money – will be insufficient. What other offerings may we bring before God, therefore, that will honor the name of God in a way that his Name deserves?

I believe that our Gospel reading offers us the proper perspective on this matter. There we read of a discussion about paying taxes to the emperor. Jesus was asked if it was lawful to pay such taxes – lawful, that is, according to the religious laws of that day. In response, Jesus requested that his questioners show him a coin. And then he asked them, “Whose image is this, and whose title?” When the people responded that it was the emperor’s, Jesus gave a familiar reply: “Give (or, render) therefore to the emperor (or, Caesar) the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Now, we should note well a couple of things about that exchange. First, Jesus certainly understood that the Pharisees were trying to entrap him. They were not sincere in their question. In fact, the Pharisees anticipated that either Jesus would speak against the state – the civil government – and therefore expose himself to arrest … or else, he would speak against the Church and thus lose the people’s support. So, the Pharisees thought they had Jesus in an impossible situation.

However, Jesus realized that the Pharisees were trying to trap him. And he did not play their game. Rather, he stumped them with his response: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Secondly, we should note in this exchange the great irony in Jesus’ words. On one level – the level that the Pharisees understood – Jesus avoided the trap set for him. That is, he managed to avoid speaking words of treason to the state on the one hand or of blasphemy to the Church on the other. And in so doing, he walked a straight line between two considerable dangers.

But the irony is this. The claim Jesus made on God’s behalf involves far more than a monetary offering. Listen again to what Jesus said. “Give to God the things that are God’s.” And, in suggesting that direction, Jesus enlarges the scope of God’s requirements by many times. “Give to God the things that are God’s.”

What are God’s things? What parts of creation belong to God? Or, better said, what parts of creation do not belong to God? You see, the irony is that everything is God’s – all of creation. And so, if we give to God the things that are God’s, then we give everything – not only our money, but also our work, our families, and our lives. “Give to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus meant a bit more than the Pharisees realized.

It has been said that “stewardship is the work of the Church.” And I really do not have a problem with that observation. If we truly understand the scope of Christian stewardship, then we will come to terms with the extensiveness of our responsibilities as children of God, as responsible creatures in God’s creation. Further, if we really get right the message of God in Christ, stewardship will become a joyful responsibility … an appropriate response to God’s gifts to us.

You see, once again, stewardship involves much more than only money. We are considering matters far beyond our monetary possessions and responsibilities. Christian stewardship comes to terms with the faith statement that the whole creation is God’s. And if our call is to “give to God the things that are God’s”, then included in the responsibility of stewardship are “our selves – our souls and bodies”; our families; our work; our neighbors; our time; and everything else in all of God’s creation, including our money.

Therefore, at the altar, the familiar words of offering are very appropriate: “All things come of Thee, O Lord, and of Thine own, have we given Thee.” “All things come of Thee.” Therefore, also, we may glimpse the extensiveness of the earlier verse from the Psalm: “Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name; bring offerings and come into his courts.” Those offerings include nothing less than our lives … nothing less indeed.

I want to conclude these remarks with some other words from the Psalmist. As I read them, please remember that the entire creation is God’s. We have the responsibility of stewardship – of care – for the creation with which God has entrusted us. And this creation, in an environment of care, works together in a wonderfully joyful way that seems to sing in praise to God.

“Sing to the Lord a new song;

Sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.

Sing to the Lord and bless his Name;

Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.”
May we indeed “sing to the Lord a new song.” May we “ascribe to the Lord the honor due his name.” And, as we do so, may we joyfully accept our call to be stewards of God’s world, for God’s sake. Amen.

Copyright © 2002 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee