Protecting the image of God in us
The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap
Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher,
we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in
accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for
you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it
lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Knowing their malice,
Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that
pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to
them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied,
"Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what
belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
Everyone worries about their
image. We all want to look good in other
people’s eyes. But do you know who
worries the most about their image?
Politicians do, especially during the campaign season. Every political ad is about a candidate’s
image, which is all we see on TV these days.
One day a
corrupt senator dies and goes to meet St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter says, “I’m sorry, there’s a
problem. I cannot let you in until you
spend one day in hell and one day in heaven.
Then you can choose where you want to spend eternity.” The senator says, “I’d like to choose
heaven.” St. Peter replies, “I’m sorry
but we have our rules.” So St. Peter
escorts the man to an elevator which takes him down, down, down to hell. When the doors open he finds himself in a
middle of a green golf course. In the
distance he sees the clubhouse and standing in front of it are his friends and
political colleagues all dressed in fine clothes. They run to meet him and they spend the day
together feasting on lobster, caviar and champagne. When it was time to go everyone cheerfully
waves as the elevator takes him up. St.
Peter greets him in heaven and shows him around there. He sees content souls moving from cloud to
cloud playing harps. At the end of the
day, St. Peter asks him, “Now that you’ve seen both, where would you like to
spend eternity?” The senator replies,
“Well, I’m surprised to say this, but even though heaven is nice, I’d rather be
in hell.” So, the senator takes the
elevator down, down, down to hell. When
the doors open, he’s appalled to see a barren wasteland with garbage everywhere. His friends are dressed in rags and picking
up the trash that keeps falling from the sky.
The senator walks over to the devil and asks, “I don’t understand. Yesterday, everything was perfect, but today
it’s awful!” The devil puts his arms
around the senator’s shoulder and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning. Today, you voted.” The senator got a little taste of his own
medicine. We all worry about our image –
we’re all on the campaign trail! – but often the image can be deceiving.
In the
gospel today, Jesus is also worried about an image, but not the image you might
think. The Pharisees ask him if it’s
lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar.
And Jesus asks them a very curious question: “Whose image is on the
coin?” They answer, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus replies, “Give to Caesar what is
Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.”
That answer would have evoked another “image” in the Jews’ minds, the
image of God. Remember what it says in
Genesis 1:27, “God created mankind in his image”? In other words, not only do coins have an
image, but so do creatures, especially the human creature, made in the image
and likeness of God. Jesus’ point was to
give Caesar that which has his image, and to God that which has his image, that
is, give to God your whole self. The
Pharisees were always on the campaign trail, only worried about the image that
others see, but Jesus reminds them they were created in the image of God. That image is ultimately the only one that
matters.
Which image
do you worry more about: the image of the campaign trail, or the image of
God? Several years ago the soft drink
“Sprite” ran a commercial that boasted, “Image is everything!” But which image were they promoting? Obviously, how others see us: whether others
think we’re smart and skinny, whether people believe we’re savvy and sexy. The true test of character, though, is how we
behave when NO ONE can see us, when we’re NOT on the campaign trail. What do you do when you’re alone? When you’re alone do you eat the whole bag of
potato chips because no one sees you? Do
you watch garbage on T.V. and the internet in the privacy of your home? Are you lazy, callous and crude because it
doesn't hurt anyone's feelings? I
recently heard a statistic that 90% of stuff people text they wouldn’t dare if
they thought it would become public.
Several friends of mine have said they dropped their cell phone in the
toilet. And I always think: you know,
there’s only one way that can happen – if you’re checking your phone in the
bathroom! When we’re alone, we think:
“No one can see me so my image is safe!
I’m off the campaign trail!” And
yet we tarnish the image of God in us, we don’t behave like a child of
God. Indeed, “image is everything.”
In April
of 2005 Pope Benedict was newly elected as pope and came out on the balcony of
St. Peter’s Basilica. Beside him was
standing Cardinal Francis George of Chicago with a very pensive look on his
face. When the cardinal returned home,
reporters asked him what he was thinking about at that moment. He answered: “I was gazing over toward the
Circus Maximus, toward the Palatine Hill where the Roman Emperors once resided
and reigned and looked down up on the persecution of Christians, and I thought,
‘Where are their successors today? Where
is the successor of Caesar Augustus today?
Where is the successor of Marcus Aurelius today? And finally, who cares? But if you want to see the successor of
Peter, he is right next to me, smiling and waving at the crowds” (Robert
Barron, Catholicism, 35). You see, the
Roman Emperors worried about the image of the campaign trail, and that image
eventually evaporates. But the Roman
Pontiffs (the popes) worry about the image of God in their hearts, and that
image lasts forever. And so too should
we, because after all, “image is everything.”
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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