Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, every day we give something of ourselves to someone or something. We give our time to work, our attention to our families, our money to the government through taxes and sometimes our peace of mind to the pressures of society. But this Sunday’s readings invite us to consider a deeper question which is, after giving so much to the world, what are we actually giving to God?

In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah speaks about Cyrus, the Persian king who conquered Babylon in 539 BC and subsequently permitted the Jewish exiles to return to their homeland. The Jewish people had endured years of displacement, suffering and uncertainty. Surprisingly God calls Cyrus, a pagan ruler, his anointed. Cyrus did not belong to Israel or worship the God of Israel yet God chose to work through him. Isaiah’s message to the exiles was that God remained in control of history even when political circumstances appeared hopeless. This reminds us that God’s purposes are not limited by religious boundaries or political systems. Even today, God can work through people who do not share our faith. We must therefore resist the temptation to judge goodness simply by someone’s religious identity, nationality or social standing.

In the Gospel, Jesus faces a carefully planned trap. The Pharisees and Herodians, normally divided in their political sympathies, come together to ask whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. For Jews living under Roman occupation, taxation was more than a financial matter; it represented foreign domination. If Jesus supported the tax, he risked alienating his people. If he opposed it, he could be accused of rebellion against Rome. But Jesus sees through their hypocrisy. He asks for a coin and questions them about the image and inscription it bears. When they answer, “Caesar’s”, Jesus replies, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” His answer is far more profound than a lesson about paying taxes. The coin bears Caesar’s image but humanity bears God’s image, as we read in Genesis 1:27. If the coin belongs to Caesar because it bears his image, then our lives belong to God because we bear his image.

This is where the Gospel becomes deeply personal. We may fulfil our civic responsibilities, pay our taxes, obey just laws and contribute positively to society but none of these responsibilities can replace our obligation to God. Equally, our religious commitment must never become an excuse for neglecting our responsibilities towards others. Faith and responsible citizenship should strengthen one another, provided that our ultimate loyalty remains with God. In our communities today we see increasing secularisation, declining church attendance, loneliness, economic hardship and growing indifference towards religion. It is easy to complain that society has abandoned Christian values. But perhaps we should also ask whether we Christians have always lived those values convincingly. When we tolerate dishonesty, ignore the poor, speak harshly about some persons or remain silent in the face of injustice, are we truly giving God what belongs to him? Our baptism calls us not merely to defend Christianity in words but to make Christ visible through our lives.

St Paul, writing to the Christians in Thessalonica around AD 50–51, praises their “work of faith”, “labour of love” and “perseverance in hope”. These early Christians lived in a predominantly pagan society, yet their faith was recognised through their actions. Paul reminds us that genuine Christianity is not measured simply by religious observance but by the difference faith makes in everyday life. Our worship must lead to charity, our prayers to compassion and our beliefs to integrity.

Dear friends, perhaps we should examine how easily we give the best of ourselves to everything except God. We find time for work, entertainment, social media and personal interests yet sometimes struggle to find a few minutes for prayer. We invest generously in our comfort but hesitate when someone needs our help. We want God’s blessings but are we equally willing to live according to his commandments? As we celebrate the Eucharist, let us remember that God does not want merely what is left over from our busy lives. He wants our hearts, our choices and our daily commitment to goodness. Caesar may have a claim on our money but only God has the ultimate claim on our lives. May we therefore live as people who bear God’s image, reflecting his justice, mercy and love wherever we find ourselves. Amen.