ALL GOD'S QUARTERS

A sermon given on Sunday, October 18, 2026

by the Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bridge Pastor

The story is told of a mother who sent her young son off to church for Vacation Bible School.  She gave him two quarters: one for the offering plate at the church; the other to buy himself some candy on the way home.  As he walked down the street the boy stumbled, and one of the quarters slipped out of his hand and rolled straight into the storm drain.  Forlornly, the young man stared at the one quarter left in his hand.  Then he stared down the storm drain.  Then he stared up at the sky, and said, “Sorry, God.  There goes your quarter!”

We laugh because we recognize this little guy.  He could be any one of us.  We like to divide up the world into clear categories:  What’s right and what’s wrong; what’s black and what’s white; what’s God’s and what’s ours. 

Our Gospel reading today is one of those stories in which Jesus’s opponents try to trap him with his own words.  “Tell us what you think,” they say, feigning innocence. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Emperor?”  If Jesus says Yes, he alienates devout Jews who oppose supporting the godless Emperor.  If Jesus says No, he risks getting himself arrested for stirring up opposition to the governing Romans.  But Jesus avoids the trap.  Pointing out the image of Caesar on the coin, he says, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperors, and to God the things that are God’s.”  He does not fall for the trick!

But here’s the thing.  His answer has its own trick.  “Give to God the things that are God’s,” says Jesus.  But what in the world are “the things that are God’s?”  The answer, of course: everything!  We affirm this here at St. Philip’s every week when the Offering comes up:  All things come of thee, O Lord; and of thine own have we given thee.

All things come of thee.  There is nothing that we have, nothing that exists, which did not in its inception come from God.  So, when Jesus says, “Give to God the things that are God,” that means: Everything!  When that little boy said it was God’s quarter that went down the drain, he was right – because it turns out all the quarters are God’s!

Here in late October, I expect that this Gospel lesson connects to our life in a couple of ways.

First: Today begins the Parish Canvass – the annual stewardship campaign at St. Philip’s.  You will have received a letter and pledge form from the wardens.  A celebratory ingathering and dedication of these commitments is scheduled for November 15.

Like the little boy, you and I have a finite number of quarters.  First, we pay for our basic needs – shelter, clothing, food and medical care.  Then we might pay for other things we enjoy, a bit of recreation, maybe some gifts for the kids.  If we are fortunate, we budget to save for future security.  Perhaps in our prioritizing, if we still have some margin, we make donations to charitable causes, hopefully including the church.  And if the unexpected arises, or if ends don’t meet, perhaps it’s as the little boy said: “Sorry, God. There goes your quarter!”

The Bible and the church’s teaching invite us to think differently about all of this.  What if you and I really take to heart what we say every week – that “all things come of thee”?  What if we acknowledge that we really are stewards of God’s great bounty, and not possessors of our own?  What if we think of our giving to God not as a charitable gesture at the end of the day, but as a sacrificial offering of “first fruits,” at the beginning of the day?  Over these next couple of weeks, we are invited to reflect on our own commitment of “first fruits” – the level of sacrificial thank offering that is right for each one of us.

In my experience, the biggest stumbling block to generous stewardship for most of us is not stinginess.  The biggest block to generosity is anxiety.  We are afraid that we will not have enough. It is all about trust – about trusting God.  It is about trusting that living with less will still be living.  Now, trust has to grow – like that Gospel mustard seed.  Trust is built by risking, a little, and then a little more.  The exercise of generosity is like the exercise of other muscles – it gets easier to use when it is used often.  Those who are practiced in generous, proportionate giving affirm that it has at least as much effect on their spiritual life as it does on their financial life.  Committing to proportionate and sacrificial giving is often worrisome.  But even more often, it is rewarding.  Because paradoxically that which we give up reminds us of all that we have.

Now, each year the preacher has a conundrum.  Should the stewardship sermon dwell primarily on the spirituality of giving, or on the financial needs of the parish?  From the pulpit, naturally the preacher wants to focus on the spiritual dimension.  Yet to pretend that financial planning is not in the mix would be disingenuous. The annual canvass reflects concrete needs. Heating and light bills are paid and bulletins are printed thanks to your support.  Church school resources are obtained thanks to you.  Your parish has a talented and committed staff: our choir is led and inspired by a remarkable musician; the sexton cleans and maintains dutifully; the parish administrator communicates and organizes effectively.  And all of this happens only with your support. 

The search for your new priest depends directly upon the financial security of the parish.  Not just pastoral and liturgical duties, but the longer-term leadership of the parish into the future will happen because you have stretched and committed to a level of support that will attract the candidates for whom you yearn. Transitions are a challenging time.  There is a tendency to sit back, to “wait and see” how things emerge.  But that would be a self-defeating posture for any congregation.  As bishop, I have seen it happen more than once.  A transition period contraction can start a downward spiral.  Your strong, faithful commitment to your parish now – especially now! – your strong support, financial and otherwise, is the bridge to your future.

Finally, I said there were two ways today’s Gospel might connect with our lives in late October.  Besides the Annual Canvass, here’s the other.  It is sometimes imagined that today’s Gospel affirms the American principle of separation of Church and State.  That principle, enshrined in our Constitution, guarantees that no particular religion will be privileged by the state over any other.  But there is no stipulation that the Church or its members should not have convictions on matters of public policy and communal well-being.  The separation of Church and State is a separation of authority and control, not a separation of conscience from citizenship.  To separate our conscience from our citizenship would be to abandon the moral framework of our country to those who have no conscience.  No, we should “Give to God the things that are God’s” – including our individual decision-making as citizens!

Each year we have communal decisions to make about things that are important, on matters informed by tenets of our faith.  This year is no exception.  Things like gun violence, or creation care, or the choice between various candidates who display divergent values.  People of faith will respond according to the promptings of their own conscience and reason.  They may arrive at differing positions – but those positions should be rooted on all sides in religious principles, and shared with a balance of conviction and humility.  As our former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has put it: “It is [important] to remember that partisan neutrality does not mean moral neutrality … Each of us must discern and decide what love of neighbor looks like in our lives, in our actions, in our personal relationships and in our social and public witness.”

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”  That’s the vote. 

“Give to God what is God’s.”  That’s the moral rationale behind your vote.

So, the lectionary assigned for today has given us a text for October:  for our parish Canvass decision, and for our ballot box decisions.  Let’s “give to God what is God’s” – our hearts, our minds, our commitment to come together, to love God and to love our neighbor.

Let’s go back to that moment when the little boy’s quarter rolls down the drain.  I like to imagine that boy staring forlornly at the one quarter left in his hand.  Supposing then he asks around for someone to make change.  Now he’s got a couple dimes and a nickel.  “Sorry, God,” he says.  “Guess we’ll both have a little less this week.  Here’s 15 cents for you and 10 cents for me.  Or, what do you think?  Maybe you could make do with 10 and let me keep 15?”

Who knows how God will answer.  I don’t think the precise math is the point.  But I’m certain that – from the little boy, and from you and from me – the desire to share generously and gratefully will be pleasing to God.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.