The things that are God's
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21).
We tried something new this week. We read the lectionary texts for the Sunday ahead and listened close for a verse we could ponder together. We wrote it on our chalkboard by the dining table and recited it around mealtimes, asking questions between bites.:
What does this mean, you think? What does the “emperor” really own? What doesn’t actually belong to God? What does it mean to belong to God, to give to God, to be God’s and NOT the emperor’s?
So on and so forth we went.
Some recitations were bored. Other times enraged. One time tearful. And so here I am suddenly and somehow looking at my little world so differently.
Hand-me-down sofa, gifted flowers and fall pillow. A lamp dug out of a dumpster.
Wondering. WONDERING.
What does reclamation look like in God’s house? Is this kingdom repo?
Is there more shuffling and rearranging to do with God’s stuff?