Whose face and name?

October 18, 2026

Scripture: Matthew 22:15-22

Today’s gospel reading is one of those we are all
probably familiar with, one that has found its way into our
language as a common figure of speech…one of those
where you only have to say, ‘Render unto Caesar’ and
many seem to know whatever it is you are talking
about…or, maybe they don’t really. It is also a passage
about which we may have an opinion…some sense of
what it means, or at least some idea of what it meant
when Jesus said it to those trying to trap him that day.
Personally, I never actually thought too much about
the passage, as it seemed straight forward. I probably
leaned mostly on my early childhood Sunday School
classes to see this as one of those passages where Jesus
was saying something clever and trying to teach us
something basic at the same time. However I am not sure
I really caught the gist of what Jesus was trying to share.
I think I always thought it had something to do with
telling us to pay our taxes, while also being sure to put
money in the offering plate…teaching us that some things
were ‘worldly’ and belonged to the world or to ‘Caesar’,
while other things were clearly God’s, and belonged

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solely to God. However, I must confess I don’t think I
ever quite knew what the distinction between the two
really was. I don’t think I ever really thought it through
enough to get underneath the words and to really hear
what Jesus may have been saying.
And looking more closely now, it seems somehow
that making money or possessions the central focus of
both of these ‘render unto’ commands seems to make the
divine half meaningless or impotent, as though ‘rendering
unto God’ is just some form of a more holy taxation, or
perhaps some sort of down payment for a seat on the
Glory Train at some point in the future.
So, I think that perhaps Jesus was up to something
different that day, that he may have been trying to share
something other or deeper than my previous
understanding. And it was not until I read over the
passage again that I think I may have found a new
doorway, a new way of hearing these words again. I
found myself drawn to Jesus’ words just prior to the
famous, ‘Render unto Caesar’ phrase and instead focused
on the, ‘Whose name and face are on this coin’? part of
the question. And I realized that it is quite easy and not
uncommon to associate this question with coins, as our
own coinage also speaks of our nation and features the
‘image’ of some one or other of our historic national
figures.

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But when I turned it around and asked the other side
of the question it seemed like a light went on. I heard
something completely new after I thought it through, and
realized that something far different than coins and
currency has the face and name of our Lord on it. That in
fact, if we truly listened to the Lord when he asked this
question, then we might hear him asking us if we too are
fully and actually living into the image, and up to the
name we claim to follow.
In other words, it just may be that it is our life, the
life we live…that is the counterpoint to the Roman coins
Jesus was referring to. When he asked whose face and
name were on the coin, which he already knew was
Caesar’s, he is actually also saying that what really
matters…what really is important, is that our lives as
followers of his, are supposed to reflect the face and name
of our God. In this very clever turn of phrase Jesus deeply
challenges his hearers by forcing them to consider that it
is in fact not their money or treasures, but rather their
hearts and minds that he is after. He is offering that our
lives are the opposing figure in his little riddle that
day…thereby indicating that what we are being asked to
render unto God…is our very lives…plain and simple.
But…what could that possibly mean…isn’t the
phrase, ‘Give yourself to God’ itself in as much danger of
being or becoming irrelevant as was my initial
understanding that all we were being asked was to pay our

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taxes and put money in the plate? I mean, isn’t it always
so easy to say, ‘Give your life to God’ without ever
having a clue as to what that may mean at all? In fact,
isn’t that something we can all agree somehow is a good
thing, but at the same time something that is so vague and
seemingly shallow that we can say ‘Yes’ without much
fear of being held to account to it?
How does one go about ‘giving their life to God’
anyway? What does that mean, and to what extent…or,
how long a commitment is it really? And do we need to
give away everything we have? How much are we
allowed to keep for ourselves? Are we supposed to
become some sort of radical Christians beating on a dog-
eared bible and standing on the corner?
Whenever we really wonder about what it means to
‘follow God’ there seem to be so many questions, and so
little real clarity. Perhaps it might be better if we asked
God directly! If we were to ask, ‘what do you mean Lord
when you say that your face and name are on us’?
I think we can find a clue in a short little verse in the
Gospel of John, where Jesus is sharing specifically on the
nature and work of the Holy Spirit. And I think that
passage might give us some guidance as to how we might
approach this idea of ‘giving ourselves to God’.
In John Chapter 3 and verse 8 we hear Jesus say,
‘The wind blows wherever it pleases…you hear its sound,

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but you cannot tell where it comes from…or…where it is
going. This is how it is with all who are born of the
Spirit’.
And I think that this passage ties in well with our
discussion as to how we are to give ourselves to God,
because in the end what we are really and only being
asked to do, is to make ourselves willing to be used of
God…to make our lives available for the plans and
purposes of our Lord.
To ‘give our lives over to God’, means we have to let
go enough, to allow the Spirit of God’s love to move into,
and actually set up residence within the depths of our
soul, in order to guide us into ever greater righteous
usefulness. It means we need to set our own agendas aside
for a moment, and instead give control over our
immediate future…to the Holy Spirit, so that the Spirit
may teach and equip us to best take advantage of our own
life story and personal life experience. For in doing so,
we can begin to make a real difference in the world
around us.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, this ‘willingness to
yield’, this willingness to be used of the Spirit, will result
in us living a very different life indeed…
We will begin to live a life full of wonder, with many
unexpected twists and turns…

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…a life within the control of the Spirit, and not
necessarily our own…
…a life in which we may walk in ways we never
have before and into places we have never gone, or even
thought of going before…
…for indeed this truly is how it is with those who are
born of the Spirit.
‘The wind blows’, Jesus said, indicating that the
action of the Holy Spirit is much like a swirl of wind that
blows every which way, first here and now
there…gusting into places of newness or of dryness, into
places dark with the rank stench of fear or emerging out
into valleys of green meadows echoing peace and
goodness.
‘You hear its sound’, he continued. But, one may ask,
‘How do we know the voice is truly that of the Holy
Spirit?’ In truth, it takes practice…but with time, and by
beginning to notice the evidence of the Spirit’s work
around you, you will come to know when the Spirit is
reaching out to you. But until you take that first step in
faith each time, you truly will not know where the Spirit’s
voice will lead you…
…but please know, that in the final analysis, any
pathway you embark upon under the impulse of the Holy
Spirit is a walk valid and worthy in and of itself…as well

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as a walk free from the world’s value judgment…in other
words, wherever God leads you…God needs you.
So, whose face? Whose image do we reflect? And
whose name are we truly known by? Who is our common
family? And what does that mean or what does that call
us to say or to do? If we truly are God’s, and if our life
stories have been cast, or recast in the image of our
gracious and forgiving God…if our name actually is
‘Christian’ …then we have an obligation to continuously
strive to reflect the image and likeness of our Lord…as
we make our lives available to the Holy Spirit.
We still do need to render unto Caesar, for we live in
a land and in a nation governed with laws and hopefully
an orderly social structure. But, we also must find a way
as well to render our lives to God.
And if we are ever asked to stand up for our Lord, I
pray that we will have the courage to hold fast, and to
proudly proclaim that we know who it is, in whom we
believe…
…and, that the one we follow, the one whose image
we strive to reflect…and whose name we proudly bear…
…is Jesus our Lord.
…amen