“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus says in today’s gospel (Matthew 22:15-22).

It sounds simple enough. It sounds like we should be able to just take a piece of paper, divide it into two columns, one for God and one for the emperor, and start making our list. 

I think that’s often how we hear this text. We hear Jesus saying that there is God’s stuff and there is the emperor’s stuff. It sounds like the two are distinct and separate, have nothing to do with each other, and maybe are even in opposition. So we bifurcate and divide the world and our lives between church and state, religion and politics, sacred and secular, tithe and tax, spirit and matter, heaven and earth, divinity and humanity, good and bad, pros and cons, us and them, this and that. 

Let’s give it a try. Which parts of your life would you put in God’s column? Which parts would you put in the emperor’s? Who is God to and for you? And who or what is the emperor? Do you have any leftovers, things that don’t neatly fit in either column? 

Itemize your spending over the last week. Which column would each transaction go in? You probably paid some sales and other taxes. That can go in the emperor’s column. I hope you have or will give to the church or some outreach. We’ll put that in God’s column. But what about the book I bought, groceries, monthly bills, trips and entertainment, an investment, a new pair of shoes? 

Who would you put in God’s column and who would go in the emperor’s? Which column would Republicans, Democrats, migrants, Gazans, Israelis, Russians, Ukrainians go in? And what criteria are you using?

Consider how you spent your time this past week. How much was for the emperor? How much was for God? Since we’re here today we’ll credit God with an hour and a half. Which column do the other twenty two and a half hours go in? Yesterday I spent more than two hours online searching for a part I need – no, that’s not correct – a part I want for my truck. It’s not for God or the emperor. It’s for me.

I just don’t think it’s as simple as dividing our life, world, or each other between the emperor and God and I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying. My life is not easily defined by and categorized into two columns. Yours probably isn’t either. Isn’t your life larger and more complex than a two column ledger? Mine is.

When I look at my life I find a lot of other columns. Yes, there is God and, yes, there is the emperor but I also have a column for Cyndy and our marriage, one for our sons, one for my parents, one for family, another for friends, and another for various relationships. I have a have a column for you all, a column for my work as a priest, a column for helping Cyndy run our household. I have columns for chores and errands, for riding my bike and gardening, for reading and study, for play, for rest, for health and sleep. I have columns for being a good citizen, for being an active part of this community, and for responding to the needs of Uvalde. I have a column that focuses on my own growth and self-knowledge. I have columns for my losses and sorrows; disappointments and regrets; joys and thanksgivings. I have a column for dreaming what’s next in my life and one for sitting and doing nothing.

What are the columns in your life today? Like me, you probably have columns for God, the emperor, others, yourself, and a bunch for miscellaneous. Life is never just two dimensional. 

Some will say it all belongs to God. Okay, maybe so. But what does that mean and look like in your life and my life? I think I understand and probably agree with the sentiment behind that but it doesn’t address the deeper issue and the more difficult question Jesus is holding before us today. It’s what a friend of mine calls “pious pink gas.” It sounds good and it sounds right but it has no shape or volume. It can expand or be compressed to fill any space. I think it’s an avoidance of the many realities, complexities, opportunities, and responsibilities that tug on each of us. 

Besides, Jesus didn’t say, “It all belongs to God.” He said, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

What if Jesus isn’t drawing a line between God and the emperor the way we often think he is? He didn’t deny the reality of the emperor and he didn’t reject or criticize the emperor. What if he’s saying that our life and world are never just one thing? What if he’s saying to us, “Hey, look, here are a couple of realities in your life, God and the emperor, and both are asking something of you. You’ve got to figure out how you are going to live in a world with multiple realities?”  

Maybe that’s part of our problem today. We’re drawing lines and separating instead of learning to live in and deal with the multiple realities that pull on us as individuals, communities, and nations. Maybe Jesus is dispelling our illusion that there is some monolithic unity that we are to achieve which, in today’s world, mostly means defeat or elimination of the other, whether that other is a part of ourselves, another person, a party, a religion, or a country.

That doesn’t mean we can’t have wholeness. It means that wholeness is not to be confused with singleness or unity. (Hillman, Loose Ends, “Schism,” 100) “Reality consists of a multiplicity of things.” (Ibid., quoting Carl Jung) So does wholeness.

I think Jesus is inviting us to step into and live in the tension of multiple realities. That’s what he did. That’s where he lived. That’s what he’s doing in today’s gospel – standing in the tension of God, Pharisees, Herodians, his disciples, the law, taxes, and his own faith and integrity. Jesus didn’t have a two column life, neither do you and neither did I.

To stand in the multiple realities of our life is to stand with Jesus. That’s where life gets real. That’s where life is really lived. It’s beautiful, chaotic, and holy. It’s not always an easy or comfortable place. It’s complicated and messy. There are no simple or easy answers. 

Notice that Jesus didn’t give us any answers. He didn’t tell us what goes in God’s column, the emperor’s column, or any other column of our life. That’s your and my work to do. I wish I had answers but I don’t. 

I can’t tell you what to do but I can tell you this. The tension of multiple realities continually calls me inward to examine my life, to reflect on who I am and who I want to be, to evaluate what I’m doing, to reconsider my priorities and what really matters, to make change, to recommit to my values, to open myself to new possibilities, to choose how I want to live. 

What about you? What would it be like and take to hold the tension of multiple realities?

”Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.” 

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Image Credit: Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash.