The Meaning of Money -- FPC sermon excerpt
The first national coin was minted in 1776, fully authorized by the Continental Congress. Benjamin Franklin provided the basic design for this pewter dollar, inscribed with the word fugio — Latin for “I fly.” This word was paired with an image of a sundial, to depict how “time flies.”
Franklin must have anticipated how money would fly away someday — in the stock market!
According to mental_floss magazine (September-October 2007), the coin also bears the odd phrase, “Mind your business.”
What’s that all about? Is it sage advice to small business owners, such as Joe the Plumber? Or are they the words of a cranky mint worker, telling outsiders to buzz off?
It’s hard to say. What’s clear is that this sassy slogan hasn’t hurt the coin’s value. A Continental Dollar could be sold today for at least $1,500.
I wish I had my daughter’s college funds in Continental Dollars.
If you look at a typical American coin today, and you’ll see the words E Pluribus Unum, Latin for “From many, one.” This sounds like a noble sentiment, describing the unity of our 50 diverse states. But the truth is that our founding fathers plagiarized these words from the title page of a British book, published every year by “Gentleman’s Magazine.” It was an anthology of articles, and the slogan meant “From many magazines, one book.”
That’s kind of like finding a new national slogan in the pages of GQ.
So … what’s in your wallet? What does your money say to you?
Does your money say I fly? Mind your business? E Pluribus Unum? In God We Trust? Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s?
There’s a lot of meaning to be found in money.
The Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus in a trap when they send their disciples to him, along with the followers of King Herod. The disciples of the Pharisees try to bait the trap with some words of flattery, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality” (Matthew 22:16).
These disciples of the Pharisees are like a bunch of guys using lame pick-up lines to attract the attention of attractive girls.
- Baby, you must be a broom, cause you just swept me off my feet.
- I hope you know CPR, cuz you take my breath away!
- Was your dad king for a day? He must have been, to make a princess like you.
Well, that kind of flattery doesn’t work with Jesus, either. He is aware of their malice, and is definitely on guard when they say, “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” (v. 17).
The trap has been sprung, and Jesus is going to have to move quickly to escape.
“Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?” he asks (v. 18). Jesus knows that they are asking about a particular tax, one that can be paid only in Roman coin. Problem is, the coin contains an image and an inscription — “Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, high priest” — one that is considered blasphemous by devout Jews. If Jesus says “yes, it is lawful to pay,” he alienates the Jewish nation; if he says “no,” he risks arrest by the Romans. It’s a lose-lose proposition.
But Jesus spots a way out. He asks the disciples of the Pharisees for the coin used for the tax, and they give him one — notice that the Pharisees are in possession of the blasphemous coin, not Jesus! “Whose head is this, and whose title?” he asks them. “The emperor’s,” they answer, wondering what he is getting at.
Then, in one quick move, he slips completely out of their trap. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (vv. 19-21). By saying that what is already the emperor’s should be given to him, Jesus avoids a direct yes or no response — one that would get him in serious trouble with either the Jews or the Romans. But in answering the way he does, he gives an indirect yes. He implies that paying this tax is not against the Jewish law. But he then goes beyond the question asked by the Pharisees and says that what is God’s must be given to God. Loyalty to God is on a different and much higher level of importance than simple earthly loyalty to the emperor.
And the disciples of the Pharisees? They realize that Jesus has escaped. Amazed, they leave him and go away (v. 22).
Franklin must have anticipated how money would fly away someday — in the stock market!
According to mental_floss magazine (September-October 2007), the coin also bears the odd phrase, “Mind your business.”
What’s that all about? Is it sage advice to small business owners, such as Joe the Plumber? Or are they the words of a cranky mint worker, telling outsiders to buzz off?
It’s hard to say. What’s clear is that this sassy slogan hasn’t hurt the coin’s value. A Continental Dollar could be sold today for at least $1,500.
I wish I had my daughter’s college funds in Continental Dollars.
If you look at a typical American coin today, and you’ll see the words E Pluribus Unum, Latin for “From many, one.” This sounds like a noble sentiment, describing the unity of our 50 diverse states. But the truth is that our founding fathers plagiarized these words from the title page of a British book, published every year by “Gentleman’s Magazine.” It was an anthology of articles, and the slogan meant “From many magazines, one book.”
That’s kind of like finding a new national slogan in the pages of GQ.
So … what’s in your wallet? What does your money say to you?
Does your money say I fly? Mind your business? E Pluribus Unum? In God We Trust? Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s?
There’s a lot of meaning to be found in money.
The Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus in a trap when they send their disciples to him, along with the followers of King Herod. The disciples of the Pharisees try to bait the trap with some words of flattery, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality” (Matthew 22:16).
These disciples of the Pharisees are like a bunch of guys using lame pick-up lines to attract the attention of attractive girls.
- Baby, you must be a broom, cause you just swept me off my feet.
- I hope you know CPR, cuz you take my breath away!
- Was your dad king for a day? He must have been, to make a princess like you.
Well, that kind of flattery doesn’t work with Jesus, either. He is aware of their malice, and is definitely on guard when they say, “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” (v. 17).
The trap has been sprung, and Jesus is going to have to move quickly to escape.
“Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?” he asks (v. 18). Jesus knows that they are asking about a particular tax, one that can be paid only in Roman coin. Problem is, the coin contains an image and an inscription — “Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, high priest” — one that is considered blasphemous by devout Jews. If Jesus says “yes, it is lawful to pay,” he alienates the Jewish nation; if he says “no,” he risks arrest by the Romans. It’s a lose-lose proposition.
But Jesus spots a way out. He asks the disciples of the Pharisees for the coin used for the tax, and they give him one — notice that the Pharisees are in possession of the blasphemous coin, not Jesus! “Whose head is this, and whose title?” he asks them. “The emperor’s,” they answer, wondering what he is getting at.
Then, in one quick move, he slips completely out of their trap. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (vv. 19-21). By saying that what is already the emperor’s should be given to him, Jesus avoids a direct yes or no response — one that would get him in serious trouble with either the Jews or the Romans. But in answering the way he does, he gives an indirect yes. He implies that paying this tax is not against the Jewish law. But he then goes beyond the question asked by the Pharisees and says that what is God’s must be given to God. Loyalty to God is on a different and much higher level of importance than simple earthly loyalty to the emperor.
And the disciples of the Pharisees? They realize that Jesus has escaped. Amazed, they leave him and go away (v. 22).
posted by Henry Brinton | 10:28 AM
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