Our lives are messy and complex, which suggests to me, that as people of faith, we are called to live with a spirit of humility. To give to God what is God’s is to be willing to be summoned to repentance—to be willing to wrestle with our own beliefs, our assumptions, the values we profess, our conscience. How does our faith inform how we love our neighbors? And whom we call our neighbor? What does justice rolling down look like to us? What does our faith tradition say about caring for the poor and vulnerable? If we want to give to God what is God’s then let’s be willing to look at and confess and wrestle with our own moral blind spots in a spirit of humility. New understandings will call forth new responsibilities.
Second, to give to God what is God’s is to live with a sense of gratitude as opposed to a sense of entitlement. To see our lives as gifts, and not assume that our circumstances are a matter of merit or just desserts. How does a confession that “the earth is God’s and everything belongs to God” change how we view our lives, our abilities, our possessions, our money? How does it change our decision making? A basic Christian understanding is that all good things come from God, and we are to be wise and thoughtful stewards of those blessings and resources.
Third, to give to God what is God’s is to acknowledge that it is in God’s own image we are created. We bear God’s imprint, and thus we are called to bear witness to God’s mercy, to advocate for God’s mercy. Our Judeo-Christian faith tradition is clear that we are to view the world through the lens of compassion. And to find ways to care for the most vulnerable in our society, for the “least of these, our brothers and sisters.”
