A Simple Coin

Dear Sutton and Savannah, 

I hope you relentlessly pursue the fullness of who you are. It is too easy to believe you are the sum total of what others think, or that you are simply a collection of your experiences or your reactions. Or that how you currently feel is the way to measure worth or destiny. You are so much more! So search, explore and uncover your deepest passions, honor your flights of fancy, trust your own wisdom and give space for the true you to step forth.

-Dad

Inside Out Lectionary Letters

Year A Proper 24 - (Texts, Art, Hymns)

Readings for Sunday, October 18, 2026

Exodus 33:12-23 / Psalm 99 / 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 / Matthew 22:15-22

Summary of Matthew 22:15-22

The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a politically loaded question. It feels a bit like political debates leading up to elections!

Scripture as Mirror of the Soul

The Pharisees and Herodians made strange partners. Their political and religious interests were quite different, but together they offered Jesus a question designed to force him into one of two camps: Pay the tax or resist Caesar. Choose. Jesus refuses their binary choice. Instead, he asks for a coin and poses a question of his own: “Whose image is this?” Caesar’s image is stamped upon it. Give it back to Caesar. Then Jesus adds the part that is most intriguing: “Give to God the things that are God’s.”

So what bears God’s image? I do. You do. Beneath all the identities the world has given us, and all the identities we have created for ourselves, there is something deeper. I am husband, father, grandfather, friend, coach, writer, Christian, American. I have also been successful and unsuccessful, confident and frightened, generous and selfish, right and terribly wrong. These identities tell important pieces of my story, but none of them tells the whole story. The inner journey takes me beneath the labels, roles, accomplishments, failures, and judgments until I encounter something more fundamental: I bear the image of the Creator.

Perhaps that is the invitation hidden within Jesus’ response. I can live within the structures of the external world without allowing them to possess my identity. I can carry Caesar’s coin without becoming Caesar’s coin. And as I discover the divine imprint within myself, perhaps I can begin to recognize it in others—including those whose politics, religion, values, experiences, or identities differ dramatically from mine. “Whose image is this?” may be one of the most important questions I can ask about myself, and about the person standing in front of me.

Psalm 99 - Scripture as Prayers of the Soul

Oh Lord, when I contemplate the majesty of Your creation, the vastness of the universe, the beauty of nature, and the brevity of my own life, I sometimes feel utterly insignificant. My days are few, my influence limited, and my understanding so incomplete. Yet You, the Creator of all, choose not only to create but to dwell within Your creation. You are exalted above all, yet Your Spirit abides within. Remind me that I can be small without being insignificant, limited without being unimportant, and imperfect without being unworthy of love.

Teach me Your ways of justice and equity. Awaken within me a sensitivity to those who suffer, those who are overlooked, and those whose voices are seldom heard. Give me the courage to confront injustice, even when it is uncomfortable. And help me establish healthy boundaries that protect my own well-being without closing my heart to the needs of others. May compassion and wisdom grow together within me.

I know I do not travel this journey alone. Others have walked these paths before me, leaving stories of faith and struggle, hope and despair, courage amid fear, and love amid suffering. Help me learn from their wisdom without repeating their mistakes. May their lives, and the lives of those who walk beside me today, become sources of grace, encouragement, and understanding. May Your forgiveness reach into every corner of my life. Loosen the grip of shame and melt away the chains of guilt, without diminishing my sense of responsibility for any harm I have caused.

Reveal the best of who I am. Redeem the worst of who I’ve been. Help me create a future that honors the best of what we can become. And may the way I live, the love I offer, and the justice I pursue become my daily expression of worship.

Amen.