The Holy Eucharist on the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (August 23, 2026)

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day try to trap Jesus with a gotcha question about taxes, hoping to force him to choose between Rome and Israel. Jesus takes a coin, points to Caesar’s image, and tells them to render to Caesar what bears Caesar’s image, while rendering to God what belongs to God. God’s claim reaches far deeper than a coin, because human beings bear his image and have been claimed in baptism as his beloved children.

Paul’s appeal to present the body as a living sacrifice makes people uncomfortable because sacrifice sounds like loss, suffering, and being coerced into giving away what feels rightfully theirs. Jesus’ call to deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow him makes clear that suffering and sacrifice are not optional extras in Christian life. Christian lives are always being spent somewhere, whether on the altar of self, family, career, comfort, children’s activities, or some other good thing that slowly becomes an ultimate thing.

The question is not whether a person sacrifices, but to what and to whom that person offers a life. God will settle for nothing less than the whole person, self, soul, and body. Paul therefore warns against being conformed to the pattern of this world and calls God’s people to be transformed by the God in whose image they were made.

The image of a penny pressed into a new shape gives flesh to Paul’s warning. The world’s priorities, presuppositions, and stories can squeeze people into its mold without much effort. God’s question in the garden still exposes those borrowed stories: “Who told you it was this way?” The world tells parents that successful children need an endless rat race of activities, tells adults that retirement means golf and vacations, and tells everyone that happiness is the ultimate good. God does not tell that story.

Paul addresses a congregation, not isolated individuals trying to manufacture holiness at home. The church becomes the place where people show up week after week with open hands and say, “God, I’m yours. Do with me what you will.” The altar confronts the temptation to ask God merely to enter a person’s own story and instead calls that person to be written into God’s story.

The family that chose worship over competing activities shows the real cost of this offering. Their commitment required saying no, but it kept God from being sacrificed on the altar of busyness. God promises to do the heavy lifting when his people simply show up and present themselves as living sacrifices.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God claims those bearing his image Jesus turns a political trap into a deeper question of belonging. Caesar may receive the coin stamped with Caesar’s face, but God receives the people stamped with God’s image. Baptism names that claim personally and completely. [23:10]
• 2. Every life is offered somewhere Sacrifice is not limited to dramatic acts of religious devotion. Career, family, comfort, security, and children’s success can all become altars where a life is quietly spent. Christian sacrifice means placing even good gifts under God’s rightful claim. [26:34]
• 3. The world quietly presses its mold Paul’s warning is not merely about obvious wickedness. The world shapes people through normal stories about success, happiness, parenting, and retirement until those stories feel unquestionable. God’s question, “Who told you it was this way?” breaks the spell. [28:49]
• 4. Transformation needs a worshiping community Paul calls brothers and sisters to offer their bodies together. Regular worship trains open-handed surrender in a world built around self-direction and competing demands. The gathered church becomes a place where God reshapes what the world has pressed flat. [29:48]
• 5. God asks for open-handed availability The deepest prayer is not merely a list of needs brought before God. God invites his people to say, “Here I am. Write me into your story however you see fit.” Such availability can lead to costly choices, but God does the heavy lifting.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [22:20] - Caesar’s Coin and God’s Claim
• [23:35] - Why Sacrifice Makes People Bristle
• [24:38] - Taking Up the Cross
• [25:23] - The Question of Every Sacrifice
• [27:16] - Conformed or Transformed
• [27:49] - The Penny Press of the World
• [29:34] - Living Sacrifices Together
• [30:24] - Showing Up With Open Hands
• [31:17] - Choosing Worship Over Busyness
• [32:50] - Offered at the Altar

Bible Reading

Romans 12:1–2
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” [27:28]

Matthew 22:15–22
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” [22:14]

Matthew 16:24–26
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’” [25:08]

Observation questions

1. What made the question about paying taxes to Caesar a trap for Jesus, and how did Jesus redirect the question by asking whose image was on the coin? [22:41]
2. In Romans 12:1–2, what two contrasting actions does Paul give: being conformed and being transformed? What does Paul say must be renewed?
3. What examples show that people already make sacrifices for things like education, children, career, or retirement? [25:42]
4. What are some of the ordinary stories or assumptions that can quietly press people into the world’s mold? [29:14]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus says to give God what belongs to God. Since human beings bear God’s image and are claimed as God’s beloved children, what does it mean for God to receive more than a person’s money or occasional religious attention? [27:01]
2. Jesus connects following him with denying oneself, taking up a cross, and losing one’s life for his sake. How does this challenge the idea that Christian faith should always make life easier, safer, or more comfortable? [25:14]
3. Paul calls the church to present their bodies as living sacrifices. Why might “living sacrifice” mean offering ordinary time, decisions, relationships, work, and habits to God, rather than only making dramatic sacrifices? [26:29]
4. Paul addresses brothers and sisters together rather than isolated individuals. Why is a worshiping community important when people are trying to resist the world’s priorities and be transformed by God? [29:40]

Application questions

1. Every life is being spent somewhere. Where has most of your energy, attention, money, or emotional strength been going lately? Are any good gifts—family, work, comfort, children’s success, security, or leisure—starting to function as an ultimate thing? [26:39]
2. Think about a message you often hear about success, parenting, retirement, happiness, or personal freedom. Who told you that this is the way life must be? How might God be inviting you to question that story? [29:08]
3. What is one place where following Jesus may require a costly but faithful “no” in this season? It may involve a schedule, an activity, a purchase, a work demand, or a commitment that keeps worship and life with God at the edges. [31:55]
4. When you come to worship, do you usually come mainly asking God to help with your own plans, or ready to be included in God’s purposes? What might it look like for you to pray, “God, I’m yours. Do with me what you will”? [30:27]
5. Is there a practical way you can make regular worship a clearer priority for yourself or your household—not out of guilt, but as a way of showing up with open hands before God? [30:06]
6. Jesus says that whoever loses life for his sake will find it. What is one area where you feel tempted to preserve control, comfort, reputation, or security? What might trusting Jesus with that area look like this week? [25:20]
7. Where do you need the help of other believers to remain faithful? How can this group encourage one another to offer their lives to God rather than quietly sacrificing God to busyness? [32:13]