“O LORD our Governor, how excellent is thy Name in all the world”   (Psalm 8:1a)

“When I consider thy heavens, even the work of thy fingers; * the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? * and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

This is from the psalm we read at Morning Prayer, and it is a valid question, “What does God see in us?”

At the founding of this country, The United States of America, we were a population steeped in Christianity. (Unfortunately, unlike today.) Where we find atheism and agnosticism among many who are not Christians, those who were not Christian believers at that time, still believed fully in God, but are what is called deists. Deists believe in God but doubt his intervention in history and the affairs of men. Not only do deists deny Christ was God incarnate, but God (they believe) never interacted with us at all.

So in a very real way, they were asking the same question asked by David in this Psalm:

“When I consider thy heavens, even the work of thy fingers” (Psalm 8:3a)

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? * and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:4)

But we unlike the deists do not have to wonder as if there is no way to know. We understand that scripture is God’s revelation to mankind. It is his word, and like him trustworthy.

A deist may think on our weakness and our sinfulness and come to sound like King Solomon in Ecclesiastes:

“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3)

But he will not see without scripture what conclusion that wise King came to in the end.

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

What then, does scripture reveal God sees in us? Let us recount what God himself said in our creation.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Gensis 1:26-28a)

This is our answer. God sees the image of himself in us. What he wants from us is to make good out of this life and all we have in it. Keeping his commandments. For when we walk in the ways of God, he sees himself in us, for we bear his image and we do what he commands.

In this same way God ask us to have mercy on others, so that he will see his own mercy in us. We are to mirror him and his ways to the utmost of our abilities. We are to do good, being led by his truth, enjoying the beauty and majesty of God’s creation, so that in this reflection he can see the good in us, which is himself.

That is also what our readings today tell us. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read of when the Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus seeking to entangle him, so that either the Romans or the people would turn against him.

They asked:

“Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17)

But Jesus, who in scripture seems to be able to know the thoughts of men, perceives what they are doing. He asks them for a coin of the tribute money, and he also calls them hypocrites. Why? He does this, calls them hypocrites, because in providing the coin they show that they already pay the tribute, the very act they are trying to ensnare him with.

Then Jesus asks, “who’s image” is on the coin? (Matthew 22:20)

They reply, “Caesar’s”

At which point we hear Jesus famous reply:

“Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's” (Matthew 22:21)

Know this, that just as the coin bore the image of Caesar, so we bear the image of God. We are to give to the rulers, authorities, and governors of this world those things that are theirs, yes. But we are to give our souls and bodies, our very being, to God in all that we do. For we bear his image.

When we walk in God’s ways, we bear the image of his Son, even Jesus Christ, God-incarnate. Who walked the earth showing us how we should live. How to be faithful, to trust and rely on God. At all times and in all places.

For Jesus Christ the God-man “took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7), so that we “might be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). He died for us, and because of that, through our baptism and faith in him, we are made citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20).

It is for this purpose that we were created, it is to this end that we are to submit ourselves in all the things we do in this world, that we might reflect the image of  God our Savior, who has bought eternal life for all those who abide in him and walk in his ways.

Thus we understand the scriptures:

“[I]t is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) Amen.

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- Deacon Nick Acker