“Show me the money for the tax.” And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Render therefore 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. Matthew 22: 19-22

The mayor of this city wants to clean it up. He wants the city to be beautiful. Everyday he sends the police to where the children sleep and forces them to evacuate the area. However, they are not allowed to take their blankets or cushions. These things are confiscated and eventually destroyed. Apparently, these things makes the city look unsightly. I am sure the presence of the homeless children and teens sleeping under the busy highway bridge does not qualify for a post card picture. The homeless are not part of the beauty of this city. They need to find another place where they would not be a burden to those who want a beautiful city.

The cushions are perhaps the few comforts that the homeless have. They are discarded cushions full of stains and holes. Now, the children sleep on the dirt floor. Now, their clothes and bodies are covered with dirt when we meet them in the afternoon. The mayor has yet to improve the shelter situation. However, it doesn’t matter. Our children and teens won’t go to one. They are treated like prisoners in these places. They prefer to sleep on the dirt floor.

I don’t know the mayor personally so I cannot pass judgement on him. I shouldn’t do it even if I knew him. It is safe to say that he is not an evil person. He does not deliberately want to make life miserable for the homeless. It is just that he doesn’t know them. He cannot imagine their sense of rejection because they are not part of his world. They are just concepts and numbers for him. The distance between him and the poor of the city is astronomical even though the city office is in the old center of the city where we work. If he stepped out of his building, he would see the large number of homeless that occupy almost every street corner. However, he never steps out of the building. He comes to work in a helicopter and leaves the same way. He has no reason to meet the homeless. He is a mayor of the city and no expects him to be listening and hanging out with the homeless.

No one existentially is further away from us than God and yet He is with us. He dwells among us not like a mayor or a king but as a suffering servant. It is a choice that He makes. Perhaps, God thinks that it is incumbent to His eternal office as God to be close to those who suffer. Jesus tells us that if we want to see Him, we have to go to the ones who are hungry and give them something they need. He is among those who are in prison where society puts people it wants to punish. He is present there among those who are easy to hate and despise. He wants us to know that He cannot and will not forget anyone. He wants us to give Him shelter when He is present with our homeless children. Perhaps when there is no shelter available, a discarded cushion would be fine or even in some cases, a filthy manger.

He works completely different from any government officials. These officials like things to appear good. They work in the realms of numbers and statistics. They like to present a beautiful image. Jesus is not into images. When the disciples commented on the beauty of the temple, He told them that it would be destroyed. Outward beauty never lasts. The Pharisees liked outward appearances. Jesus has some harsh words to say to them;

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” Matthew 23:27

External beauty doesn’t revive a soulless society. Jesus was not interested in building great cities or empires. He was concerned about finding the lost sheep. He wanted to be their shepherd. His priorities were centered on being the Good Shepherd to those that society forgot and rejected. The Caesars of the world have other priorities. They are invested in the constructions of images that one day will stumble and fall. Yet, some people who consider themselves followers of Jesus applaud the actions of the Caesars even when they are soulless. Regardless of who they are and what they propose to do, their desires are not compatible with the priorities of the gospel. They dwell in a world that is too separated and distant from humanity. They judge the world from a distance. Jesus did not make decisions from a distance. He is close to each and every person. He revealed to us a God who is so different from our nature and yet chooses to be close to us. Caesars share our humanity and yet they hide behind walls and illusions of their own creation.

It has been a while since we had a decent conversation with Bruno. He was the one who told us about the police taking away the cushions and blankets. He mentioned that it was the first time that the police actually seemed apologetic and said that they were just following orders. Without us saying anything, Bruno talked about shelters and orphanages. He said that he was in a state orphanage for most of his life before he ran away to the streets. It wasn’t because he disliked the place. He had many pleasant memories. However, the government only allows them to stay in the orphanage until they turn 18. Then they have to leave. He had no where to go. He doesn’t even know the address of his family or his mother’s full name. He ran away before he turned 18. He is not the only one. There are many who share the same story. They leave before they get rejected one more time by the state. Bruno ended his poignant story saying that he won’t go any shelter just for the sake of sleeping there. He wants to have some structure and stability in his life. Strangely, the streets has provided something for him.

Caesar has the finance and the resources but he is too far away to do anything worthwhile with them. We have restricted material means but we are close to the children. Bruno hugged us with his dirty blanket wrapped around him. His hands and feet were covered with dirt. However, his outward appearance did not hinder us from seeing his beauty. Not just Bruno, but all our children and teens. They might be considered a nuisance or a pest by many who are far away. These will support the actions of Caesar. However, Jesus beckons His followers to draw close enough to see that within each of these little ones lies the beautiful image of God. It is something anyone who is far away will never appreciate.

Render unto Caesar what belongs to him but he will never understand the things that belong to God.