In Whose image?

      It is that time of year when we Episcopal churches lean into our budgeting program or stewardship, and people begin to complain that all any churches care about are money.  If you are visiting today, I remind us repeatedly throughout the year that we are called to be good stewards of all with which God has entrusted us, but we do have to spend a bit of time planning for next year, 2027.  There are buildings to be maintained, a big yard to be mowed, utilities and salaries to be paid, and ministries to be supported.  This year, because of the timing, we also have the extra reminder that stewardship includes our vote.  God has planted us in this nation, in this community, and we have a thankful obligation to Him to cast our votes for those leaders who will govern us as He calls them to govern.

     Our passage from Matthew takes place after Jesus has told the parables of the two sons and the wicked tenants.  For their part, the leadership in Israel has figured out that Jesus is not pleased that they ignore God’s instruction about how they are to live in the world.  To be sure, the leadership can mouth the words, but they do not live the life to which God calls all of His sons and daughters.  As a result of Jesus’ teaching and preaching, they are enraged at Jesus and want to put Him to death.  Were Jesus only a fun-loving hippie, no one would want to kill Him, let alone crucify Him.  When He describes them as white-washed tombs or wicked servants, they get really upset.  After all, they want those around them to think highly of them, right?

     Today is interesting because the Pharisees send their disciples along with the Herodians to entrap Jesus.  There are a couple things we need to understand.  The first is the unlikelihood that Pharisees and Herodians would ever work together.  We think we live in a divided nation.  Some of us think that those of other political parties are an enemy to be defeated.  To be sure, we have dehumanizing language that we cavalierly drop in our political discourse.  But we are not an occupied land.  Like it or not, other Americans govern us at every level.  Americans run the federal government; Americans govern the state in which we live; Americans govern Nashville; Americans even govern Oak Hill or whatever section or community from which we hail.

     At this time in Matthew’s Gospel, Rome rules Judea.  Rome has brought in soldiers, companies made up mostly of their own ethnic enemies, in order to make sure that nobody gets too out of hand.  As we will see in the next few weeks, the distance between a life of ministry and death on a cross in not particularly far.  Most subjected or oppressed people hate their conquerers, so most rank and file Jews longed for a messiah that would cast off the Roman oppressors.  One group which liked the oppressors, though, were the Herodians.  Herod had famously and successfully bribed Caesar so that he could be named king.  Yes, Herod was answerable to the Governor appointed by Caesar, but he had some limited autonomy which allowed him to recoup the bribes he had paid Caesar.

     All of that is to say that the Pharisees and the Herodians were not known for their ability or willingness to compromise.  The Pharisees resented the Herodians for conspiring with Rome, and the Herodians did not care much for the Pharisees’ unwillingness to live in the world in which they found themselves, namely in service to Rome.  The fact that they came together to speak with Jesus would have set off the alarm bells of many Jews.

     The second understanding we need is that of the tax which will be the subject of these short verses.  Specifically, the tax being discussed in the so-called “Head tax.”  Rome collected a denarius from everyone in the empire.  A denarius equaled a day’s wage.  The money that was raised by this head tax was then used to pay the salaries of the soldiers stationed in the area.  Now, I have reminded you already that Rome brought in ethnic enemies of the Hebrews to patrol and keep the peace in Judea.  So, this tax was rather despised.  The conquered people paid the tax that was then put to the salaries of the soldiers who were used in their oppression.  Everyone understand the psychological game Rome was playing?  Good.  By the way, if the oppressing soldiers were not being paid for their work, what do you think their attitude would be to those whom they were patrolling?  That’s right, not very good.  There was no “to protect and to serve” in their esprit de corps.  They wanted their money, and their ethnic enemies were responsible for paying them.  You can imagine how those interactions went.

     One final note is a reminder.  Everyone understands that one had to pay for sacrifices with Temple shekels, right?  The only currency accepted by the leadership was the Temple currency.  Some of us might remember Jesus’ attitude about the bankers set up in the Temple.  Those of us who traveled in the dark ages might remember that the worst conversion rates were from the money changers at the airports.  The Temple moneychangers did not take a back seat to that gouging.  In fact, Jesus’ criticism of them as He flips their tables is that they have made the worship of God burdensome for His people.  All that is to say that the more the traditional the individual, the less likely they were to accept the currencies of the world in their midst.  Some experts argue that money changers could conduct their business from the Court of the Gentiles outward, but I do not believe we can be certain where the line was drawn for this encounter.

     The attempted trap is a question that follows a lot of flattery, “Is it lawful to pay tax to the emperor, or not?”  A fight raged among the controlling parties as to whether the tax was immoral and part of idol worship or just the cost of doing business.  The Herodians fell into the latter camp because they were the ones licensed to do business in Judea by the emperor.  The Pharisees were likely the ones most consistently opposed to paying taxes because they followed the torah given to Moses by God.  Political parties being political parties, I suspect these boundaries were not etched in stone.  And I expect that other groups switched sides depending upon the sentiment of the people and other self-interest considerations, much as there is little difference between the modern democratic party and republican party.  Members of both parties work today for their own enrichment and that of the families rather than the benefit of those who elect them, right?

     The trap is laid with the understanding that if the rabbi says yes, the Pharisees can denounce Jesus.  Similarly, if Jesus says the tax is immoral, the Herodians can appeal to their Roman overlords with the claim that Jesus is an insurrectionist and will lead the people into rebellion.

     Unfortunately for those springing the trap, Jesus is not just a rabbi, a teacher, as they diminuize Him in the eyes of the crowd.  The people think Jesus a prophet and hope He is the Messiah, and they are closer to understanding His identity than the leadership which should recognize the signs He has done as those of Messiah.  Jesus calls them out for being hypocrites.  A wise Pharisee or Herodian might have thought better of the trap at that point, but Jesus plays along and asks them to show Him the coin used for the tax.

     I have just reminded you about attitudes toward the non-Temple coins.  The audience does not need that reminder.  So imagine their surprise when the coin is produced quickly by those claiming to lead Israel.  To use easy language, they would appear as true hypocrites in the eyes of those who witnessed this exchange in the Temple!  They are carrying coins that signify idolatry in the Temple!  What do I mean.

     I have already reminded you that the head tax was a denarius.  The denarius was a Roman coin and stamped with the image of Caesar on it.  Often there were inscriptions.  Think of our coins with presidential profiles and mottos.  Inscribed on the coin was a phrase something like Caesar Augustus, of Caesar, Son of God.  You all have suffered through nerdy details during my tenure, but that one should ring a bell.  Euangelion and Son of God were words that were as much a political polemic as a theological truth in the ANE.  Caesars claimed to be the sons of gods and, therefore gods themselves.  That is on the coin the trappers lay for Jesus in the Temple.  See the problem . . . for them?

     In case anyone misses the coin, Jesus asks them whose head and whose title in on the coin.  They answer truthfully that it is Caesar’s.  Jesus calmly responds “Give to the emperor the things from the emperor and to God the things that are God.”  Notice the brilliance of the answer.  Who stamped the coin, put it in circulation, set the salary of the occupiers, and determined the tax collection?  That’s right!  Caesar.  Caesar created this, so give it to him.  Some Christians in history and today like to argue that they do not have to pay immoral taxes.  Interestingly, they get to determine what is immoral or moral.  Scripture reminds us again and again to pray for those in authority where God plants us.  We do it not because we agree with them or to justify their actions, but just to be good citizens and so it will go well with us.

     We are fortunate that God planted us in the United States, right?  We change our ruling officials by casting a vote.  That, of course, brings us to one of the big Stewardship teachings today.  Part of our stewardship is voting.  We are placed in a country by God that governs itself through elections.  We are called to cast votes for those individuals whose manner of governing best represents the character of Jesus as a thank offering to God for where He chose to place us.  Some of us may argue that our votes do not count.  Individually one vote may seem insignificant.  But what if we Christians voted as if we were stewarding the government of the land in which we are placed?  What would be the result in national elections?  State elections?  Local elections?  I know, I know, it is an uncomfortable question.  In America Christians tend to value, dare I say worship, things other than God when placing a vote, right?  That is not our calling as His sons and daughters, and we are reminded as we consider His teaching today.

     I know a few of us are wondering internally if that claim is too much, that God is concerned about things other than who governs.  But look at Jesus’ answer again.  What do we give to God?  That’s right, the things of God.  What are the things of God?  Ouch.  I know.  That’s the nub of this teaching.  Who created us in His image?  That’s right, God.  Who created the earth upon which we live?  That’s right, God!  Who created the ecosystems in which we live?  That’s right, God!  Are we beginning to see a pattern?  God made everything, so what do we steward for Him?  That’s right, everything!  That means all that is is His!  Our passions, our strengths, who we are were all created by Him.  But so was the world in which we live.  Even Caesar.

     The call on our lives is that we offer everything to God.  We model that giving each time we gather to celebrate what He has done for us in Christ Jesus.  You know this, even if you have forgotten it.  We present to God gifts of Creation in the bead and the wine and, at Advent, our financial benefits.  We remind ourselves intentionally that He gives us our daily bread.  What do we really offer to God that is not God’s already?  Our sacrifice of what?  That’s right, a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving!  We offer our very selves, our souls and bodies, in service of Him because He has redeemed us in Christ!  He did the heavy lifting that we could not.  And so we offer praise and thanksgiving, which if we think about it is not a huge sacrifice, for our creation, preservation, and redemption.  We may say these words over and over and never stop to think what we mean by them, but we say them, trusting that the Holy Spirit will give us better understanding about the meaning and transform our hearts and minds to live them.

     On some level the trappers understood this.  None of you have had the expression of a light bulb going off at anything I have said.  God’s truth is enshrined in our literature, constantly sprinkled throughout Scripture, and, at least for us Episcopalians, a major subject in the fall.  I simply reminded you of things you may have forgotten, as Jesus did those who sought to trap Him.  Such is the enmity of the world, of the human heart, that the reminder of these truths are incredibly dangerous.  For now, they go away amazed, leaving Him to continue His teaching in the Temple.  But the time is at hand when they will put Him to death for demanding that kind of allegiance from those who claim to worship God.

     But to remind us of His power and His will we know that their betrayal and His death is not the last word, that His Resurrection demonstrates to us the power of God to redeem all things in our lives, that only He is worthy of what He instructs of us, that only He was willing to pay the price for all those under His authority, that only He is truly deserving of our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving which we offer during worship and during our work out there.

     In the coming weeks, John and other volunteers will lead us intentionally into the season we call stewardship.  Some of that talk will be boring.  Who cares about salaries?  About utilities?  About lawn care?  About HVACs?  Other discussions will remind us of the lofty purposes of God.  How can we glorify Him more in our feeding of those who hunger?  How can we glorify Him more in our care of those with no home?  How can we glorify Him more as we seek to proclaim His healing in bodies and minds?  Perhaps we will even speak of vision.  Is God calling us, or a significant portion of us, to other works which glorify Him, that the world might be reminded yet again of His purpose and power?  I encourage you to listen to those discussions and testimonies and to attune yourselves to Him, prayerfully considering what He is calling you and all of us around you to do.

In His power and promises,

Brian+

On Hilda and trust . . .

      If you are visiting with us today and wondering at the white and gold, it is the Anglican tradition that this is a celebration of the promises made to Hilda by God being fulfilled.  The Paschal Candle is always lit at the funeral of one who has been baptized into Christ’s death and promised an inheritance in His Resurrection.  Likewise, the white and gold reminds us of the fact that she is now with the Lord, waiting until His return and making those sad things untrue, as CS Lewis famously wrote.  There are other signs, and many are encouraged in your Orders of Worship.  Feel free to ask an Adventer or me about any after the service.

     That celebration is not to say we are not mourning with her family at the loss of Hilda.  Though Hilda was a private woman, she had good friends at Advent and participated in a number of ministries.  She had a heart for those suffering in the world, so it was appropriate that the food pantry continued its work even as we shared our stories about Hilda before the service in the Parish Hall.  Hilda also served several years as one of our youth teachers, sharing her faith and love with what is now an adult generation.

     I was asked by a couple astute Adventers if Rosemary and I conspired to use last week’s Isaiah 25 reading to jump start a sermon today.  Rosemary will attest that neither of us were looking that far ahead when we met about the readings.  Our funeral service gives us a lot of opportunity for personal touches, and one of the better ways to personalize services is through the choices of readings and hymns.  I entourage individuals to plan their services in advance of their deaths as a last testimony.  Failing that, though, I encourage families to choose those readings that are important to them or their loved one.

     The feast on the Holy Mountain provided by God and prophesied by Isaiah is certainly a wonderful passage.  God promises that on that Glorious Day He will swallow the shroud of death that has covered His people and provide a feast of sumptuous foods, well-strained wine, and great desserts.  Those who are expecting a McMansion in an agreeable HOA in the sky might be surprised by the imagery, but God is rather insistent that He calls all of us to the Wedding Feast and that our job is to invite others in His Name.

     For my part today, I was drawn to our reading in John.  I was drawn to a word study, of sorts.  That part made sense to me since Hilda and a number of the family are wordsmiths.  Many of them enjoy good books and good poetry, but not all of us gathered here today do.  It also seemed a bit weird, as I would expect God to want me to focus on the promises made to Hilda and all who proclaim Him as Lord.  Part of the problem, I confess, was that I was really struggling with the illustration for the sermon.  I have learned over more than two decades of doing this that God always shows up, even though I wish He would sometimes make it clearer sooner.  Today the sermon made sense to me just after 10:30.  Her son shared the story in the Parish Hall that helped illustrate what I thought God had taught Hilda, what Hilda shared with those whom she loved, and what we were supposed to realize today. So thank you for sharing that story with those of gathered.

     Our passage from John’s Gospel comes from what theologians describe as  the Farewell Discourse of John.  What we think of the Eucharist has been instituted; Jesus has predicted His betrayal by one of them whose feet He has washed; Peter has famously pledged his loyalty only to hear his Lord prophesy that he, too, will betray Jesus; He has foretold His departure; and He has commanded His Apostles and disciples to love one another.  We, of course, know how this story will end.  His betrayal will lead to a false conviction by the Sanhedrin, His Crucifixion and Death on Good Friday, and His Resurrection that first Sunday.  His Apostles and disciples, however, have no understanding of all that, despite His instructions to that effect.  All they understand is that He seems serious that He is going to leave them, and they are understandably unhappy at the prospect.

     Jesus tells them in the midst of their concern not to worry, that He goes to prepare a place for them, and that He will return for them.  Better still, Jesus reassures them that they know the way to the place He is going.  Thomas protests that they do not know where He is going and that, because they do not know His destination, they cannot possibly follow.  We all understand Thomas’ complaint.  We need addresses to put into Waze and other map Apps, right?  Jesus reminds them what they have seen, what they have experienced, and what they have learned during their time with Him, that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  It’s that reminder that serves for the basis of them having no worry and an understanding of who He is, particularly on the other side of His death.

     Twice in verse one, Jesus tells His disciples and us to believe in God and to believe in Him.  The Greek word, pistuete, is usually translated as belief or faith.  Often, as our translators render it in the passage today, this verb form is treated as an imperative verb, a command.  It can just as easily, however, be an indicative verb reminding the disciples that they believe in Him and need to keep believing in Him.  The problem for us in English is that we think of faith or belief as a kind of theoretical acceptance.  That command to believe in Him nudges us to that intellectual assent understanding, almost like we force ourselves to accept certain principles or maybe the Creeds.  

     Jesus reminds His disciples and us, however, of those works that He has done which have attracted them and us to Him, which testify to who He is.  They know, perhaps even better than us, Jesus’ love of the hungry, the poor, the hurting, and the outcasts, because they have lived it.  They have seen the lepers healed.  They have seen His anger at death and His power to overcome it.  They have seen Him exercise His authority in the Temple and on the Sabbath.  Thinking of believing in Him as simply an intellectual assent misses His instruction.  Some of us, like Hilda, have that same draw to those whom God loved.  It is in that work we begin to experience God’s love of those on the margins and His power to redeem all things, even sinful human beings such as ourselves.  So, how do we translate that verb better, so that we understand Jesus’ instruction or observation?

     Thankfully, James shared that when they were younger, Hilda bought a Volkswagen bus.  The bus that she purchased lacked the middle bench.  So Hilda had a bench running from the driver seat to just in front of what should have been the third bench.  Then she had a table put in there.  Apparently, the kids used the table for homework and, during trips, for games.  I know, I know.  Those of younger generations would be appalled.  No anchored captains chairs?  No seat belts?  A table just sitting in the van?  No way to anchor youth seats?  Some of us here today are old enough to remember when there were not such things as baby seats and youth seats, right?

     James shared that the kids would claim their seats, as children of any generation are wont to do, and he would often sit on that Hilda-installed bench.  Now, I know a lot of the family and their friends are in the medical world.  As traumatized as the younger doctors might be at this arrangement, keep in mind the Hilda-bench ran the length of the driver’s side of the VW bus.  You know what that means?  If mom or dad took the corners like Mario Andretti, the bench would tilt.  An unsuspecting passenger might be thrown from the bench, much to the amusement of those others in the bus with them.  I am certain that none of these angelic children that Hilda raised ever put a friend on that bench hoping to see them freaked out by the wobble later, right?  lol

     James shared that a few friends might have been tossed about, but it became his preferred seat, tipping and all.  And, as you might imagine, the lightbulb went off in my head.  When some of us were children, we did things that kind of defied common sense.  We rode in the back of pickup trucks.  On the highway.  We rode our bicycles without helmets.  We played lawn darts.  We even placed benches facing the wrong direction and unanchored in VW buses and rode around on those seats.  The youth of today marvel that we survived, and some of us probably do marvel ourselves at some of the things we did.  But some of us were blessed to be raised by parents whom we could trust.  My guess is that the kids knew when mom or dad might be a bit angry or a bit rushed and hung on a bit stronger to the bench.  Most of the time, though, those who could trust their parents had no reason to think of such an arrangement as anything but a solution to a missing bench.  It did not occur to us that drivers like those we encounter on the roads in Nashville could get a driver’s license.  Mom and dad were in command of the vehicle, and they would keep us safe.  And now you know the good practical way to understand pistuete, trust.

     Just as the kids trusted mom and dad to get them safely from destination to destination, Jesus is reminding His disciples that they have trusted in Him and should continue to trust Him.  Has He ever failed them?  No.  Has He ever abandoned them?  No.  As these next events unfold, they need to remember those experiences and continue to trust He is who they think He is, that He is the Christ, the Messiah, sent by the Father for the redemption of the world. Just as He always has, He will get them where they are going!

     You and I live in an equally crazy world.  We all laughed as I mentioned how the youth today perceive such actions from our own childhood.  How could we be so naive?  It is worse in their family because so many are doctors.  They are, by and large, intelligent risk averse people, and they understand better the possible injuries.  And, yet, they rode around in that bus confident that mom or dad would get them to their destination safely.  In some ways, it was a different world, but Hilda was a mom who demonstrated her character to her children constantly.  It probably never occurred to her or them that there was any danger.  Better still, as Hilda faced those crazy turns and potholes in the experience we call life, she continued to trust in the Lord who demonstrated the character of her Father in Heaven who created her and who longed to draw the world back to Himself in that intimate relationship for which He created us all back in the Garden.  And she modeled that behavior for her own family and for her friends.  Like her kids on the turns or bumps in the road, she trusted that He would see her through her trials, her mournings, and her celebrations.  And she passed that trust on to her children as well as those who counted her a friend.  And now we celebrate that she is with her Lord who has always proved Himself trustworthy, confident that He has proven Himself most trustworthy as that shroud covered her.

     In fact, even as we mourn her death with the family, we know our Lord has taken her to where He is, where now she joins the great cloud of witnesses and makes intercessions on behalf of all whom she knows, but especially for those whom she loved.  Now, I do caution the family that, if they receive another e-mailed petition purportedly from her for them to sign that it most likely belongs in the trash bin on your computers.  Sorry, that is a bit of an inside joke for them.  But we remind ourselves even as we mourn that she partakes of the Feast of which this bread and this wine is just an appetizer, a pledge of our own inheritance.  We remind ourselves that, when we pass from glory to glory as Hilda did, that same trustworthy Jesus will take us where He and all the saints are, until that time when He swallows up the shroud that covers humanity and serves the Feast that He promised to Isaiah.  Best of all, we remind ourselves that as we travel our own bumpy and curvy roads of life, that same Jesus will prove Himself trustworthy again and again, that we might become heralds of His Peace, His Joy, and His promise to unmake all that is sad, just as our beloved Hilda did in her life.

In His Promises,

Brian+