October
18, 2020
20th
Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah
45:1-7
Psalm
96:1-9 (10-13)
1
Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew
22:15-22
Please pray with me,
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and suitable in your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
Alright, friends, it’s another
wonderful gospel reading this Sunday.
As we first read it at our weekly clergy Bible study, we all shuddered just a bit to think about how to preach the good news of Jesus Christ that we hear shared in this text.
So, let’s get to that good news,
shall we?
It’s going to take a little bit to get us there, but we will get there, together.
We are still in the Gospel of
Matthew and now the Pharisees and the Herodians are trying to entrap Jesus…so
they pose this question, that is exactly that: a trap.
The question, is it lawful to pay
taxes to the emperor or not?
If Jesus says it’s lawful, then
he is siding with and supporting the Roman control at the time.
If he says it’s not lawful, then he’s not following the rules of the land.
It’s a no win, really.
As General Akbar says in Return
of the Jedi, It’s a trap!
No seriously…it’s a trick
question.
They are trying to entrap
Jesus…to find a way to snare him.
In the words of the Beastie Boys, listen all y’all it’s a sabotage!
They are looking for a way to catch Jesus off guard, to make him say something that gives them reason to arrest him, to turn him over to authorities and to stop his preaching and teaching.
But Jesus doesn’t fall for
it.
He doesn’t skip a beat.
He shifts the conversation on a
sharp pivot.
Leading them to leave
amazed…probably thinking what just happened?
We were asking him about taxes
and the emperor…and now we need to think about what is the emperor and what is
God’s?
He sends them of…heads spinning,
minds whirling, and thoughts set on fire.
And maybe after initially hearing
this passage from the gospel that’s where you are too.
You heard the words - entrap,
Jesus, taxes, hypocrites…maybe other words jumped out for you and you heard
them and just started pondering, your head starting spinning, your mind started
whirling…and you’re not sure what the right answer is to the question asked of
Jesus and what is the gospel lesson about anyway!?!
Let me stop you right
there…because guess what?
It’s a trap!
As they ask this question of
Jesus, he realizes…I mean he already knew, but here Jesus names that the
temple, the holy space, God’s house, is being occupied by the values of the
world.
Let me say that again…the image
of the world…through coins, and emperors and taxes are finding their way into
the church, and this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, Jesus pushes
back.
Jesus pushes back, as Jesus
always does.
Against the ways of the world
that wiggle their way or drive their way into God’s holy space.
Jesus pushes back, as Jesus
always does.
Against the ways of the world
that wiggle their way…or drive their way into God’s holy space.
In case you didn’t hear it yet,
Jesus pushes back…
Against the ways of the world…
Against evils of the world…
Against the devil and all the
forces that defy God…
Against the powers of this world
that rebel against God…
Against the ways of sin that draw
us from God…
Did those last three sound
familiar?
They might have.
They come straight out of the
baptismal liturgy.
And the cool thing about
today? There will be a baptism,
yup.
Following the service, with just
immediate family, to maintain the health and wellness of the littlest among us,
we will welcome Owen Henry Brown into the body of Christ…
into the family of God….
into a community of faith that
seeks to live out our baptismal calls daily…
into a community of faith, that
like Jesus works to reclaim church as a holy and sacred space.
But to do that…I mean really do that;
we need to work together.
So, let’s work together, right
now to claim the holiness of this space, the Body of Christ, the church, gathered
together, today.
Do you renounce the devil and all
the forces that defy God?
If so say, I renounce them.
Do you renounce the powers of
this world that rebel against God?
If so say, I renounce them.
Do you renounce the ways of sin
that draw us from God?
If so say, I renounce them.
Yes…for this space to be holy and
sacred…we must remember to constantly cleanse our hearts and our minds as we
are drawn together each week.
And when this space is sacred…
And when this space is holy…
We are able to actively respond
to God’s word and God’s call in our lives and in our world.
When we are able to gather
together in a holy and sacred space, we are able to talk about things that
weigh on our hearts and our minds in a place that is guided and guarded by
God’s love and grace.
When we are able to gather
together in a holy and sacred space, we are able to listen to and respond to
challenging questions, enter into difficult dialogue and work together for the
sake of the gospel being at work in the world.
Friends, if this sacred space
doesn’t allow us to hear God’s call for justice and peace…
If this sacred space doesn’t
allow us to wrestle with our faith and how to be a faithful Christian in the
world today, then the evil is still here…and the devil is at work.
But, big but, BUT….when we
gather, on holy ground….open to the world of God and how it may challenge us or
comfort us or call us…or do all three to any number of us on a Sunday morning,
then we are church together.
When this ground is holy and
sacred, the work of God can be done.
When this ground is holy and
sacred, together, we can live out our baptismal vows.
Together, we can…
live among God's faithful people,
hear the word of God and share in
the Lord's supper,
proclaim the good news of God in
Christ through word and deed,
serve all people, following the
example of Jesus,
and strive for justice and peace
in all the earth.
That my friends is our response
as we were washed in the waters of baptism…
That my friends is who we are
called to be, together.
That, my friends, is who we are
able to be when we gather on holy ground…
With ears to listen to one
another…
With words to respond out of care
and compassion to one another…
With hearts to love one another…
And with actions that live out
God’s love and God’s grace in the world around us.
Together, we come to this
space.
Together, we are washed in the
waters of baptism.
Together, we are called into the
Body of Christ, to live out our baptismal calling.
Together, we are called to
reclaim this place as holy and sacred space…where the cares and worries of the
world can be civilly discussed, prayed about and acted upon as we respond to a
world in need with God’s love, forgiveness and grace.
Together, we are church…in the
world, where a message of love, forgiveness and grace is so desperately
needed.
Together.
And now may the peace, which
surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and let
all God’s people say, amen.
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