Whose Face? God's Face

Whose Face? God's Face

October 19th 2014

Matthew 22:15-22

19th Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church SE Portland

Sometimes there are just things that seem to line up too perfectly to be accidental…arn’t there?  There just seems to be too perfect of a coincidence in their occurrences.  Sometimes they are small events that are easier forgotten or passed over but sometimes they stick out in your mind. 

I remember over the summer working at camp there was a day when I was fighting off some sort of head cold and was having a long morning with a couple of campers that were seemingly disagreeing over everything.  However, it was on that day that “Reptile Man” was coming to visit as a special event.  Usually we had a special event once a week and they would have a time slot of about 30 minutes.  However “Reptile Man” went on for nearly and hour and 15 minutes.  I had know he was coming for weeks but did not know that his arrival would be on a day I needed some extra break time.  

Sometimes these coincidences happen on a big scale when things just seem to line up and a connection is made that makes us stop and recognize the moment as being unique.  

This past week was one of those moments for me, as I was preparing the scripture for worship for this morning.  I will pull back the curtain a little bit and let you see a bit of my sermon writing process.  I usually read though the readings and the Gospel and then spend sometime walking, thinking pondering, folding laundry while the texts roll around in my head.  As they were rolling around my head this week I ended up walking out to the mailbox and sitting there waiting for me was our ballots for the up coming election.  And the Gospel seemed to sound a little stronger in my ears after that…

In our Gospel reading this morning, two groups of people come together to attempt to trap Jesus with their difficult question.  It is a very difficult question for Jesus to answer.  If He says that one should not pay taxes to Caesar then He would be considered an enemy to the empire and would be tried as a revolutionary however, if He said that one should pay taxes then He would lose a large chunk of His followers and give power back to those in the Temple.  

So this is a tough question and a tough spot.  But this like our modern discourse and conversation seems to be way the conversations are heading.  This is a dishonest question, and like many questions that are asked of ourselves or others it does not serve any other purpose than creating discord or division.  Honest questions are ones that seek answers, conversation, prayer and a path for the future.  This, however is not an honest question.  The Pharisees and Herodians did not want to know what Jesus thought on the matter they just wanted to trap him in his response.  

I am sure that you get these types of questions all of the time. I know that I do especially when someone finds out that I am training to be a pastor.  We hear dishonest questions all of the time…what is your view on taxes, gay marriage, immigration, war and millions of other topics.  These questions seem to only lead towards categorizing people and putting them in boxes, conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, fundamentalist, literalists, racist. 

There is something deeper and more important than these dishonest questions, and that is what Jesus is getting at the heart of.  Governments ebb and flow, come into and out of power…we can have a whole separate conversation about the relationship between the church and the state in christian ethics.  However, Jesus is not pointing to continue the discourse of dishonest questions but rather to point to our heavenly father and the honest questions and the honest truths.

The coin that was provided to Jesus in this moment is a visual aid that serves a beautiful point.  When Jesus asked them who's face is on this coin he is then also asking whose image do you reflect? to whom do you belong?  

We hear in Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”  

did you catch that?  “let us make humankind in our image.”  So the image that we are bearing is God’s because we are made in the image of God.  

So there is no doubt as to what Jesus is meaning, give yourselves to God because you are God’s.  It is God who claims us and made us, knows us, loves us and redeemed us.  Being God’s is whose we are and who we were created to be.  There are three remarkable things that happen when we realize this and what it means for our lives.  

The first is that God will never leave us, abandon us or forget us.  We are God’s and there is anything that can change that or separate us from that.  Jesus made that clear on the cross.  

Secondly, it means that we belong to God and so then we belong to the people of God, the Body of Christ.  We are a part of this body, this group of believers, that lifts us up and supports us, this body that joins us in prayer, conversations, work, love and service.  So we are a part of this body and that helps us to find our identity and live out our calling in the world.  

Finally, it means that as a part of our calling, our identity is giving back to God.  That is one of the many joys of the faith.  We wrap our lives in worship and service to God.  

This does not all occur or happen here in this one hour block on a Sunday morning but through all of our life.  The way we work, our interactions, or conversations and questions, all of our existence and our lives are wrapped into this life of worship because we are God’s, we have God’s image on us and in us and our lives are lived in service to God.  

So with that being known we can move past these dishonest questions and move towards those honest questions…how are we growing as disciples, how are we encouraging one another in their faith, how are we supporting the community, how can we serve the world and take care of those in need.  We can now move onto the honest questions…

Amen