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

Who do you say that I Am

Who Do You Say That I Am

September 28th 2014

Matthew 21: 23-32

16th Sunday After Pentecost

Peached at Holy Trinity Lutheran (SE) Portland

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from our Risen Savior,

I heard a piece on NPR just a few weeks ago that came to mind while I was working on the texts for this weeks service.  Two half brothers, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were recently released after serving more than 30 years in prison for a crime they did not commit.  New DNA testing acquitted these two men of the rape and murder of an 11 year old girl in 1983.  With every case and trial there is always the possibility of human error working into the equation, this is a fact.  There is no perfect system but this situations and countless others raises the question for me of authority, who has it and where does it come from…  

So who should be trusted when they speak?  How do you make those decisions, it is not as easy as it once was and it is getting harder by the day to decide whose opinion to trust.  So, what is it that stands out to you in a person, news source, faith based conversation or online posting that makes you trust and believe information?  Where does their authority come from and what is it point towards?  Does the author have some sort of self serving authority or point of view or are they pointing to something greater.  

This past spring I traveled back to Gettysburg to take a class with Dr. C.S. Brown who was a visiting professor from Payne Theological Seminary.  He is a gentleman in his 70s that had worked in the civil rights movement and has continued to teach and preach a curriculum based off of the life and work of Dr. King.  The course was titled the Theology and Ethics of Dr. King.  Now when Dr. Brown spoke, you paid attention.  

He did not speak as if he read it in a book or saw a news report on the subject, but he spoke with a passion and fervor that one could only do if they had been there and witnessed a movement.  They way that he told stories, broke down the many facets of a moment and related the significance of the event made you know and see that he was there and spoke with a passion that you cannot fake.  He was real and authentic in his words because he had an authority of something beyond that moment.  

Jesus teaching in the temple was something beyond what the normal rabbi could have said, it was different from what people had heard prior and made people wonder with what authority he was able to say such things.  He was speaking with a first hand knowledge of God and what life with God was like.  It was not fake and he was not reading it off a script but Jesus was being real with them and teaching with an authority that they had never heard before.  

This was vasty different from what the people had been used to hearing.  Because the focus was on something greater and something bigger.  The focus was on building the kingdom and creating disciples rather than keeping the status quo.  This caused problems with the authorities because it was not the message that they had been teaching and preaching.  Their message was one of keeping peace with the Roman empire, keeping ones head down and following the laws of the temple but Jesus message was one that reached beyond what had been heard before.  This is a message that we are still trying to spread today.

The difference is that the message Jesus was preaching was one of love and forgiveness, which was vastly different from the message the people were used to hearing.  Forgiveness and grace are free for all and are accessible to everyone, it is not something that needs to be proven or earned but rather it is a free gift that has been given to us.  

This maybe shocking or hard to hear but that is what Jesus came into the world to do.  He came to redeem the world.  However, for those in authority it was hard to see and hard to image that grace was that readily available to all.  Maybe it is easier to see that grace and forgiveness for those that are new to the faith and have not gotten bogged down in the authority of the world.  We were all once new and young in our faith and we might have lost some of that awe and wonder surrounding grace.  

You see the authority of this world is seeking to gain and add power to their ranks.  Authority in the human realm all lies with power, who has it, how they display it and what control that gives them.  Authority in the world is based off of charismatic leaders that are able to convince people that they have authority and power, but Jesus authority does not come from humans and does not remain in that world.  

We as followers of Jesus are not on a mission for power and authority in the world but rather we are working for the greater kingdom.  We are making that transformation from authority and power in the world to heavenly authority.  We are not in competition for authority in the world, or trying to work against other churches or entities.  But, rather we are in the business of sharing God’s grace, love and forgiveness in the world and creating disciples of all nations.  

Like last week, the business that God is in is mercy and we are the hands and feet that make that happen and make it known.  We are not chasing the way of the world, but rather we are following the call of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations.  We are taking an active part in the heavenly authority that calls all sinners in to be a part of the kingdom.  Regardless of who we are or where we have been we are all forgiven and are eligible to be a part of that kingdom and it is our mission to the world to transform it from the way of power to the way of grace.  

Amen.