sermon notesA collection of resources, background information, and periodic reflections on the scripture readings in worship from Pr Josh Ehrler. Archives
July 2018
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Power Moves in Matthew 22.15-2210/20/2017 Our reflection for this week is on Matthew 22.15-22.
The gospel reading for this weekend is not about paying taxes. We can debate somewhere else whether or not taxes are a moral or social good and what the right amount should be for each person to contribute. Jesus himself tells us to “give to the emperor the things that are emperor’s” (22.21). Our responsibility is to pay something toward our collective needs; go forth and finish your 1040’s. Jesus is confronted by a group of Pharisee and Herodians in the Temple, the dwelling place of God in this world. Matthew tells us that their goal is to entrap him in his own words, which means they’re not debating the merits and frustrations with dropping coins in the government till. This is about power. Possession. Who has say over another’s life. The Pharisees are in God’s house, approaching God’s Son, hoping for the right turn of phrase to finally have the evidence they need to have Jesus arrested. This has been the goal since back in 12.14, when the leaders saw Jesus heal a man in a synagogue on a Sabbath day. What sounds benign to us was seen as a criminal offense, and it was enough for them to start their plotting and scheming. Now he’s come home to preach, he’s in the most sacred building in the nation and of faith, the hunting should be easy. “Jesus, is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” (22.17) Again, for us 2000 years later in the US, where taxes are a part of our civic responsibility, this seems a simple question. It’s hardly going to get Jesus in a bind. Though it’s worth noting the language and the word “lawful,” which has nothing to do with Roman law. It’s about the Torah and remaining faithful to God (Daniel J Harrington, SJ, Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of Matthew). Is it faithful to God to pay the taxes to the emperor, the pagan leader of the Roman religion? This is going to be good. If Jesus announces that he pays his taxes while standing in the Temple, his followers will desert him. He says he loves God, but he’s just in it for himself. If Jesus declares that taxes are wrong, those Romans soldiers over there in the corner will haul him off for a conversation. The Pharisees are convinced they’ve got all the power and its Jesus who needs to bend. He’s right where they want him. Jesus asks for a coin, a denarius. A Pharisee produces one from a pocket and Jesus, keeping it simple, asks who’s head is on it. The emperor’s, naturally. Our modern coins and bills all have faces on them, though to be fair, all of our images are of dead people. Dead men, specifically. Would be interesting if even one had the face of a significant woman from American history. That’s an aside. The trap is set and the Pharisees have stepped in it. In God’s house, the Temple, a building that represents the nearness of God in our world, Jesus’ antagonists are carrying items with graven images. Because the emperor is a pagan leader. The entire structure has been desecrated by this coin. As Michael Joseph Brown observes in True to our Native Land, “the Pharisees are asking if it’s right to participate in a system in which they already participate” (p.112). Beyond that, they are revealing their own allegiance to the emperor. They’re already under his control. The coin is one of the ways for the emperor to exert his power over the people. Unlike our American currency with its long deceased faces, the coinage of Jesus’ time bore the image of a real, living person with real power. The emperor owned the cash, which meant he owned how the people of Israel paid for their goods. He had his head shot stamped on walls and icons, his likeness was carved into stone and scattered around the city. He gave the impression that he was everywhere and always watching. He reinforced his power over the people by displacing local authorities with puppet governors and dispatching soldiers in key locations to police the crowds. Protests were quickly and violently silenced and folks who spoke publicly against the empire, for instance, saying that they don’t pay the tax, would disappear in the night. The Pharisees are complicit as much as they are being manipulated by the power and privilege of the emperor. He has laid claim over every life in his empire and will not let them exist beyond his influence. Making Jesus’ response all the more crafty and may be why even his ardent rivals walk off “amazed” (22.22). Jesus, in typical Jesus fashion, flips the script and tells his challengers in a practically flippant way to give the coin back to the emperor. He wants it so bad, let him have it. It’s nothing but a coin and the emperor is nothing but a empty shell with no power. He may think he owns the people, but he owns nothing. He may think everyone belongs to him, but everyone belongs to God. He may have all the sabers in the world to rattle in Jesus’ face, but Jesus bears the image of God. And our God is a living, breathing, all powerful God who walks this earth and stands with God’s people. The emperor can have his clay coins. God claims us humble clay jars and breathes life into our lungs. God brings blood to coarse through our flesh. God declares us free and sends us off unbound from the powers of this world. Jesus takes our image and places it on the cross. He reorients our vision from our need to scrape together what we can to see what we are capable through his broken body, and what we are meant to be through his resurrected life. We in our human sin readily become like the Pharisees, easily moved by the whims of power in our world. We sense a lack of control and agency within our homes and we lash out, fighting to claim what little influence and power we can. We use our presence to force women to be subservient and feel diminished, as we are reminded through the #MeToo campaign launched by Tarana Burke. We rationalize racism, sexism, genderism, ageism to distinguish who deserves to speak and live and who is worth less. We humans steal identities from immigrants and pull back influence from our brothers and sisters of unique religious backgrounds. All for our own glory. Sometimes even in God’s house, where our call is to be focused only on our Lord. Jesus sees all of this in our words and deeds and he claims us. he marks us with his cross and declares us worthy to stand in God’s presence. He also sends us out to live out our forgiveness and surrender our fear of loss by seeking reconciliation with our neighbors. Through Christ, we are called to give up our notions of possession in order to hear the voices of God’s people who continue to be held down and ignored by powerful people. Jesus dismisses the emperor and all his coins and reminds us that God provides us all we need. And that God will provide for our care as we give up our lives for those around us. Our presence is the image of God that our neighbors will receive and witness. May we use this privilege to reflect God’s love and compassion for our people who are crying out.
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