RCL Proper 29A
16 October 2011
Saint Faith’s Anglican Parish
Vancouver BC
In the years
leading up to 70 c.e. the region of the world that you and I know
as the Middle East was bubbling with turmoil.
- Politically the people of Judea who were the ancestors of today’s Jewish people were under the imperial control of Rome.
- The Herodian family who were Rome’s political allies in the region were widely disliked and distrusted by the Judean population.
- The ‘Jesus’ movement had also contributed to the religious unrest in Judea where various groups were competing to shape what we now know as Judaism.
- Judeans were also suffering economic hardship made worse by the inefficient and corrupt taxation policies and practices of both the Romans and the Herodians.
Recalling this
time of turmoil and conflict some forty years later, the author of what we know
as the gospel according to Matthew records this morning’s conversation between
Jesus and other Jewish leaders, here described as Pharisees and Herodians. We can all recognize a trick question when we
hear it.
- If Jesus affirms paying taxes to the Roman emperor, then he legitimizes a corrupt and oppressive regime.
- If Jesus condemns paying taxes to the Roman emperor, then he is guilty of sedition and treason.
But Jesus negotiates his way out of the trap the Pharisees
and Herodians have set for him and utters those intriguing, challenging and
ambiguous words: “Give therefore to the
emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are
God’s.” [Matthew 22.21b]
Thirty years
after the conversation recorded by Matthew took place, the Judeans will rise up
in a revolt against Rome spurred by a head tax.
Rome will crush the Judeans and Jerusalem with its Temple will be
destroyed. But the religious debate
between the disciples of Jesus and the disciples of the rabbis will continue
down to the present day.
In the years
leading up to the 16th of October 2011 the world as we know it has
been bubbling with turmoil.
- The so-called ‘war against terror’ has touched all of us, whether by the intrusions into our lives by new security procedures, by the service of our loved ones in armed conflicts or by our own nagging sense of insecurity.
- Growing numbers of citizens have ceased to participate in democratic processes, leaving all of us subject to governments elected by an increasingly smaller minority of a minority of citizens.
- The rise of religious conservatism and fundamentalism has marginalized the voices of the so-called ‘mainline’ traditions, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, causing many of our neighbours and the media to confuse religious faith with ideological and inflexible dogma.
- Economic woes affect us, whether personally or corporately, causing thousands of people in cities across North America to occupy public spaces to protest the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us.
Into these circumstances here comes the 18th
Sunday after Pentecost with its gospel reminding of an earlier time that is not
so different from our own. We have even
chosen this Sunday as the beginning of our annual stewardship programme, a time
in which we invite each other to consider self-taxation!
“Give . . . to
the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,” Jesus says, “and to God the
things that are God’s.” The problem for
the Pharisees and the Herodians is the same problem we face if we take our
faith seriously. What belongs to
God? Well, not to put too fine a point
on it, everything belongs to God!
This is an
extraordinary claim to the ears of contemporary North American society: Everything belongs to God --- your job, your
earnings, your family, your home, your gifts, your failings, your home, your
next breath --- everything belongs to God.
If one accepts this extraordinary claim, then one is faced with the challenge
of using the resources we have not as personal possessions but as gifts of
God’s bounty that have been given into our stewardship. One dimension of our faith is living a life
of responsible and accountable thanksgiving --- at all times and in all places
and in all seasons.
Today our
Church Committee and I ask you to begin a time of reflection and prayer to
discern how you will use the resources God has entrusted in the coming
year. We know all of the factors you
must consider during the weeks leading to Commitment Sunday on the 20th
of November --- each Member of the Church Committee has to consider the same
factors.
But as your
priest I ask you to reflect on this question:
Do you believe that Saint Faith’s has a continuing role to play in God’s
mission? If you believe, as I believe,
that God is not yet finished with us, then you will consider how best you may
allocate your resources to the work we are undertaking corporately as the
people of Saint Faith’s.
As you begin
your time of discernment, take heart in the words Paul wrote to the Christian
community in Thessaloniki not more than twenty years after the death and
resurrection of Jesus: “We always give
thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and
steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Thessalonians 1.2-3] These words, written at the dawn of the
Christian movement, are as true of Saint Faith’s as they were of the Thessalonians. For you and I know that everything is God’s
--- and that includes you and me! Amen.
