Sunday, October 19, 2008

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 22:15-21
USUALLY WHEN THIS GOSPEL IS THE SUBJECT OF A SERMON, SEVERAL THINGS SEEM TO BE AUTOMATIC. FIRST, IT IS SAID THAT THE PHARISEES AND THE HERODIANS WERE TRYING TO TRAP JESUS. IF HE SAID NOT TO PAY THE CENSUS TAX, HE WOULD GET IN TROUBLE WITH THE ROMANS. IF HE SAID TO PAY IT, HE WOULD LOSE THE ATTENTION OF MANY DEVOTED JEWS WHO WERE HIS FOLLOWERS. THE SECOND THING WE HEAR IS THAT JESUS VERY CLEVERLY ANSWERED HIS QUESTIONERS, SORT OF THROWING THE QUESTION BACK AT THEM; AND THIRD, WE HEAR THE WORDS “RENDER UNTO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR'S, AND UNTO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD'S.” AND THAT SEEMS LIKE A VERY WISE STATEMENT – IT'S BEEN USED TO JUSTIFY SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, TO SILENCE CRITICS OF ROE VS. WADE, TO GIVE REASON FOR NOT ALLOWING PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND IT IS THE MARCHING CRY NOT OF CHRISTIANS, BUT OF SECULARISTS WHO WANT NO VESTIGE OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE.
BUT SOMETIMES WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE SITUATION WITHOUT THESE BUILT IN PREJUDICES, YOU MAY SEE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MESSAGE. FIRST, THERE IS SOMETHING FUNNY HERE ABOUT PHARISEES AND HERODIANS COMING TOGETHER TO TRAP JESUS. THEY WERE ABOUT AS FAR APART POLITICALLY AND RELIGIOUSLY AS WAS POSSIBLE. THE PHARISEES SCRUPULOUSLY FOLLOWED THE LAW, KEPT THEMSELVES APART FROM ANYONE WHO WASN'T A PHARISEE, AND WERE DEEPLY INTO PURITY RITUALS. THEY WERE ALSO PACIFISTS OF SORT, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD NEVER PAY THE CENSUS TAX; BUT THEY PAID IT, GRUDGINGLY. THE HERODIANS, ON THE OTHER HAND, BELIEVED THAT THE BEST THING TO DO IF YOU WERE A JEW WAS TO ADAPT TO THE CULTURE AROUND YOU. THEY DRESSED LIKE THE ROMANS, THEY PARTICIPATED IN ROMAN CULTURE, AND THEY WILLINGLY PAID THE TAX. THEIR ATTITUDE WAS THAT BEING JEWISH WAS A PRIVATE, SPIRITUAL AFFAIR.
AND THE TWO GROUPS ASK JESUS A QUESTION TO SEE WHICH SIDE HE AGREES WITH? THEY ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT ROMAN LAW, NOW. THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT JEWISH LAW. THE PHARISEES VIOLATED JEWISH LAW, AT LEAST BY THEIR INTERPRETATION, EVERY TIME THEY PAID THE CENSUS TAX. SO THE QUESTION IS REALLY, CAN YOU BE A GOOD JEW AND STILL PAY THE CENSUS TAX?
NOW JESUS CALLS THEM HYPOCRITES. WE WOULDN'T LIKE TO BE CALLED THAT, BUT THE WORD IN HIS TIME MEANT SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT. IT REFERRED TO PEOPLE WHO PRETENDED TO BE SOMETHING THEY WERE NOT. IT WAS A TERM FOR ACTORS IN DRAMAS. AND JESUS CALLS THEM HYPOCRITES BECAUSE THEY ARE CARRYING AROUND COINS WHICH HAVE THE GRAVEN IMAGE OF CAESAR, AND AN INSCRIPTION THAT SAYS CAESAR IS DIVINE. JUST BY CARRYING THE COIN, IF YOU GET REALLY LITERAL, THEY ARE VIOLATING TWO OF THE MOST SACRED COMMANDMENTS.
AND THEN JESUS ASKS, “WHOSE IMAGE AND WHOSE INSCRIPTION IS ON THIS COIN?” THEY SAY, “CAESAR'S.” AND THEN HE MAKES HIS FAMOUS STATEMENT. BUT WHAT MUST HAVE REALLY RESONATED WITH HIS LISTENERS WAS THE LAST PART – RENDER TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S. BECAUSE ALL JEWS, HERODIANS AND PHARISEES, SADUCCEES AND ESSENES, ALL JEWS COULD AGREE ON ONE THING: “THE LORD'S IS THE EARTH AND ITS FULLNESS” AS THE PSALM SAYS. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO GOD, AND THE REAL QUESTION IS HOW TO WE GIVE BACK EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN GIVEN TO GOD? HOW DO WE RENDER WHAT IS GOD'S TO GOD.
I THINK THIS IS THE WAY THINGS REALLY WENT THAT DAY, BECAUSE JESUS IN MANY OTHER CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE PHARISEES AND OTHERS GOES FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW, NOT THE LETTER. REMEMBER THE WOMAN WITH SEVEN HUSBANDS? OR HIS ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, “WHICH IS THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT?” OR EVEN THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, “WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?” PEOPLE LOOKED FOR A LITERAL ANSWER, AND HE GAVE THEM A SPIRITUAL ONE. SO JESUS IS NOT TALKING ABOUT POLITICS HERE.
BUT IF THE COIN WITH CAESAR'S IMAGE IN SOME WAY BELONGS TO CAESAR, WHAT ABOUT YOU AND I, WHO WERE STAMPED WITH THE IMAGE OF CHRIST AT OUR BAPTISM? YOU AND I ARE THE COINS, YOU AND I ARE THE TREASURE, OF GOD'S KINGDOM. IF THE COIN WITH CAESAR'S IMAGE IS USED TO BUILD UP THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THEN YOU AND I RENDER TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S WHEN WE WORK FOR HIS KINGDOM.
WE RENDER TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S WHEN WE SET ASIDE REGULAR TIME EVERY DAY TO PRAY, TO MEDITATE, TO DO SPIRITUAL READING. THE ONLY WAY WE CAN CULTIVATE A LIVING RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS IS TO MAKE TIME FOR HIM, TO LISTEN TO HIM, TO CONVERSE WITH HIM.
WE RENDER TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S WHEN WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIPS. ALL RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PEOPLE ARE LOVE IN ACTION, AND WHERE LOVE IS, GOD IS. HOW MANY HUSBANDS AND WIVES LET THEIR RELATIONSHIP BECOME ROUTINE AND ORDINARY, BECAUSE THEY'VE STOPPED WORKING AT IT? HOW MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE ONCE GREAT FRIENDS DRIFT APART BECAUSE OF CHANGES IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR LIVES, OR SEPARATION BY DISTANCE? GOD CALLS US TO UNITY WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH HIM, AND THAT BEGINS IN THE RELATIONSHIPS WE HAVE.
WE RENDER TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S BY BRINGING OUR CHRISTIANITY INTO THE WORLD, BY DELIBERATELY CONSIDERING WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES AND WHAT JESUS TAUGHT, WHEN WE ACT AS CITIZENS. WHETHER IT IS EXERCISING OUR RIGHT TO VOTE, GIVING SOME OF OUR SURPLUS TO CHARITY, STANDING UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT WHEN WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, ALL OF THAT SHOULD COME OUT OF OUR CONSTANT STRUGGLE TO KNOW THE MIND AND HEART OF CHRIST, NOT OUT OF OUR OWN REASONING POWER OR EMOTIONAL REACTION.
SO TODAY, LET US ASK, “WHAT IS GOD'S?” AND WE WILL HEAR THE ANSWER, “EVERYTHING”. AND LET US SEE THE MARK ON OUR SOULS, THE IMAGE OF JESUS CHRIST, AND KNOW THAT EVERYTHING ABOUT US IS GOD'S, AND ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS IS THAT WE TAKE WHAT WE HAVE BEEN LOANED, OUR BODIES, OUR LOVED ONES, OUR FRIENDS, AND OUR SOCIETY, AND GIVE IT BACK TO GOD.