Category: Faith

My sermon from the 55th annual Upper Pascack Valley Interfaith Thanksgiving Service hosted at Christ Lutheran Church in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. Delivered on November 19, 2023.

So about twenty years ago, my denomination – the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – decided it was time to create a new hymnal. Every 30 or 40 years or so, we take what we’re currently doing in worship and wonder what it might look like in the future. This process is how we faithfully hold onto our traditions while noticing the newer songs and prayers that feed our souls. But this work, as you can imagine, often invites people to live into every one of their big feelings. Some who worked on this new hymnal only wanted to sing the songs they already knew since those were foundational to their experience of God. Others, though, wanted to embrace the fullness of a worldwide Lutheran Christian story that isn’t only European and white. Arguing about what we do when we gather together to worship and sing is, I think, an experience every one of our faith traditions knows fairly well. And in my denomination we eventually came up with a compromise that no one was 100% happy with. However, when we physically began to assemble the book itself with all 654 hymns the church decided to include, another issue popped up. Those whose job it was to keep the whole thing under budget noticed that all these hymns made the book a little expensive. These folks decided to try something different so that every song that was picked could be accessible at a more reasonable price. And so one of the ideas they used was to print some of the hymns without their traditional 4 part harmonies. Now for some Lutheran Christians – this was a bit traumatizing. We have a rather long tradition of singing songs that include many different kinds of voices. Tenors, basses, sopranos, altos, those with high voices and those with low voices are necessary for the songs we sing. And while a song without those voices can still be beautiful, it would also be missing all the pieces that make it whole. At the heart of this church’s debate around its new hymnal was, I think, a conversation; one we’ve been having since Jesus’ disciples walked with him almost 2000 years ago. How do we make sure we’re doing all we’re supposed to do so that every voice can be included in the song we believe God is calling us to sing? 

Now, growing up, the only singing I ever did was either with my elementary school choir or in the shower at my parent’s house. Singing out loud in a way that other people could actually hear wasn’t something I really did until this faith thing became a part of my life after college. When I first started to go to church, I chose not to sing because I didn’t know any of the songs and I was embarrassed by how off key I usually was. Yet the flavor of Christianity that claimed me as its own didn’t let my lack of singing stop it from showing how my voice already had a home. The community did this by making sure that singing was something we did all the time, often including those all the additional verses beyond the first 4 that we usually ignore. The people around me made sure that these songs were often repeated so that I could learn what they meant. And my very first pastor modeled to me what voices were allowed to be part of this church community since he never, ever, hit the correct note even after having many different lessons with a variety of professional voice teachers. When we sang together, we were allowed to make mistakes, to feel all that we were feeling, to remain silent if we didn’t know what to say, and to experience what it’s like to have someone sing for you when you no longer can. The perfection of a community’s song doesn’t depend on how perfect it sounds but rather, I think, on who is there when we sing. 

Now creating the kind of space big enough where every voice has its place isn’t always easy to do. Life has a habit of making any kind of singing very hard. When we are living with too much grief, sorrow, fear, doubt, anxiety, and pain – it can seem as if there’s no place in this song for us. We sometimes assume our voice isn’t good enough or we might try to limit all the other voices that are meant to harmonize with us. We act as if a song of unity, strength, power, hope, and love includes only one voice that just so happens to fit with everything we already think and believe. The songs we sing are meant to bring life rather than to take life. And when we spend all our time, energy, and effort on making sure other voices aren’t included in the songs we sing, what comes out of our community ends up being mere noise – reducing our creativity, our beauty, our diversity, and our hope into the sound of a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 

Now, at the moment, too many of us are experiencing what that kind of noise feels like. There are far too many people that we know or who we are connected to who are not spending their version of Thanksgiving sitting with their families and friends at a dining room table. The unholy songs of terror, fear, war, and violence are way too loud. And I often feel as if there’s a sound stuck deep in my throat full of anger, fury, sadness, and fear that’s on the verge of roaring out. It’s been down right heartbreaking to see how the songs of antisemitism and islamophobia have perked up among so many who claim to follow Jesus. And as my community made plans for tonight’s service, we weren’t quite sure what we could sing since the terror attack on October 7 in Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza has impacted so many of you. It feels weird to sing songs of thanksgiving when so many are living through such an overwhelming crisis. And I couldn’t really imagine which songs within our hymnal were big enough to represent who we truly are while being honest about all the tension hanging in the air right now. 

And so that’s why we sort of made the decision to reach deep into our musical tradition of finding ways to simply sing. We, together, have already sung about thankfulness and the wonder of creation and in a bit, we’ll sing about healing, wholeness, peace, and joy. It’s how this church can live into the truth that our towns, schools, and neighborhoods can’t be what they’re supposed to be without each of you. Your voice matters and we’ll do our part to make sure it’s heard. I know we won’t always get that right and we too often focus more on what to sing rather than why we’re singing in the first place. But we have truly been blessed by this interfaith community that has, since 1968, taken the time to listen, learn, and be a part of each other’s songs. My prayer is that this will continue because when we sing together, the songs of hate, fear, terror, and violence that keeps us apart loses all its strength and power. And on this Sunday before Thanksgiving, one thing I can be thankful for is that each of you are you. I’m thankful for your voice. I’m thankful for every one of the leaders that is part of this interfaith community. And I’m thankful that your voice is part of the songs I get to sing. I hope that by taking the time to share, learn, and be part of each other’s songs, we can help write a new song where our love, peace, mutual encouragement and constant support never fades. 

Amen.

Jesus said to the disciples: “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 25:14-30

My sermon from the 25th Sunday after Pentecost (November 19, 2023) on Matthew 25:14-30.

So last Sunday, I ended the sermon by inviting you to pay attention to what happened when the last person crossed the finish line at the New York City Marathon. The race, by that point, had been going on for over 12 hours and most people had already gone home. Yet when the last runner – who was so worn out she needed someone to hold her up while taking those final few steps in Central Park – neared the finish line, there was a huge crowd  cheering her on. When the race was over, someone was already there to place a medal around her neck, wrap her in a warm blanket, and see if there were any medical needs she needed addressed. This image, I think, helps us notice what Jesus was getting at when shared 3 stories in the gospel according to Matthew right before his arrest, trial, and death. Jesus wanted to help his friends live faithfully while they waited for the moment when the kingdom of God became fully realized in our world. He started with a story about ten bridesmaids who fell asleep at a wedding as a way to remind them how they were already part of what God was up to. And he followed that up with another story about a rich man who went on a journey. 

Now before we dig too deep into the parable, it’s important to remember that not every character in the stories Jesus told were meant to represent ourselves, God, or Jesus himself. Sometimes Jesus simply wanted to illustrate a scene that invites us to think and wonder. We could, I think, decide that the rich man in the story should be a kind of stand-in for Jesus since he was about to take his own journey through death and resurrection. But if we pay close attention to the details within the story itself, that comparison begins to collapse. The rich man was described as one who reaps where he does not sow, gathers where he has not scattered seed, and who seems to care an awful lot about profit rather than people. He even endorsed the unBiblical practice of investing money to generate interest with the bankers. The rich man always tried to expand his estate and to maximize his personal gain at the expense of everything else. That doesn’t sound much like Jesus at all which is why we shouldn’t make the rich man a stand-in for Jesus or God. Jesus, though, told this story because he knew those who first heard it would recognize the kind of story he was trying to share. In the ancient world, there were a ton of stories, plays, and songs about an enslaved person who suddenly found themselves with a lot of wealth. Each story had a kind of vibe that was a mix of the fairytale Cindrella, the 1983 movie Trading Places, and the show “My Lottery Dream Home” on HGTV. These stories sometimes showed someone without a future finally gaining one. But they also showed how harsh slavery could be since the enslaved person had little to no control over the violence done to their bodies or their lives. When Jesus began his story about a rich man leaving on a journey, those listening to him assumed the story would flow in a certain way. Yet the literary trope Jesus used also served as a signal that those listening should pay close attention to the bits of the story they didn’t expect. 

Now as I mentioned in my children’s sermon, a talent in Jesus’s world was a unit of measure. And when a talent was used as currency, it amounted to what an average laborer earned over  20 years of work. The rich man in our story entrusted one of the enslaved people with 100 years worth of wages, another 40 years worth of wages, and a third person with only 20. The amount of money described in this story is meant to be pretty obscene especially when we realize enslaved people never received a wage in the first place. Jesus, in his introduction to the story, does not describe the rich man’s expectations of those he gave money to. But we get the sense that being entrusted meant they were to use the money as if the rich man had never left. That means that those around the rich man had learned or been trained to wheel and deal like he did. The rich man not only invested them with resources but also with an education and way of life that exploited others in the quest for money and power. The rich man wanted them to be like him and, according to Jesus, two of them followed that to a T. But the third one decided to do something else. Instead of embodying the actions, behaviors, and practices of the person no one should admire, he buried the talent he was given in the ground. The rich man, when he came back, was furious – which, for those listening to the story, might have come as a bit of a surprise. The rich man didn’t lose a dime yet he tossed him into a place full of weeping and gnashing of teeth. The rich man wanted those around him to be like him in all that they said and did. And that, I think, is the vibe Jesus wanted us to pay attention to rather than seeing this as simply another story of someone poor becoming rich. We are meant to ask  who has a claim on us and what risks we are meant to take so that we can be exactly who God calls us to be. 

And that, I think, points to one other aspect of Jesus’ story that is a bit unique. When the rich man left on his journey, he already knew what each person was capable of. He gave them all they needed to be like him. And God, in the same way, has already given to you what you need to be who God knows you can be. The gift of baptism, the gift of faith, the gift of a community that prays with and for you, as well as your own skills, abilities, traits, strengths and weaknesses – all of that is how you can be faithfully You. These gifts will grow and change while life takes us on a journey that goes to places we don’t always expect. Yet being faithful doesn’t mean you need to become some kind of holy and wonderful and perfect person that no one can truly ever measure up to. Sometimes being faithful is running the race to its end or being there for a friend to hold them while they cross the finish line. You are not faithless because your practice of faith doesn’t match the person next to you. Nor are you worthless just because the world has decided that someone else is, somehow, worth more. You are, and always have been, worth dying and rising for. And Jesus wanted all those who followed him to claim that truth as their own. Next week, we’ll learn a little more of what faithfulness looks like in the 3rd parable Jesus shared. But until then, remember that God has invested God’s own grace, hope, and peace into you because God knows that you can make Jesus’ ongoing story of love real in our world. 

Amen.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Matthew 25:1-13

My sermon from the 24th Sunday after Pentecost (November 12, 2023) on Matthew 25:1-13.

Today’s parable from the gospel according to Matthew has fed the faith of many different kinds of people in many different kinds of places over these last two thousand years. The oldest church building we’ve ever found, which was constructed sometime between 230 and 240 CE, painted on the walls where people were baptized a picture of ten women holding lamps. Nearly sixteen hundred years later, on the other side of the world, enslaved people in this country sung in the fields a song telling them to “keep yo’ lamps trimmed and a-burnin’” despite the inhumane violence they received at the hand of their enslavers. These ten women gave these two different communities a spirit of hope and new life even though they were separated by time, language, and culture. Now I’m pretty sure Jesus’ disciples weren’t really thinking that far ahead when they heard this story. They were, instead, wondering why their teacher seemed so focused on preparing them for what was about to come. In Matthew’s version of Jesus’ life, he began his public ministry with a long sermon detailing his thoughts about the kingdom of God. And then, right before his arrest and trial, Jesus did the same thing; offering another sermon since the Cross was just over the horizon. He wanted those who followed him to notice how God’s kingdom would continue even though our kingdoms would try to end His story. This last sermon, like his first one, was full of different stories. And in the middle of it all, he chose to tell his friends what happened when ten bridesmaids fell asleep at a wedding. 

Now in the culture Jesus grew up in, weddings lasted at least seven days long. There were parties, pre-parties, and many different ceremonies that included the families, their guests, and everyone else in the village. And to kick off the last round of the events, the bridegroom first needed to visit the bride’s parents. It was then when they, together, would finalize what financial resources – like money, land, or animals – each side would bring to this new relationship. Most of these terms had been laid out when the couple became engaged, enabling them to set a date and send out invitations. But once the wedding date drew near, there typically was an attempt by all sides to try and get a little more out of the deal. It was expected that this final meeting would go long and so they developed a ceremony that announced when this meeting was over. Once all parties agreed to the exchange of money and gifts, the bridegroom would then be escorted away by a group of women holding lamps. These bridesmaids always knew that their job required them to wait. Yet they had a responsibility to be immediately ready once the negotiations were over. We can almost picture this story in our heads; imaging a group of women, standing in the courtyard of the bride’s family, ready to go with their lamps lit. But as day turned to night and the delay grew longer, these women soon fell fast asleep. They were ready to be the bridesmaids they were called to be; yet as hours passed by, their lamps soon went out – one by one. 

In a sense, their experience of the wedding was now paused while they were busy sleeping under the stars. But since weddings were multi-day events, the nights were often just as active as the days themselves. While these women slept, the wedding continued with the bridegroom still negotiating with the family. The village or town they were in was full of guests milling about as they enjoyed all the food, snacks, and drinks. Everyone in that space knew that the next part of the wedding could kick off at any moment so all the caterers, musicians, officiants, and singers, were gearing up for what comes next. The wedding ceremony might have been a bit delayed but the entire experience of the wedding itself was still going on. The bridesmaids weren’t the only ones involved since it was someone else who shouted to announce the bridegroom was coming. It was then when all ten women woke up and got ready to be who they were supposed to be. But that’s when five of them noticed something was wrong because they didn’t have what they needed to be part of the procession they were called to lead. 

Now Jesus’ words after the parable seem to imply that all the women messed up since they fell asleep while they were waiting. But I wonder if Jesus was trying to tell us something else since both those with oil and those without nodded off. I don’t think the snoozing itself was the problem; rather, it was about what happened when they finally woke up. Some of them had failed to be vigilant or prepare properly for what was about to come. Over the next two weeks, we’ll hear Jesus describe a little bit more of what that kind of vigilance might look like as we stay ready for the ongoing unfolding of the kingdom of God. Yet at the heart of Jesus’ argument, I think, is how this vigilance is always centered in what we’re already a part of. The bridesmaids were part of a wedding that they did nothing to bring about. They were simply called to be there and were given a role reserved for them alone. The vigilance Jesus asks us to embrace means noticing what we already are a part of. This, though, isn’t easy since there are many different things pulling on our soul. We all have lives full of different responsibilities, vocations, hurts, and joys. And it’s not often easy to notice what we belong to when our health fails and we watch loved ones enter the part of their life where getting better is no longer an option. It’s difficult when we’re exhausted, tired, and worn down to even guess what we belong to. And yet you, through your baptism, the gift of faith, and Jesus himself – have been brought into God through no work of your own. You, right now, are God’s beloved even if you no longer know what that feels like. And when it feels as if your light has gone out and you have no oil left to fuel your soul, Jesus’s love still burns within you because you’re already with your God. 

I was reminded earlier this week what that kind of living might look like while watching videos about the New York City Marathon. On the day of the race itself, most of my social media feeds were filled with people who were either in the race or were holding a funny sign while their friends ran by. But one thing I hadn’t noticed before was what happened to the final finishers of the race. Unlike other professional marathons, New York has a really long time limit. They do, after six hours, re-open all the roads but the runners are invited to keep going. Last Sunday, a little before 10 pm, the last runner crossed the finish line. When she got there, she was completely exhausted and even needed someone to hold her up while she walked. Yet when she neared the finish line, there was a crowd of people cheering behind her and those up front couldn’t help but hoot and holler. They were there to place a medal around her neck, wrap a blanket around her body, and let a medical team check to see if she was okay. She ran the race on her own but there was a community already surrounding her. There are days when we are like her – barely able to move forward on our own. Yet we also, at the same time, have the opportunity to be like those around her, noticing who is struggling and helping them as they participate in something they didn’t create on their own. We, as part of the body of Christ, get to live in the exact same way: moving forward in the life we’ve been given while remembering we’re already part of something so much bigger than ourselves. We, because of Jesus Christ, are always beloved even when this life feels like anything but. And that’s because God’s endless love is with you and Jesus will be there to carry you through. 

Amen.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 7:9-19

My sermon from the All Saints Sunday (November 5, 2023) on Revelation 7:9-17.

Revelation, the last book in our Bible, is a bit of an odd duck. It describes a divine vision given to a man  named John while exiled on a small island off the coast of Turkey. The vision, though, wasn’t full of fluffy clouds, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, and puppy dogs wagging their tails. Instead, Revelation is filled with giant locusts shaped like tanks, the moon and a third of all stars falling from the sky, and four horsemen announcing the end of the world. The words Revelation used to paint pictures in our minds are often confusing, terrifying, weird, and beautiful all at the same time. For centuries, Christians have tried to decode what all the oddness in the book might mean. Folks often use it as a kind of checklist that reveals the date, time, and location when all of this might end. We take what we’re going through now and wonder if a certain ruler, war, famine, or new technology represents one of the strange images and metaphors described in Revelation itself. The problem, though, is that when someone claims they finally have it all figured out, the world continues and a new generation of Christians come into being. Revelation is a book that feels like it’s for someone else which is why we often choose to spend time with the bits of our Bible that feel like they make a bit more sense. But, in my opinion, Revelation’s strangeness is the reason why Revelation still matters because it shows, in the midst of everything going on in our world and in our lives, what being with Jesus is all about. 

So one of the ways we sit with Revelation is by paying attention to its initial purpose. Most writings in the Christian half of our bible were written for a specific reason and then, later on, we’re called scripture. For example, the author of the gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles started their book off by explaining how they wanted to report an “orderly” account of Jesus’ life and the early church to a non-believer with some kind of political power. And Paul, in his many letters, was often responding to a specific crisis or situation within a specific faith community. Revelation, we assume, is all about the end of the world since its name, in its original Greek, is simply “Apocalypse.” Yet the reason why we use, in our culture, the word “apocalypse” to describe the end of the world is because we tend to only pay attention to that part of the book itself. An apocalypse is not simply a series of cataclysmic events leading up the end game for the world. An apocalypse is primarily an unveiling: pointing out something we can’t always see. And what Revelation wanted to reveal is actually described in its first few chapters. John initially wrote this book to seven churches in what is now modern day Turkey. These churches were probably pretty small but they had been noticed by the wider community. A series of conflicts, questions, and situations within these places had made them wonder where God was in the midst of it all. For the communities that were poor, sick, small, and under other kinds of pressures, when were God’s promises finally going to come true? For the communities that were large and wealthy – how was God pushing them out of their sense of entitlement and into a deep love for one another? Also where was God when certain cultural expressions of power, holiness, and a Roman version of patriotism – things some even called Christian – were really centered in the idols we’ve constructed about what power, strength, wealth, security, and comfort are supposed to be about? And in this messed up, broken, and sometimes beautiful world – how does Jesus matter when it doesn’t seem as if believing makes any difference at all? These questions are the kinds of questions that never grow old since we wonder the same thing in the midst of our own pain, suffering, loss, and grief. It would be awesome to say that we move past these questions the more we pray, read our  Bible, and participate in the life of the church. But in my personal experience, these questions continue since living with faith is full of ups and downs and moments of certainty and endless doubt. The strangeness of Revelation not only addresses those faithful questions but it also reminds us how strange faith and life can be while following a Jesus who is fully divine but still wounded. And whenever the sense of dread, confusion, worry, and fear becomes too much – the vision recorded by John repeatedly shifts into a scene like the one we read today – when we’re suddenly in God’s throne room. 

Now the Revelation’s strangeness does appear in God’s throne room but it’s meant to bring us a sense of hope rather than fear. The place God is –  isn’t empty. It’s full of people from everywhere and every place. And these people, rather than appearing as soldiers, guards, or the secret service we’d expect hanging around a king, Queen, or emperor, are dressed in the white they put on in their baptism and are busy waving palm branches in the air. Among them are angels and the four living creatures who are described as some kind of divine beast familiar to those who read Ezekiel or are well versed in Roman mythology. And at the center of this very human and very divine gathering is a lamb – showing how vulnerability isn’t the weakness we assume it must be. This gathered community stretches beyond all time and space while wrapped up in the love, peace, and joy of God. And even those who swear they can’t sing – soon find that, in that place, they can’t do anything else. 

We might imagine this vision of God’s throne room to be, like other bits of Revelation, focused on what comes next. Yet what makes this part of John’s vision different from the rest is how rooted it’s supposed to be in our present moment. What’s being revealed to the seven churches, to John, and to us is that there is more to our world than all of this. What we see and experience isn’t all there since we, like those robed in white, have our own place around God’s holy throne. It’s a promise that this moment isn’t the limit of who we are since we are already Jesus’ beloved and we get to sing even when our world and our lives make that singing hard. Now I’ll admit it’s easier to say this rather than to trust it since grief, worry, and fear often makes us wonder if these words from God are true at all. Yet God often chooses to reveal this present and holy reality through the various saints God brings into our lives. That does not mean these people are perfect but, rather, that they, in their own ways, made God’s throne room visible to us. They are the ones who, when we feel lost, show how we’ve already been found. When we hunger and thirst, they are the ones who made sure we had what we needed to thrive. They helped us, protected us, loved us, and knew this world couldn’t be what it’s supposed to be without us. And it’s through their generosity and care, when the tears we shed are embraced and then wiped away from our eyes. These saints might not be physically in our presence but they are always with us because God’s love never ends. Yet this day is more than a day to remember; it’s also a day to live out God’s throne room too. We, because of our baptism and faith, get to answer the call to be those same kinds of saints to the people around us and to every generation that comes next. Together, we’ll put that into practice, by revealing to Alice her place in God’s throne room. We will, along with her family, friends, and godparents, will promise to listen to her, to pray with her, and we will be there no matter what comes next. And in those moments when things seem a bit strange, weird, scary, and we wonder where God is – we’ll be there to hold her tears and wipe them away. We’ll do this, not because we’re perfect, but because being with Jesus invites us to do nothing less. 

Amen.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Matthew 22:15-22

My sermon from the Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost (October 22, 2023) on Matthew 22:15-22.

Two weeks ago, something I heard a lot was the phrase: “I have cash if it’s easier.” I was, once again, co-leading an elementary school’s Scholastic Book Fair and many remembered how temperamental the registers can be. My working theory  is that the whole fair is focused on kids as the buyers. The machines have no problems processing all the singles, fives, tens, and twenties needed to buy the latest copy of Dog Man or one of the dozens of books entirely devoted to sharks. But since the fair I run occurs after school, we have to accept and process gift certificates, online prepaid accounts, free book vouchers, Visa, Discover, Master Card,  American Express, Apple Pay, Benjamins, Jacksons, and all kinds of coins. Every transaction is its own kind of adventure since we’re never quite sure how someone will pay. And while the cash did flow, money we couldn’t see was how most people bought their books. For a while now, our wealth has been defined by a series of 1s and 0s. Yet it’s only in the last decade or so when using physical money can make a financial transaction harder than it needs to be. Many of us, I’m sure, have a friend – or maybe we are that friend – who never has the physical cash needed to split a check, buy a book at a book fair, or even toss a coin in a wishing well. So when Jesus asked if anyone around him had a bit of cash, that’s an experience we can relate to. But instead of paying for his portion of the check, Jesus responded to a question wondering how we should split our lives. And before he even answered the question, he asked for a small metal silver prop that had the face of the Roman Emperor on it. 

The context for today’s reading from the gospel according to Matthew frames the entire story which is why, week after week, I keep bringing it up. Jesus, at this point in Matthew’s story, was living through what we call “Holy Week.” He had, days before, arrived in the city of Jerusalem on a donkey while a small crowd waved palm branches in the air. Jesus presented himself as a humble king who then immediately went to the Holy Temple. The Temple had recently been expanded by King Heord and there was a tradition of allowing all kinds of religious teachers from the many different flavors of Judaism to preach, teach, and talk about God during the festival of Passover. Jesus wasn’t the only itinerant preacher hanging out in the Temple but he was one of the more disruptive ones. The religious leaders in the city kept asking Jesus what he was doing. And Jesus, being Jesus, responded by telling stories centered on the kingdom of God. Jesus’ words and actions weren’t designed to be peaceful and those who disliked him felt like they had to do something before the legion of Roman soldiers patrolling the city took matters into their own hands. The religious leaders sent their disciples to Jesus, hoping Jesus would say something they could use to turn others against him. And since they were in a place where Jesus had tossed out the money changers and merchants who provided pilgrims with the animals and the correct kind of currency they needed to worship at the Temple – they asked Jesus about money and wealth. 

There are several different ways to enter this story and I’ll admit I initially focused on the t-word since my quarterly property tax payment left my mortgage’s escrow account earlier this week. But before we focus on the question Jesus was asked, I wonder if we should lean into what Jesus asked them. Jesus said, “show me the coin used for paying the tax,” which, to me, implied Jesus didn’t have one. Now throughout the Bible, it’s difficult to know if Jesus regularly carried any cash at all. For example, when he sent his followers out to do God’s work in the world, he told them to leave all their money behind. On one level, this was a bit silly since Jesus and the disciples relied on the monetary support of others – especially women – to travel the land while preaching and teaching. But it does show how Jesus had a rather nuanced take when it came to living within the economic structures that existed in his world. He was, like all us, part of that world – experiencing how we use money to proclaim who has valued, who matters, and to add additional meaning to our lives. Yet when he needed a coin to illustrate a lesson he wanted to share, he had nothing in his pocket. Jesus, I think, was doing more than simply being that friend who never seems to have cash when they need it. He, instead, did his best to live outside of the economics of the Empire. Stanley Hauerwas, in a commentary about this passage, wondered if the reason why Jesus wasn’t carrying the coin was because it was etched with an image of the Roman Emperor himself. Rather than carrying a symbol of wealth and power that proclaimed how the emperor was divine, the son of gods, and was destined to control the entire world – Jesus lived as if there was another way to be. That choice is, I think, a bit easier for the one who could heal the sick and feed thousands with only a few loaves of bread. Yet the absence of the denarius in Jesus’ own hand is something we should reflect on even though many of us rarely have any physical money at all. 

When we pay attention to what Jesus didn’t have, we realize how his answer to the crowd wasn’t an illustration of the separation between church and state or even a commentary on the righteousness of taxes themselves. It was, instead, a call to a deeper kind of discernment wondering why we’re holding onto this money in the first place. This is a deep and difficult question to answer since money does shape and transform our lives. The lack of money or even the abundance of it often determines how we interact with each other and with God. Jesus wasn’t asking those in front of him to make a checklist about what they can give to God and to Caesar. He was, as we heard over these last few weeks, much more interested in showing how we can live our lives as if the kingdom of God was truly near. The coin Jesus refused to carry embodied an empire that didn’t have much room for the kingdom of God. And even though much of the money and wealth we carry today is invisible, that doesn’t mean that our money is imageless. We choose to give money its meaning and value, allowing it to shape, define, and limit the relationships we have with each other and with our God. Even if we are the friend who never carries money, we let money carry our emotions, thoughts, hope, and dreams as we live within the various kingdoms that make up our world. Yet this money isn’t the only thing that bears an image; since we, through God’s handiwork, bear one too. As those who were created in the image of God, what we say, do, trust, and believe ends up reflecting the fullness of who we know God to be. That reflection is often defined by what we imagine love, service, power, and faith looks like. But God doesn’t let those holy values be defined only by us; God chose to send us God’s son – so that we discover who, in Jesus, God chooses to be. We are to love as he loved, to serve as he served, to welcome and include and pray and forgive and to not hold onto those things that say something other than God is what defines us. Money does play a role in how we live our lives. And we can’t always copy Jesus by not participating in the money-focused world we actually live in. But we can choose how to use that money and whether we let it consume the image God has already given to us and our neighbors. It’s said that money makes the world go round even if that money is something we can’t really see. Yet as Jesus reminds us in today’s reading – that money doesn’t need to be all we hold onto as we go around our world too. 

Amen.