CELEBRATING:
SERMONS
22 - Feb 2009
A sermon delivered by Rev. Gordon How
Feb 22, 2009 Raising Our Standards
It was in the Avenue Grill that these three Kerrisdale
clergypersons met for lunch. And soon the Anglican priest,
the Rabbi, and the United Church Minister were discussing
how they handle the weekly contributions offered in
their respective Sunday services. The Anglican priest
said she drew a circle on the ground and threw all the
money in the air, whatever landed in the circle went
to God, whatever fell outside of the circle she got.
The Rabbi said that he did something similar; he drew
a circle on the ground and threw all the money into
the air, whatever landed inside the circle he got, whatever
landed outside the circle God got. The United Church
Minister said that he too did something similar. He
threw all the money in the air and whatever God wanted
God would keep, whatever fell back to the ground he
would keep.
In Matthew's Gospel the Pharisees were asking Jesus
how they should be handling their money. What to do?
Give it to Caesar; or give it to God, or throw it in
the air for a 50/50 split? It was a trick question framed
by asking Jesus about the duty of paying the Roman tax.
If Jesus argues against paying the tax to Caesar he
will be accused of being anti-Roman. If he argues for
giving the money to Caesar, his supporters will see
him as hypocritical or compromising under pressure.
It's a no win situation and so Jesus asks the Pharisees
for a coin and turns a question on them: "whose
image is this, whose inscription?" Caesar, of course,
was the answer. And then the famous response, "Render
unto Caesar that which is Caesar's...(followed by the
more important second clause) ...and unto God that which
is God's". In answering the question Jesus raises
the standard. To Jesus, the money matter is trivial
after you sort out the larger questions of identity
and loyalty. Throw it in the air or give it to Caesar,
Jesus does not engage the money matter in a simple way.
Dorothy Day, who died in 1980, was an American journalist
turned anarchist, then social activist and ultimately
a devout Roman Catholic. She became known for her social
justice campaigns in defense of the poor, the forsaken,
the hungry and the homeless. Day, with Peter Maurin,
founded the Catholic Worker movement in 1933, which
espoused nonviolence and hospitality for the impoverished
and downtrodden. She is being considered for sainthood
by the Catholic Church.
She was asked once to comment on Jesus' saying "render
unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God
the things which are God's." She took a moment
or two to think and then replied, "If we were to
render unto God all the things which are God's, there
would be nothing left for Caesar."
The answer Jesus gave calls for a deep kind of reflection.
The Pharisees were not asking an obscure theological
question but rather they were asking Jesus a question
about practicality. How did he propose for his followers
to navigate in a world where a Roman leader demanded
their loyalty but they claimed their ultimate loyalty
was to God? For Christians, living in the time of Matthew's
gospel, claiming faith in Christ had serious political
and social implications.
I think that in the 2000 years since the issue has
not changed, only the circumstances have changed. How
do we live out Christ's lordship in our lives when dealing
with the powers and principalities of political life,
whether that is about going to war in Afghanistan, building
affordable housing down at Hastings and Gore, responding
to AIDS in Africa, or the mundane of building housing
for Olympic athletes in a time of sudden world financial
failure.
This question about coinage is a question about identity
and loyalty and it is no easier for us now than it was
for Christian's of Jesus' day. We still live in a world
which daily asks us to bend to political pressures and
bow to cheap compromise. Navigating the sea of faith
in times like thise is hard work and it is something
we must do with both intention and perseverance.
We remember the Apostle Paul's words, "Work out
your salvation with fear and trembling."2 This
is what Jesus is telling the Pharisees, that his followers
must sort this life of faith out for themselves. He
doesn't give them a simple verdict nor easy instructions;
they have to work this out with fear and trembling.
What I have always loved about the gospels, and specifically
Jesus' responses in the gospels, is that he rarely offers
direct answers to the questions posed to him. He more
often than not responds with another question, or a
parable, or an ambiguous answer with a deeper meaning.
Jesus knew then what we realize now; life does not
often operate well in black and white. Yes or No often
just doesn't cut it. Giving a simple answer like yes
pay the tax or no don't pay the tax would have done
little for teaching his followers how to navigate their
lives of faith in the complex world around them. How
will they know how to live lives of faith when he is
no longer with them if he has always just held their
hands and told them exactly what to do? Jesus asks his
followers to work out for themselves how it matters
in their daily living just who they confess to be Lord
at the end of the day. Work out your salvation with
fear and trembling.
I remember going into the old UBC Ponderosa Cafeteria
back when I was young and could eat lots of cinnamon
buns - and the young woman behind the counter noticed
I was wearing a small silver cross on my lapel…
and she asked "Is that a faith statement or a fashion
statement?" I blushed and probably muttered something
silly - as I usually did when young women spoke to me.
But while her question was a bit imposing, what the
girl was asking me was about my identity. Did the cross
make a difference? What do you think? Does the cross
make a difference, because if it does then shouldn't
everything else be affected by that identity? One of
America's greatest marathon runners is an ahtlete named
Ryan Hall. Ryan became a well known runner at an early
age. At 18 he won a full scholarship to run distance
events for Stanford University and was projected to
lead the team to a national title. But after less than
a year Hall found himself burned-out, depressed, and
unmotivated. He took some time off from school and from
running and returned to his family home. He also returned
to his old church trying to figure out what had gone
wrong. Ryan said it was then he decided he wanted his
life to first and foremost reflect Christian values.
He had always felt like a person of faith but it was
not his primary identity. So, from then on he wanted
to stop being a runner who was person of faith, and
start being a person of faith who was a runner.
When Jesus said render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's
and unto God that which is God's he wanted his followers
to think about their primary identity. Are you first
a Roman citizen who happens to belong to God? Or do
you belong to God and happen to be a Roman citizen?
What about you? What is your primary identity? Canadian,
British Columbian, ex-pat from somewhere else, young?
retired? middle-aged? male, female, gay, straight, professional,
homeless, parent, child, musician, hockey fan. Liberal?
NDPer? Conservative? Whose image and inscription is
on you?
One of things that drives me crazy when I tell people
what I do -- and they say: "Oh, I know that church,
the big one near Granville street, with all the greenery,
where they have concerts and run a daycare - and according
to The National on CBC, cancel Christmas Eve in a bad
snowstorm."
What I say in response is: "No, that's not how
you identify us! Shaughnessy Heights United Church -
a gathering of people whose primary identity in in Christ,
who happen to meet in that big building - a place which
we make available to the community for worthwhile purposes.
A place where we strive to serve in Christ's name, and
where we struggle with the questions of life in the
context of the mystery of God and where you are welcome."
I read an article recently about equal representation
on official church committees and bodies. The article
was discussing whether or not we still need to have
diversity mandates in these groups. It said this, "the
Church cherishes the sexes, races, ethic groups, and
ages of all people who make it up. But none of those
things constitute the United Church's primary identity.
We should be first and foremost believers. It may be
sociologically unrealistic and prophetically unwise
to completely ignore age, race, & sex. But ultimately
those aspects of identity are overcome in the one who
calls us."
Aspects of our identities are overcome in the church.
That is what Jesus was trying to do with the Pharisees,
to make them realize that coins to Caesar were about
a secondary identity, namely their Roman citizenship.
But that identity was overcome in Him. Neither Greek
nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are
one in Christ. If you render unto God a primary Christian
identity then, as Dorothy Day said, there is little
if anything left for Caesar. Everything is affected
by that ultimate and primary loyalty.
Sometimes that primary identity in Christ makes people
uncomfortable or unsure about us. If you draw up a list
of reasons why people are tending not to join churches
these days, one of the reasons is embarrassment. One
has to be selective who you tell you are a churchgoer
these days. Young people are givine a hard time by friends
after they admit they go to church. A young couple told
me that their friends had laughed at them when they
said they wanted to baptize their baby. Don't you agree?
The issues for living lives of faith have not changed
in 2000 years, just the circumstances.
Confessing an identity in the Christian faith has
social and political implications for us today. People
expect certain things of Christians for better or worse.
People expect that a faith statement is about ultimate
loyalties and primary identities. People expect that
the cross should matter to every aspect of life. That
does not mean that it is black and white for how we
vote, or what we give our money to, or how we raise
our children. But it does mean that we are going to
have to take our actions seriously, because we should
be able to justify all of our identities in light of
our faith identity. We are going to have to make decisions
about to what we render our time, our skills, our resources.
We are going to have to make decisions about how we
act at work with colleagues, with friends, and at home
with our families. We are going to have to work our
salvations out with fear and trembling.
If you have come to church looking for a simple instruction
book on how to live the Christian way in 2009 in Vancouver,
you will want to ask for your money back at the door.
But if you have come to church to address your Christian
identity more fully, then you have come to the right
place. Jesus raises the standard asking for more than
loyalty with just our mouths or our time or our money.
Jesus' call to have our identity in the faith affects
every aspect of our lives.
There is no part time worker in the Christian faith.
So render unto Caesar or render unto God? Jesus' question
to the Pharisees is asked of us as well. Whose image
is on you and whose inscription is upon you? The Psalmist
says, "for you created my inmost being; you knit
me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because
I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
You say you are a Christian. So, is this a faith statement
or a fashion statement? Amen.
++++++++++++++
Sermon Resources: Matthew 22 : 15 - 22; Psalm 139:13,14;
Phil. 2:12-13.
C. L Cook; W.S.Coffin
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Shaughnessy Heights United Church
congregation is a Christian faith community respecting
each other in our diversity and reaching out to all
who seek God’s love.
1550
West 33rd Avenue,
Vancouver, BC V6M 1A7
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Tel:
604-261-6377
Email: admin@shuc.ca
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