Foretaste of the Sermon to Come

A little nibble of the Revised Common Lectionary

Sunday’s scriptures are Ex. 33:12-23, 1 Thess 1:1-10, Mt. 22:15-22

I am preaching on Sunday, and so to avoid giving you my whole sermon now, I will keep this uncharacteristically brief. “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God what are God’s” is not a stewardship campaign. Jesus is seriously not talking about taxes and tithing. Well he is talking about taxes and tithing but only at the most superficial level.

On Sunday we will look at the distinctly different god/God that Caesar is and that our Triune God is. That is an important thing to start out with. What is the character of the Caesar and what does he want to do with his tax money? Who does it all benefit? And what are the things that are God’s that God wants? How did we get them in the first place? Some of these things are tangible for sure, but many, and maybe even most are not…so what are they and how do we give them back?

Another thing to think about is who is engaged in this discussion with Jesus. The disciples of the Pharisees would be law students, kind of funny they sent students to try to trip up the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Spoiler, they don’t come up on top. And the Herodians…well they are in the royal court of Herod, the Judean royal family that was placed in the position of royalty by…you guessed it, the Roman Senate. He is definately the Caesar’s puppet.

And here is the big question. Is Jesus preaching Law or Gospel to these guys? How about to us readers through the centuries?

See you on Sunday!