Change

 

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

October 18, 2020

 

24 Proper A

 

          My grandfather was born in 1902.  On one of our visits not too long before he died in 1995, he told us with some incredulity that the wheelchair in which he was sitting cost more than his first car.  The wheelchair was an absolutely basic wheelchair-no frills or attachments- and I think he had paid in the neighborhood of $300 for it.  His Model-T Ford-also no frills and no attachments- cost about that in 1922.  For my grandfather, the $300 he paid for the wheelchair was a symbol of the great changes that occurred over his lifetime.  His career field was aviation, which was almost non-existent when he was born and he got to see the Concorde supersonic passenger jet before he died.  He claimed his last car was faster than his first airplane.  When my grandfather was 9, his father died of pernicious anemia, which is cured with B-12 shots now.  He and his generation experienced more change across all aspects of life than perhaps any previous generation and while my grandfather was quite adventuresome and embraced change, even he found all of the changes disconcerting at times.

          This morning, Jesus fields a question from the Pharisees and the Herodians that on the surface, is about taxes.  “Tell us, then, what you think.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”  Clearly the Pharisees and Herodians are trying to trap Jesus.  If Jesus says no, then he can be tried for treason.   If he says yes, then he is validating the rule of the Romans over the Jewish people.  Jesus is trapped in a no-win situation.

          However, Jesus rises above the trap.  Jesus requests a coin, then asks whose head and whose title is on the coin.  The answer, of course, is the emperor since the coin is the currency of the state.  Jesus replies “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.”  And those who wished to trap him were amazed and left him and went away. 

          Jesus seems to have settle the matter of taxes quite clearly.  Give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor.  Pay your taxes.  Give to God what belongs to God.  Obey the laws of the Torah and make your required sacrifices to God.  For once, Jesus gives a clear answer to a question.

          However, by asking whose head, or whose image is on the coin and using that answer to determine to whom the coin belongs, Jesus is taking the conversation about taxes to an entirely different level.  In fact, he is changing the subject all together.  Anyone listening who was familiar with the Hebrew scriptures would have thought immediately of the story of creation in the first chapter of Genesis which says “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he  created them; male and female he created them.”  The image of the emperor may be on the coin, but humans are made in the image of God.

          Jesus has taken the question of taxes and turned the question into one about identity.  What belongs to the emperor may be the coin and the taxes, but what belongs to God is our whole selves.  Our identity as human beings is as people made in the image of God.  We belong to God.  In the reading from Exodus, we hear Moses wrestling with what it means to belong to God as a people God has delivered from bondage in Egypt.  Moses says to God “You have said, “I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways so that I may know you and find favor in your sight.”  To which God replies “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  From this brief exchange, we know that belonging to God means that God knows our name, that God’s presence is with us, and that we can rest in God. 

          In the letter to the Thessalonians, we hear something of what the image of God looks like as lived in the lives of the early Christians.  Paul commends the church in Thessalonica for their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in Jesus.  We are reminded that our identity as people made in the image of God who follow Jesus calls us to a life of faith, hope, and love and that our actions, like Paul’s actions and those of the Thessalonians, speak about that faith, hope, and love to the world around us.

          Life has changed radically in the last 7 months, from the way we worship, to the way we shop, go to work and school, socialize with family and friends, what we wear, how we tend to our health, and on and on and on.  We do not know when the change will end, or what changes are permanent and what changes are temporary.  All of that change can be quite disconcerting as we navigate rapidly changing waters.  But what has not changed and will not change is our identity as children of God, people made in the image of God.   What has not changed is God’s knowledge of our name, God’s promise to be with us, and when we are overwhelmed by the changes and chances of life, God’s call to rest in God.  What has not changed is our call to faith, hope, and love so that the world can see God’s love through our actions.  Our identity as people made in the image of God who follow Jesus is the taproot that grounds us in God’s love and goodness no matter what around us might change.

                                                                             Amen.