Sermon - Ephesians 1.15-23

Ephesians 1.15-23

·         When Billie and I visit people in prison, we often find that they have a very limited and sometimes distorted perspective of reality as well as a lack of hope. Part of our role is to help them understand the bigger picture and to encourage them that there is hope for their future life after and beyond prison.

·         When St Paul wrote letters from prison it worked the other way round. It was the free people on the outside who had a limited perspective and Paul the prisoner who had amazing vision and who wrote to encourage them.

·         Gareth recently told me about a rhinoceros he saw at a zoo. Although it was living in a large field with plenty of space to roam around in, this rhino would just spend all its time walking in a tiny figure of 8 pattern. The reason for this odd behaviour was that it had been rescued from a circus where it was always enclosed in a cage or a small ring. Even though it had been liberated, the bars of the cage might as well still have been there.

·         The Christians Paul wrote to at Ephesus were a bit like that rhinoceros. They didn’t have any particular faults to be corrected or problems to be addressed (as the Galatians and Corinthians did), but the Ephesians were not making good use of their liberty as Christians. They were still living small, restricted lives and not having the impact they should have been having on their neighbours or on society.

·         From my research I’d say some of the self-imposed limitations at Ephesus were (a) the mixture in the Church of Jewish and Gentile believers who didn’t see each other as equals and (b) the fact that Christianity was seen as a threat to commerce (going back to the silversmiths’ riot recorded in Acts 19).

·         Whatever the reasons, Paul recognised that this Church  was not fulfilling its potential and that he needed to cast some vision their way.

Paul’s Petition

·         So Paul writes about his thankfulness for the Ephesian Christians’ faith in Jesus and their love for each other. These things are good, but more is required. They need to move beyond a gratitude for their personal salvation and a love of like-minded people.  So Paul prays for them and he tells them the content of his prayer for them (a smart move!)

·         Paul’s prayer is that God will give them wisdom and revelation (or vision) through the Holy Spirit, enabling them to know God better and especially that their hearts will be lit up with understanding of the full extent of the hope God has called them to and the power he has given them to work for that hope – to work with God in realising that hope.

·         He goes on to explain that the power which raised the crucified Jesus from the dead is also available to raise the Church to life so that it really can be the body of Christ at work in the world.

The Scope and Range of Christ

·         But it is the scale of Paul’s vision of the extent of Christ’s work which is most striking. It is a vast, breathtaking vision in which Jesus ovrrules every power and includes all things, including all people, within his glorious kingdom.

·         False gods and goddesses like the Ephesian Artemis, human kingdoms and empires like that of Rome and even the greatest commercial enterprises are all dwarfed by the power, the range and the riches of the comprehensive Kingdom in which Christ reigns; both in the present age and in the age to come.

·         Paul lifts his readers’ heads up, opens the curtains of heaven and says LOOK what God is doing, LOOK what God is calling you to participate in! Against the bright colours of this vision, everything else pales into insignificance and the habits and insecurities and limitations we surround ourselves with just fall away.

·         This may sound like wishful thinking but it is actually a reliable message of hope, firmly grounded in God’s nature and God’s promises.

Patrick Regan and XLP

·         Caroline recently told me about the work of Patrick Regan of the charity XLP which works with the perpetrators and victims of gang violence in some of the most dangerous parts of London.

·         In a recent article in Youthwork magazine, Patrick describes a time when he was about to be interviewd on national television following yet another pointless murder of an innocent young man by some gang members. Just before going on air, the interviewer, hardened and tired by years of reporting bad news, expressed her opinion that this was simply a lost generation.

·         He writes: “As the cameras started rolling and the red light shone telling me we were live on air, my mind was scrambling around trying to think of the best way to address this lack of hope. There was no doubt about it, things were bad and seemed to be getting worse. I saw it every day in my work ... But despite all of that, I couldn’t agree with the presenter’s conclusion. I locked eyes with this woman who thought there was no hope for this generation of young people and said, ‘I refuse to believe this is a lost generation. I am convinced that if we tackle the drivers of why these things happen, we can bring about change. Hope is a refusal to accept a situation as it is.’”  (my italics)

·         Patrick Regan goes on to describe some of the signs of hope he sees in ‘gangland’, like green shoots of grass growing up through the cracks in the concrete of despair, growing towards the light. You could say he is a naive optimist, but he goes on to show that, like the message of Paul to the Ephesians, his hope is grounded firmly in biblical truth and the promises of God.

·         Speaking of the healing, reconciling, forgiving ministry of Jesus, Patrick says it reminds us that “We have a God who cares, who gets involved; we have a God who loves. This is the activity of the King; this is the work of the kingdom, an indication of what is to come. This is what the church is called to do. Rather than simply hanging around on earth, doing our own thing in our own way, and waiting to die and ‘go to heaven’, our God has called us to partner with him in realising his ultimate purposes of recreating heaven and earth to be all God intends it to be.”

·         Like St Paul, Patrick Regan challenges us to lift up our heads and see things from God’s perspective, to see the significance of our lives within the story of what God is doing, which is making all things new in Christ. We are the people of hope and boy does our world need hope!

So what about us?

·         Do you see any similarities in our lives with those Ephesian Christians, holding themselves back from living a fully effective Christian life, or that rhinoceros, walking round in tiny circles in an invisible cage, or the TV presenter who sees no hope?

·         What is holding us back, restricting us? Are there prayers we dare not pray – people and situations we do not believe God has the power to change? Are you kidding me? Listen to St Paul! Consider the almighty, death defeating, resurrection power of Christ. The vast boundless scope of his everlasting Kingdom. There is nothing he cannot do, no wrong he cannot put right, no hard heart he can’t melt, no sinner he can’t cleanse!

·         Let’s lift up our heads and see what God is doing and then join in, with love, with faith, with hope and with confidence. God is stirring up something very special in this Church and many other Churches throughout the world and the key to all of it is prayer. I urge you to join in the prayer activities of the Church because that’s where the green shoots of hope are rising. Read through the list of thoughts and suggestions which came out of the recent 24-7 Prayer Room  - see how God is challenging and inspiring us - and don’t miss the next one in February. Why not join a Home Group or a Prayer Triplet – because the changes we need and which God wants to see won’t happen unless we pray together.

·         Let’s end by praying that wonderful prayer of St Paul for ourselves, for each other and for all people and let’s keep on praying it until God tells us we can stop!

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Amen.

(Ephesians 1.17-19)

Appendix – Notes from the Prayer Room 21-23 October 2011

·         Remembering the continuing debt to love one another.

·         Smile, patience, kindness, acts of love, listen, be there open our hearts to God and to others.

·         Be open and hospitable and vulnerable

·         Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God

·         Practice random acts of kindness

·         Focus on the main principles of our faith and not be drawn into debates on secondary doctrines

·         By knowing each others needs and doing things the way God wants

·         Preach the gospel wherever you go, use words if you must (St Francis of Assisi)

·         To remember to set a place for the unknown guest at our table

·         Strive to keep unity of the church in the spirit of the bond of peace

·         Not get so absorbed in our daily duties and stress so we don’t have time for God and people around us. Pause for a moment and think and ask God to help us to see the needs of other people close to us.

·         Open the hearts of others through God’s love and service

·         Get our hands dirty together in our community

·         Find a plan to help people through organisations like St Egidio mission

·         For everything we don’t like, to resolve to do something constructive and positive to bless someone instead of complaining about it. Pay it forward – find ways to do kindness without expecting anything in return. When I feel uncomfortable, to listen to that discomfort and to explore why it disturbs me and maybe its me, not them who is the problem.

·         Pray and intercede for each other even when its hard going and we don’t want to

·         Ask God to give us true compassion and love for people so that we will love and respect each other and see the needs around us. And then put love into action.

·         Reach out to make us a growing community

·         Love God and love what God loves

·         Love and talk to each other with kindness, honesty and respect

·         Do an act of kindness for a neighbour you don’t know well

·         Get to know each other better and be open and trusting to each other

·         Be fair and giving

·         Be ready to do God’s will at all times and in all places

·         Be patient, loving and kind, event when it doesn’t come naturally

·         For our love to be honest, slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to get angry and quick to be compassionate. Letting the love of God rule our hearts.

·         Ask God, listen to his answers and walk the path He lights up for us.

·         Might not THIS be just where we should start, build from and have at our heart. What if we embraced 24/7 prayer and if the Lord wanted it to become interdenominational and interlingual? Just how wrong can we go it we put passionate prayer and closeness to God at the soft centre of our community and the way we relate to others? Pray about it! If we keep praying, the rest with come of itself.

·         More ecumenical prayer and bible study homegroups

·         Trips and excursions to spiritual places nearby

·         Offer hospitality, listening and friendship

·         Picnics in the park, public events open invites

·         To pray with others

Sermon - Matthew 25.1-13

Matthew 25.1-13 The Ten Virgins

Mountain Rescue

·        

E    Every year, mountain rescue teams have to rescue hundreds of walkers, many of whom had ventured out without even the basic essential equipment and supplies to complete their route safely. Other people have to put their own lives at risk to carry out these rescues. The cost can be very high and sometimes the rescuers don’t get there in time.

·         Quote from Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association chairman last year: “Many, if not all of these alerts could have been avoided for the sake of a map, compass and torch plus a little knowledge on how to use them.”

Judgement Parables

·        

         These parables, mostly clustered at the end of Matthew’s gospel, are usually neglected because (a) we think they are concerned with events in the distant future which we can do nothing about and (b) we believe the warnings they contain are addressed to other people (unbelievers) rather than us.

·         However the judgement parable we are looking at today is addressed to believers and is very much concerned with life in the here and now.

·         All ten virgins/ young women/bridesmaids in the parable are believers in Jesus (represented by the bridegroom). Their lamps are lit and they have been invited to the wedding banquet.

·         However only 5 are wise and the other 5 are foolish. The foolish arrive late and – at least initially – are not allowed to enter the feast. Instead, they hear the voice of Jesus saying “Who are you? Where have you been? What have you been doing? I don’t know you.”

·         Jesus is challenging the believers who hear the parable to be wise rather than foolish. But what makes the difference?

Lessons for Believers

·        

A      A popular saying … “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail…”

·         All of us will meet Jesus face to face, either at his return or after our own death. At that point we do not want to hear him saying “Who are you, I don’t know you.”

·         So the first lesson is to make sure we know and are known by Jesus in this life. This means more than just saying the right prayer of commitment or going through the right baptism or confirmation ceremony. It means doing the things which are necessary to build and strengthen our relationship with Jesus throughout our lives. A passive and unthinking faith leaves us ineffective and vulnerable. An active, nurtured faith helps us grow stronger and more useful to God.

·         The next key lesson from the parable is that we need to prepare for the long haul. Christian life is more like a marathon than a sprint, more like a mountain climb than a stroll in the park. So we need to plan ahead and obtain and develop the equipment and resources needed for the whole journey. The foolish virgins ran out of oil and the oil they needed was not instantly available on tap.

·         In a similar way some of the most important resources Christians need need to be developed over a period of time. A Christian who has a terminal illness needs deep faith and strength of character if they are to cope. But it is no good saying to God “Give me deep faith and strength of character now” because these are qualities which take years to build up, years of patient walking with God, talking with God, listening to God.

·         It is these qualities, these fruits of the Spirit if you like, which are the oil to keep our lamp burning in the darkest night. We need these qualities and perhaps more importantly, the world needs us to develop and to use these powerful Christian resources.

·         The parable also teaches that we cannot beg steal or borrow these Christian qualities from other people. Of course we can help each other to learn and to grow, but we can’t always rely on someone else’s faith, someone else’s courage, someone else’s deep prayer life and understanding of the Bible – we need to develop our own.

·         If we are climbing a mountain and it turns foggy and I am separated from my companions it will be no use to me that they have a map and compass and torch and food in their rucksack. It is only what is in my own rucksack (if anything) which can save me.

·         And it is not just about my survival and saving my own skin. I need to be ready to respond to emergencies and address the physical and spiritual needs of others. Like the wise virgins in the parable, I need to be ready to seize the day, when the opportunity to serve arises. I need in fact to be a mountain rescue team member/leader – not like some ill prepared tourist.

Practical Examples

·         Let’s look at some practical examples of what each of us can do to ensure we are an “oil filled”, well prepared Christian disciple. Here’s a quick list of 30 suggestions:

Practical Suggestions for developing as ‘oil-filled’ Christians:

1. Prayer partners – meet once a week/fortnight
2. Prayer journaling
3. Read bible regularly:
1. Bible in a year or 2 years
2. Receive bible notes online e.g. Word for Today
3. or hard copies e.g. Jeff Lucas ‘Life Every Day’
4. Join home group or bible study groups
4. Monitor your viewing/reading – are you ‘polluting’ your mind?
1. Avoid internet porn and other violent or unhealthy material
5. Write reviews of books from our Christian book stall – share what you have learned with others
6. Join in when we do 24-7 prayer events
7. Join in when we organise church trips away, retreats and family days
8. Serve others alongside other Churches e.g. Sant’Egidio, Zona Roja
9. Examine your shopping habits:
1. Are you over-consuming? Too materialistic?  Too influenced by advertising?
2. Could you buy ‘fair trade’ products
3. Do you buy ‘environmentally friendly’ goods?
10. Share what you have:
1. A spare room, and someone in church has a need for it?
2. A skill you can offer someone else?
3. Hospitality & friendship – so many people IN OUR OWN CHURCH are lonely
4. Give someone a lift
5. Translate/help someone through Spanish paperwork
11. Could you be a mentor to  a teenager you know
12. Tithing  - are you giving God the first and best of your “crop”?
13. Write to political leaders to protest against injustice
14. Recycle more and waste less. Think about your impact on God’s creation.
15. Treat old/disabled/marginalised people with dignity – give them time, listen to and talk with them.
16. Support efforts of others who are trying to do things for other people or for our church
17. Take the opportunity this Christmas to tell someone why Christmas is important and more than just about presents and eating too much
18. Practise random acts of kindness, anonymously blessing others
19. Offer to pray for someone when they tell you their worries but most importantly give them time, listen to them
20. Look at yourself in the mirror:
1. What image do you present to others?
2. Do you see God’s image in you?
3. Love yourself – God made you in His image
21. Make sure you have a day of rest, spend it with your loved ones
22. Thank God for your blessings, don’t let your prayers be like a shopping list
23. Study christian discipleship online e.g, foundations 21
24. Identify a daily habit/act you have e.g. washing up, opening your laptop, walking to work – make this a trigger of a short prayer
25. Ring up someone who you know you should ring – today!
26. Use post-its to remind you of things to give thanks for – when you brush your teeth, have post-its round the mirror with the names of people you love and are thankful that they’re in your life
27. Identify 3 texts from scripture that really mean something to you, print them out and use them as bookmarks, read them aloud at least once a week and think about why you chose them
28. Cut down on your daily commitments – perhaps you give up watching a particular TV programme – so that you have time to meet the needs of others or to spend time with God in prayer and meditation
29. Build a friendship with someone outside your usual circle of contacts
30. LISTEN to others, LISTEN  to God – perhaps one will lead you to the other without you knowing?

Conclusions

·         These are just a few suggestions and you may be able to come up with better ones.

·         But just to clarify – it is not about activism, as though we could justify ourselves to God by showing him a list of all the great Christian works we have done.

·         It is about developing good habits, Christlike character and the experience which will enable us to save ourselves and others from a futile, pointless and unworthy life.

·         Rest, recreation and sleep are also important and remember all 10 virgins in the parable fell asleep before the bridegroom arrived. But there is a world of difference between the peaceful sleep of the wise, the well-prepared and the restless, uneasy “have I forgotten something” sleep of the foolish.

·         Take a look in your rucksack tonight. Ask yourself what’s missing and think about how your friends at St George’s can help you be better equipped disciples with oil to spare.

Sermon - Matthew 22.34-46 The Sound of Silence

Matthew 22.34-46

·         Thanks for the 24-7 Prayer Room experience. Hard to explain unless you were there to experience the context and interpret the silence. A very positive experience of a rich silence, filled with faith and love and the presence of God.

·         Silence also begins and ends our Bible reading, but a different kind of silence, thick with  tension. There’s  a lot of unspoken emotion  – a bit like a couple who are angry with each other and heading for a big row. Different groups are trying to discredit Jesus in front of the crowds. Verse 34 tells us he has just silenced the Sadducees. By verse 46 (read it out) he has also silenced the Pharisees and all his other opponents.

·         On the surface, not much happens. Two fairly standard questions are asked; the first by a Pharisee to Jesus, the second by Jesus to the Pharisees. Each question  receives the normal, expected reply and it all seems quite low key. Yet the tension clearly escalates, setting up Jesus’s lengthy denunciation of the Pharisees in ch 23 and paving the way for the events leading to Jesus’s arrest, trial and execution  a few chapters later.

·         So what is going on? Is it possible for us to understand the context and interpret the silence which ends this pivotal passage of scripture? Let’s take a look…

Question 1 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

·         From the Pharisees’ point of view, Jesus was both a lawbreaker and a maverick teacher with no qualifications or authority. Yet the crowds of common people loved him and followed him. How frustrating that must have been for the Pharisees and other experts in religious law, especially when Jesus told parables which turned the crowds against them! So their question is designed to expose and undermine Jesus in front of the crowds.

·         But the question is not a hard one. And the answer Jesus gives, linking the commandment to wholeheartedly love God (from Deuteronomy 6.5) and the commandment to love your neighbour as yourself (from Leviticus 19.18), is the exact reply which any respectable Jewish teacher would give. We see this in Luke 10, when the same question was posed by Jesus, and a Legal Expert gave the same answer.

·         Jesus answered correctly; so what’s the problem? What is going on in this uneasy silence? Well, perhaps Jesus is implying a criticism of the Pharisees who, as he will spell out vividly in the next chapter, did not practice what they preached. Many in the crowd would have experienced the lack of love and mercy which marked the way that the Pharisees imposed the Law on their fellow Jews.

·         And of course their definition of who counts as a neighbour was not very wide. In the Luke 10 passage, the Lawyer wanted to limit the extent of his responsibility for others, but Jesus

·         challenged him, through the parable of the Good Samaritan, to see that all people were his neighbours, especially those in need and even including sworn enemies.

Question 2 “What do you think about the Christ (or Messiah)? Whose son is he?

·         The question Jesus puts to the Pharisees is also quite straightforward and presents no difficulties. Whose son will the Christ, the Messiah be? The son, or descendant of King David, of course. The standard, text book answer comes back, quick as a flash!

·         The crowds and people hoping to be healed have already been calling Jesus Son of David, and perhaps they are hopeful that he will now directly claim the title for himself – opening himself up to arrest for treason against the Roman occupiers.

·         He doesn’t do so directly, but indirectly he goes even further, reminding them of Psalm 110.1 in which David is inspired to refer to his coming descendant, the Messiah, as his Lord. Just as he did in the parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus is claiming to be none other than God’s son. This challenges the very foundation of the Jewish faith – “Hear O Israel: the LORD our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6.4). It either has to be true or the most preposterous lie ever told. The Pharisees understand the implications of what Jesus is claiming and are stunned into silence.

·         If this is God standing in front of them, they need to love him with all their heart, soul and mind. Well, you know how the story ends…

Application

·         We need to know God’s love for us so that we can truly love God and others.

·         God’s love for each one of us is unfailing but it is not a soft love which just overlooks all our faults; it is a tough, challenging, purifying love. It homes in on our deepest weaknesses and rebellious character traits and heals us of them or burns them away, over time.

·         The best comparison I can come up with is that God is like a Best Friend who we have known for a long time and trust completely. A friend who can say “that hairstyle really  doesn’t suit you” or “you need to do something about your smelly feet” or “You were rude to that teacher and you should go and apologise” or “you have to stop using alcohol or people the way you do” – Best friends can say these tough things to each other and still be completely secure in their love for each other. Knowing the friendship will never die even when tough, corrective things have to be said – in fact it will get stronger.

·         If you have a best friend like that, you are very lucky. But only God is willing and able to be the perfect best friend to each and every one of us. To every person sitting here today. And

·         to Col Gaddafi … and to the man who fired the shot that killed Gaddafi. God is the best “best friend” possible.

·         The Pharisees reduction of holiness to a rule-based separation from others had actually taken them away from God’s friendship. To the point where they couldn’t recognise God, even when he was standing in front of them. I like a recent comment by an American Pastor called Steve Brown, to the effect that “ The only people who get better are people who know that, if they never get better, God will love them anyway.”

·         Maybe the Pharisees, and others like them (which can apply to any of us), just didn’t trust God enough and came to trust themselves and their ability to follow rules, too much.

·         But the commandments were never just a set of rules. If you try and reduce them to that they become cold, harsh and empty. They can only be understood in the context of God’s love. “I love you. Remember how I rescued you from slavery,” says God, at the beginning of the commandments, “So trust me, live my way. Be my people by living in a distinctive way in the world – so that I can use you to rescue other people and make the world what it should be.”

·         That is what holiness really means – not separating from the world but living distinctively as God’s people in the world, as salt, as light, as a hopeful sign and a healing presence.

·         Jesus loved his neighbours, the Pharisees and Lawyers and all the rest, enough to challenge them and tell them the truth – but they refused to accept his tough love. It seems that sometimes the only way to show people how much you love them is to let them crucify you. And he loved them and us enough to go even as far as that.

I want to end with a quote from Marcus Borg: “The christian life is as simple and challenging as this: to love God and to love what God loves.”

I hope Richard Dawkins does turn up

Paul Vallely: God knows why Dawkins won't show http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-vallely-god-knows-why-dawkins-wont-show-2374659.html

Sermon - Matthew 22.15-22

Matthew 22.15-22 Paying Tax to Caesar

Introduction

When studying a Bible passage it can be helpful to try and picture the scene in your imagination, in order to help understand the thoughts, actions and motives of the people involved. Some Bible stories are very difficult to visualize (Balaam’s donkey, Ezekiel’s visions, John’s Revelation), whereas today’s episode from Matthew’s gospel is something we see re-enacted almost every day, thanks to the wonders of television…

A FOOTBALL COACH comes off the field after his team has just lost to a late penalty. Before he reaches the safety of the changing room he finds himself in a pool of intrusive television lights and a microphone is pushed under his nose. “Another defeat Jim and you can’t be happy about that refereeing decision which cost you the match.” The reporter tries to draw the coach into making some rash statement that may get him into trouble but will in any case make a good TV clip.

A POLITICIAN  is having an easy day opening a village fete when suddenly the ever present news reporter appears from nowhere and asks an apparently harmless question about the stock exchange. Apparently harmless but actually loaded with dynamite.

OF COURSE the stakes are much higher for Jesus, but the situation plays out in a similar way. His enemies try to soften him up with flattery, then they spin him an apparently innocuous question which is actually designed to trap or entangle him. Fortunately he sees through their hypocrisy, wards them off with a brilliant reply and lives to fight another day.

Our football coach and our politician also need to be aware and quick-witted to survive, but the key to success these days is not so much wisdom or integrity, but IMAGE, pure IMAGE. Those with a good image, the Tony Blairs, David Beckhams and Madonnas of this world, succeed. Those with a poor image, the Michael Foots, Neil Kinnocks and Stan Trouts, fail (you’ve never heard of Stan Trout? Exactly!) None of their other qualities count for anything because their image is poor. TV news presenters are chosen primarily for their looks, their image, advertising agencies are skilled at persuading us that buying product X will instantly give us a cool, sophisticated image … even the church is having to pay more attention to its image. We live in a culture which is obsessed with image – I know this is true because my children were until recently TEENAGERS…

‘Dad, you can’t go out of the house wearing those clothes’

‘Please don’t come to my football match wearing your dog collar’

‘Dad, can you park your car round the corner, so my friends won’t see it!’

I get it wrong every time. I am the man who owned several Skodas, excellent cars by the way, and put up with all the usual jokes for years (eg why do Skodas have heated rear windows?.. How can you double the value of your Skoda?) FINALLY, soon after selling my last Skoda and buying a Rover, my son showed me a newspaper article announcing that Skoda had at last shaken off its joke car image and that the most unfashionable car to own was now… (guess!)

But this obsession with image is no joke. It is a deadly serious problem and perhaps one of the key issues facing the Church in western nations today.

Theologian David Wells puts it like this…

“Image and appearance assume the functions that character and morality once had. It is now considered more important to look good than to be good. The façade is more important than the substance – and, that being the case, the substance has largely disappeared. In the centre there is now only an emptiness. This is what accounts for the anxious search for self that is now afoot.” (page 14 David F. Wells God in the Wasteland Eerdmans 1994.)

The Church has to address its own and our society’s current obsession with image – a problem inside as well as outside the Church. I believe that Jesus has the answer and that in this brief confrontation with the Pharisees and Herodians he reveals the key to a true and healthy understanding of image. Jesus’s reply, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s’, which silenced them also strikes to the heart of our own worldliness, as we shall see.

The Context

But before concentrating on Jesus’s reply, it is worthwhile to look briefly at the context. The alliance of convenience between the Pharisees and Herodians for instance is a surprising one, as these two parties hated each other. The Herodians were supporters of the puppet kings who ruled the Holy Land for Rome and supported the payment of taxes. The Pharisees hated Roman rule and any form of subjection to Gentiles and especially hated the denarius coin with its idolatrous image of Caesar and its inscription describing him as the “son of a god”. This alliance for evil purpose seemed to put Jesus in an impossible position. It was a case of ‘heads we win, tails you lose.’

Is it LAWFUL (that is, in accordance with the Jewish Torah, the Law of Moses) to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

YES or NO?? Where does Jesus stand on this issue? If he answers YES, he will be accused by the Pharisees of betraying his people and will turn most of his supporters against him. If he says NO, the Herodians will have him arrested for treason!

The irony of their flattering opening words should not be missed either. As they say, Jesus is indeed a man of integrity who teaches the way of God in accordance with the truth. They didn’t believe this, or they wouldn’t have been trying to get him killed, but what they said was absolutely true.

Jesus’s Reply

Now Jesus asks take a look at the denarius coin and then takes the initiative by asking his opponents a question.

Whose image is this? And whose inscription?

Caesar’s

Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

(A pity their amazement didn’t lead them to repent and follow him!)

BUT, what did Jesus mean?

One interpretation could be that he was suggesting a separation of life into public and private compartments. ‘Pay your taxes to Caesar. Live your life by the prevailing society’s rules and values… but on the inside, in your private spiritual world, give your allegiance to God. You should believe one way and act another. It’s a survival strategy.’

This interpretation is attractive, especially in a liberal pluralist society like ours. Each person’s religion is a private matter and should stay private so we can all live together in peace and harmony. But that doesn’t seem to match reality and it surely cannot be what Jesus meant. He rightly denounced his opponents for their hypocrisy and so he would hardly suggest a kind of watered down, demeaning hypocrisy in those who would be his followers.

NO, Jesus must have meant something far more fundamental than dividing life into two parts; the public part for Caesar and the private part for God.

The Key Point

To discover the true meaning of what Jesus said we need first to look again at the coin. Whose image and inscription is this? Put it another way – what is it about this coin that gives it its value, its dignity, its meaning and its purpose? The image and inscription of Caesar. Therefore it belongs to Caesar. A blank coin or a counterfeit coin or a coin with an image of a bunch of flowers on it would be virtually worthless, no monetary value, no use.

That’s the coin, now listen to this verse…

Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’

So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

(Genesis 1.26-27)

What is it that gives human being his or her value and dignity and meaning and purpose? Simply the image of God!

All God’s creatures have significance and value, but the human race has a unique dignity, value and purpose because of its creation in the image and likeness of God, the pinnacle of his creative self-expression.

The coin then belongs to Caesar; but the whole person, the whole of humanity in fact, belongs to God.

Of course, just as coins get dirty and scratched and worn by the every day usage of life – so do we! The Bible calls this sin, as the image of God in us is hidden by our own and other people’s words, actions and attitudes. But no matter how much grime is covering a human life, its value is still the same – at least in the eyes of its maker, and it can be washed clean today.

The New Testament teaches that Jesus has given each of us the privilege of being restored into a right relationship with God, a wonderful gift which we accept by faith. As St Paul explains:

For those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

(Romans 8.29)

Later in the letter he draws out the implications of this:

…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

(Romans 12.1-2)

In these words Paul accurately interprets what Jesus meant by ‘give back to God what belongs to God.

Conclusion

In these days when everything around us screams out that image is the only thing which matters, Jesus says to the Church “YES”… image IS the most important thing – not a superficial skin deep image to impress people, but the true image and likeness of the creator, the redeemer and the Spirit who convicts the world of its sin. Shine like stars, like newly minted coins and draw others to the love of Christ, washing them in the waters of baptism so that the image of God will be seen afresh. The Church should be a people of integrity and wholeness with no hypocrisy. We are called to become what God has made us to be, a holy people set apart for him. A people which reflects the image and likeness of God.

Bible Study - Luke 12.13-21

Bible Study – Luke 12.13-21

First, read 12.1-12 to get the context. Notice who is present and what Jesus is teaching about.

Now read through verses 13-21 and discuss the following questions.

Q1          Why would someone come to Jesus with this kind of request (v13)? Why did he ask publicly and what outcome was he hoping for?

Q2          Jesus responds with a question (v14) but does not wait for an answer. What is the answer to Jesus’s question?

Q3          What does the warning of verse 15 say to modern society? Why do companies spend so much money on advertising?

Q4          How do you respond to the constant pressure to buy things?

Turning to the parable itself (v16-20)…

Q5          What is wrong with the rich man’s understanding of his problem (v17)?

Q6          What biblical principles are relevant to someone in the same position as the rich man in the parable?

Q7          What is most noticeable about the solution the man decides on (v18-19)? In what ways is his reasoning faulty?

Q8          Why do you think God describes the man as a fool? Would you be shocked or surprised to hear God describe you in this way?

Q9          Is it wrong to save money or make provision for your retirement? Can we do these things without neglecting our responsibilities to God and other people (v15 and v21)?

Q10        Would it be fair to apply the teaching of this parable to organizations and countries, as well as individuals? What challenges would that raise?