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"Leaving the Land"
A few weeks ago, I read a book recommended by my wife by a Quaker minister called "Home to Harmony,"[1] which reminds me of how hard it is for quiet, gentle, quirky folks to live faithfully to God amid the stresses of the modern world. The book has some strange characters – like Billy Bundle who preaches at revival meetings in the Mid-West and who bills himself as the "World’s Shortest Evangelist; some sweet characters like the compassionately childless couple who are wonderfully kind to all the children in the church, including regularly passing them jawbreakers during long sermons. Gentle homespun, good natured stories.
One of the more memorable characters in the Harmony meeting house is Dale Hinshaw – not his real name, but the author assures us he knows someone just like him. Dale Hinshaw is the narrow-minded church elder who is behind all of the bad ideas that have ever come out of that church. His pastor describes him as one of those folks who "knew just enough Scripture to be annoying, but not enough to be transformed." When I knew I would be preaching on the Second Sunday of Easter, which falls on April 15th, and knew the Spirit was leading me to preach on Matthew 22:21 – I knew Dale Hinshaw would know this text. Particularly the part about Caesar. Our text is well known – especially for its snappy answer to the Pharisees and Herod’s supporters. It is less well known for its inspirational excellence to the followers of Jesus. It speaks volumes beyond what most folks think it says. You folks already know what it really says, because Tina got it right in the children’s message. I hope you were listening. Every generation has the privilege, and the responsibility, to pass two precious gifts on to the generations that follow them. One is roots and the other wings. One is home – a place of belonging, a place where you are always welcome, a place you can return to when times are hard and you need a hug. The other gift, equally precious, but far more difficult to give, is wings. Wings encourage folks to fly on their own, to soar like eagles, to leave behind the land to which they are rooted, and to see and ponder the majesty of the bigger picture from above – to make a mental and spiritual map of the landscape where they can prosper and grow. Worship, if used wisely, is a gift that gives us both roots and wings. We must dare to begin with the roots of the familiar, and then take-off and "leave the land," and then strive to touch holiness with all our senses. Creating a community where people are in constant prayer for one another is hard work, but it changes lives for the better if we take it seriously and faithfully. One prayer that encourages me to think about this practice, what I am here calling "leaving the land," is found in the introduction of a book called "Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship."[2] It is a prayer to encourage us to seek deep spiritual moments in worship. Please join me. Let us pray: "O God, there is a dark and lonesome gulf in worship, a cavern of the awesome into which we rarely go. We prefer catchy tunes, bright vestments, and holiday prayers. We would rather exchange fellowship than touch holiness. Enable us in this precious time to venture into the depths of worship, which can never be found in individual spirituality, but which open slowly before shared pain, struggle, and the communion of saints. Amen." Some biblical texts help us to soar – and sing – and encourage our spirits to "leave the land" if we let the Spirit speak through us and to do its work in us, like a line or two of music that sings to us again and again its siren song. It is something we can’t get out of our head, and alters the rhythms of our lives for the better. Great biblical texts sing, like: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." "God is love." "I give you a new commandment, you are to love one another, even as I have loved you." "I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord." "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." And finally, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Today’s text has the misfortune of being created in coatings of trickery and cleverness, and with a very specific question which asks Jesus to choose between God and country– so much so – that it is easy to overlook completely the un-asked for wisdom when it arrives, almost as an afterthought. We are drawn into the text by two things we know well and always have trouble with – money and taxes. Consequently, we miss the best stuff Jesus says, which has absolutely nothing to do with either money or taxes. It’s about our relationship to God. If we are to leave the land with this text, we must see the real question before us is not "should we pay taxes?" but "how will we honor God with what we have received from God?" It is about what we have received from the giving and the forgiving God. It is about managing the outgo of our income. Notice in this story, Jesus is not a lawyer or an accountant, giving free last minute tax advice. This sermon is not legal advice about paying or not paying taxes. That question only sets up the harder, life changing question about giving to God what belongs to God. Scary as lawyers and accountants and the IRS may be at any time of year; Jesus as the "terrifying majesty" of the resurrected Christ at this time of year should make us snap to attention when he asks –maybe even commands -- us to "give God what is his." What a staggering, overwhelming question for us today – and every day hereafter. It sings holiness! Maybe I am completely wrong, but I think the Pharisees were speechless and amazed – and went off shaking their heads – not because they thought or knew that Jesus had neatly escaped their clever public trap, but because his words hit home with them and with us, and put all of us on the spot, challenge all of us to do great good, and cause all of us to leave the land of mundane reality of riddles and games, and invite all of us to come face to face with the need to serve the living God. Could it be that our Lord calls us to a stewardship of which paying taxes is only a drop in the bucket? Could it mean using everything we have to the glory and enjoyment of God 24/7 – with time, talents, mind, will, energy, imagination and love? I think so, and so do you. Will we worship the living God by leaving the land? Will we? And the deeper question is the amazing question which follows it: How can we give to God? How can we give to God? In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. _________________ |
Stephen
Palmer