LENT 3: NOW - we are tested for loyalty
Psalm 86:8-13; Mark 12:13-17
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Kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy on us
as we listen to, reflect on, and live out the Gospel in today’s world.
So many beautiful, moving, and important things in our service today.
The dedication of young lives,
with their parents and us
committing to support and shape those lives.
This powerful Kyrie, still moving us,
200 years after Schubert wrote it.
And soon,
an invitation to gratefully come to the Lord’s Table.
Any of those could stand alone,
but they are tied together beautifully, as one,
by today’s Gospel from Mark 12.
In our journey through Mark, the shortest of the Gospels,
this will be my shortest sermon.
Whose head is on it?
That’s the crucial question Jesus asked his opponents,
when backed him into a corner
to declare loyalty to their agenda.
His opponents here were Pharisees and Herodians,
two parties within Judaism, with different goals,
but both Pharisees and Herodians agreed,
Jesus must make no trouble for Herod or Caesar.
They wanted to accommodate the Empire,
keep the peace,
and not offend those in power.
They asked Jesus whether we should pay tax to Caesar, or not.
Jesus knew their question was bigger than that.
So he gave a bigger answer.
After he got them to identify whose head was on the coin, he said,
“Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s
and to God the things that are God’s.”
Clearly, Jesus was talking about more than a silver coin.
That question, “Whose head is on it?”
is a question that still works today.
It’s a way to say,
Whose claim, whose purposes, whose goals are being served
by going along with this particular action
or collective social behavior or belief?
Who has a vested interest in what we do?
Who has their moral imprint on it?
That’s a question we should be asking even more often today,
in our politically polarized world.
“Whose head is on it?”
Whose moral imprint is on the coin of, say,
our culture’s fear of undocumented immigrants?
Whose likeness is on the coin of growing Christian nationalism?
Whose imprint is on the recent backlash
against having open respectful public discussion
on social issues like race, the legacy of slavery, climate change,
the rights of sexual and gender minorities?
Whose claims are being served when we are morally outraged
by Russia’s indiscriminate bombing of Ukraine,
but take a pass when Israel indiscriminately bombs Gaza?
When our leaders to tell them to please bomb a little more carefully,
and then veto ceasefire resolutions?
Isn’t intentional mass killing of children and adults always evil,
no matter who does it?
Every person of faith and goodwill should see that,
and oppose it, every time.
But . . . Caesar’s head is on that coin.
And we don’t want to offend the Empire.
Maybe because we benefit from being part of it.
_____________________
The Gospel of Mark is a gift to us for our time.
The goal of Mark is to bring clarity about who are loyal to—
to the Empires of this world,
or to the Reign of God, embodied in Jesus.
This short and pointed Gospel, aimed at Gentile Roman citizens,
is meant to convince the hearers to take the leap,
and live for the kingdom of heaven, not for the Empire.
In the opening words of the Gospel,
Mark boldly rejected titles Caesar claimed for himself—
divine Savior, and Son of God—
and said, no, those titles belong to Jesus.
Now in chapter 12 we hear it again, in no uncertain terms:
“Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s
and to God the things that are God’s.”
That’s a Gospel word for us today.
It seems to me that nearly every choice we are presented in life,
whether those are choices of what to buy, what to consume,
where to live, where to work,
what to do with our time and talents,
what to do with our bodies,
how to vote,
how to treat our immigrant neighbor,
how to run our business,
how to respect those closest to us,
how to honor the dignity of those who are different,
all these choices can be discerned by asking ourselves,
“Whose head is on it?”
Whose agenda is getting a boost by the choice I make?
Is it the Empire?
Or is it God’s Kingdom of Justice and Peace?
Whose moral imprint is on the choice I’m about to make?
Is it the systems of power who operate from the top down,
who depend on coercion to maintain stability,
and keep their hold on power?
Or is it God’s kingdom that starts from the bottom up,
and spreads like mustard plants?
and restores the broken and protects the vulnerable?
In dedicating their children this morning,
two households made a choice.
They came into this space, stood in front of us all,
and said we are part of you, God’s kingdom people.
We are not shaping the future of our child,
on the assumptions of Empire, or of dominant culture,
but on God’s kingdom of justice and peace and love.
And we want you to walk with us and support us
as we do that.
And when we come to the table in a minute,
we will all have another chance to declare our choice,
to pledge our devotion and our allegiance to God’s reign,
by partaking of symbols of the kingdom of Christ—
the bread and cup of suffering, and salvation.
This is why we are here today, doing what we are doing.
May God help us.
—Phil Kniss, March 3, 2024
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