For Sunday
Proper 24A
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
Have you ever been complemented by someone you know for a fact actually hates you? Tell me, is your first thought “Maybe they aren’t trying to trick me this time”? And when you see Lucy hold the football, don’t you try to use telepathy to convince Charlie Brown not to run and kick it?
We know that when someone wants to humiliate us that maybe we take that into consideration. And yet, I think, when it comes to Jesus, we also think “Well, he’s better than I am. He must trust anyway.” As if trusting the untrustworthy is the right thing.
The question the Pharisees’ disciples ask Jesus is a trap. It isn’t an honest question. They aren’t looking for a real answer. This isn’t a moment to discuss the relationship of church to state. They are trying to get Jesus arrested or humiliated.
So why do we insist on answering this one? Something about this question speaks to our own confusions and suspicions. About both our religious faith and how we organize society in governments. In short, we want Jesus’s response to be the word on the matters of church and state. And when he gives the impression of separation of powers, we feel let off the proverbial hook.
Of course, the question wasn’t about governments and powers, it was, again, about getting Jesus arrested or humiliated by his response. There is no right way to answer it — that’s the trap. And Jesus, for his part, slips out of the trap, first with a non-answer. Then with a reorientation of the question.
By directed their attention to a coin that these people shouldn’t have on their person, Jesus springs the trap on them. And by directing our focus to giving to God what is God’s, Jesus guides us to remember that everything is God’s. We’re the ones trying to pretend that money can be separate from church and state.