Sermon for Sunday, October 19, 2008

We have schedule cards placed around the church. One side features the weekly schedule, the rest is devoted to basic information about the church.

In the summer of 2004 the Republican National Convention met in New York, and, as they always are in elections years, people were anxious and on edge. You could sense feelers going out from people, probing the same question: which side are you on? During the Convention and for the next few months afterwards, Father Beddingfield, a curate here until a year ago, and now rector at a church in DC, came up with a schedule card that, I think, cut right through all of the anxiety and brought to the forefront what really matters.

On the front of the card, above a graphic of the church, in big bold letters read:

There is neither Republican nor Democrat,
there is neither Conservative nor Liberal,
there is neither Federalist nor Anarchist;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Its that season again, and on top of the anxiety about the future that the election will bring, there is additional anxiety about the future of the economy. The card that Father Beddingfield produced had a wonderful affect. It reminded me, and I imagine many of you as well, that we are one in Christ, no matter what side we are on. It was a reminder that anxiety for the future doesn’t override the reality that we are and will always be one in Christ.

I think the Gospel passage today offers a related reminder. The Gospel story isn’t about money, it isn’t about whether or not Jesus has a tax policy that the Pharisees find agreeable or offensive. Its about which side Jesus is on. Is he for Caesar or is he against him? If Jesus says taxes should be paid to Rome, then he is Roman enabler and a supporter of the foreigners who have conquered and are oppressing his own people. If Jesus says taxes should not be paid to Rome, then he is a revolutionary who could be reported to the government for insurrection and treason. Our translation refers to this as a test, but I think it could just as well be called a trap.

Jesus does not fall into the trap. The money is made in Caesar’s likeness and image, so let him have it. But you are made in the image of God, so give yourself to God. I think that the image and likeness theme found in today’s Gospel is statement made by Jesus about every single one of us. A statement that cuts through anxiety of choosing sides and worrying about tomorrow by asking the question: Who are you really? And then giving an answer.

When I hear Jesus’ words today, I think of the opening chapter of Genesis where we read: God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." A few chapters later after the expulsion from paradise and the horrifying story of Kane and Able, the same turn of phrase is used about the descendants of these original humans. We read: “Adam became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

I think that it important that that image, that likeness doesn’t wear off over time.
It isn’t worn down when life gets difficult or times get hard.
It isn’t even wiped out or removed by sin.
It passes from one generation to another and supports the Psalmists claim that we are children of God.

I’m anxious about the election. I’m anxious about the economy. But that anxiety is greatly calmed when I remember that my primary identity isn’t a citizen of this great country. My primary identity isn’t someone who works for a living. My primary identity isn’t an Episcopal priest. And it isn’t even as a devoted husband and father. All of those things are very important to me and they identify me, but who am I really?

Like all people, I am made in the image and likeness of God, I am a child of God and through Baptism, I become part of Christ’s body, and I am adopted and made an heir in the heavenly kingdom, and I know that God’s love will always be with me. I know that even when things get rough, when I get anxious, when everyone around me is worried about the future, that today and always I will remain in the image and likeness of God. I will remain forever part of the body of Christ. I will always be blessed to cry out to God as Father. And I know the same is true about all of you.

That’s why when we give ourselves to God we can praise Jesus when life is good and also when our hearts are troubled. And that’s why we can praise Jesus together even when we want to divide and take sides. We are all able to cry out to God together as Our Father.