20th Sunday After Pentecost

October 18, 2020

Saint Matthew 22:15-22 

Imagine a small white frame church just out of reach of a nearby city.  It is one of those rural churches that are close enough to a metropolis to hear the sounds of the city as well as the rural smells and sounds.  Nestled in a small village it is a prominent structure and cornerstone for the life of the community.

It is a protestant church.  It is the late 1950’s when quarterly Communion was the common practice.  In other words the church offered the sacrament just 4 times a year.  We enter the church in that time and on that special Sunday in which the altar is set for Blessed Sacrament.

There is a sense of the divine presence in this service as the liturgy proceeds through the service of the word.  The preacher is respected and people are attentive to the message.  Members of the congregation approach the altar with reverence for the Holy Communion.  All is well in this picturesque rural scene straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

The pastor is resetting the communion table after all have received the sacrament.  Then suddenly, out of the blue, as he is about to put the lid the cover on the bowl that holds the left over communion wafers, the pastor’s voice rings out through the sanctuary:

 “Has everyone been fed?”

The church elders are in a bit of a panic:  ‘Did they forget someone who was in the pew?’  No, as far as they knew everyone present had received the sacrament.

Again, the pastor, holding the lid – just above the ciborium – the container that held the left over communion hosts:

“Has everyone been fed?”

It is an early Fall morning and Indian Summer had set in so the windows of this white framed church were open. 

Out of the silence while no one was answering the question –sirens are heard in the distance.  Out of a nearby home a baby cries for food.  There is the sound of rustling leaves as the wind sweeps through the windows of the sanctuary.

“Has everyone been fed?”

The pastor explains that he will not put the lid on the sacrament until everyone is fed as the service comes to an end with a prayer, blessing, and hymn.

In Acts of the Apostles we read:  “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.”

As a young person I heard a panic stricken voice of skepticism cry:  “This is the Bible, that sounds like Communists, not Christians!”  And the almost cliché ridden reply of the teacher went something like this:  “The birth of the church was a special time different from the rest of history.  God marked that time with strange signs like miracles and the sharing of property.  After these things cease, Christians form a more normal kind of church.”

So we are safe and can discount what goes on in the early church as an exception.  But the problem is that is not what really happened and it certainly cannot side-step a central teaching of Jesus.

That central teaching is laid out in spades in today’s Gospel reading.  Jesus is asked a trick question about taxes.  The Pharisees have the IRS of the day with them – the Herodians.  The Herodians were a court or political party that championed the reign of King Herod – the local puppet King beholden to Rome.  So the political folks are there to witness the answer Jesus gives to the tax question. 

It is intended to be a ‘gotcha’ question:  “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”  Had Jesus simply answered, “No!”  He would have been subject to arrest for treason.  If Jesus answered “Yes!” then his credibility as a prophet would be totally undermined.

So, Jesus, asks for a coin – a day’s wage.  He asks the question as to whose image is on the coin.  Obvious answer – Caesar – and in a brilliant response proclaims:  “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s?  Which begs the questions – “What belongs to God?”

The obvious answer is everything.  And that is the central insight here – if everything belongs to God then how are we to use the gifts from God?  Jesus is calling us to a new way of seeing the world

The imperial powers see the world and make it their possession through conquering might.  Jesus sees it all as a gift from God. 

As God’s people, the church, do we read the world with imperial eyes – that is through the eyes of power – like Caesar:  “I earned it, I conquered, it is mine no one dare take what I have away from me!”?  Or do we respond to the invitation of Jesus to see the world through biblical eyes – the eyes of compassion?

If we delve into the history of the Church, our rich heritage we discover that God’s people did not discount the teaching of Jesus that in compassion we see all things in common.  The Church has been conflicted about wealth and what is means for the faithful for centuries.

John Chrysostom lived from 344-410 CE during the time when persecutions had ceased under Constantine and wealth and secular power was taking over the churches.  John was and adept preacher – in fact his name Chrysostom – means – ‘golden mouthed.’  His parish was in the city of Antioch and people would literally flock to his church.  He became a preaching ‘rock star.’   The assembly in worship would frequently applaud and cheer his sermons.

In 397 CE the bishop of Constantinople died.  John’s reputation was well known and the imperial powers wanted him as bishop.  John would have nothing of it – he refused.  He preferred remaining in Antioch and preaching and teaching to the people.  So John was kidnapped and taken to Constantinople and installed as bishop by ecclesiastical captors.

John found himself in the midst of glamour, wealth, and imperia power.  Although Antioch was a prominent city it paled in comparison to the wealth and majesty of Constantinople.

Those in power did not have a clue as to what they had gotten into.  John the reluctant bishop, used the power of the pulpit to challenge the imperial wealth.  One of his chief concerns was the corrupting power of wealth.  “The desire to rule,” he proclaimed, “is the mother of all heresies.”

In one sermon, based on Acts – ‘all things in common’ – he suggested that private property be abolished as it was in those first days of Christianity.  “If this were done now,” he insisted, “we should live more pleasant lives, both the rich and the poor.”

Chrysostom frequently argued for the social redistribution of wealth.  John’s forthright preaching of Christ’s teachings that all belongs to God alienated him from the imperial powers.  So appalled by the fashionable excesses of the empress Eudoxia –he called her ‘Jezebel’ in a sermon, a comparison that did not amuse her imperial highness.

As chief bishop, John deposed other bishops in different cities who had sold church property for personal gain.

His outspoken prophetic posture against the imperial powers led to his enemies charging him with 29 counts of heresy and convicting him to banishment from his office.

Having discovered the loss- he was briefly recalled to service only to be exiled a second time living the rest of his life in a remote village.

[Source:  A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass, pages 65-73]

 What belongs to God?  If it is everything – then how are we to live?

As responsive followers of Christ, we are called to look at the world with biblical eyes – with the eyes of Jesus – with the eyes of compassion.  But all too often we view our world through imperial eyes – the eyes of those who do indeed hold the wealth and power.

Have we watered down the call of Christ and caved into the imperial powers?  Have we exiled the voice of John Chrysostom? 

Here at this Communion Table we have an explicit mandate from the living Lord. 

Here at this table all are fed.  Throughout the years of my ministry I have come to know this table is not exclusive.  The compassion of the living God is set forth at this table.  Here we are restored, loved, forgiven.

But the power of this sacrament leads us to see the world with the eyes of Christ.  So the table of Holy Communion is not just about our personal forgiveness and reconciliation.  No – it is a table of grace for all.  All get fed at this table – none are left out.  Everything belongs to God and as God’s people we are called to share for the common good.

So, this is a global table.  A global feast – and today we have lots of bread at this table.  This bread so generously giving speaks of our common life with all.  It is indeed sacramental.  What we do here today is what we are called to do:  share what belongs to God with others.  This offering of bread will be given to Emmanuel Lutheran Food Pantry.

Those who will walk in the Crop Walk – walk today in solidarity with the millions of people who have to walk to get their food – their sustenance – a simple loaf of bread.  Those who sign the offering of letters asking our leaders to put a protective circle around the needs of the most vulnerable are acting out this Eucharistic celebration.

The pastor refuses to put the lid on the Eucharistic container:  “Has everyone been fed?”  Every congregation that celebrates the Lord’s Supper should never cover the bread container [ciborium] as a vivid reminder that the church is called to share bread for the world until all are fed.

Amen