here's the mutiny i promised you

& here's the moment it turned into



It is good to be here. Thank you for your gracious invitation. It is also good to see all your familiar faces, & the new faces, too. 
Of course, it’s a bit of a trip. The familiar faces have changed. Your image, although the same, has also changed a bit. The kiddos I got to do Sunday School with, aren’t so young anymore. And I suppose I am not so young, either

Of course the changes of time are not the only reason it is such a trip to be here. Today’s Gospel presents us with a couple happy coincidences. 
For one thing, Matthew was the Gospel we read each Sunday for most of the year I spent with you. For another, today’s Gospel touches upon some of the themes the shaped my internship with you all…

Jesus said, “Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s; and to God, the things that are God’s,” after his interrogators said the image on the coin belonged to the emperor.

During my year here, one of the big debates was, in fact, taxes. The “Millionaire Tax,” endorsed by Bill Gates Sr., was one of the big initiatives during my year with you all. It all seemed quite modern then, but apparently wrangling over taxes isn’t anything particularly new…

And although I was with you all for the church-year through the Gospel of Matthew, I never preached on today’s Gospel. I can be sure because the first commentary I ever got, was during my year with you all.
I can still remember that day. It was a beautiful sunny, crisp, fall morning (they do exist here in Seattle). I went down to that little Episcopalian bookstore in Freemont, and got the commentary my supervisor was always talking about, “Matthew and the Margins.”
Is that little bookstore still operating?

Anyway, I can be sure I never preached on this lesson when I was with you, because as I read that commentary in preparation, none of my familiar markings were on the study of today’s Gospel. 
And t’s too bad I never studied this Gospel when I was with all.
If I had read today’s Gospel, I may have had a little biblical fodder for that tax debate. After all, we have it right here from Jesus’ lips, “Give to the emperor the things that belong to the emperor.” When folks advocated that those “haves” should get to keep all their money, I could have reminded them of Jesus’ words today. I can see it now, I would have walked away from the debate with my head held high, having settled the matter

…But that just doesn’t seem right, though, does it?

Although these words of Jesus, taken out of their context, sound like the perfect retort to those who would try to control the government by starving it; as we hear Jesus’ words today, it isn’t hard to sense that Jesus was up to something more; something more subversive, something, ultimately, more hopeful

After Jesus’ questioners said that it was the emperor’s head and title on the coin, Jesus said, “Give, therefore, to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s; and give to God, the things that are God’s.”
And while we may not be exactly sure what Jesus meant, we can tell he meant more than something as pap as “pay your taxes, be a good citizen. And don’t forget, the church & the state; they’re separate…”
After all, why would Rome crucify someone for saying something as bland as that?

Now I like to imagine that as the answer, “The emperor,” hung in the air; Jesus, still holding the coin said, “Well, then, give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor.” Then, to drive the point home, Jesus tossed the coin aside. …As that coin gathered dust, Jesus put the matter to rest, saying, “And give to God, the things that are God’s.”

Jesus’ reply puts the whole debate in perspective!
Jesus’ words don’t settle the debate about fair tax rates, so much as assert that while such considerations have their time and place, they’re not where our trust is to be placed.

No, what Jesus is doing is making a claim; while you may live in the empire, you don’t belong to the empire. You belong to God
Ultimately our loyalties lie with God.

After his interrogators put the trick question to him, Jesus asked to see the coin used for the tax. When the hypocrites gave him the coin, Jesus asked whose face and title was on it.
And of course, it was the emperor’s
Jesus closes his whole object lesson with these enigmatic words, “Give therefore for the emperor the things that are the emperor’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”
If the coin belongs to the emperor because it bears his image, then the language of faith asserts that you belong to God, because you bear God’s image.

At Jesus’ words today, we are supposed to be transported back; not merely 2,000 years; but all the way back to creation; back to when God made the heavens and the earth, back to when God made man and woman both, in God’s image!

That, finally, is the real reason why it is such trip to be here today. Not because the coincidence of Matthew’s Gospel, not because of Jesus’ pseudo-political reply; but because of all your images.

Some of you I know, and others of you I don’t. 
All of us, though, bear the image of God.

I imagine that in our little gathering today, there are some who wish Jesus had simply settled the matter by saying something overtly political. Something explicit, like the wealthy should pay more in taxes. And I suppose that there are some of you who bristle at the idea.
I know that there are some of you out there who have been engaged in the public debate for a long time. I know there are folks out there who have spent their life trying to live out Jesus’ picture of God’s reign of peace. And I imagine there are some of you out there who are just beginning to think of such things. In fact, I imagine there are even some of you who do your best to avoid thinking about such things.
In fact, while I know Seattle, full of you rich-hating democrats; I imagine there are some who don’t share that general feeling. Well and good. Truth be told, we wouldn’t be complete without you.

We wouldn’t be complete without you, not because we need all perspectives. Bleh. None of that warm-and-fuzzy nonsense.
No, we’re talking about something more; something more subversive, something more hopeful

We’re not complete without each of you, in all our glorious differences and similarities, because each of us, bearing God’s image, gathered together here, makes Jesus’ point better than any coin

Right here, on the edge of Phinney Avenue, God’s kingdom comes. No the emperor wasn’t able to do that, and neither was open rebellion to him, either. No, God’s kingdom has come here freely, God’s kingdom has come, as God has finally gotten what God wants; what belongs to God, really; you.

That is what today is, why we here, why you’re going through the trouble of asking all your past interns to return; because, ultimately, our trust lies with the one to whom we belong; God. 
You bear God’s image, we all do. That’s the promise we are gathered under. We are gathered here today, not under political affiliations, but under the promise that we belong to God. 

“Give therefore to the empire their worthless coins,” Jesus said, because the empire doesn’t own you. No, you belong to God. Each of us does. 

We are gathered here today, similar and different as we are -spread out as we are, because this Jesus who spoke these words today, is on the prowl. Here and now, Jesus takes from the emperor you and me; and gives us to God.

We are gathered because Jesus brought us here to gives us to God, this is where you belong.
Amen.

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