19th Sunday After Pentecost, October 19, 2014

Collect of the Day (Proper 24): 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.

Reflections: I see here a connection between God’s works of mercy and our perseverance in faith.

 Exodus 33:12-23

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.”

The Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.” And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

 

Reflections: There’s a general impression on our culture that to question God is the opposite of faith; that to question God amounts to sin. Yet throughout the bible (including the New Testament—witness Mary at the Annunciation, “Doubting” Thomas, and Jesus’ own prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane), people struggle with what God asks them to do and to be. That struggle—call it challenge, argument, negotiation, or doubt—is not the opposite of faith. Rather, it is itself an expression of faith.

          Here, in a passage I had never paid much attention to before, we hear Moses seeking reassurance (a sign of doubt?), challenging God to confirm what God has already told him!

GOD: “You have found favor in my sight.”

MOSES: “…so that I may find favor in your sight.”

GOD: “My presence will go with you.”

MOSES: “How shall it be known…unless you go with us?” and so on.

But notice that God doesn’t punish Moses for lacking confidence. When further, Moses asks to see the God’s glory, the Lord doesn’t complain that Moses is unreasonably demanding. Instead, God gives Moses what he needs and is able to receive. The Lord offers what Moses needs from God, which alone brings true rest.

Psalm 96:1-9

Sing to the LORD a new song; * sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.

Sing to the LORD and bless his Name; * proclaim the good news of his salvation day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations * and his wonders among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; * he is more to be feared than all gods.

As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; * but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! *  Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples; * ascribe to the LORD honor and power.

Ascribe to the LORD the honor due his Name; * bring offerings and come into his courts.

Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; * let the whole earth tremble before him.

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

(From) Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Reflections: We have just read the opening of what is judged to be the oldest letter of St. Paul in the New Testament. You can tell it’s a letter by the salutation. In these first sentences, we learn two important things. Paul was in continual prayer for the churches he founded. And while he took great pride in the church in Thessaloniki, he did not take credit for their conversion to Christ. It was not his irresistible argument that won them to Christ, but the Holy Spirit. This theme becomes increasingly important as Paul’s theology matures.

Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.  So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.  Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”  But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?  Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.  Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”  They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them,

“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Reflections: How often Jesus is challenged by people who are trying to trip him up! And isn’t it ironic that his challengers refer to him as “sincere,” when they themselves are anything but. If they were sincere, they would have asked the question because they wanted to understand.

          Like Jesus’ questioners, when we are not sincere, we are not open to new perspectives. People whose minds are closed, are more interested in triumphing over other people than in discovering truth. In this gospel selection, Jesus’ challengers expect an answer that fits “in the box,” but Jesus’ answer doesn’t fit in any box. Truth just doesn’t.