Midweek Musings by Jimmy Moor Don’t miss out! Sign up this week for a Pathway Group. Join others who will be reading The Capacity for More as part of the Stewardship Journey. We’re about to get underway. With whom does our ultimate allegiance lie? With our spouse, or the family line that produced us? With our country? Our political party? With the sports team we follow most passionately? With a particular business or industry? There are many things in our world that compete for our loyalty and support. And many of them are good things. Our primary text this week, Matthew 22:15–22, uses the issue of paying taxes to raise the issue of ultimate allegiance for the followers of Jesus.. Two groups in Jerusalem that normally don’t get along, the Pharisees and the Herodians, are united in their opposition to Jesus, and they join to confront him with a trick question. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Answer one way, and Jesus will lose popular support. Answer the other way, and Jesus can be arrested as a traitor. Jesus responds with the familiar statement, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” It is a brilliant answer, but it doesn’t really settle much and may leave us with many other questions. Note one detail in Jesus’ exam. When a coin is produced at Jesus’ request, Jesus asks, “whose image (eikon) is on the coin? The answer is Caesar’s. His eikon is on the coin, which means the coin belongs to him. But humans bear the eikon of God, which means that they belong to God. This belonging has significant implications. I like what Charles Cousar says in Texts for Preaching: “Humans bear God’s image, and wherever they live and operate – whether in the social, economic, political, or religious realm – they belong to God. Their primary loyalties do not switch when they move out of church and into the voting booth.” We have the privilege of thinking on these things when we gather on Sunday. You will also want to read Exodus 33: 12–23 before worship. Here we have a dramatic picture of the “glorious presence” of God, the holiness and majesty of God. Moses might well say to us, “if you’re looking for someone to give your ultimate allegiance to, have I got a God for you. There is no one like the great I AM. Look to this God, and him alone.” Remember our Habitat for Humanity build, and don’t overlook the UMW Variety Show coming up on Saturday, October 25. Sign up today for a Pathway Group! We believe it will truly be a pathway to joy. Please join me in prayer for our Sunday services. I am eager to worship with you. It is never the same without you.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 03:03:27 +0000
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