Sunday, October 22, 2023

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96:1-9
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22

For Yahweh is great, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.

A well-known seventeenth century English deist, Anthony Collins was walking one day when he crossed paths with a commoner. “Where are you going?” asked Collins. The man answered that he was going to church to worship God. Collins wondered whether the man’s God was a great or a little God. The man answered, “Both.” Collins did not understand how that could be. The man answered, “He is so great, sir, that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him; and so little that He can dwell in my heart.” Collins later declared that this simple answer had more effect on his mind than all the volumes he had ever read about God, and all the lectures he had ever heard.

Our God is both big and small: bigger than creation, but small enough to live in our hearts. He is so big that everything must submit to His authority, but He sent His son Our Lord Jesus Christ into the humility of flesh so that we can know Him intimately. Darkness still reigns in this world, but we have the promise that the Light has won the victory and that one day we will see, know, and experience God fully and completely. God is big enough to do this, but also small enough to do it just for us. That’s good to know.

God spoke through Isaiah, “I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.” We are bothered by this idea that God creates darkness and calamity. Some translations even use the word “evil”. Many refuse to believe that God would create evil; they only accept that His is only capable of goodness and love. That’s why many Christians ignore the Old Testament which is filled with war and suffering. The exile was ordained by God to bring His disobedient people to their knees. How could the God of love found in the New Testament stories be the same God we hear about in this passage?

The passage from Isaiah begins with God speaking to His anointed, Cyrus, a savior the people would never expect. Cyrus did not believe in the God of the Jews, but he was a pluralistic ruler, willing to tolerate all types of faith even though he claimed no religion of his own. He adopted the local gods of each nation as was necessary to get the support of those people for his rule. He was willing to spend the cost of building new temples for their gods to keep his subjects happy. This sounds like the type of ruler that God would eliminate rather than raise because he had no foundation in His kingdom, and yet we discover that this is exactly the man God chose for His purpose.

Cyrus was chosen to be God’s hands in a world that was thrown upside down, to be a savior for the people God loves but whose exile was a lesson to be learned. They turned from Him, followed false gods; they did their own thing. They rejected Him, and God gave the Babylonians the strength to destroy Jerusalem and take the people into captivity. When the time was right, God gave the strength to Cyrus to destroy the Babylonians and restore His people to their homeland.

These nations think they do everything with their own strength; rulers are powerful with mighty armies. They often have their own gods, they have their own resources, and they have everything they need to win the victories that are recorded throughout history. It seems to us that conquest and captivity, destruction and exile are unnecessary in a world where God is in control. Yet, in today’s scripture, Cyrus was reminded from the beginning that God was in charge. God is God, and there is none like Him. God is able to give Cyrus the power, and God is able to take it away.

How could God choose a foreigner to be His anointed one? The word used here is Messiah or Christ, and Cyrus plays the role of the deliverer of God’s people. Though he does not even know the God of Israel, God has called him to win salvation for His people. This doesn’t make sense to us because we want to define God according to our own needs and expectations. We want Him to be all light and no darkness, peace with no calamity. We want justice and mercy to be as we define it, not as God does.

There is a difference between what we see in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, but to have faith is to believe that God is everything He said He is and that He does everything He said He does. The difference between our understanding of God in the Old and New Testaments is that Jesus Christ the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament came in flesh at the right time to fulfill all those promises. He came to reconcile God and His creation, giving those who believe in Him the gift of the Holy Spirit so we can seek His face and understand His nature. Here we see how He is both big and small. He is the Creator of everything but came to dwell among His people and do for us that which only He could do.

Wherever we are and whatever we do, God is with us. We live in a society where our religious and faith beliefs do not keep us separated from the world in which we live. We have to follow secular laws, deal with non-Christian people, respect leaders who might not have the same ideology as we follow. We must respect when God choses someone we would never expect to do His will in this world.

We sometimes forget that if God can speak through a donkey (Numbers 20) then He can speak to us through people who do not believe as we do. Cyrus was not a Jew; he was a pagan whom God chose to fulfill His promises. Cyrus delivered the Jews out of exile; he was a messiah sent by the God who was in control. He chose a foreigner to do what His people could not, or would not, do.

We live in a world that requires us to deal with people and situations we might not want to experience. We are called as Christians to live in trust and hope, not in anything in this world, but in God. He is in control no matter what happens today or tomorrow. He can make His will happen through it all, even if we do not like those whom God has chosen. We live in hope, not in individuals or the government, but in God’s promises. Good or bad, our life of faith will keep us focused on what is good and that is God. We may be nervous, frustrated, anxious and angry, and we won’t always agree with our neighbors about what is good and bad in our world, but everything will work out in the end for the best according to God’s will.

How do you describe God? In today’s society, there are many different ideas about the nature of God. So many people are looking to fill the hole in their souls, a hole that can only be filled by the One, True and living God. Yet, if you visit the spiritual section of any secular bookstore, you will find large displays of books that teach different ideas about God, even the belief in many gods. There are religions that make the things of creation like nature, materials, or man himself to be like gods. The limited ability of human beings to understand the vast truth about the LORD causes us to look for explanations in the things we can see. But God tells us the Truth in His Word.

Kristen Wiig was a regular player on “Saturday Night Live” for seven seasons. She played many different characters, including an excitable clerk at the Target store who was always annoying the customers with chit chat and trips from behind the register to go pick up items for herself. The New York Times wrote this about Kristen: “Kristen Wiig has become a household name on ‘SNL’ by playing outrageous versions of people we’ve all had the misfortune to encounter.”

I was both enamored and repulsed by one of my favorite characters. Penelope was a woman who felt that she had to one-up everything that everyone said. If another character said that they had a baby, she had twins. If another character said that he spoke four languages, she spoke twelve. By the end of the skit, Penelope disclosed some of the most bizarre and disturbing claims to the people to whom she was speaking. My daughter was freaked out by that character.

We all know a Penelope, although hopefully not as extreme as the character on the television show. We all know the guy who thinks he knows it all and the woman who has accomplished everything possible. Perhaps we all have a bit of Penelope in all of us. We try to one-up our neighbor because it makes us feel more important. And yet, in doing so, we make ourselves seem much less, even petty. By the end of the skits, Kirsten’s character Penelope is a ridiculous person, a joke. We also become a joke when we insist on raising ourselves above our neighbors instead of lifting them up with praise and encouragement.

The psalmist writes, “For all the gods of the peoples are idols; But Jehovah made the heavens.” We make so many people in our world idols such as sports stars, singers, models, and politicians but the definition of the word ‘idol’ is not flattering. Merriam-Webster says an ‘idol’ is “a representation or symbol of an object of worship, a false god, a likeness of something, a form or appearance visible but without substance, an object of extreme devotion, a false conception.” We make our idols; not only are the gods of the nations less than our God, but they are nothing more than a human creation. They will always disappoint us.

We are not greater than our neighbor even if our one-upmanship is true. Even if we did have more babies or speak more languages, we are not greater than our neighbor. Even more so, we are far less than our God. Look at all He has done! There is no way we can one-up the Lord. That’s why we are called to sing His praise. He has done great things. He has brought salvation to His people. He made the heavens. He will never disappoint. Oh, we may find ourselves disappointed with our expectation of God. We put God into our own little boxes; we make Him to be what we want Him to be. We are disappointed when He does not do what we want Him to do, but that doesn’t mean that He has been a disappointment. It just means that we are not seeing Him as He is. It means we aren’t living in thanksgiving and trust.

The answer to our problems is not always as we might expect or desire. We might pray for healing, but find death is the answer. We might pray for a financial windfall, but experience poverty. We might want love and friendship but discover that God is giving us a moment of exile and loneliness, to help us to see Him more clearly. The world might see this as evil and claim God is not good, but we know that God is able to do miraculous things in the midst of hardship. He can bring great things out of tragedy. He can even save people by using an unbeliever.

It seems as though many in our world today have the same attitude as Cyrus. He didn’t believe in any gods but welcomed and tolerated every god. Perhaps most people will say they believe in something, but they are willing to allow all people to worship whatever god they please. There are even those who believe that we all worship the same god. After all, there is only one God and the God we know has many aspects and characteristics. Who are we to judge our neighbor’s understanding of the divine? Some false gods are easy to recognize, like money or sex or power. But many wonder whether the gods of our new age or pagan neighbors’ false gods or some aspect of the God we worship that is just different than the God we know from the bible. What about the understandings of God found in religions claiming a foundation in the God of the patriarchs?

The question of faith has become part of our daily dialogue, in politics and other forums. What role should faith have in our decisions about leaders? What role should faith have in the public square? What role should faith have in our life outside the church? Should we sing the song of the psalmist and lift the God we know above all other gods? Or should we live in the world like Cyrus, welcoming and tolerant of all faiths, no matter what god they worship? God was able to use Cyrus in a way that restored His people to Him. Might the same be true of those in our world who accept any faith as faith in the same God?

We will find that there are those who will try to exploit our faith for the sake of their own desires. Cyrus didn’t treat the Jews kindly because he respected them. He wanted them to live peaceably under his rule. Happy people will not rebel. God used this to His purpose, but there was nothing tolerant or charitable about Cyrus’ work. It was for his own benefit.

We’ve seen over the past few weeks how Jesus used parables to attack the religious leaders. Last week’s lesson sent them over the edge; they decided that Jesus must be destroyed. But there was no easy way to do so. They knew that the people loved Him. They also knew that though the Romans tolerated their faith and practices, they tolerated everyone’s. His words could not be used against Him in the Roman courts and the Jews could not destroy Him under their own laws. They had to find a way to make Jesus a rebel in Roman eyes.

So, they asked Him a question about taxes. The coins would have been offensive to the Jews because it bore an image of a person. It was an idol, a graven image. It was necessary to change the coins into something acceptable for Temple use, which is why there were money changers in the court of the Temple. Foreign money was exchanged for Jewish currency. A Roman coin with Caesar’s picture could not be used for religious offerings. They thought this question would trap Him because if He answered yes, it would turn the Jewish people against Him, but if He answered no, they could set the Romans on Him. Jesus found another answer. Jesus answered, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money.”

Jesus, knowing their malice, pointed to the picture on the coin. “Who is this?” He asked. They answered that it was Caesar. Jesus answered their question, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God’s.” We might view this as a statement about separating Church and State, and yet there is something deeper and much more important about what Jesus is saying here. The phrase that stands out is “Give to God what is God’s.” Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and their council was brilliant because it turned the tables. He told them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God. In other words, they were to give the idol back to the idolized and give God everything else. After all, everything belongs to God. When we remember that, we see that even the government is given by God, not as a divine representative of what He wants to accomplish, but as a divinely appointed servant for a particular time and place. Good and bad, God is in control of our world, and we can live in trust knowing that in the end everything will be as He intends. Jesus did not tell the people to pay or not pay taxes, He reminded them that everything belongs to God.

We are called as Christians to live in trust and hope. Whatever happens, we can trust that God is in control. We live in hope, not in individuals or even the government, but in God’s promises. Good or bad, our life of faith will keep us focused on what is good and that is God. We may be nervous, frustrated, anxious and possibly angry, and we won’t agree with our neighbors what is good and bad in our world. But we can sing to the Lord that new song, the song of thanksgiving that He is with us through it all.

As a parent, it has always been my hope that my children heard what I said and that they would remember it when they went out on my own. I wanted to seal them when they walked out the door. I did this by praying for them and wishing them a good day as they walked out the door. I told them to make good choices, to be careful, to have fun, to do what is right. When they were headed to a special activity, I added an appropriate word of encouragement or instruction. Even as adults I still try to remind them of things we’ve talked about, lessons we’ve learned. They might think I am a nag, but I repeat myself to seal the lessons in their hearts and minds so that they will remember. Did they listen? I hope so, and I have seen them make good decisions over the years, so perhaps I did something right.

Paul was an apostle of God, sharing the Gospel of Christ with the world. His work took him many places, and he planted church after church. The people of Thessalonica received that message and gathered together as a community of faith. They were growing in grace and hope and faith. Paul could not stay with all the communities he began, but he kept in touch with them through letters and through helpers who visited the congregations. Through one of these helpers, Paul heard that the Thessalonians were doing well. Timothy had sent a good report to Paul and Paul was pleased to hear the good news. This wasn’t true everywhere. Other preachers were sharing their own understanding of God and Jesus Christ. They were claiming to be apostles, but they were sharing a false god.

Paul knew what a danger it was for the early Christians to live in this world. They were surrounded by those who had made idols out of all the wrong things. There were preachers speaking a false Gospel. There were leaders who did not fully understand the new faith. There were those who wanted to see it destroyed. They had to be careful; every generation has had to face people who claimed to be from God, but who twist God’s Word to their benefit.

They were holding strong, but Paul did not know how long they could last. Would they remember the lessons he taught them? Would they keep the Gospel of grace or turn to another gospel message? Would they believe the lies being told about him by those opposed to his message? Paul did not know what might happen next, so he wrote a message of thanksgiving and encouragement to them. He repeated the Gospel message to seal it in their hearts and minds so that they would not fall from grace and turn to a faith built on works and self-righteousness.

We are encouraged by these words as Paul lifts all those who have heard the Gospel and received God’s grace to a place where we will stand firm in what is right no matter the circumstances we face. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and we are called to live the life of faith that rests in His promise and His forgiveness. Paul called the people of Thessalonica “imitators” of the apostles and of the Lord. We saw that continued through generations of Christians, into those who were our mentors. We are now the next generation, sharing the Gospel with our children and our neighbors, imitating what Paul first lived so that the world might see God’s grace. We, too, are sealed so that all we do and say are firmly founded in Jesus Christ.

We are called as Christians to live in trust and hope. Whatever happens, we can trust that God is in control. We live in hope, not in individuals or even the government, but in God’s promises. Good or bad, our life of faith will keep us focused on God. We may be nervous, frustrated, anxious and possibly angry, and we won’t agree with our neighbors about what is good and bad in our world. Let us remember to join together as we sing to the Lord that new song, the song of thanksgiving that He is with us through it all. He binds us together not on our hope for the world, but on the hope that He brings through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Faith in Jesus means leaving the idols of this world behind. Unfortunately, many still live like Cyrus, welcoming and tolerant of all faiths, no matter what god is worshipped. God calls us to share His glory with all people so that they will turn away from their false gods and know the Lord who is God over everything. We may be struggling with circumstances that are confusing and painful, but we can trust that God is in control.

We may experience an exile of sorts as God sets us apart for a season, but God’s promises are real, and He is faithful. We can trust that He will then send someone like Cyrus who will help to restore us to Him or like Paul who will remind us of whose we are. The lessons we learn along the way will turn us back to the God to whom we belong and who has never left our side. He is always faithfully working to do what is right and good. Let us give everything over to the God who is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him and so little that He can dwell our hearts. That’s why we are called to sing His praise. He has done great things. He made the heavens. He has brought salvation to His people. That’s something, and Someone, to sing about. He is worthy of being praised!