The text: Matthew 22:15-22

Living life costs. Doing all the things we do costs money. All the things we are blessed with and use are paid for by someone. There are “no free lunches”, as they say. Two things are certain in life: death and taxes… and maybe enjoying a BBQ when in Australia!

Some people have a bit of trouble with the idea of paying taxes. Others have don’t have too much trouble paying taxes. They drive on good roads, receive excellent treatment in excellent hospitals, enjoy education in good schools, delight in the facilities in beautiful national parks and so on. They all cost money. Someone has to pay for them. Citizens help pay for them. This seems right and good.

But this is right and good in modern Australia. Maybe not so for other parts of the world now or in Jesus’ time. Many people live in communities that are corrupt or unjustly ruled. Some pay exorbitant taxes to feed that corruption and some even have to pax taxes to a brutal foreign power they did not vote for, know well or like much. Paying taxes there would be hard.

This was the lot of the Pharisees, Herodians and average person in Palestine in Jesus’ day. There was disagreement among these and other groups about what to do about paying taxes in their country. Some said taxes should be paid (The Herodians). Some said taxes should not be paid (the Pharisees).

Part of the issue was not just about money or even politics or justice, but about religion. There was an image of the Roman ruler, Caesar, on the coins. For some this was a direct breaking of the First Commandment – the one about images of idols. As they heard Jesus speaking to people with such authority on all the issues of life and the things of God, you can see that they would want to hear him on this troublesome issue. All the better if they could trap him to diminish his growing influence on people.

So, you can hear them thinking, “What is this troublesome Rabbi from the north going to say about this contentious matter?”

For the first time, probably in living memory, the arch-enemies combine for an agreed purpose – to diminish Jesus. They think this way: Maybe they can use this tricky issue of paying tax to Caesar to get Jesus to sign his own death warrant in public. If we can checkmate him in public on this difficult issue which has instant mass interest (because everyone has to pay this tribute tax and hates doing so), that would play into our hands and the plan to get rid of him would be easier to enact.

But this is risky. The people love him. That is the reason for the need to set a trap. They cannot be seen to be too obvious about this.

It is Tuesday of Holy Week. This will turn out to be the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. It is peak time in the city – Festival time. The whole country is there in the city. Jesus’ fall (if it happens) would be as good as any Facebook meltdown! It would go ‘viral’. So, the hunters circle in the crowded temple area.

It is helpful to know more about these coins. The coin is one cent or a penny (denarius). This coin was used to pay the “Tribute Tax”. The Tribute Tax is what everyone had to pay in homage to Rome. They paid it often. Everybody hated paying it, not because of the amount so much as to what it represented, which was bowing down to Caesar as God. Paying anything to the Romans was spiritual and a political selling out!

The image of Caesar Tiberius is on the coin. The inscription says, “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus”. Paying this tax in tribute to Tiberius is going along with the claim that he is ‘Divine’; that he is a god.

The Pharisees believed that even handling these coins with images of Caesar was breaking the first commandment, which is to “Love the Lord with all your heart” . They did not want the people to give their heart to Caesar more than the Lord and his promises.. But the Sadducees liked the temple and see it as part of the Lord’s future. So, they affirmed the payment of the tax for that reason.

So, what does Jesus do here? If Jesus says “Don’t pay the tax to Caesar”, the people will be very pleased, but he would likely be immediately arrested by the Roman authorities and jailed–or worse. If Jesus says, “Pay the tax to Caesar”, he would be accused of idolatry. Many of them would stop listening to him. What is he going to do?

Jesus is masterful under pressure! There are some things to note here. Jesus carries no coins. If they were consistent, the Pharisees would not dare carry Roman coins into the sacred Temple area, and yet, when Jesus asks them to produce a denarius, one immediately appears. Someone has broken the first commandment right there right there in the holiest place on earth – the Temple!

Checkmate. Both groups are now associated with the graven image for their joint evil intent. But Jesus remains his own man. They have broken the law. Jesus has not. They are all tainted by Caesar’s image. He is not.

Astonishingly, Jesus says, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s”. Through the payment of tax to the governing authorities, God provides things like water supply, maintaining the city and so on. So, in other words, “Person of God, pay for what needs to be paid for. Use your resources to your own good, your family and the good of society. Pay school fees, tax, medical bills, donate to good causes, buy clothes, food and live.

But then a difference. Jesus adds: “and give back to God the things that are God’s”. We confess, “I believe that God has created me and ALL THAT EXISTS” (Small Catechism). Genesis 1:26 tells us who we are; we are people created in our kind and loving heavenly Father’s image.

With your whole self and whole heart of thanks, give everything you have ever received or will receive; everything you own or will own, everything you are and will become to him in thankfulness and praise for his will above your own. He is your life. He gives you life by the cross of this Jesus who speaks this word.”

We are free to do this today. We are free in our baptism into Christ to agree or disagree on all the issues and needs of life. We are free to listen, talk, and decide on the things of politics, money, community needs, family needs and etc. We are free to use money and pay taxes because we are made in God’s spitting image in Christ.

As a community of faith it is the same. In 1 Peter 2: 4-5, we hear that together in our Baptism we are living stones in his living spiritual house – a holy priesthood, no less, ordained for his kingdom work in his world.

And we are free to pay our tribute to Jesus today. He gets all the tribute we can muster. He paid for you in blood once and for all and he keeps his promises to complete his work with your life. You righty pay homage with everything you are and own every day, for all he has done and is doing for you out of sheer underserved love for you every day.

As we decide on the many issues we face in family, work, church and life in general, we simply pay right tribute to our Saviour in all of them and do what comes from the heart; we “give back to God’s what is God’s”.

If you were a coin then the image of God would be on you for the world to see.
Today he calls us to give our very selves to him, not merely money, things, or plans.
We give our very selves and whatever we possess to be his image bearers where we live. Whatever we do together in love today, we do it for the Lord’s glory and his kingdom’s coming. That is how we “give to God the things that are God’s.”

The peace of God who gives his all for you keep you this day. Amen.

Text: Matthew 22:1-14 

You’re invited. You’re invited to a celebration. You’re invited to join in God’s great celebration.

People sometimes think that Christian faith is all very sad and solemn. Yes, there is a side of Christian faith that is very deep, that goes to the depths of human experience, beyond the depths of human experience, to the point where God confronts every evil in all its terror.

The cross of Jesus is the stark symbol of the terror and tragedy of human life, of human life turned against its maker and lover.

And yes, there is a side of Christian faith that is all about self-denial, of facing and even embracing hardship and suffering, because comfort and indulgence can become a huge barrier between us and our God.

But at its very heart Christian faith is all about life, wonderful life, life as a gift, as a gift from God, life given a second time, life restored, life saved from death, by the loving forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

If you think about our celebrations, celebrations are all about life. We like to celebrate life, celebrate the special events of life, celebrate the milestones of our lives.

We want to celebrate by coming together, by sharing with other people. We want to capture some of the joy of living, the joy, the deep emotion that bubbles up when you experience the goodness of life. Joy comes from deep within. But joy is multiplied when it is shared.

We want to be able to laugh and smile and sing together. Joy is infectious. We receive joy from one another, and we give joy to one another. When we have something to rejoice about, we want to rejoice together.

And how we will share our joy? How will we celebrate? Somehow most celebrations involve food, good food and drink. Because sharing food is a very practical way of sharing joy.

So we put on a feast, a banquet, a party. Food is something we all need. But when we celebrate we pile on more food than we need. Celebration is more than survival. Celebration is all about a life that is richer and fuller than survival. Celebration is all about sharing the gift of life that is fulfilled and enriched.

Sadly many celebrations today become an excuse for self-indulgence, for drunkenness and abuse and selfishness, which is taking the good things of life and turning them into something selfish and destructive.

Celebration is a true celebration when it embraces the very best of life. Celebration is a true celebration when it gives glory to our God as the giver of life.

The Bible readings for today are all about celebrating the goodness of our God.

The first reading was from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah has many harsh things to say, because he is talking to a people at a time when they had turned away from God, He has many gloomy things to say, because he warns the people that they will be defeated and life will become very hard. But he points the people to a time when God will rescue them. God will defeat their enemies. God will save the people from their distress.

At the same time, Isaiah is painting a picture of God’s final victory over all evil, of God’s salvation from all misery. He speaks of deliverance and salvation for the whole world:

On this mountain the Lord will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations, he will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of this people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.

God will save people from death and he will bring people to his celebration of life:

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all the peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines.

And people will join in the celebration, praising God:

Surely this is our God; we trusted in him and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.

Our psalm today is Psalm 23. You all know it as the Psalm of the Good Shepherd. But did you notice how the psalm ends? With a great celebration!

The Lord who leads us and guides us through life, like a shepherd providing for and protecting his sheep, brings us to a great celebration of his victory:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head will oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

We celebrate when we share in the salvation of our God. That is a celebration that we share in now. And a celebration that continues into all eternity.

The second reading takes us to the New Testament, to Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi. Of all the letters in the New Testament, this letter to the Philippians has the deepest sense of joy.

We heard it in the reading: Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again: Rejoice!

Rejoice in the Lord, means rejoice in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are living in his forgiveness and his salvation. That is the very best reason to rejoice.

Throughout this letter Paul speaks about taking this spirit of joy into every part of your life. Celebrating can be a special time of coming together. Celebration is also an attitude to life.

It is a life of trust and prayer in a spirit of thanksgiving.
It is knowing the peace of God that goes beyond all human understanding.

It is looking for everything that is noble, pure, right good, holy, admirable – focusing on all that is good, on all that comes from God, and building your life around them.

And the Gospel of course is about a wedding celebration. Jesus tells a parable about a wedding banquet. He tells of a man who puts on a wedding banquet for the marriage of his son. He tells of a king who celebrates the marriage of the prince.

The story is obviously a parable about God, and about Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

But why a wedding feast? The people knew weddings as one of the great celebrations of life. In the cycles of life, for two people to come together, to join their lives, to continue the cycle of life, that was a celebration that the whole town would join in and celebrate. It was a celebration that would continue for several days.

The Bible uses the wedding feast as a picture of the celebration between God and his people. Jesus is sometimes called the bridegroom.

If Jesus is the bridegroom, who is the bride? The Bible speaks of the Christian church as the bride of Christ. The Christian church, which is all people who are brought to share this new love of God through the forgiving love of Christ is called the bride of Christ.

Christ loves his bride, and his bride is devoted to Christ. They share a life of wonderful, selfless love and deep, serving devotion.

So now Jesus tells this story of a father who gives a wedding banquet for his son, of a king who puts on a wedding feast for his prince.

But like many of the parables of Jesus, there is a twist.

The father prepares the feast, kills the fatted calf, lays out the tables, decorates the banquet hall. Then he sends his servants to summon the guests, the guests who have already been invited to share in the celebrations.

But they do not want to come. They refuse the invitation.

There seems to be two strands to the story, two different versions that have been brought together.

In the local village version, the guests just cannot be bothered. They have work to do. They are too busy, on their farms or in their businesses. They are preoccupied with what they want to do for themselves. They seem to have no idea of what they are missing out on. So they just ignore the invitation.

In the royal version, the guests turn on the servants, and beat them and kill them. If they refuse to come when they are summoned, their refusal is an act of rebellion against the king. That is why it says that the king was furious, and sent his soldiers to punish their city.

Here Jesus is thinking especially of how the religious leaders of Jerusalem turned against the prophets that God sent, and then turned against Jesus himself. By the time Matthew wrote this Gospel, the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Roman army.

Either way, this parable tells of the goodness of God, providing a banquet, celebrating of the most wonderful life. And the tragedy of people who say: No, we don’t want that life. We don’t want to share your celebration. We don’t belong to you. We will not come and share in your wedding. We will not share in the relationship of joy that is faith in Jesus Christ.

But now there is something totally unexpected.

The father sends the servants out again, out into the streets and the laneways, out to find the people who are poor and struggling. He sends his invitation to people who never, ever thought that they would be invited to this wedding banquet.

Jesus says that the servants were told to bring in all the people they could find, both bad and good. So it was not a question of who deserved to be invited.

Here we see a picture of the grace of God. God’s invitation to come and share his life and salvation is an invitation to all people, an invitation that reaches far beyond who we think should be invited, who we think is worthy to be invited.

This story reminds us that none of us deserve to be invited into the life that God gives. God has gone out to find us wherever we are. It is not a question of how good or bad we are. None of us deserve the invitation.

We come only because God has come to us with his grace, with his love, with the undeserved privilege – God wants us to share in his life. God wants us to celebrate with our Lord Jesus Christ.

But there is one more twist. The father goes into the banquet hall and mingles with the guests. There he sees one guest who is not dressed in wedding clothes, in clothes that are appropriate for a royal celebration.

He has this guest thrown out, thrown into the outer darkness of wailing and moaning. Which is the Bible’s way of speaking about an existence without the life of God, an eternal punishment.

It sounds strange, after such a wonderful invitation. Why was he dressed so poorly? Why was he treated so harshly? It is not because this person was dragged in off the street, and could not be expected to dress up for the occasion.

The point Jesus is making here, is that the only way we can come into the presence of God, the only way we can share in the joy and life of our Saviour, is through the grace of God.

God gives grace. God clothes us, wraps us up in his forgiveness. To be there without wedding clothes means to come and to still ignore and refuse the grace of God. Which is an insult to God and a rejection of the grace of God. Which places us again under the judgement of God, and outside his life.

Our Lord invites us to celebrate with him, to share in his life, the life of sins forgiven and fellowship with our God and Lord.

We live a life of celebration. We express this relationship with our God in a special way when we come to worship. Here we are with God. Here we receive from God. Here we celebrate the grace of God. Here we even taste the banquet of God, as we receive the life-giving food and drink of Christ giving himself to us.

Here we rejoice, and we take that joy with us. Here we look forward to the eternal feast, the heavenly feast, where we share in the perfect joy of life with our God. Amen.

The Text: Matthew 21:33-46

One of the things you might enjoy about the Pentecost Season is that churchgoers spend a lot of time listening to Jesus’ parables. Parables are a special way that Jesus teaches the people listening to him. Some are hard to unravel. Some make you squirm as you realise that he is speaking directly to you. Some seem to be able to speak one way to you and another way to someone else. That’s the beauty of listening to Jesus’ parables.  There is always something new that you get out of them.

In a sense, Jesus uses the parables like a mirror. He did that last week to the chief priests and elders with his parable of the two sons working in the vineyard. And he does it today in the parable of the disobedient tenants. Sometimes it is hard to point out a person’s wrongdoing. But using an indirect illustrative story, that is, a parable, is one way of helping someone see themselves being described so that they may see their wrongdoing.

In the Old Testament, God used the prophet Nathan to do exactly that. Up to that point, King David had refused to accept that he has done something wrong in committing adultery with Bathsheba. Instead of accepting his wrongdoing, he has Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle so he could legally marry her. Nathan presented a parable before King David about a wealthy landowner who steals his neighbour’s family lamb to present as a meal for his guests, even though he had plenty his own sheep. King David was furious at that rich landowner, yet not realising that it was himself being described as he pronounced a just judgment on that tyrant. Nathan declared to King David – YOU are the man. He used the parable as a mirror for King David to see his own actions which he could not see on his own.

It is easy for us to justify our lives before God by declaring ourselves righteous saying – I haven’t killed anyone so I’ve never broken the 5th commandment. I haven’t stolen anything. I haven’t committed adultery. It’s like the man who came to Jesus one day to ask how to inherit eternal life. Jesus said: You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Jesus knew his heart and what to present for him to look at himself, like looking in a mirror.

When writing his Catechisms, Martin Luther said that God also uses the Law as a mirror, in particular the 10 Commandments. He explained what is referred to as the three uses of the law with the purpose of leading us to the Gospel pronouncing the forgiveness of our sins. He said that the First Use of the Law acts like a curb or a fence. It is the Law that is enacted by our governments to protect us. So, the commandments – you shall not steal – you shall not kill – these govern law and order. As citizens, we Christians follow them. If we break them, even though God forgives us, we are still punished by law. They are laws that God provides to give law and order and peaceful communities.

The Second Use of the Law is what is described as the Mirror. These are what we as Christians are to use to reflect on our lives. Like the young man claiming that he had kept all the commandments since he was a child, he was urged by Jesus to look again with Christ-like eyes. So when Jesus was asked what is the Greatest Commandment he answered – love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength – and love your neighbour as yourself. So as we reflect on the commandments and try to justify ourselves by saying – I haven’t killed anyone so I haven’t broken the fifth commandment, St John says in his First Letter (3:15) to look again: Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer. Or if we say that we love God, John tells us to look again – If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Jesus says, anyone who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery in their heart. So in its spiritual and primary use, the law acts like a mirror to remind us of our need for remission of sin in Jesus.

Just like King David, we often try to avoid our guilt. We are very good at making excuses or justifying what we did and why we did it. The problem with that is we then avoid hearing the comforting word of God’s forgiveness. But that is God’s desire for us. Jesus said – God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. God wants to love us – to forgive us – to wrap his loving arms around us to let us know of his grace for us. We hear Jesus weep when we keep trying to deal with our guilt, by our own means, just like King David and the Pharisees did: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” says Jesus.

And we hear how heavy that guilt weighs upon us in King David’s Psalm 32: Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. So the purpose of the Second Use of the Law is to drive us to Jesus Christ and his grace and forgiveness. We call that Justification.

And once we have been comforted by the Gospel, the Law takes on a new role in the life of the Christian – we call that Sanctification. Knowing that we have been saved by Grace. Knowing that the Law can no longer condemn us because of Christ – we are now free to explore the gift of God’s commandments to see how to live blessed lives. The reason I don’t commit murder is not because I’m afraid of the punishment of jail. The reason I don’t commit murder is not because I’m afraid of God’s judgment. Rather I don’t commit murder because I love God with all my heart and because I love my neighbour.

And that’s what Jesus is trying to teach through the parables. And it did the trick as Matthew points out: When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. Now they are invited to repent and discover the freeing Gospel – but they unfortunately don’t: They wanted to arrest him.

St Paul knows all too well our human tendency to avoid accusations of wrongdoing. He wrote: ‘If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.’

Even though, according to Paul’s own words, when it came to righteousness under the law he was blameless – he lacked knowing the grace of God because he had no need for it. But when he came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord, he found a different blessing from the law – not blamelessness, but forgiveness – as did King David. Not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

If we try hard enough we can always find a good excuse or a reason for why we did something we shouldn’t have. But God wants us to come to him, not so he can condemn us and make us feel guilty but so he can free us from the guilt and burden; that same burden and guilt King David experienced when his bones were crushed by the weight of his sin. Maybe we have to face an earthly punishment when we confess, but what a freeing gift it is, knowing that God does not condemn us. Imagine how free the woman caught in adultery felt when Jesus said that all her accusers were gone and that he did not condemn her either, but to go and not let sin enslave her anymore. Or the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair while righteous Simon the Pharisee ignored the needs of Jesus: And Jesus said to Simon: “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Let us not be afraid to come to Jesus and bring all our baggage with us. God sent his son into the world, not to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Go in peace – your faith has saved you.

Amen.