Why False Securities Are… False
Pastor Mathew Magera – 10/22/17 – Sermon 249
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, from our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We are very fortunate to have the amenities of a good
life. We appreciate the protection of a house. We appreciate the nourishment of
our food. We appreciate the value of our finances. We appreciate the quality of
our health care. We enjoy the amenities that come with the life that we have.
During the time of Jesus, Israel was under the blanket
of the Roman Empire. Society, in general, found this blanket helpful, if not,
beneficial for their survival. Knowing the up and down history of this nation
of God's people, Israel wants to ensure they are not wiped out. With Rome as
their big brother, no one would mess with Israel. With Rome as their teacher,
Israel would have a decent education system. With Rome as their provider,
Israel would always have access to food and clothing. With Rome as their
protector, Israel would have nothing to fear. Still, the system was oppressive
also. Exploiting the weak, the sick, the poor. Their justice system was one of
the most cruel and unusual in all of history. Their taxes come up a few times
in the Gospels as well. So, perhaps the old saying is true, that in the Roman
Empire nothing was certain except death and taxes. But, people felt this was a
small price to pay for the overall protection by Rome. They had a sense of
security and they didn't want to lose it.
So, when Jesus is caught in the matter of this
imperial tax, nobody would expect him, nor want him to say anything other than
supporting the tax to Caesar, even if they didn’t want to pay it. That tax was
their lifeline, it was that small price to pay for the protection of the world’s
most powerful empire. Nobody would have flinched when Jesus said, "Give to
Caesar what is Caesar's." As odd as it might sound, there may have been
cheers to hear something like this. The people did not want to lose their
security. But, it was that statement that followed that confused them.
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's."
This is not a lesson about taxes. This is not a story
about budgets or stewardship. This is a story about idolatry. Idolatry need not
include tiny golden statues or money or cars or homes, but today, the idolatry
being exploited is the idol of security. Jesus is saying, "Yeah, go ahead,
pay your tax to Caesar for this protection but think a bit more deeply about
the one true God." Jesus is convicting Israel's sense of security and he
is labeling it as a false security. Even the most powerful of human empires
crumble. It happened to the Babylonians. It happened to the Assyrians. It
happened to the Persians. It happened to the Greeks. And it will happen to
Rome. No kingdom can last, no kingdom is exempt, no kingdom can escape the
inevitable, except for God's Kingdom.
We also find ourselves having a false sense of
security in which we place our trust and even our worship. We also depend on an
earthly kingdom to take care of us, to feed us, to heal us but it is not
necessarily a kingdom ruled by men or women, but it is a kingdom ruled by
numbers and quantities. Our sense of security can be defined by quantities
rather than qualities.
As we think this morning about Jesus' words "Give
to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's" I want to share
with you a story I first heard ten years ago used by my college chaplain. I
want you to immerse yourself into this not-quite-so-fictional world, thinking
about our sense of security, where a false sense of security is made false and
where the true source of security is made true.
Once upon a time in a land not far from here, there
lived a nation of people. By and large, they were good people, decent people,
industrious and hardworking. They lived commendable lives, dedicating
themselves to such endeavors as caring for home and family, building better
communities and schools, and helping one another in various ways.
These were people you and I would be delighted to have
as neighbors. Their one quirk? They were obsessed with numbers. Absolutely
consumed by them.
Numbers, numbers, everywhere you looked, there were
numbers! Every year was known by its number. Every day was broken down into
numbered parts and people wore jewelry to tell them what number it was at any
point during the day, 5:05 in the morning or 7:15 in the evening. Busy people
were quick to remind others, "there are only 24 hours in the day, you know."
Every house had a number. Every car had metal tags
with numbers on them. Major roads were known by numbers like 131 or 96.
The government even sold little medallions with
numbers on them for people to hang around the necks of their pet dogs, and this
was not always optional but in some places mandatory. A dog without a number?
Why that was an illegal dog! A K-9 in violation of some city ordinance with a
long number and several sub-numbers.
These people were so infatuated with numbers that when
babies were born, the proud parents would send out cards filled with numbers.
Born at 3:31pm on 9-27-10, weighing seven pounds, four ounces and 19 inches
long.
But, since those numbers were subject to change, a
more permanent number was needed. And so the parents would fill out a form,
send it to the government Agency in Charge of Numbers, and that agency would
assign the child a nine-digit number that would be theirs for life. Somebody
else might have the same name, but, by golly, nobody else would have the same
number!
As the child grew, they would be identified by still
more numbers. People would say things like, "They're in the 95th
percentile for height, 75th for weight. Their IQ is 114 and their GPA is 3.22.
They can run the hundred in 12.3 seconds and in their 16th year they
got a part time job. Where, you ask? 7-11, of course, making 10.65 every one
hour.
And, most people agreed, that last category
represented the most important category of numbers: the number that people
earned, inherited or accumulated.
When, for instance, a person worked for a company,
then every week or so, the company would take some of its numbers and transfer
them to the employee. The bigger the number transferred, the more people tended
to respect the job.
People with bigger numbers got to live in bigger
houses, drive fancier cars and generally enjoy what folks called "the
finer things in life."
There were basically three things people could do with
their numbers: they could spend them, save them, or give them away.
The spending was easy and fun. The people were so
hardworking and industrious that there were lots of things they would sell you
in exchange for some of your numbers. Spending numbers was so much fun, in
fact, that most people spent more numbers than they actually had! They did this
by promising to pay bigger numbers in the long run in exchange for the
privilege of obtaining an item or service now and paying smaller numbers for
many, many months to come.
Saving numbers was a different matter. It was
something most people agreed was a good idea, but found it hard to do. I mean,
when you've already promised away 25% of your future numbers for the next 360
months for a house, and another 10% for 60 months for a car, after the
government has already taken 28% to run the country and keep its promises, and
that agency that assigns nine-digit numbers to newborns has taken 7.65%, well,
that doesn't leave very many numbers to feed, clothe, educate and entertain the
family. Consequently, this nation's savings rate was about the lowest in the
developed world.
It was in the area of giving numbers away, however,
that the people exhibited the most unusual attitudes and behaviors. They were
among the most generous people in the world. When they saw a need (such as
hungry people or victims of a disaster or a new program to help unfortunate
children) many of them were quick to take some of their numbers and share them
with the needy. And this sharing made them feel good and happy. So although
their savings rate was among the lowest, the giving rate was about the highest
in the world.
Now the strange thing about the situation was this: if
someone would tell these people, "You know, you really ought to try to
save more of your numbers," they'd smile and shuffle their feet and say,
"yeah, you're right. But it's hard, you know."
But if someone were to suggest that they ought to
consider giving some of their numbers away to this need or that cause - maybe
more numbers than they gave away last year - then some of the folks got
downright angry and offended.
Strange, isn't it? Tell them they ought to do
something they're not doing and they smile and agree with you. Suggest they
ought to do more of something they already do and enjoy doing, and they get
offended. Well, there are some cultures that are difficult to understand.
Be all that as it may, what concerns us this morning
is the fact that numbers became so important to these people that their
obsession spilled over into the religious realm.
I don't mean a mere preoccupation with the number of
members on their church roll or the size of the number that the church had
managed to accumulate in the bank or even the fact that they had a collection
of sacred scriptures one portion of which was called, "The Book of
Numbers." No, I'm talking about their actual, understanding of God.
They preferred to call God by the mathematical term
"The Infinite." They believed God was the ultimate source and giver
of all numbers, and so if you pleased the Infinite and were among the
Infinite's chosen people, then the Infinite would bless you with bigger
numbers. Conversely, if you had little numbers, or no numbers at all, then
clearly you were not among the Infinite's favorite and beloved people. Clear,
the Infinite was displeased with you.
People longed to be one with the Infinite. Bigger
numbers were closer to infinity, they reasoned, so it followed that the way to
become one with the Infinite was to acquire the biggest number you could. And
all the people set themselves to this task - religiously! All those, that is,
except the ones with little numbers or no numbers at all. They figured that
they were so far from the Infinite that there was no point in even trying.
Into this busy and industrious and compulsive
situation came the Stranger. He was as mysterious as the square root of a
negative number. There was something about him that was as inexpressible as the
quotient of a number divided by zero. And to the people he bore an unsettling
message. His message was this: "Don't sweat the numbers. Numbers are not
where it's at. The Infinite cares for you infinitely, no matter what your
number!"
Some of the people, especially those with little
numbers, were intrigued by the Stranger and his message. Quickly, he developed
quite a following.
He spoke to the people of the Infinite's love and
benevolence. He told them their needs were cared for because it was the nature
of the Infinite to give and still be undiminished.
And, he added, it's the same way for you and me. The
way to the truly happy life is to be relatively unconcerned about the numbers.
"When you give," he said, "that's when you get. You're like a
candle lighting other candles. No matter how many times your light is borrowed
and divided and shared, it is never diminished. Indeed, the more it is shared,
the brighter the world becomes. Just so, the Infinite gives to you more
abundantly than you can give away."
And then he added, "You can never obtain the
Infinite. The Infinite is by definition the highest number imaginable plus one.
And that 'plus one' always puts the Infinite out of reach."
Someone asked him, "Then how do we become one
with the Infinite?"
He replied, "You can't." The people were
stunned, shocked, silent. "The Infinite has become one with you!"
"That's absurd," challenged the Chief Number
Cruncher of the Temple. "The Infinite cannot become finite."
"The Infinite can become anything or anyone the
Infinite chooses to become."
"And," the Chief Number Cruncher said with a
sneer, "I suppose you would have us believe that the Infinite has chosen
to become you."
"Your words, not mine," said the Stranger.
"Blasphemy!" said the Number Crunchers.
"Heresy!" cried the Mathematicians.
"Cancel him, negate him!" cried the people.
"And let his nine-digit number be eradicated."
With many shouts, they put the Stranger to death.
But then the Infinite did what the Infinite does: he
gave. He gave new and never-ending life to the Stranger. And then the people
knew that the Stranger had been right all along.
He gave so much that he died without a number to his
name. Yet he was the one with the Infinite. Indeed, he was the Infinite.
People saw that their obsession with numbers was
self-defeating. The Stranger's message was trustworthy and true. Was then. Is
now. And so it bears repeating:
When you give, that's what you get. No matter what
your number is. The Infinite cares for you infinitely. And so, my friends,
don't sweat the numbers.[1]
When Jesus tells us to give to Caesar what is Caesar's
and to give to God what is God's, he is reminding us that all of the earthly
protection in the world, then numbers we might have or the quantity of
protection by a nation or laws, while perhaps good for a time, cannot compare
with the divine protection given to us from God alone. We do become obsessed
with what we have or what we lack and these things become idols for us, even
our sense of security. But, God created this world and everything in it for our
benefit and He sent Jesus to the cross for our benefit so that we would not
have to rely any more on a false sense of security. It is at the cross where
our false sense of security becomes false because it is at the cross where our
true sense of security becomes true. So, give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Be
thankful for the many blankets and securities we wear but give to God what is
God's and never forget the outpouring of love that provided you that blanket
and gave to you a life everlasting through Christ, our stranger, made Savior.
To God be the glory, now and always. Amen.
[1]
Original story from: Radecke, Mark William. God
In Flesh Made Manifest: Sermons for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany: Cycle A,
Gospel Texts. Pgs. 81-86.