Exodus 33:12-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22
Ordinary 29A; Proper 24
Multiple kinds of testing take place in this week’s readings.
Moses wants assurance that God is truly the one in charge, present and at the ready to assist. God gifts Moses with a glimpse of glory to seal the promise. Certain tasks and challenges require a large measure of divine power and those engaged in them need to know they are not alone. The oldest document in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians, holds up another kind of test: that of early Christians trying to be faithful in a hostile context. Even though they are persecuted, they hold fast and in the process become a witness and example to others and the recipients of Paul’s praise. Finally, in the Gospel reading, Jesus is put to the test yet again by religious leaders intent on entrapping him. This time the question they proffer is about taxes. (How timely.) Should they be paid or not? Jesus’ response, knowing their malice, sends them packing, astonished and no doubt enraged.
Tests. Lots of tests this week. Testing of God, testing of disciples, testing of leaders. Those being put to the test in these three texts rise to the challenge. Moses gets God’s glorious assurance. The Thessalonian Christians keep the faith. Jesus amazes and silences those bent on his destruction. Sounds neat and tidy and certain. And yet we know that a life of faith, of following God’s call and of discipleship is often messy, chaotic and filled with doubt. Our pleas for God to show up and give us rest feel unheard. We often crumble under culture’s pressures and abandon God’s commandments for socially acceptable idols. We, too, come to Jesus with less than genuine motives and use him to justify ungodly ends.
These stories this week end well, but we know that they represent only a snippet of the salvation narrative — one that includes a scene with those malice-filled religious leaders getting their way and seeing Jesus dead on the cross. And surely the Thessalonians were not loving and faithful all the time. Not even the most devote among us manages that. Even documented saints had chapters in their lives of notorious sin. Not to mention Moses will in fact leave Sinai but it is far from smooth sailing from there on out for the Israelite people.
Given the reality that passing this week’s tests will not necessarily mean that next week’s challenges are met with victory, what’s important about these readings? What do we 21st-century disciples living in the middle of a pandemic, weeks away from a contentious election, struggling to address racial injustice, climate change and economic disparity have to learn from God’s glory revealed to Moses and the stalwartness of the Thessalonian Christians and Jesus’ mic-drop answer about taxes?
Well, perhaps, to start we could learn to lean on another verse of Scripture from much earlier in Matthew’s Gospel — Matthew 6:34 reads: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Could we attend to what is in front of us right now? I wonder if I might have missed seeing God’s glory given my tendency to get distracted or hyperfocused on the wrong things or simply oblivious to my surroundings. I sometimes must remind myself, literally, to look up. I might have been checking the email on my phone as God blew by me, sure that my inbox was more important than God’s inbreaking. Could we attempt to be alert, on watch, for God with us?
Could we notice and give thanks for the people being faithful right now, despite the pressure to be otherwise? There are people of faith and people of no faith, living with integrity when no one is watching. There are certified nursing assistants lovingly caring for nursing home residents who cannot see family right now, or who have no family. There are essential workers showing up daily and for little pay. I ended up at a fast-food fish place for dinner last week and was astounded by the friendliness of the staff. The manager asked how everything was and said to let us know if we needed anything. We asked if they’d been open long. “No,” he said. “We opened up nine months ago.” As in February of 2020. And here they were attentive and friendly. We overheard the cashier telling a co-worker about her other two jobs and here she was: friendly, attentive. Praise God for her witness to me in that moment.
Could we rejoice when God’s goodness gets the better of people, even if only temporarily, and then remember the truth that God’s goodness will not lose, ultimately? Jesus tells those death-plotting religious leaders to pay to Caesar what is owed to Caesar and give God that which is God’s. Case closed. Next. Jesus refuses to take the bait and instead shuts down the haters. He does not meet malice with malice but instead speaks truth to power. Might we do likewise? (Omitting the part where Jesus calls them hypocrites because, let’s face it, that’s not our call.) I see this exchange as an “as for me and my household” sort of moment. As if Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Look, I don’t know what you are going to do, but here is how I see it and therefore this is how I am going to act.” I wonder if we could try this method of communication. Could we know and articulate our moral framework and rock-bottom values and true north and state it plainly, boldly? No cajoling, no demonizing others, just “as for me and my house” we are going to give God what is God’s, which is of course our life, our soul, our all. Then let those with malice do with that what they will, knowing God will do the rest.
All these passed tests this week do not guarantee that next week’s tests will be conquered, too. We will miss seeing God, doubt God’s promises, feel certain we are God-forsaken at times. We will fail to do what is right and do the very things we hate instead. We will be the one coming to Jesus with malice and yes, some days, evil gets a temporary but very costly win. And yet, today’s worries are enough for today. Today’s tests are all we can take today even as God’s power is available and sure always. Can we trust and act out of that reality, just today?
This week:
- When have you unquestionably seen God’s glory or felt God’s presence?
- When have you felt tested? What happened? When have you tested God?
- Who are the people who are examples of faith to you? What about them makes them so?
- Repeatedly in Scripture God knows the hearts of people. Look at other passages where God intuits people’s motives. What do you learn about God from these passages? About people? (John 3:2, 1 Samuel 16:7, Matthew 12:15, Matthew 26:9-10)
- What is the point of the Pharisee’s question in this Matthew text? Why do they ask Jesus about paying taxes? Is there anything analogous to this question today?
- What do you need to attend to today? Where do you feel God’s power and presence in it?
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