Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

On the surface, this is a story of people trying to trick Jesus by asking him a question that seems to have only two answers, either of which will get Jesus in trouble. But Jesus answers in a way that sidesteps the trap. You don’t have to know anything else about scripture or theology and this story will still teach you the lesson that there is always a more gracious and true way to live--in which you break free from the false dichotomy of either/or, black/white, right/wrong. In a world that seems focused on either/or; the way of Christ is predominately both/and.

That’s an important point; but watch what happens when you bring an awareness of other scriptural and historical truths into this story. Recall the first of the Ten Commandments, as found in Exodus 20:4-6:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

For the Hebrew people, there was no god except for the Lord, and every visual depiction of the Lord was forbidden. No idols, no graven images...no exceptions.

Also know this: a denarius was a Roman coin. Rome, of course, was the occupying and oppressive cultural, political, and military empire in the region at the time. As with American currency, the denarius included an image of an important political leader; in this case, Emperor Tiberius. And, as with American currency, there was an inscription on the coin. Each denarius was inscribed with the phrase, “Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus” (or, in other words “Tiberius, the Son of God”).

With those two points in mind, let’s revisit the story. The Pharisees and Herodians are trying to trick Jesus by asking him a question that seems to have only two answers, either of which will get Jesus in trouble. Just when they think they have him cornered, Jesus asks them to show him the coin used to pay the tax to Caesar. The second that the coin emerges from the purse the Pharisees and Herodians are exposed as hypocrites and blasphemers.

The effect is the same as the climactic scene of your favorite law drama where the truth finally comes out and everyone gasps in astonishment. So, let’s try it again, this time gasp in astonishment at the end of the next sentence: The second that the coin emerges from the purse the Pharisees and Herodians are exposed as hypocrites and blasphemers.

Why is that gasp-worthy? Here they are in the holy temple caught with the very definition of idolatry–a coin with a graven image of someone other than the Lord claiming to be God. Every Hebrew knew it was blasphemous to have such a coin in the holy temple (which is why there were money changers in the temple). Jesus doesn’t even have to answer their question at this point because the Pharisees’ and Herodians’ credibility has been destroyed. And yet, Jesus does answer, essentially saying, “Give that sacrilegious worthless coin to the sacrilegious worthless leader who occupies and oppresses us; and give everything else to the one and only real God--the Lord.”

The text says the Pharisees and Herodians walked away amazed; but feel free to come up with a better word to describe their emotions in the moment. I imagine it wasn’t so much that they were amazed, as it was they were embarrassed, ashamed, exposed, and humbled.

Hypocrisy is one of the worst characteristics anyone, especially a leader, can demonstrate, and yet there is no consistent punishment for hypocrisy. You can’t be arrested for being a hypocrite. And if you find enough people who agree with you, you can all be hypocrites together and never have to deal with the consequences. Hypocrites change the rules of the game to suit their own needs and get away with it as long as, in their mind, the ends justify the means. And when power is concerned, hypocrites are confident that the ends always justify the means.

The good news of this biblical lesson is that Jesus demonstrates that the Lord God is equipped to humble and weaken those who employ hypocrisy in order to cling to worldly power. The way of Jesus Christ cuts through hypocrisy and exposes its weakness. True power comes from God and from being a disciple of Christ. Tiberius can have his coins; but God gets everything else: everything that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (Phil. 4:8).

The good news, my Christian brothers and sisters, is that we do not belong to Caesar, but rather, we belong to God. We are not created in Caesar’s image, we are created in God’s image.

The good news is that the hypocrisy of worldly leaders (as well as our own hypocrisy) is always exposed when subjected to the light of Christ. Anyone who amasses worldly power by changing the rules of the game and justifies it by claiming the ends justify the means will walk away amazed/humbled/defeated by Christ.

Jesus invites us engage in the regular practice of prayerful introspection and evaluation in order to see if we’re carrying around any graven images--that is, anything in our purse, or bank account, or social media feed perhaps, that proves we are pledge allegiance to something or someone other than God alone.

Once we identify these graven images (and we all absolutely have them) we can humbly and confidently come before the Lord in confession. And having identified and confessed our graven image, we receive the forgiveness, freedom, and true power to walk in the light of Christ and make a positive difference in the world. Hear the good news and be the good news.

Amen.

Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’

But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.

Do you remember how we used to have parties without fear? I mean before COVID-19 pandemics and social distancing and masks and whatnot … when people invited you over for dinner and drinks? When there were Happy Hours and birthday parties and weddings, I mean?

And maybe even long before that, when many of us were kids, maybe, do you remember when being invited meant just about as much as anything in the whole wide world?

I remember when I was in fifth grade and Kira Salisbury had one of the first birthday parties where boys and girls were all invited and only the cool kids were going to be there. (Her parents rented out a hall and a D.J. and everything.) And I remember how, in Junior High, there wasn’t much more important than to know who you were going to show up with at the school dance. In high school it was house parties. In college it was Fraternity and Sorority formals. And after college, like in this morning’s Gospel story, it was weddings.

For anyone who’s ever been invited to be part of something special – and for those who’ve waited for invitations that never came – you know how much weight those invitations can carry sometimes. If your teenage and adolescent years were anything like mine – you might remember feeling more than a little anxious wondering and waiting and hoping to be included, involved, and invited to be part of the fun.

Of course, for those of us who’ve been around the block once or twice, our identity doesn’t hinge so much on the invitations or ideas or impressions of others the way that it may have at one time. But, as uncomfortable as the prospect may be, I’d like to put us back into that frame of mind again, if we can; back to those days of waiting and wondering and hoping you’d be included. Because I think that’s the frame of mind Jesus wants us to have as we hear his parable of the wedding banquet this morning.

There’s a king throwing a wedding banquet for his son. To his embarrassment, his invitations were insultingly rejected. He’d pulled out all the stops – his oxen and best calves had been prepared for the meal, all of his honored guests and closest friends had been invited – he was the King, after all – but no one seemed to care. Those who were invited made light of the invitations and found better things to do.

But the party had to go on, so the king sent his slaves into the streets with the invitation. Now, anyone and everyone who wanted, was allowed into the banquet. And anyone and everyone showed up. And, much like today, there were expectations in the days of Jesus for what you should wear – or not – to a wedding reception. In some cases, it’s believed that the host would even provide the appropriate attire for those who showed up without it. (I think that still happens at certain fancy restaurants or snooty country clubs – a loner jacket or a tie to borrow is kept in the coat room for the schmuck who shows up, under-dressed, for dinner.) Well, there was one under-dressed schmuck at the king’s wedding – maybe he showed up without his mask – and when he couldn’t offer up a good excuse for it, the king gave him the boot.

And as usual, Jesus’ parable means to share something much more important and meaningful than anything about a birthday party or the school dance or even the biggest and the best of royal weddings. Jesus is talking about God’s invitation to his chosen people and about what it means to see themselves as just exactly that – God’s chosen people; as the ones invited, first, to the best party in town.

Because apparently, some in Israel didn’t get it. (And Jesus was a Jew, remember, speaking to his brothers and sisters in the faith, so he could say things a little more pointedly, or even harshly, than just anybody would, could, or should, to his fellow Jews.) So he was saying they mistook God’s “invitation” for a “backstage pass.” That they came to see themselves as guests from the A-list and all others as B-, C-, D- listers, or worse. That they were blessed to have received the invitation in the first place, but forgot about their call to be a blessing because of it. That they were treating the party of their salvation like it was “by invitation only” and they were the ones who had started making up the guest list – instead of leaving that up to God.

So, in his parable of the wedding banquet, Jesus means to remind them that even though they had been invited to the feast, they were the ones neglecting the invitation. God had given them all that they needed – the law, a land, second chance after second chance, the promise of a Messiah – but they had closed their eyes and their minds and their hearts to what God was offering them, in the coming of Jesus.

And in making his point, Jesus suggests that God’s salvation, God’s forgiveness, God’s grace and mercy and hope for eternity is something not just for the Jews, any longer, but for everybody. It’s what the slaves in the parable were offering when they hit the streets – sharing the invitation with whoever would receive it; to the Jews and the Gentiles; to the saints and the sinners; to anyone and everyone who would hear and receive what God was offering.

And that’s where the Jews of Jesus’ day would have said you and I make our way into the picture. We’re the “anyone and everyone” from out there in the streets who were invited to the party after the others didn’t show. We’re the ones who’ve heard the story second-hand and who get to belly up to the banquet table, even though we might have been on the “B-List.”

But let’s not get too comfortable. The Jews of Jesus’ day aren’t the only ones he’s calling to stop and take a look in the mirror. We’re all called to see ourselves in this parable, too – as those who neglect, reject, ignore, and take for granted, sometimes, God’s invitation more often than we’d like to admit it. We might even be that schmuck, sometimes, who shows up without dressing for the occasion.

And Jesus wasn’t talking about wedding robes or dress codes or fashion sense at all. I think he was inviting us to consider whether we cover ourselves with righteousness and joy and with new ways of being that let the world know we’ve received our invitation, that we’ve showed up for the party, and that we’re glad to be here. Jesus is inviting us to change the way we live in the world because we’re abundantly grateful for God’s grace for our sake. Jesus is inviting us to change, not our clothes – but to transform our minds – and our lives – so others will see and know that our very souls have been changed by the waters of our baptism, given to us in the first place, by the God who’s planned the banquet.

And I believe this is where our adolescent longing for acceptance and inclusion stands to teach us something as we sit here this morning.

Those times when we wanted nothing more than to be invited and to know we would be welcome and feel included … do you remember those days? Well, I believe we’re surrounded by so many – too many – who feel that way, still, about life in the Church, inclusion in the Kingdom, and welcome into the grace and love and redemption of God.

And what Jesus’s parable reminds me this morning, is to be grateful for, and humble about the invitation we’ve already received. Because when we do, when we are clothed in joy, and gratitude, and humility – thankful to be invited and glad someone made room for us at the banquet – we will be inspired to return that blessing and we will welcome, make room, and make way for more of God’s children to join us for the party.

Amen

The Hypocrites Shall Be Amazed

Invited, Welcomed, Wanted