Are
You Walking the Walk You are Talking?
The
Reverend Canon
October
19,2008
1
Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22
Proper
24A
When
I first started working as a policy analyst at the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in
I
was at 22 years old a bit of a romantic.
My trip down to
I
talked to at least ten different departments during my two days. I was naive to the structures of the
organization and didn’t really pay attention to whether I was talking to the
office of the director or a branch manager.
I was here to serve and I needed to find the best place to do that. The interview that captured my imagination
was in the field of emergency response.
These were the folks on the front line, dealing with public health
threats as hurricanes struck and volcanoes erupted.
The
manager interviewing me spent the entirety of our time telling me about the
work and mission of the branch, and I was hooked. Never did it occur to me to ask what I would
be doing to support that mission.
Visions of jetting around the world with these doctors seemed the answer
to my deepest longings. The manager
interviewing me said, “You know sometimes this job is so much fun, I don’t even
want to go home.”
So,
despite talking to other folks and listening to job descriptions that matched
my skills and interest, I decided to pursue the Emergency Response
position. I called the branch manager
back from the A & W to make sure he knew how interested I was. If you can imagine a young eager puppy, that
is probably an appropriate metaphor. I
was on my way.
When
I arrived on campus just after graduation, my first clue to my job description
should have been when they showed me into a storage closet that they had
converted to an office. At the end of
the summer a number of the other staff seemed surprised that I hadn’t returned
to school with the other summer interns.
I
did start to notice that the manager who had interviewed me didn’t seem to have
any trouble going home on time. He also
rarely seemed to be having any sort of fun.
I also noticed that the doctor I worked for didn’t seem to realize that
I had a two year degree in policy analysis.
He handed me one series of clerical tasks after the other.
I
didn’t mind the idea of paying my dues, so I waited patiently for the next
disaster to strike. When it did, I
realized the team divided into two groups.
The ones who left, and the ones who made the reservations so they could
go. You can probably guess which
category I fell into. But not going to
the site was not really my biggest disillusionment. It was far more the realization that the
managers words and his behavior seemed to bear no relationship with one
another. Where was the man having so
much fun he didn’t want to go home?
Instead he seemed burned out and ready to retire.
“For
we know brothers and sisters beloved by God that he has chosen you, because our
message of the gospel came to you not only in word only, but also in power and
in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons
we proved to be among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of
persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit...”
Paul
reminds us today in the letter to the Thessalonians of the important of
coherence between our words and our actions.
When people ask me what I learned being raised a Quaker, I almost always
answer that I never doubted that what I believed had to translate into how I
lived my life. For the early Christians
this was no easy task. They were not
being evangelized into a life of safety or comfort. Paul has suffered persecution and makes no
bones about the fact that his communities can expect no different. It hard to imagine being invited into a life
a certain hardship and reacting with that news with joy.
The
good news was not necessarily fun and happy news, but life changing news that
could yield joy.
Our
culture has difficulty discerning the difference between happiness and
joy. To be happy is an emotion, free from
worry or concern, and flees at the first sign of any trouble. It is the kind of feeling the immediately
dissipates in bad traffic, or from a badly stubbed toe.
Joy
is completely different. It is born from
hope and does not rely only on the moment.
We have all met people of deep joy.
Often the more we get to know them, the more we realize they have not
had an easy life free from trouble. This
used to surprise me. How could you
suffer terrible trials such as illness, loss of dear relationships and still
get up in the morning with gratitude and thanksgiving?
The
living and true God provides us a different way of experiencing this
world. We have underneath the challenges
a well of support that gives us hope.
It
is a balancing act. Some parts of Christianity
seem to only focus on the ultimate reward we are striving for. Because we have been given the assurance of
life beyond this one, we should be able to suffer any trial here and now. While this is true in part, Paul clearly
believes there is a transformation that is available to us here and now. Later on in this same letter, he assures the
community that one of the reasons he has sent Timothy to them, is to make sure
they are supporting one another in times of difficulty. It is a community responsibility to remind
one another of the good news and act in a different way right now to show the
fruits of that proclamation.
This
is also at the heart of the gospel lesson today. This passage is sometimes used
to show how as Christians we are to navigate between our civic and religious
lives. We are assured we can pay taxes
and still give to God the things that are God’s. But to see this only as a treatise on how
church and state are meant to intersect,
is a narrowing of the text. Jesus is in
the temple defending himself against those who have already decided to kill
him. They are devising the most tricky
questions possible to see if they can trip him up.
Matthew
is clear that their whole intention is one of plotting and entrapment. When they coyly assure Jesus of their regard
for him and ask him an “innocent question” they have in fact tossed him a hot
potato. If he accepts the coin and the
premise of the Roman tax, he has committed idolatry since the imprint on the
coin declares the divinity of the Roman ruler.
But, if he refuses the tax he can be arrested. The Pharisees had been known for walking that
line by having their words inconsistent with their practice. They could support those who believed in the
nationalism of the empire in word by not speaking out against it, but not
necessarily following all the requirements of the system either. Their lives appear anything but joyful,
rather they are calculating and suspicious.
Jesus
asks them for the coin to point out this hypocrisy. They are clearly questioning how someone
could pay the tax and not be guilty of idolatry. Jesus turns the table by pointing out that
they are already participating in the system they oppose, merely by possessing
the coin coming out of their
The
need to live a life of faith that is consistent between word and action is
still a challenge to us. Most of us do
not need to stake our life by our proclamation, but we do still give witness in
the world. One of my favorite quotes
from St. Francis is, “proclaim the gospel at all times, use words when
necessary.” Our children know this the
best of all. We can tell them what to
do, but believe me they’ll notice whether we follow our own advice. A recent article in Newsweek said that
doctors who watched their own health, were far more successful in convincing
their patients they needed to practice healthy lifestyles. It is not surprising that integrity goes a
long way. We’ve all had experiences of
both those who do and those who don’t.
But
most of all the coherence between our words and our actions opens the real
possibility of joy. We do not need to
expend energy saying one thing, and then living another way. I was disappointed by my initial assignment
at the CDC. But I went on to spend
another ten years there and had the opportunity to work for many people who did
in fact love what they did. The best
ones had the joy of knowing they were making a difference in the world.
How
are you called to witness in your life each day? Can people sense the joy we are given? Do our communities support one another in the
hard times? As we enter difficult times,
we have a chance to return to our roots.
We can again hear the good news, respond in word and deed. We can proclaim joy.
Amen