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Sermon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Clay Center, KS
The 19th Sunday after Pentecost
October 19, 2014
“Images and idols”
May I speak in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“What’s in your wallet?” [PAUSE] I imagine most, if not all, of you have seen the TV
commercial that features the actor Samuel L. Jackson pitching a certain credit card – with that
catchy tagline. So I’ll ask you now, “What is in your wallet? Or in your purse or pocket?”
If it isn’t too hard to get to, pull it out and take a look. Do you have some paper currency?
Or coins? Take a close look, and see what (or whose) images are on your money. If you have a
one-dollar bill, you’ll see the face of George Washington, right? He’s also on the quarter.
Lincoln is on the five-dollar bill, and the penny. Not all are former Presidents: Benjamin
Franklin’s face appears on the $100 note, and Alexander Hamilton (the first Secretary of the
Treasury) on the ten.
If you know your money – and most of us are pretty familiar with it, aren’t we? – you’ll
probably also know that the words “In God we trust” are imprinted on each and every bill and
coin. The motto was first used on a two-cent piece in 1864, but it was adopted for paper money
only relatively recently – in 1957.
So, when we exchange money for goods – or give it to family members, friends, or the
church – we might be reminded – if it didn’t fly out of our hands so fast! – of national heroes,
national pride… sometimes, maybe even of God, “in whom we trust.”
The Pharisees and Herodians of today’s Gospel text had pretty much the same
experience. The coin of the realm, with which they paid the onerous census tax, prominently
featured the face of the emperor, and its inscription claimed for him not only power, but also
divinity: “Tiberius Caesar: august son of the divine Augustus, high priest.” Simply an image? Or
also an idol?
And when Jesus asks them whose picture is on the coin, they have no problem pulling
one out of their pockets to show him. Maybe even with pride, that they actually had money in
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their pockets. I wonder if they ever thought about the emperor’s hold on them, as they held onto
their money. What message did their money communicate about who was in control, or to whom
they accorded honor?
Have you ever stopped to wonder why the image of national leaders is imprinted on
money – and has been for many centuries? Might it be a sort of propaganda? Like the tiresome
commercials whose taglines become annoyingly imprinted on our brains (think: “What’s in your
wallet?”), every time we make a purchase, or give a gift, we’re exposed to the subtle message of
the strength and power of our nation – and our nation’s leaders. Strength and power… and a hint
about where to “put our trust.” In God? Or in national power and sovereignty?
And what about our credit cards? They also carry strong reminders of who holds the
power, right? It’s the banks and the credit-card issuers, whose logos are splashed on the cards we
use and on the signs (and swiping devices) where we shop. Power and money. Money and
power. And powers (plural). Images, and more images. How easily do they turn into idols?
That’s the situation Jesus addresses when he responds to the trick question from the
Pharisees (who are religious leaders, remember?) and the Herodians. We don’t know much about
the Herodians – that description is used only a couple other times in the Bible, in the Gospel of
Mark – but scholars tell us the name suggests they were Jews who were loyal to Herod, the ruler
of Galilee. He served as the official representative of the Roman emperor Tiberius, the figure
whose image is on the coins. Images… and idols? Who do we trust? In what do we trust? Power?
Money? Status (ours… or someone else’s)?
So these guys represent strength… and power – the religious powers, and the secular
powers. About the only thing the two groups have in common is their dislike of Jesus. The new
“Way” of Jesus – and his growing following among the people – threatens their personal and
institutional influence… their power… and the social order.
This text from Matthew’s Gospel has often been used to shore up the separation of
church and state. Or as an instructive stewardship message: give back to God a portion of what
you’ve been given. But if we pay close attention, we hear Jesus emphatically reminding the
religious and secular leaders of his day that, while they might owe some money to the emperor,
whose image it bears, everything belongs to God. Because everything… all of creation, and all of
humankind – bears God’s image.
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In our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah and in the Psalm, we find more about images,
idols and power.
From Isaiah: “Thus says the LORD to Cyrus [who was the emperor].... I am the LORD,
and there is no other…. I form light and create darkness.”
I am the LORD. There is no other. Does that make you think of The Ten
Commandments? “I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods but me.” And…
“You shall not make for yourself any idol.” Does it also remind you of the creation story in
Genesis: “Let us make humankind in our image”?
In the words of Psalm 96, we prayed: “As for all the gods of the nations, they are but
idols; but it is the LORD who made the heavens…. Ascribe to the LORD honor and power.”
The apostle Paul urges the Thessalonians to be “imitators of [himself] and of the Lord,”
that is, of Jesus. The message resonates for us as well: Reflect the image of the One who made
you.
Images. Idols. And power. Let us ask ourselves: What powers do we honor in our
culture? And in our lives? What idols do we imitate with our actions and decisions? Who (or
what) do you – do we – hold up as examples? Big corporations, or wealthy bankers? Maybe
football stars, rock stars, or other celebrities? Former U.S. Presidents, whose images appear on
our money – even though they include slave-holders and adulterers?
Can we honestly claim “In God we trust”? Or do we trust more in the money that carries
the imprint of those words?
Jesus exhorts us to differentiate between power and the One who is all-powerful, between
idols and the One whose image we bear.
In the Old Testament book of First Chronicles, we can read about David’s preparing the
people for his death and the succession to the throne of his son, Solomon. He recounts all he has
given to the temple, for the worship of the LORD, and he invites the other leaders to imitate his
example. “Who will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the LORD?” he asks. The
Chronicler continues: “Then David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly:
‘Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD,
are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens
and on the earth is yours. …all things come from you, and of your own have we given you” (1
Chron. 29: 5, 10-14).
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Jesus reiterates that truth to the Pharisees and the Herodians… and it echoes down to us,
here, today: [PAUSE] The image of God trumps the image on the coin.
“In your hand [O Lord] are the power and the glory …all that is in the heavens and on
the earth is yours…. [PAUSE] And of thine own have we given thee.”
AMEN and Amen.