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“Whose Image? God’s Image!”_Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCC18th Sunday after Pentecost (October 16, 2011)Matthew 22:15-22The first presidential campaign I had any substantial interest in was the 1992 Clinton campaign.James Carville, a political strategist, was hired to keep everyone “on message.” He posted asign in campaign headquarters to remind everyone of that message: (1) Change vs more of thesame (2) The economy, stupid (3) Don’t forget health care. Point number two morphed into apopular catchphrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It was a phrase that caught our imagination,and a message that may well have won the election.Twenty years later, there’s a lot that has changed, and a lot that has stayed the same.Commentators on CNBC might be saying, “It’s the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stupid.” Somecongresspersons say, “It’s the deficit, stupid.” Those who are long-term unemployed maysay, “It’s the jobs, stupid.” The youth and young adults with five-figure student loan balancesand no employment prospects, who are protesting nationwide alongside aging hippies andWorld War Two veterans and union members, trying to raise awareness of how the financialtitans have stacked the deck against ninety-nine percent of our country’s population, aresaying, “It’s Wall Street, stupid!”What do these all have in common? Money. We hang an awful lot of angst on the economy,on money, on making a living, on making do. Last week, we discussed how sometimes, ouraccount balances can become idols. In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus faces a challenge fromthe Pharisees and supporters of King Herod. What does it appear to revolve around? Money.Money – the topic that is publicly off-limits, but always on our minds. “They” say it’s not goodmanners to talk about money, it’s gauche, it’s not discussed in polite society. Or maybe youwere raised to not let people know how little you had. Maybe your employer says employeesare not supposed to discuss pay. Maybe you postpone opening your mail – willfully ignoring itsexistence because you can’t face one more bill (which may or may not be overdue). Money –financial resources - is the topic that comes up in the Bible thousands of times.And it’s also not the point of this passage.The money is a convenient vehicle to hang our anxiety on, to divert our attention from deepermatters.It happens when Jesus plants himself firmly in the seat of civil and religious power and daresthem to ignore him. The way Matthew tells it, this coin incident takes place during Holy Week.Sitting in the temple courtyard, Jesus is teaching. The Pharisees send their close followers, andsome of King Herod’s groupies, to ask Jesus a trick question. Starting with some praise, theymove on to the question of whether it is acceptable, under Jewish law, for Jews to pay taxes tothe emperor.This is not a question of tax relief from the IRS. This was about a fundamental values conflictbetween the life of faith and the political realm. This is a no-win question. Jesus answers, “yes,it’s acceptable to pay taxes” – and he’s unmasked as an incompetent rabbi, incompetentteacher, not worth following. Because Roman coins proclaimed, on one side, the divinity ofCaesar. Caesar is God, according to Roman values. In using those coins, in carrying themaround with you, you might as well be uttering blasphemy, if you’re a deeply observant Jew.“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” “I am the Lord your God, who broughtyou up out of Egypt, you shall have no other gods before me.” Big problem.On the other hand, Jesus could say, based on fundamental precepts of Jewish law, “no,absolutely not, this is blasphemy, a good Jew shouldn’t bow down to an Emperor, in anyway, even by using his money.” At which point, somebody would tattle back to the Romanauthorities, and then he’d be in deep trouble – because refusal to pay taxes identifies him withJewish zealots and rebels, violent sects who are subverting the empire, and you know thatthings never end well for ragtag mobs who challenge Rome.It’s not about the money. It’s about the power.I’m not instigating a revolt against the IRS or the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Nor am Icalling you to go out and participate in “Occupy Wall Street” or “Occupy Madison” – althoughif you did, I’d bless you on your way. I think you might find Jesus there among the unwashedmasses holding the sidewalk, making room for hope in the midst of despair.Really, this about power – do you bow to the might of Rome, or do you forcefully resist? Doyou keep paying your taxes into the system like a good subjugated population ought to – or doyou align yourself with the fringe elements who are aiming for revolution?Jesus, as always, opted for Door #3. He answered the real question, not the false either-orsituation he was presented with. Fundamentally, the question that Jesus answered that daywas an ancient one. Earlier than the Roman conquest of the Holy Land, earlier than the nationof Israel arriving in the Holy Land, earlier than Moses receiving the law on the mountaintop -before nations, before cities, before taxation and before tributes. It goes all the way back tofirst things.From the book of Genesis: “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be likeus.”Ah.Whose image? God’s image.It’s not about what you pay, what you spend, what you carry around in your pocket.It’s about whose imprint you bear.Do you have clothes or accessories with a corporate logo today? What does that mean? Whydo the logos get bigger and bigger as a design element? They want us to know who made theseitems – because if we like it, we might want to imitate it, and we might want to know where toget it.Jesus gets it. He knows what they’re up to, the power games they’re playing. And so heanswers the question behind the question. Is Caesar’s imprint on the coin? Then it belongsto Caesar. And it can be issued by Caesar and repaid to Caesar and circulated by Caesar, andwithdrawn by Caesar.But whose imprint are you wearing? Who has placed their mark on you? Is it God’s Holy Spirit,by the waters of baptism? Was it Jesus Christ, God-with-us, changing your life? Was it theGreat Creator of all that is, who knew you even before you were born?God who created you, and saves you, and sustains you. God, whose imprint is in every fiber ofyour being, in your DNA, in those intangible elements that also make you, you. Your laughter,your tears, your passions, your gifts. Whose imprint to you bear, every day and night of yourlife? God’s.“Let us make humankind in our image, to be like us.” When someone is walking around in theworld looking for someone, something to imitate, they have so many options. Imagine if theysaw the imprint of God in the way you live your life – and they chose to imitate that. Imagineif they saw the imprint of God in the choices you make, and started asking questions. “Why doyou do that?” “It’s a Jesus thing.”Who gave the gift? God. To whom do we owe the gift? God. Who will call the gift back home,at the end of its days? God.Offer up to God, that which bears the imprint of God.Whose image? God’s image.Amen.http://www.archive.org/download/McfarlandUccSermonOct16th2011_34/MUCC_Sermon_20111016.mp3