Collect, Reading and Psalm for the nineeenth
Sunday after Trinity
18th October 2020
Collect
O God, without you we are not able to please you;
Mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
May in all things direct and rule our hearts ;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Exodus 33: 12-23
12 Moses said to the LORD, ‘See, you have said to me, “Bring up
this people”; but you have not let me know whom you will send
with me. Yet you have said, “I know you by name, and you have
also found favour in my sight.” 13 Now if I have found favour in
your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find
favour in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your
people.’ 14 He said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give
you rest.’ 15 And he said to him, ‘If your presence will not go, do
not carry us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have
found favour in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with
us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from
every people on the face of the earth.’
17 The LORD said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing that you have
asked; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by
name.’ 18 Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ 19 And he said,
‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim
before you the name, “The LORD”; and I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. 20 But’, he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for no one shall
see me and live.’ 21 And the LORD continued, ‘See, there is a place
by me where you shall stand on the rock; 22 and while my glory
passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you
with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my
hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.’
Trinity 19 18 October 2020 pg. 2
Psalm 99:
1 The Lord is king: let the peoples tremble; ♦ he is enthroned
above the cherubim: let the earth shake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion ♦ and high above all peoples.
3 Let them praise your name, which is great and awesome; ♦ the
Lord our God is holy.
4 Mighty king, who loves justice, you have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God; ♦
bow down before his footstool, for he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests and Samuel among those
who call upon his name; ♦ they called upon the Lord and he
answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; ♦ they kept his
testimonies and the law that he gave them.
8 You answered them, O Lord our God; ♦you were a God who
forgave them and pardoned them for their offences.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship him upon his holy hill for the Lord our God is holy.
Trinity 19 18 October 2020 pg. 3
1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10
1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in
our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father
your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in
our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved
by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the
gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of
people we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 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, 7 so
that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia
and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from
you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where
your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to
speak about it. 9 For the people of those regions report about us
what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to
God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for
his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who
rescues us from the wrath that is coming
Trinity 19 18 October 2020 pg. 4
Matthew 22: 15-22
The Question about Paying Taxes
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he
said. 16 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. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes
to the emperor, or not?’ 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said,
‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me
the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a
denarius. 20 Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose
title?’ 21 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.’ 22 When they heard this,
they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Reflection 19 th Sunday after Trinity : Sunday 18 th October
Our Old Testament reading between God and Moses is interesting in that it
allows for debate between Moses and God and shows that, while there are
limits, God is open to some of Moses demands . However it is good ,
particularly at this time to know that we can intercede with God on behalf of
others and know that God hears and responds .
With our familiarity with Gospel stories it is often difficult to imagine what it
was like for Jesus and his followers when these events occurred in real time.
The stories in this section of Matthews Gospel began when Jesus, who had
spent most of his ministry in the province of Galilee, arrived in Jerusalem to be
greeted by the crowd with “Hosannas” and proceeded to drive out those who
were selling and buying in the Temple. (Mt 21 ;12)
Following this various groups including the chief priests, the elders of the
people, the Pharisees and the Herodians challenged Jesus.
Today’s account is interesting in that two opposing groups, the Herodians
who strongly cooperated with the Romans , and the Pharisees who
theoretically were opposed to the Romans , came together to challenge Jesus.
The question they put to Jesus “is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not “
was a very loaded question . The taxes were in the form of a poll tax and any
refusal to pay was taken as being in opposition to Rome. When Jesus was a boy
a man called Judas had led a revolt against the Romans on this issue. The
Romans ,as was their wont, crushed the revolt mercilessly crucifying the
protesters all over the countryside to reinforce the message that there was no
option but to pay Roman taxes.
Mt 22 15-22 pg. 2
The Pharisees and the Herodians thought they had put Jesus into a bind . If he
agreed that tax should be paid they hoped that those who saw him as the
Jewish saviour would abandon him.
If, on the other hand, he stated that Roman taxes should not be paid he would
be inviting immediate and terrible destruction not only on himself but also his
followers and on effectively the wrong question i.e paying tax.
These were the real live issues facing Jesus .
How did he respond.
He knew that both groups despite their straight faces were in league with the
Roman Occupiers and effectively told them so by asking “Why are you putting
me to the Test, you hypocrites ? “ He asked for a coin and ,of course, they
were able to produce a coin with the emperors face on it because they were
all in league with the Romans.
By accepting that Caesars face was on the coin Jesus (and we don’t know what
level of disdain was in his voice) rebuffed his questionnaires by telling them to
give to Caesar that which was Caesars but he didn’t stop there . He also told
them to give “to God the things that are Gods”.
What exactly did this mean and what indeed does it mean today for Christians
living in countries where they are oppressed .
There are basically two messages
Christians are not required to defy Governments and jeopardise their lives
even when they fundamentally disagree with the policies of a government .
However paying such taxes acknowledges the states political power but not its
moral authority.
Mt 22 15-22 pg. 3
In fact the whole direction of Jesus Ministry is fundamentally at odds with that
of Caesar in Jesus day and indeed with many Caesar’s since.
Jesus pointed us to a God far greater than the one with the inscription on the
coin “Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus , high priest”.
Instead of dominating people he wished to liberate people from oppression
and include the marginalised.
Instead of crucifying people he offered forgiveness. he offered forgiveness.
Instead of commanding legions of soldiers he prayed for Peace .
The Beatitudes were designed to bring wholeness, transformation and healing
to communities.
As Psalm 94 tells us today he was offering a King “who loves justice, has
established equity and executed justice and righteousness”.
Jesus was in the real sense a subversive . He lived in an unjust society but he
sowed the seeds of Justice. We have many examples of others who followed
the example of Jesus ,even in modern times including Twentieth Century
Martyrs commemorated in Westminster Abbey . These were people who did
not lead violent revolutions but ended up losing their lives in adhering to their
Christian principles . Such people include Anglicans (Janani Luwum from Idi
Amin’s Uganda); Lutherans (Dietrich Bonhoffer from Hitlers Germany ) , Roman
Catholics (Oscar Romero from El Salvador) and Baptists (Martin Luther King in
the Civil Rights Movement in the USA) . All of these and many lesser figures
have followed the instruction of Jesus to give to God the things that are Gods.
Let us be inspired in our own livers to always be guided by the moral authority
of our Faith regardless of the values of secular society .
TM
17/10/2020