Free - Pastor's Message, April 2016

Dear Emanuel Members and Friends –

“When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, ‘Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?’ He said, ‘Yes, he does.’ And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, ‘What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?’ When Peter said, ‘From others’, Jesus said to him, ‘Then the children are free. However, so that we do not give offence to them, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.’”  Matthew 17:24-27

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Luke 4:18-19, citing Isaiah 58:6 and Isaiah 61:1-2

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’  Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:31-37

The passage from Matthew above is an odd text, rarely heard in worship because it’s not included in the selection of weekly lectionary texts read on Sunday mornings.  However, in this month of April in which many scramble to meet tax filing deadlines, the text seems both odd and oddly appropriate.  In Jesus’ society, the people were forced to pay taxes both as tribute to the Roman empire and for support of the Temple in Jerusalem.   In some European countries, there is a somewhat similar system; churches are supported by taxes collected by the state; these churches in turn administer assistance and charitable programs on the state’s behalf.  While we in the United States pay no taxes to support our houses of worship, in years long past, people paid annual pew rental fees to the church as part of their membership obligation.  In fact, according to the church history, it was during the pastorate of the Rev. Felix Steinmann (1918-1923) that Emanuel phased out pew rentals in favor of our current envelope system.   The old system of “paying for your pew” may explain why, in some churches, members can be very possessive of “their” pews, and woe betide any unsuspecting visitor who wanders into “someone else’s” pew.  (Of course, at Emanuel, we have ample space for anyone wishing to find a seat in worship among us, free of charge, though voluntary tithes, offerings, and donations are most welcome!)

As we read it, this text from Matthew pulls us in several different directions.  Peter is accosted by some collectors of the Temple tax, who with their questions come close to accusing Jesus of Temple tax evasion.  Without checking first, Peter (who frequently opened his mouth before engaging his brain) duly vouches for Jesus’ credentials as a dutiful, taxpaying supporter of the Temple.  When Peter got home (where Jesus was evidently staying at that time) Jesus asked him a question that pushed Peter to consider the tax from a different angle: “From whom do the kings of the earth collect tribute – from their own children or from others?”  Based on Peter’s answer “From others”, Jesus concludes, “Then the children are free.”  In other words, why should God’s children have to pay tribute in order to enter God’s house?  Having said this, Jesus still wanted to act in solidarity with his fellow citizens who were paying the Temple tax, and so with the help of a whimsical, almost comical miracle (a coin found in the mouth of a fish, of just the right value), by God’s provision, Jesus arranged for Peter to come upon sufficient coinage to pay the Temple tax for Peter and himself.

I would not advise any of our members to try catching fish in hopes of finding sufficient coinage to pay our taxes.  But a phrase used by Jesus – “the children are free” – stuck in my mind.  “The children are free.”  What did Jesus mean by that? 

I looked up several other texts in which Jesus spoke of freedom.  In Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ first sermon, based on texts from Isaiah, spoke of “let(ting) the oppressed go free”, along with release from captivity, blindness, and poverty, as part of Jesus’ mission statement.  And in John’s gospel (in a text that likewise is rarely heard in worship because it was not included in the lectionary readings), Jesus speaks of a freedom that comes from knowing the truth (“you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free”), a truth that sets Jesus’ followers free from sin (“everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin….if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”)

These texts have often been interpreted as pointing to some ethereal, other-worldly freedom that Christians will receive in heaven after we pass from this life, as in the old African-American spiritual “Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world.”  And it is very true that indeed, when we have passed from this life and are with the saints in heaven, we “will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike [us], nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be [our] shepherd, and he will guide [us] to the springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes.” 

But to say that we will experience freedom only in heaven is to justify the lack of freedom we often experience in this life, the lack of freedom that some people impose on others, and I don’t believe that is Jesus’ intent.  Jesus was not, as the phrase goes, “so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good” though unfortunately through the ages many of his followers have been.  In his time on earth, Jesus gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, fed the hungry, and preached good news to the poor.  He didn’t just tell them that their lives would be better in heaven, but made their lives better right on the spot as he met them.

“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free…..if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”  While freedom may not be the first word we’d associate with Christian faith – we may think more readily of duties, obligations, observances, rituals – for Jesus, the truth of his faith in the Father led him to freedom.   At least part of the truth of which Jesus spoke is that as followers of Jesus, we can be freed from the idolatries and false priorities of our society.  We don’t have to scramble for wealth, power, respectability.  We don’t have to get sucked into our society’s myths or live as prisoners to our society’s priorities.  All of that scrambling and chasing and keeping up of appearances is crazy-making – literally bad for our mental health - and Jesus liberates us to walk away from all of it, to leave it behind.  We can walk away from our society’s myth of rugged self-reliance and join the community of faith that Jesus envisioned, which was not just about worshiping one day a week, but about helping and being helped by other members of the community every day of the week, as we act as family to one another. (“Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life.’” Mark 10:29-31)   

Jesus makes us “free indeed” from idolatries and false priorities – which Jesus names under the category of “sin” - that would drain us of needed physical, emotional, and spiritual energy.  Having been freed from sin, from idolatry, from idle distractions and false priorities, we are freed to love and serve God and neighbor with singleness of mind.  May we live in the freedom that Jesus intended for us.

See you in church – Pastor Dave