Matthew 22:15-22

It's not about money. You see, the Pharisees knew that Jesus had their number. Jesus had been teaching his disciple to beware the leaven of the Pharisees. Their brand of religion was like a bacteria that would invade and consume, or as Clete would say, "Like kudzu." They were blind guides that led others astray. Instead of serving God they served themselves. Instead of helping the needy they fed off of orphans and widows. And if his teachings were not enough, there was the whole cleansing of the temple thing. Jesus clearly had no respect for their authority!

So the Pharisees decided to attack in self defense. They came to him and pretended to be asking a sincere question of faith. "Should we pay taxes to the Romans?" The question was a legitimate one. After all the Romans were pagans and their government enslaved people all over the world. Should God's people support such a government?

Of course Jesus saw right through their question. It was a trap - a catch 22. No matter what he did they would get him. If he said they should not pay the taxes then they would go to the Romans and have him arrested for treason. If on the other hand he said they should pay taxes they could use that against him. They could say that he did not have enough faith in God, or that he was little more than a tax collector in religious clothing.

Jesus turned the question back on the questioners. "Show me the coin used to pay the tax." It was a Roman coin with the name and image of the emperor on it. So Jesus said, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's," or "If it has his name on it give it to him." He could have stopped there because he had answered the question. But he went on to say "and render unto God the things that are God's"

That is the point of this passage. Everyone repeat after me: "Render unto God the things that are God's." You see, that is what the Pharisees were not doing. They were not giving God His due. They were serving themselves and not God.

The question then is "what is due to God?" Now this is supposed to be a "stewardship sermon." So at this point I am supposed to say that God is due one tenth of your income. In other words that you should tithe or regularly give 1/10th of the money you make to the church. That tenth or tithe belongs to God. That is why the bulletin says "God's Tithes and Our Offerings."

When I first decided to preach on this passage that is what I thought I was going to say. I thought "Give unto God the things that are God's," that means "Give God the tithe." Then I got thinking. Did you know that the Pharisees tithed? In fact they were probably the best tithers among God's people. Jesus said that they even tithed mint and dill and cumin. (Matthew 23:23). Does anyone here have an herb garden? The why don't you give a tenth of what you grow in to the church? What about your vegetable gardens? I love fresh corn and tomatoes!

So the Pharisees were really good tithers. And yet Jesus told them they still needed to render unto God the things that are God's. So Jesus was not talking about tithing.

Don't get me wrong. You should tithe, but ultimately this passage is not about something as meaningless as money. Coins and taxes are involved in the story, but in the end Jesus is talking about much more than mere money. If we are to render unto God things that are God's, we would give everything to God. Again I am not talking about money! I am talking about giving our entire lives to God.

Let me illustrate what I mean. Everybody take a deep breath with me: In --- and out. God gave you that breath. If God had not given you that breath you would be turning blue right now. Every single breath you take is a gift from God. So every breath we take is due to God. We should use every breath to serve God.

How many of you woke up this morning. Assuming I didn't put you to sleep you should all have your hand raised. God gave you this day. So if we render unto God the things that our God's then this day should be dedicated to serving him. And tomorrow, if you wake up, then that day will be a gift from God and it should be dedicated to God.

Jesus says we should render unto God the things that are God's. That means that everything we do should be done for God. Our entire lives should be dedicated to God. Every breath and every waking moment should be rendered unto God. This is not about giving a tenth of your income to God. It is about giving you entire life to God!

You see this is a stewardship sermon after all. Stewardship is ultimately not about money. It is about giving your life to Christ. Ultimately how much you pledge to the church next Sunday or give to the church next year will not change your standing before God. I don't care if everybody in the church pledges to tenth or not. It would be nice though. What would really make me happy is if everyone in this church vowed to render unto God every day and every breath to serve him. And I assume that if we all did give ourselves totally to God, it would have an effect on many things including our offerings.

Christian stewardship is about recognizing that everything we have is from God. And as Christians we are called to seek to use everything we have and everything we are to serve God. That means our time our talents - everything. We will be asking you to turn in an estimate of the money you will give to the church and we will use those figures to construct a budget for next year. But ultimately that doesn't matter - that is just an administrative necessity. Ultimately what's important is not how much money you give, but who you serve each day.

Jesus said "render unto God the things that are God's." To do that, we have to give ourselves to God. Have you given your life to Christ? Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your heart? If you haven't, then forget about pledging or tithing or any of that stuff. That is not important - for you. If you haven't given your life to Christ, then do that today before it is too late. And if you have given your life to Christ, then dedicate everything you have - every moment of every day to His service.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1 Thessalonians is a letter written by Paul and some fellow ministers to the Christian church in the town of Thessalonica. "Dear Thessalonica: Before we get into the letter there are a few things I need to tell you about Thessalonica so that we can understand the letter. The Thessalonian church was probably small. We know from Acts 17 that Paul established the church on one of his missionary journeys. Paul's strategy was to preach at the synagogue to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. We know from Acts that Paul only gained a few believers from the synagogue. The vast majority of the believers came from among the pagan Greeks and "not a few of the leading women."(Acts 17:4) These were the people that the good religious people looked down on. So they were not merely small in numbers but also in power.

Thessalonica was also a kind of mission outpost in a hostile territory. It was so hostile that at one point their enemies incited a riot. They gathered a mob and attacked some Christians in Jason's house. Then they dragged them before the authorities and accused them of turning the world upside down.(Acts 17:6)

To encourage this church Paul, Silas and Timothy wrote them a letter. In many ways these three men were their pastors. Paul and Silas, and to a lesser extent Timothy traveled around the Greek world establishing churches and preaching. They could loosely be compared to the early Methodist circuit riders who did much the same thing. They were not on a regular schedule and the churches carried on in their absence most of the time. So their words of encouragement meant something to this small weak church.

Thessalonica was a mission outpost, but it was faithful. Lets just look at the letter Paul and his fellow workers wrote them. "Dear Thessalonica: "We always give thanks to God for you and mention you in our prayers constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, and labor of love, and steadfastness of hope"(1:2-3) He remembers three specific things: faith, love and hope. Say them with me: "faith love hope." What specifically is he talking about? The work of faith is probably their ministry of spreading the word; telling others of the Gospel. Their labor of love is probably their acts of mercy and charity to each other and others in need. And their steadfastness of hope was their endurance in the face of adversity and persecution. Faith, love and hope - you have heard of these three before. You remember them as faith hope and love from I Corinthians 13: the love chapter. Paul is talking about the gifts of the spirit and he says these three abide faith hope and love and the greatest of these is love.(I Cor. 13:13) So Paul is saying that he sees the three greatest gifts of the Spirit alive in the Thessalonians.

But he goes on. Not only does he see them but he sees them in such a depth an power in them. He even refers to them as "imitators of Christ." The very thing he admonished the Philippians to do the Thessalonians are already doing.

Then Paul says that they have become an example to other believers. Christians would say, "Look what Thessalonica is doing we should do the same." Now this was no large church, and there were richer churches. This church was a small persecuted church made up of pagans and women. But their faith and hope in Christ made them great.

We are much like the Church at Thessalonica. Latimer Memorial of Thessalonica. We are a mission outpost in a hostile territory. The Glenn-Mary research center in Atlanta Ga. said that 50% of the people in each county in rural Georgia are unchurched. Just look at a map. We are not far from rural Georgia. That means that one out of every two people you meet does not know the basics of the Christians faith. And of those who do how many have committed their lives to it? Christians are in the minority. Unfortunately most churches do not view themselves as mission outposts. They think of the church as a refuge from the world. As a pretty fortress to hide from the ugliness of the world. Or as a memorial garden to remember the past. Friends, a memorial garden is a cemetery and I am not ready to be buried yet.

The church is an outpost on the frontiers of Christendom. We are surrounded by pagans just as Thessalonica was. Oh people don't worship Apollo and Zeus any more, but they worship money and drugs and the idol of self. They worship the human potential and intellectualism. And they are hostile to our way of living.

We are called to go out into the market place and tell them that Jesus is Lord. And they might incite a riot. They will say, "How dare you tell me it is wrong to sell drugs to my neighbor, or cheat him through gambling." They already have their gods and they will be mad if you try to tell them they are false gods. And if you live a Christian life in their midst they will get even angrier. They will say, "You Methodists ought to stop mixing the races and letting women preach in your churches. You are messing up the whole social order. And stop helping those deadbeat poor and telling them God loves them. You Christians are turning the world upside down. You ought to stick to preaching the Gospel and stop trying to change people's lives." But that is what we are called to do. To proclaim the life changing new of the Gospel.

Paul gave thanks for Thessalonica's faith love and hope. I give thanks to God for Latimer Memorial. Do you give thanks for Latimer Memorial? What about Latimer Memorial do you give thanks for? I give thanks for the constant witness this church has provided in this community. For over 120 years this church has been a mission outpost in the wilderness. I give thanks for the pioneers who established this church. I give thanks for their faith. And I know that this church has been called by God and anointed by God's Holy Spirit.

If it weren't it wouldn't have lasted so long. This church has not merely survived all these years it has thrived. It has been proclaiming the good news to the poor and everyone else who would listen. And it has been turning people's worlds upside down. Changing them from sinners into saints.

And it has not been without adversity. The rural out of the way placement of this church had caused growth to pass it by from time to time. The depression of the rural economy has made our work here difficult. Yet despite hardship the Gospel has been proclaimed and it continues to be proclaimed through words and deeds.

Like the Church at Thessalonica, Latimer Memorial can be an example for others to follow. "But," you might protest, "Latimer Memorial is not a big church. We don't have lots of innovative programs for others to copy. We don't send large mission teams to other countries, or have huge fund raising campaigns for the poor."

My reply is that neither did Thessalonica. It was not large or rich or powerful, but it was faithful. It is not what we have in membership or money or programs that makes a church great. It is our faith in Jesus Christ. It is our hope in his return.

We are a mission outpost. An encampment on the frontiers of Christendom. Our power is not in our numbers but in our faith. Because our faith is in the one who died and arose and is coming again.

And you are an example for others. I want people to hear reports of your faithfulness. And I want Christians to say, "We should be faithful like Latimer Memorial." And that will come to pass by the grace of God. So go into the wilderness, into the pagan marketplaces, into the living rooms and kitchens of your neighbors and proclaim the Good News. "Jesus is Lord of my life and he can be Lord of yours as well."

Exodus 33:12-23

The situation is a familiar one. The Children of Israel have sinned once again and God is angry with them. This time they had really done it. They had made a molten image and worshipped it. They had broken the second commandment and turned their earrings into a calf. Then they broke the first commandment by bowing down to it. God was so mad that God said to Moses, "Look I am not going with this people into the Promised Land. So you go and I will send an angel with you to protect you. But I cannot stomach this people any more. If I went with them now, I might just have to destroy them."

I said this was a familiar situation, but it is not one that Moses would just stand for. So Moses decided to plead with God. Moses said, "Look God, you came to me and you said 'bring this people out of slavery in Egypt and take them to a Promised Land which I will give to you.' You said 'I will be your God and you will be my people.' But now you have said you will not go with us. I don't understand. Oh sure, your angel will protect us and give us victory over the peoples of the land. But without you we will be just another group of escaped slaves wandering around. You must go with us because you are what makes us special."

You see Moses knew that they needed God. Sure the people had forgotten that. And that was a familiar situation. They often forgot their need for God. But Moses didn't.

God could have gotten angry with Moses. Instead God replied, "I will go with you just as you ask." God said "I will go with you because you have found favor in my sight and I know you by name. The word "favor" can also be translated "grace." So Moses had found Grace from God and Moses knew God. So based on that grace alone God chose to accompany the children of Israel.

Then Moses blurted out, "Show me your glory I pray!" I am not sure Moses really knew what he was asking for. I think he was simply so overcome by the grace of God that wanted more. Kind of like that you can't eat just one syndrome. But eating the whole bag will make you sick. Moses had tasted a little of God's grace and wanted to know its true depth.

But Moses forgot that you can't see God and live. The glory of God is just too much for a human to take in and not be consumed by it. So God did the next best thing. He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock so that he wouldn't experience the full blazing glory of God and let Moses see his glory going away. And at that Moment God said his name YAHWEH. And Moses knew that God was a gracious and merciful God beyond anything he could imagine.

How great it would have been to be there, to sit with Moses in that dark damp crack in the rock. To think, "I will get to see God. I may not see God's face but I will see God's back." How wonderful it would be to be there. And then to actually see God's back and take in the fullest portion of God's wonderful glory that a person can stand. It would definitely be a mountain top experience.

But like I said this is a familiar situation. You may say, "Now preacher, it may be true that all humans sin against God like the children of Israel did. We have all made golden calves of one kind or another and bowed down to worship them. We have all admired the work of our hands so much that we failed to give glory to God. But how often does a person get to look God straight in the back. That kind of thing doesn't happen any more. Moses getting to see God's back was a wondrous experience that only rarely happen."

I believe that it is more common than most people think. I believe that the entire episode is a common situation. And I believe that many people get to see God in the way that Moses did. And they hear God pronounce the name YAHWEH. And they come to know that God will be merciful to whom God will be merciful. Just like Moses.

You see the truth of the matter is that this is how God operates. It's God's way of doing things to reveal the Holy presence through forgiveness and mercy. The human race was wallowing in sin and we were all separated from the holy presence of God. We were nothing more than a bunch of escaped slaves wandering around in a spiritual desert. But then Jesus came. And he died on a cross. And in Christ God yelled for all to hear, "I am YAHWEH, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy."

"O.K. preacher we get the point. We have all seen how merciful God can be, but we still haven't seen God like Moses did." But in a way we have. In fact we have seen more. If you can say I have seen Jesus, then you have seen more than just God's back. I am not talking about some artist's concept of how Jesus looked. I am not even talking about the mere visual presence or some kind of vision of Jesus. I am saying if you have seen Jesus in you heart you have seen the Glory of God alive in your life. And you can enter into the Promised Land not as a wandering escaped slave but as the people of God anointed with the Holy presence of the Almighty.

Perhaps you don't know what I mean but I am sure that John Newton did. John Newton was a slave trader. He was a captain of a slave ship. The passage from Africa to America was the deadliest and most inhuman parts of the slave trade. Human beings were packed on the ships like cargo and many didn't survive the trip. John Newton was a sinner among sinners and was responsible for the deaths of countless people and the enslavement of many others. But he repented, came to Christ and was delivered from that life of murder and sin. To commemorate the forgiveness he experienced he wrote a hymn. Perhaps you have heard it. It begins "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me" It also says "I once was lost but now am found was blind but now I see." John Newton saw Jesus in the amazing grace that saved him.

Have you seen Jesus? Seeking a glimpse of God in Jesus is a daily endeavor. The place to begin seeing Jesus is through looking at the cross, and seeing the mercy of God alive in the death of Christ. If you have not seen Jesus I invite you to do like Moses did and ask to see the Glory of God in his forgiveness and grace. If you have seen Jesus before I invite you to look for him daily in your life.