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Our readings this week invite us to reflect on what it means for God to reveal Godself to his people, and what that revealing does to us. You will notice the themes of God’s presence (or “face”), God’s image (and other images), and God’s transforming power.
In our Old Testament reading (Exodus 33:12-23), Moses pleads with God to show him how he will be with his people. God tells Moses: “My presence (or ‘my face’) will go with you, and I will give you rest.” This is a mysterious construction as God seems to simultaneously affirm that he will be with them, and, that they will be protected from seeing him fully. Moses insists on seeing God’s glory, and God is faithful to reveal Godself to his people; but, it is on God’s terms.
God always and only desires good for his people, and he is faithful to bring about that good. Therefore, God’s presence is not to be received on our terms: when we want it and how we want it. God is not to be manipulated, and God knows what we need more than we do.
The danger of a kind of casual, overfamiliarity in our language about God is that it quickly can become “me-centered.” We quickly define God, and God’s work, based on our experience, our needs, and our desires.
Any encounter with God has a transformative effect. It changes us, and not in ways that we can take lightly. Moses knows from the encounter at the burning bush that there are sacred spaces where one is told to draw near, but to be careful in drawing near, because life will not be the same once you have drawn near.
Rather than a direct manifestation (what Moses was asking for), God promises “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.” In other words, God will reveal his heart, his nature, his goodness. It will not be more than Moses can handle. In fact, God himself will protect Moses, with his own hand, from what may be too much for him. God knows what we need and will always be with us. We need simply to trust.
Our epistle reading (1 Thessalonians 1:10) speaks of the work of transformation among the community of God’s people. Paul gives thanks for the faith, love, and hope that he has seen cultivated in the life of the young Thessalonian church. These virtues have grown so deep that, even as they have been afflicted, they have been imitators of the apostles and of Jesus; they received the word with joy and have become an example for the believers.
Once again we hear about the transforming work of God’s presence. To be part of the Church is serious business. It is not to be entered into lightly because God transforms our very selves. This is not instantaneous, though we are instantly changed as we walk through the waters of baptism; but the Christian life is a process. More specifically: it is a Spirit-led process. Knowing that the Spirit is at work in our hearts reassures us that we are not dependent on our own efforts. We can trust the Spirit’s formation.
Our gospel reading (Matthew 22:15-22) asks what we do with other “faces” other “presences” in our world. The Pharisee disciples and the Herodians ask Jesus specifically what to do about taxes. A hot-button issue at the time, many of the Pharisees were curious about revolution (maybe we don’t pay taxes to Caesar); the Herodians were more comfortable with acknowledgement and appeasement (making peace with the empire).
Jesus cuts to the heart of their (and our) allegiances. Violent revolution will not lead to God’s kingdom, for it is simply employing the tactics of the world. At the same time, appeasement will not lead to God’s kingdom because it is so easy to idolize the state, to confuse the emperor’s kingdom for God’s kingdom.
Christians are always in dangerous territory when it comes to money and politics, and there is a reason why Jesus often reserves his harshest words for the rich and those who seek to conform him to their political agenda. Money itself is not wrong. It is necessary in a world like ours. However, anytime we possess money, we are merely a step away from idolizing it. Politics themselves are not wrong, but when we engage with them, we are merely a step away from idolizing our political tribe or our nation.
Jesus’ challenge unveils our allegiances. Allegiance to the one true God will always be difficult in a broken world because it requires relinquishing control. We know God by faith, trusting him even when we do not see him (or do not see him in the way we want to see him). Yet, we can trust that God is with us; and he will be with us.
We are reminded this week that we can trust God’s character, his heart for us; and that God’s presence with us will always change us. As we trust him, we undergo the difficult work of transformation towards faith, hope, and love. These sound like lofty ideas, but their groundwork is the nitty-gritty moments of prayer, fasting, immersion in God’s story, among the poor and marginalized, and in the sacraments.
May we allow Jesus to reveal our true allegiances as he reveals himself to us. May we trust that God is with us, that he is good, and gracious. May we be aware of the counterfeit revolutions and appeasements that we face each day. And may we return ourselves to God.