This sermon, which is the ninth in a sermon series on the Book of Exodus, was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Sunday October 18, 2020.
Readings for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24 – Year A)
Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22
One of the experiences that I miss most during this pandemic is the experience of administering the consecrated bread, the body of Christ, to you, you who are the body of Christ. You would usually hear my say the Words of Administration: “The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven” or “The Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life.” What you might not have heard me say (because I would usually say it silently) was your name. In that moment of profound encounter when you and Christ and I are intimately connected, I hold in my heart your name and your story. And in that moment, Christ holds in his sacred heart both of our names and stories, which he incorporates perfectly and beautifully into his name and story; his name, which is the name above all names, and his story, which is the greatest story ever told. In that moment, we touch eternity and we tap into the divine spark within each of us, manifesting the image of God in which we are made. And though we don’t always pay attention to it and sometimes we shy away from it, there is an invitation in that moment to see in each other the face of God.
For these reasons, I was deeply refreshed yesterday as vestry members and I gathered for a short outdoor retreat at the home of the Rev. Anne Pierson (our deacon today). After praying and reading portions from the presiding bishop’s new book Love is the Way, we shared personal stories of times in our lives when we felt closest to God. And then we gathered around a small makeshift altar and joined our voices with angels and archangels, and with the ancient redwoods that surrounded us, the birds that flew overhead, and the frogs and bunnies that leapt with joy at a distance and we all said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” And we all knew that we were standing on holy ground as we received the Body of Christ and felt embraced by the God who knows us each by name.
And then we were visited by a wild turkey whom Deacon Anne has given the name “Copper.” [A turkey whom Anne knows by name]. Royal played some turkey calls on his iPhone which made Copper even more curious about us. And then we started mapping out a route for Sacred Saunters on Deacon Anne’s lovely forest property and we hope to offer Sacred Saunters on the Saturdays during Advent (rain or shine) so stay tuned for that. How good and pleasant it will be to worship with you again among the redwoods and to feel embraced together by the God who knows us each by name.
Since late August we have been reading through the Book of Exodus, which you all know by now is called the book of Names (Shemoth). We learned that God’s Name is Salvation (Yeshua) as God drew baby Moses out of the Nile river (Mashah); and saved him from drowning. Then we learned that God’s Name is “I AM WHO I AM” (Eyeh Asher Eyeh) and that while others might look at suffering and say, “It is what it is,” God looks at suffering and says, “I am who I am and I am a God who listens and has compassion and saves.” We learned that God offers himself to us as the Passover Lamb, teaching us that his Name is also Mighty Victim who causes the Angel of Death to sheathe his sword, and who opens up for us the gate of paradise, where all saints shall rise. And then we learned that God’s Name is Yod – Heh – Waw – Heh, the sound of our very breath. We were reminded that our collective spiritual name is “Israel”; and that we are invited to wrestle honestly with God who receives our grumbling and kvetching and responds with blessing and nourishment as he did for the [mardy] Israelites in the wilderness. We learned that God’s Name in Christ is the Name above all Names not because Christ forces his authority upon us but because he listens humbly and loves us dearly to such an extent that we want to give him the throne of our hearts. With the help of St. Francis and his Canticle of God’s Name, we learned the importance of the third commandment: to not misuse the Name of God. And last week, we learned about the meaning of that powerful and ubiquitous biblical phrase “For his Name’s sake.” And during this journey through Exodus, I’ve invited us to pay special attention to all the references to names and God’s Name(s) in our Morning Prayer service, in the Psalms, and in the other Scripture readings. I’ve also invited us to keep reflecting on how we can collectively live up to our name Christ Church. And I’ve invited us to reflect on the meaning of our individual names. What does your name mean? And how do you embody that meaning and thus live up to your name? What is your name calling you to do and to be right now?
People say that the most beautiful sound in the world is the sound of one’s own name. And in our reading from Exodus today (which is the final reading of this series), we learn that our God is a God who knows us each by name. God knows the number of hairs on your head. God knows every detail of your story. God knows your joys and your sorrows, your fears and hopes and frustrations, your unhealthy habits and your darkest secrets, your healthy habits and your heart’s hidden treasures. God knows you by name. And God longs to reveal himself to you and to shine his glory upon you as he did to Moses.
This morning I invite us to encounter the God who knows us by name; and I invite us to do this by deepening our appreciation for the divine beauty of each other’s faces and to see the face of God in the faces of those we love. You might be thinking that this is a strange invitation since we are all being required to cover our faces with masks for our health and safety right now, but I believe that’s all the more reason for us to appreciate that which we may have previously taken for granted. This invitation comes from our reading in Exodus, where Moses longs to see God’s face but knows that no one can see God’s face and live; and the invitation also comes from the Gospel in which Christ teaches us, in a very unique and subtle way, how we can, in fact, see the face of God and live, if we have the eyes to see.
So let’s take a brief look at this morning’s Gospel: the Pharisees and the Herodians try to trap Jesus with their question about paying taxes. They knew if Jesus says “yes” to paying taxes he will risk losing support from the people, but if he says “no” he will be supporting treason against the state (and he would also be associating himself with a previous false messiah named Judas the Galilean who led a tax revolt, which was ultimately unsuccessful). The Pharisees say something to Jesus as they’re buttering him up that is surprisingly significant (and is very much lost in translation). They tell Jesus, “You do not regard people with partiality.” The Greek, however, when translated literally, reads “You do not look at the masks of people.” The word is prosopon, which was used to describe the masks used by actors in ancient Greek theatre. And so Jesus responds by essentially saying, “Yes, you are right. I do not look at the masks of people. I look through the masks.” And what does Jesus see when he looks through the masks?
Jesus answers their question about taxes in such a way that he intrigues the crowd and flummoxes the Pharisees. He acknowledges the “face” and “image” of Caesar on the denarius coin and says, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Not only does Jesus answer their question, he also teaches them (and us) a profound truth. One of the earliest interpretations of this teaching is from the African Church Father Tertullian (160 – 220 AD) who paraphrases Jesus and says, “[Give] the image of Caesar, which is on the coin, to Caesar, and the image of God, which is on humanity, to God.” Jesus is teaching them (and us) what he sees when he looks through our masks: He sees the image of God in each of us whom he knows by name. In a sense, he sees himself in us.
Bishop Tom Wright sums up today’s Gospel when he says, “Jesus…is leading more than a mere tax revolt. Give the dirty stuff back to Caesar who deserves it, he said. Caesar’s…claims are as nothing before the all-embracing claim of the one true God. [Caesar’s name is nothing before God’s Name]. Jesus, himself the divine Image, was on his way to symbolize and embody, as only the unique Son could, the God whose face is unveiled at last, not in in financial demands but in self-giving love.”[1]
And so today, in our final reading from Exodus, as we read about the God who knows us each by name, we learn that this God’s Name is ultimately Love. And we are invited to experience that love by looking through each other’s masks, seeing the smiles in each other’s eyes, and, when it is safe and appropriate, to take off our masks and bask in the divine beauty of the image of God stamped uniquely upon each person’s face.
Imagine God, right now, calling you by your name. What’s he calling you to do? Is he calling you to give the dirty stuff back to Caesar, whose name is ultimately nothing? Let the spiritually dead bury the dead? Is he calling you to invest more of your time, your talent, your treasure and your presence in love and in the beloved community that is the church (Christ Church), where we learn to see the face of God in each other, and where we bask in the glory of the God whose Name is Love?
[1] N.T. Wright, Twelve Months of Sundays: Biblical Meditations on the Christian Years A, B, & C (SPCK: New York, 2012), 115.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 