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Green Blades Preaching Roundtable

21st Sunday after Pentecost

Year A
October 22, 2023
Tamela K. Walhof

Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96: 1-9 [10-13]
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22: 25-22

Our Prayer of the Day states, “…Created by you, let us live in your image; created for you, let us act for your glory; redeemed by you, let us give you what is yours…” In the Lectionary lessons, Psalm 96 sets the tone for what it means to be created by and for God, and to serve within God’s creation.

 

In fact, the psalmist notes that it isn’t just God’s people that are to “sing a new song” of praise, but the whole earth – all of creation – is to sing to the Lord, and his glory is to be known “among the nations” for all “his marvelous works among all the peoples.” If we continue a little beyond verse 9, the heavens, and seas, and all that is within them rejoices in God, and even the trees of the forest sing for joy. It goes on to say that “He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth.” However, the word used here is tsedek, best translated as justice and righteousness, which refer to right relationship. So, rather than reading it as God ushering in judgement, perhaps we should consider what it means that God paves the way for right relationship – with God, between all people and nations, and even among all of creation.

 

In Isaiah 45, the prophet draws attention to Persian King Cyrus, as someone led by God in his rule, serving as God’s servant, “though you [King Cyrus] do not know me [God].” We should recall that King Cyrus was the leader who freed people of many nations, including Judah, who had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians, and allowed them to return to their home countries. Cyrus is even referred to as something of a parallel messiah, though Isaiah 45 also makes clear that he is not God. 

 

Verses 1-7 are actually part of a larger poem that begins in chapter 44 and ends with Isaiah 45:8. Isaiah 44:23 & 24, like Psalm 96, call for the heavens and earth, mountains and trees to sing, and state “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by myself spread out the earth…” The poem ends referencing tsedek (righteousness and justice). In other words, all of Creation points to who God is, the only true God, the creator of everything, the redeemer and reconciler of nations and creation. So, even though an earthly king like Cyrus may do just things, it is by God’s leading, and it is only through our God and the coming Messiah (hinted at in the passage) that true right relationship may be known.

 

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians begins with the greeting Grace & Peace. Grace comes from the Greek word charis. It refers to grace, goodwill, lovingkindness, and favor, including the unmerited favor that God bestows on us. Jesus embodies grace through love, mercy, compassion, service, and sacrifice, and is how we should act in God’s world. Peace, traditionally shalom throughout the Hebrew Jewish world (or eirene in Greek) is described by Yale Professor Emeritus, Nicholas Wolterstorff as the embrace of peace and justice. He states that shalom is where “we enact our responsibilities to one another, to God, and to nature” but “more than that…it is present only where there is delight and joy in those relationships.” (Nicholas Wolterstorff, Until Justice and Peace Embrace, p.124).

 

Paul is writing to encourage the Thessalonians, saying that he gives thanks “remembering…[the Thessalonians] work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” and that they became imitators…of the Lord” even in difficult circumstances. Their examples show true servanthood, to the extent that Paul even says he doesn’t need to talk about their faith example, since it is seen throughout the entire region.

 

Finally, our Gospel lesson in Matthew brings us to a circumstance where two very different groups of leaders try to trick Jesus with a question about whether they should pay their taxes. The Herodians were collaborators with the Roman authorities, while the Pharisees deeply resented Rome even while constantly making accommodations to hang onto power within Jewish society. These two groups want Jesus to either side with Rome or with those feeling Rome’s oppressive rule, so that either way they can denounce him. In asking them to produce a coin, he sidesteps their question asking them instead whose image is on the coin. When they reply Caesar, he states they should give “to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

 

We see in our polarized society today, politicians and political parties who all try to claim that God is on their side. Perhaps we should ask whose image is on us! The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God, and that everything belongs to God. That isn’t to say that human authorities and governments don’t play an important role. However, too many leaders seem to think that they are a god unto themselves, in a similar way that Caesar claimed divine authority. What does our call to do justice mean in such a circumstance?

 

I believe that we are to give ourselves as God’s servants to the work of justice among people, communities, nations, and all of creation. We’ll need to deal with flawed, imperfect, and unjust governments along the way. Governments are supposed to exist to ensure justice, and to ensure the opportunities that everyone needs to live fully into who they are called to be. Yet often leaders twist or distort what justice actually is, or use power attained through government to enrich themselves or specific groups within society. So, while we give deference to the authority of governments, we need to constantly call our leaders to an understanding of justice that works for right relationship, for fairness and equity, both for people and for the broader created world.

 

What does all this mean in the midst of a current reality which has seen the hottest months in recorded history, record breaking droughts and wildfires, and floods of massive proportions, impacted and caused by the billions of toxins we humans spew into the air and atmosphere? Plastic pollution has been filling up huge garbage patches in the oceans, and microplastics are now in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, our bloodstreams and even entering into the bodies of unborn fetuses through their mother’s placentas.

 

Clearly, humans have not been doing justice for God’s creation, nor for the people who live in God’s world. As God’s image-bearing servants and instruments for tsedek, justice, righteousness, charis, shalom, AND love we must work for right relationship everywhere. We must call our leaders to do right by both people and creation. Tempting as it may be, we should not be doomsayers, or stuck in the gloom of this situation of our own making. Rather, we need to be prophets of hope for what this world can and should be. Like the Thessalonians, we should be known through our actions in the work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope. We should delight in the various relationships to which we are called, and ensure that others, including creation, may also delight in them.

 

“Sovereign God, raise your throne in our hearts. Created by you, let us live in your image; created for you, let us act for your glory; redeemed by you, let us give you what is yours, [for the sake of all that you have created], through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.” Amen

Tamela K. Walhof
Tamela K. Walhof
Lutheran Advocacy - Minnesota
St. Paul, MN

Tammy Walhof's passion for justice has led her to volunteer with low-income families in the U.S., work for 6 years in organizing and development in Latin America, travel to various African countries, and work in faith-based advocacy for more than two decades. Tammy’s background in public policy analysis has served her in state government, in her previous positions at Bread for the World, and as Director of Lutheran Advocacy-MN since 2014.

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