Whose Got the Power?

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Pursuit of Money

Economist John Kenneth Galbraith said:

That the love of money is the root of evil can, conceivably, be disputed.… What is not in doubt is that the pursuit of money, or any enduring association with it, is capable of inducing not alone bizarre but ripely perverse behavior.

For the Love of Money

Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, in his book, Money, Whence It Came, Where It Went (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975), p. 3, said,

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Pursuit of Money

In , Jesus rides into Jerusalem to the acclaim of a large multitude of pilgrims who shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the Highest!” (vv. 6-9).

Matthew 21:12–13 ESV

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Matthew 21:12 ESV

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

The next day, when Jesus returned to the Temple, He was interrogated by the Chief Priests and elders of the people regarding His authority to do the things that he did. The remainder of to records Jesus’ response to their question. He did not answer them directly, but instead, through a series of parables, shows them their sin in rejecting Him.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

Today’s Gospel text presents their reaction: Instead of repenting, they seek to “entangle Him in His words,” and thereby, invalidate His authority. they think to set Jesus on the horns of a dilemma with their question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Jesus’ answer, given as they gaze at Caesar’s coin in their hands, has put us on the horns of that dilemma: “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ().

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

We live in a country, and at a time, where the glory of our economic system of capitalism is proclaimed to be that it enables people to raise from a status of poverty to whatever heights they desire, if they are willing to put in the work. At the same time, others declare that capitalism devours those who lack financial resources. Some argue that some form of socialism must be instituted if we are to live out the tenets of our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, and that, indeed, as the most powerful nation in history, it is inconceivable that we should allow anyone to be left behind in the clutches of poverty, sickness, or homelessness.

Today, many look to the power of the State to provide for the needs of our neighbor, at least in part, because the Church has been unable, within its resources, to provide the level of assistance that appears to be needed. Some within the Church respond that the Church would do more if people would simply repent, believe the Gospel, and look to the Church instead of the Government, or, alternatively, that the Church infiltrate and take over the reigns of government.

19 Bread is made for laughter,

Ecclesiastes 10:19 ESV

Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.

and wine gladdens life,

The Book of Concord Concerning Governing Authorities

[4] Concerning Governing Authorities

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authority. For wherever the governing authority is, it is ordered by God. But whoever resists the governing authority, resists God’s order, and whoever resists will incur judgment, for that authority does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s handmaid who executes punishment against those who do evil.” From Romans 13[:1–2*, 4b*].115

The Book of Concord The Fourth Article:

[1] That the pope is not the head of all Christendom “by divine right” or on the basis of God’s Word,51 because that belongs only to the one who is called Jesus Christ. Instead, the pope is only bishop, or pastor, of the church at Rome and of those who willingly or through a human institution (that is, through secular authority) have joined themselves to him in order to be Christians alongside him as a brother and companion but not under him as a lord—as the ancient councils53 and the time of St. Cyprian demonstrate.

and money answers everything.

-SA II:IV:1

The Book of Concord The Fourth Article:

3] It follows from this that everything the pope has undertaken and done on the basis of such false, offensive, blasphemous, arrogant power was and still is a purely diabolical affair and business, which corrupts the entire holy Christian church (however much it depends on him) and negates the first, chief article on redemption by Jesus Christ. (The only exception concerns the area of political government, where God sometimes allows much good to come to a people through a tyrant or scoundrel.)

The Book of Concord Article XVI: Concerning Public Order and Secular Government

[1] Concerning public order and secular government it is taught that all political authority, orderly government, laws, and good order in the world are created and instituted by God [2] and that Christians may without sin exercise political authority; be princes and judges; pass sentences and administer justice according to imperial and other existing laws; punish evildoers with the sword; wage just wars; serve as soldiers; buy and sell; take required oaths; possess property; be married; etc.

What then, are we to do as Christian citizens in a country that operates under the government of a Federal Republic? We cannot toss all responsibility upon the Government, since it is a representative government - it represents us, and only exercises the authority that we give to it. What are we to do as Christians who live in this country? How responsible are we for the conditions that currently exist in the region?

Can I answer that in one sermon?

Money

19 Bread is made for laughter,

and wine gladdens life,

and money answers everything.

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