Sermon Tone Analysis

Invitation to the Celebration

     In the Name of God the Creator, Liberator, Sustainer, Energizer, we're here, for whatever reason.

Are we ready for a God-event, even though, especially because, we will wrestle with a difficult theme today?

We can let it divide us or give us some  new insights into the life of the church.

Yes, we're here!

Now  what?

P: Fact: God owns the world -- of nature, of persons -- even when we think that we own it, even when we think that we are the only ones who know what God's will is, even when we think that we are the "true" Christians, even when we think that we have the "right" answers, even when we think that we are the only obedient ones left in the world.

M: We know that the earth is the Lord's, even when we act as though it belongs to us, even when we cry out, "I, only I am left to do God's will."

All: Lord, put our thoughts, words, feelings by Your Spirit, in proper perspective.

Teach us the difference between obeying You and Caesar, whatever form Caesar happens to take.

~* INVOCATION AND LORD'S PRAYER     So much we do not understand, O Lord.

There is much beauty, much to bring joy into our lives in this life.

But there is sadness, loneliness, rejection too.

Why, O God, must we endure so much suffering in order to grow into the beings we were created to be? Help us to trust you, O God, for those things which we do not understand, to trust them to your love which, despite everything, we know to surround us and promise that in the end, we will find the healing joy which will make all things good.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And, forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever.

AMEN.

Gloria

~* OPENING HYMN                                 I Sing the Almighty Power of God            # 6

SCRIPTURE READING              Exodus 33:12-23

33:12 Moses said to the LORD, "See, you have said to me, 'Bring up this people'; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.

Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' 33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight.

Consider too that this nation is your people."

33:14 He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

33:15 And he said to him, "If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here.

33:16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us?

In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth."

33:17 The LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name."

33:18 Moses said, "Show me your glory, I pray."

33:19 And he said, "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.

33:20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live."

33:21 And the LORD continued, "See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; 33:22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 33:23 then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."

RESPONSE                  Psalms 99:1-9

99:1 The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!

He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

99:2 The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.

99:3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.

Holy is he! 99:4 Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

99:5 Extol the LORD our God; worship at his footstool.

Holy is he! 99:6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name.

They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.

99:7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.

99:8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.

99:9 Extol the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy.

OFFERING                    We Are Accountable!

Stewardship Challenge

     Would you give if your gift were not tax-deductible?

If so, how much?

Compare what you give, which is deductible, with what you would give if it were not.

~* DOXOLOGY

~* PRAYER OF DEDICATION       Forgive us, Lord, when our standard of living for self exceeds our standard of giving to others, in the name of him who gave everything he had, so that we might learn how to give and live.

CHILDREN'S STORY TIME         Explain to the children what Jesus meant when he said, "Give  to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things  that are God's."

CHORAL ANTHEM

PRAYER           Focus on the God of Scripture, who is Lord of the Universe, and God's power over the lesser gods of Caesar, whatever form they happen to take.

We Seek Forgiveness    The Act of Recognizing our Humanity     For all practical purposes, for some of us, God is dead, especially around the issues of church and state, God and Caesar.

Think about where we put our primary obedience, especially when we debate religion and politics.

Our sin often is that we refuse to listen to those who disagree with us, especially when we need to hear that they're confronting our biases.

In silence consider whose voice you need to hear.

Write down the names of those voices.

(Two minutes of silence.)

Pray the prayer silently first; then we will pray it together.

All: O God, You love the world of persons, even when we do not.

You love those who differ from us, for whatever reason.

We confess that our greatest sin, our greatest source of estrangement, our brokenness and alienation lie in our lack of love for all people.

Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of love.

Response     "Truth Shall Make You Free" (based on John 8:31-32;  31Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings.

32And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Jesus himself is the truth that sets us free (8:36).

He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what is right.

He frees us from the consequences of sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan.

He shows us clearly the way to eternal life with God.

Thus, Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to follow God.

As we seek to serve God, Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God meant us to be.

The Act of Receiving New Life     Henry Longfellow once said, "If we could read the secret history of our 'enemies,' we should find in each one's life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."

(Repeat two or three times.)

All: God, cleanse us from any desire for revenge, as tempting as the thought is; any desire to get even with those who disagree with us, who seek to destroy us physically, emotionally, spiritually, verbally or silently, obviously or subtly; any desire to say, "I told you so!"

By Your Spirit, grant that we may seek to overpower through love those who seek to destroy, to silence Your witness and Your church through hatred, indifference, indecision, laziness, and the misuse of power.

~* PREPARATIONAL HYMN                    God of Our Fathers                    # 599

SCRIPTURE TEXT                     Matthew 22:15-22

22:15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.

22:16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.

22:17 Tell us, then, what you think.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" 22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 22:19 Show me the coin used for the tax."

And they brought him a denarius.

22:20 Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" 22:21 They answered, "The emperor's."

Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."

22:22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

SERMON                                  Discernment Is Better Than Keeping Your Guard

Over the course of one's life, one knows those  persons~/groups who think the worst of you and who aren't the least bit interested in changing their opinion.

In my life, as I cross paths with such persons, I automatically put up my guard --  high!

-- and I match their low regard for me with an equally low regard for them.

However, that high-guardedness, attitudinally and dispositionally, bars one from meaningful conversation and ensures only perfunctory exchanges.

We leave each other's company all the more grounded in our limited perception of one another.

I want to build a case that in this encounter of Jesus with groups of persons who have set their minds against him, that he chose discernment over a high-guard.

I believe he did so because, potentially, his response to their set-up might serve as a means of reordering their own understanding of him, now or later.