Image is Everything

Intro

- Drawing image of bald man

- Image of bumper sticker- calvary

- We live in a world that is consumed with image- social media, magazines, wealth- how others view me

- This has led to an identity crisis

- For many in the world

- But also for many Christians- what is my identity? What is my purpose? What am I known for? 

Read Luke 20:20-26

In this identity crisis, many Christians have lost sight of their true purpose. In this passage Jesus gets down to the heart of the issue and reminds us what matters most. In a world of distractions and things competing for our time, affection, and  loyalty, we must realign our focus, and that is what I hope to do this morning. 

The Pretense of Righteousness

Righteousness is often used to disguise true intentions 

 These spies and even the religious leaders were using this false righteousness to cover up their wicked hearts

Sometimes we get wrapped up in our own act

I'm sure many of the religious leaders thought they were doing what was right! 

They had become so consumed with the act, that they failed to look at their hearts. 

The younger generation desires authenticity- we cannot (as individuals and the church) put on a show

 The spies use Jesus’s righteousness to lay the trap

 The attempt to flatter him

 They identify what makes him unique 

 And in doing so they acknowledge their own shortcomings

Jesus uses his wisdom to see through their plan

 We must seek wisdom to deal with similar circumstances in this world

 “Whoever lacks wisdom, let him ask of God...”

Wisdom do identify the false righteousness in our own lives and in the lives of others.

Se we see the spies have set the stage for the question...

When Two Worlds Collide- Religious and Political

Illustration- moving to Palau- “I’m not a Christian, I’m Palauan!”

Blurring the lines

For centuries, Jerusalem had known no distinction between government and religion- could the two exist together, or must we choose one over the other?

 Jerusalem was under Roman rule, and this was evident in many ways throughout the city. One of them that caused much division was the taxes that each man had to pay. 

Some Jews viewed this as a rebellion against God’s true authority and recognition and participation of a pagan religion

Others were directly involved in the whole process 

The religious leaders were the very ones who collected the tax

 A Kingdom without a King

 We are often consumed with establishing a kingdom that prioritizes God’s laws hoping that, as a result, people discover the King 

 But we must realize our priority- Jesus is the one who changes people's hearts and establishes his Kingdom

 We must prioritize evangelism over political change

Our country will not be saved because we pass laws or elect our candidate. It will change when people recognize the true King and submit to him

Just imagine, if we were able to convince the entire nation to follow our political ideology, we might live in a much more peaceful place, but many people would be just as lost as they are now. What would our eternal gain be?

Jesus was not a political revolutionary

 He often found himself in the public eye, and he often challenged the status quo, but his motives were always the same, to point people to God

We live under a different rule- Democratic republic- we have a voice in our country

 But we must remember that in all we do, our priority is God and living how he has called us to live

 Be active, be bold, effect change, but never at the expense of our primary mission- to point others to Jesus! 

Be proud of your nation, be thankful for the freedoms and opportunities you have, but always keep the main thing the main thing!

 It All Comes Down to Image

What belongs to God?

 Jesus made a very simple point in asking for the coin- the fact that they had it in their pockets was proof that they had already acknowledged Roman authority in Jerusalem. They were living under it, and in many ways had benefited from it.  

 Jesus acknowledged that it was not just ok to pay the tax, but necessary in their situation

 But he moves past that quickly. The tax was not the real issue. Recognizing Roman rule was not the real issue. 

 What is of most importance is what belongs to God. If we owe taxes to our governing authority, then what do we owe to God?

We are made in God’s image

All people are created in God’s image

We are stamped with his image on our lives

Christians are twice stamped with the image of God

Once at creation and again when he bought us back through the death of Christ- we are his

Rom. 13:7-8 “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

His law is inscribed in our hearts

 Hebrews 8:10 (from Jer. 31)- "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write (lit. Inscribe) them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

 We are his- completely- we owe him everything, our very lives!

Conclusion

Are we giving to God what he is owed, or have we divided our affection? Perhaps we have given God part of our lives, most of our lives, but we are holding somethings back. 

April 15 is quickly approaching- and as much as it pains us, we are all careful to pay what we owe. How much more important, and how much more beneficial is giving to God what he is owed and making our service to him the priority? 

What marks us? What identifies us? When people draw my life on a table... if I was a car, what bumper sticker would I have? And as a church- what would our community draw

So What?

As image-bearers of God, are we living in a way that accurately represents Him to the World around us?

Pray that we will be marked by God’s image in our lives