Tag Archives: Pharisees

No Tricks. No Treats. Just Grace.

October 18, 2026 caitlin121608

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on October 18, 2026

[sermon begins after two Bible readings; there’s a third reading at the end of the sermon]

Matthew 22:15-22 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 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. ¹⁷ Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ Then he said to them, “Whose head is this and whose title?” ²¹ They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
² We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy from the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹ For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

[sermon begins]

I’ll confess that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. The ghoulish stuff creeps me out. The gory stuff makes me queasy. And the demonic stuff disturbs me. I close my eyes during trailers for horror movies because those images do NOT belong in my head. I’m a Halloween scaredy cat but I love kids. Kids too small to walk house to house are pulled in wagons by their caring adults, still working on their “Rs,” shouting, “Twick or Tweet.” Kids still in elementary school whose parents are hollering manner suggestions from the sidewalk while their kid screams “Trick or Trick,” too strung out on sugar to remember to say, “Thank you.” And kids in their teens who may or may not wear costumes and cart around their candy stockpile in a pillowcase with a barely audible, “Trick or Treat.” I’m the goofy adult at the door just happy to see them, telling them they look great or to have fun or to be safe. We may spend the rest of the year telling kids not to take candy from strangers but the weirdness of the trick-or-treat tradition is irrelevant in the face of that cuteness, excitement, and treats. Tricks are another thing altogether. The 1920s were the worst for tricks when pranks set cities on edge.[1] No one likes to be tricked. Tricksters have a grand time but being the tricked-ones is no fun.

Tricks were on the minds of the Pharisees, their disciples, and the Herodians, as they treated themselves to a fool-proof test that would cut Jesus down to size. But tricksters were no match for the table-turning Jesus. He turned the tables on them as easily as he overturned the tables of the temple’s moneychangers in the last chapter.[2] Ordinarily, the Pharisees would have had nothing to do with the Herodians who seem to be pro-Roman by virtue of their name.[3] But it was time for this troublemaking Jesus to go, so the rivals joined forces against him.[4]

First, they treated him to flattery, praising his sincerity and his impartiality. Then came the trick – “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” If Jesus answered, yes, he would have angered the people; if Jesus said no, he would have angered Rome. Jesus found a third answer, give to God what is God’s and give to the emperor what is the emperors. That test seems straightforward.

Here’s an interesting question. Why did the Pharisees’ disciples have that coin inside the temple? On it was etched the head of Emperor Tiberius, son of Caesar Augustus. As Caesar, Augustus was considered divine, so Tiberius was at least the son of a God. Tiberius’ head on that coin would have been blasphemous in the temple because it was the image of an idol, a false god.[5] In verse 20, “head” is literally translated “icon” in the Greek. As an icon of a god, that coin was an idol forbidden in the temple and should have been exchanged for a shekel outside the temple door to put in the offering. Jesus had a trick up his own sleeve when he asked them to show him “the coin used for the tax.”

Watching Jesus escape a trick is a real treat especially when it leaves us with tricky questions to play with. Jesus asks about Tiberius’ image in a conversation about loyalty. His question makes me wonder about how we’re bombarded with people and politics that demand something of us, our time and attention for sure as we get swept up in the current election cycle. These verses in Matthew are not your typical inspiring verses about money. But they do help us think about what Jesus was up against and what we are too. It’s okay to take a hard path through scripture and let it challenge our assumptions and ask us tough questions. We can also bring other scripture into the conversation, too.

Earlier in Matthew, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus preached to his disciples, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[6] In that story and in our story today, Jesus pushes his listeners into deeper connection with God, working out for ourselves how we are to live and follow in the way of Jesus.[7] Isn’t that one of the appealing features of faith? That we get to wonder, decide, fail, and try again in the way of Jesus? We engage our conscience and our hearts without tricks to confuse us or treats to persuade us. While Jesus’ way isn’t always clear, it is the way of God who is good. God who loves us first without demanding a performance of our own goodness or tricking us into loving God back.

I think about this kind of stuff a lot when it comes to stewardship and giving money to the church—well before I became a pastor and now that I am one. Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard from a few Augustana people about our faith and financial gifts working together in ministry. We each give what we’re able to give. Some of us can give a little and some of us can give a lot. If you’ve never given regularly, consider starting to give a few dollars a week; and if you’ve been giving regularly to increase your giving by a percentage that’s meaningful to you.

All of us giving something meaningful, however your household defines what meaningful looks like, works together to make ministry thrive for our congregation. Thriving includes caring for each other, our ministry partners in the community, and our staff. Thriving includes our building and grounds through which we welcome people and offer hospitality. We’re not perfect. Nothing human is ever perfect. Ministry is messy simply because there are people involved and people are messy. But Jesus was always on the side of the people and calls us to the same. Our answer to Jesus’ call is a mixed bag but we keep giving financially and doing ministry together because our hearts follow our treasure. Jesus knows us and the human condition all too well.

I’ll close today with these opening words that we heard today from Paul’s beautiful pastoral letter to the church at Thessalonica. Scholars think that this was his earliest letter to the churches and may be the oldest writing in the New Testament—as few as 10 years after Jesus’ died.[8] Paul remembered the Thessalonians before God and then he celebrated their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.[9] He also greeted them with a word of grace.

Out of our own need for grace, we become messengers of grace in a weary world. Not grace as illusory hope or perverse optimism in the face of hard things. But a grace that turns away from the sin that hurts ourselves and each other here and around the world. A grace that deepens our love for each other during suffering. And a grace that shines light into the darkness of despair. We lean into the living grace first given to us by God, for each other and for the sake of the world. Thanks be to God and amen.

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[1] Emily Martin, “The history of trick-or-treating, and how it became a Halloween tradition.” National Geographic, October 23, 2022. The history of trick-or-treating, and how it became a Halloween tradition (nationalgeographic.com)

[2] Matthew 21:12

[3] Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Sermon Brainwave podcase for Bible readings on October 22, 2023. www.workingpreacher.org/podcasts

[4] Ibid.

[5] Skinner, ibid.

[6] Matthew 6:21

[7] Yung Suk Kim, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Virginia Union University. Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22 for October 22, 2023. Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[8] Lutheran Study Bible, 1 Thessalonians – Background File, (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2009), 1942.

[9] 1 Thessalonians 1:2

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1 Peter 4:8-11 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Be hospitable to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. ¹¹ Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Preaching, Sermons

Taking a Blessing You Can’t Ask For [OR Pride Month is a Good Time to Talk about Grace and Restoration]

June 7, 2026 caitlin121608

**sermon art: Rainbow Jesus by Tony Rubino (2020) acrylic on canvas

Pastor Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on June 7, 2026

[sermon begins after the Bible story; see two more readings at the end of the sermon]

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
¹⁰ And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
¹⁸ While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰ Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, ²¹ for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” ²² Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. ²³ When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴ he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. ²⁵ But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. ²⁶ And the report of this spread through all of that district.

[sermon begins]

A note on the apartment door said to come on in. Once inside, I noticed that there were shoes lined up inside the door on a towel. My heart sank. I knew the state of my socks because I’d put them on that morning. They were bright pink with a hole starting at the big toe. No one would ever have known because they were confined inside my black boots which were draped by my slacks. [Sigh.] I took off my boots inside the door and added them to the towel. One of my very first hospice patients was also one of my first adult patients. Up to that point I’d worked on pediatric units in hospitals with the proper socks and shoes for such occasions. But my clinical mentor in graduate school said that if I didn’t find my dream job right away in pediatric pain management that I should check out hospice because I’d learn more about symptom management than I’d ever dreamed. Thus, Denver Hospice. Thus, my first ever adult patients. Thus, standing in the living room of a stranger attempting to be professional with holey bright pink socks.

I walked into the next room where the young man in the hospital bed was being tended by a nurse aide. He took one look at me, saw my socks, and burst out laughing. Today, I can feel grateful that my fashion faux pas brought some laughter to his last days. Back then, I was mortified by the absurdity and that I wouldn’t be taken seriously as an R.N.. And I was worried that this young man with advanced Kaposi sarcoma lesions on his face and in the last stages of AIDS would feel disrespected by my ill-conceived sock wear. But that wasn’t the case. Rather, the young man’s laughter at the silly socks became one more step into grace as my world expanded through relationship with someone I never would have met otherwise.

I wonder if Matthew felt a little like that when he looked back on meeting Jesus. Although he had more going on than an awkwardly exposed big toe. He was sitting at his tax collector table, a traitor to his Jewish friends.[1] Tax collectors took profits for themselves as well as Rome. Jesus walks by and restores Matthew with two words. “Follow me.” It’s quite remarkable that Matthew actually follows him. The second remarkable thing Matthew does is throw a party for Jesus with other tax collectors and sinners. We don’t really know if these sinners are people who have been othered for religious or cultural reasons or if they really are bad actors hurting people with intention.[2] Regardless, the party attracts the interest of religious leaders called Pharisees who question Jesus’ disciples about his eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus answered their accusatory question himself, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

Jesus’ mercy is BIG. So big that the Gospel of Matthew reveals restorative mercy time and again throughout the story it tells about Jesus. Mercy way bigger than we can conceive overriding any judgment indicting us. Lutheran Christians often use the language of grace and mercy interchangeably—celebrating God’s grace as God’s last word.

After Jesus told Matthew to follow him and defended himself to the Pharisees, another synagogue leader asked Jesus to come help his daughter live. While on the way, a woman who talked to herself and whose blood flowed from her body nonstop for 12 years, reached out from behind Jesus to touch the fringe of his cloak. It’s difficult to convey how edgy, how radically audacious, how desperate this woman was to touch any part of Jesus’ attire or person. We live in a time of hugging and handshaking between all kinds of people across color, gender, religions, and more. In the first century, women on their periods weren’t allowed out publicly and they certainly weren’t allowed to touch men. Tough to imagine those norms but they were very real with serious consequences to life and limb if those norms were breached.

I love the image of this woman crossing all the boundaries to touch Jesus, to take a blessing that she couldn’t ask for.[3] Even better? It worked. Her story is an interesting lens for considering other communities for whom this has been true over time. Communities who took Jesus’ blessings they couldn’t ask for.

As Pride month launches, it’s a good time to remember our queer ancestors in the faith. These folks weren’t allowed to worship in their home churches even to return for family funerals. They couldn’t follow Jesus’ call to ministry as preachers and teachers. In the LGBTQIA+ community, reaching out to secretly touch the fringe of Jesus’ cloak looked like the Eucharistic Catholic Church who began meeting in 1946 led by a Catholic ex-seminarian.[4] Touching Jesus’ fringe in secret also looked like Pentecostal Pastor Troy Perry in 1968, who gathered 12 other faithful Christians into his living room for worship when they weren’t welcome elsewhere and so began the largest grass roots LGBTQ+ movement now called the Metropolitan Community Church.[5] Like the woman in our Bible story today who was blessed and affirmed for her faithful action, these folks secretly came to Jesus to take what was needed by faith.

Why the church history lesson? Because over the centuries, claiming scriptural authority and the authority of Jesus, Christians have taken positions against groups of people based on their identities and used the Bible to do it. In light of Pride Month, it’s good to note that there are only seven instances in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible combined that comment on anything remotely related to homosexuality, and certainly not reflecting our 21^st century experience and knowledge of it.[6] Compare this to the 2,000 Bible verses about money and greed; or the over 500 verses about love. Neither the Ten Commandments, nor any of the prophets mention homosexuality. Jesus doesn’t say a word about it in the gospels. Not. One. Word.

Most recently in our congregation, our Welcome Connection Ministry has formed a Guiding Group of queer and straight Augustana folks “to help us listen well, speak honestly, and grow more deeply into the welcome we already experience and proclaim, especially alongside and with the children and adults in the Augustana community who are LGBTQIA+ and/or Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC).”[7]

This work is about becoming who we already are alongside our queer members and staff in a 2,000-year-old tradition that has caused harm in ways that we’ve no wish to perpetuate by accident of habit or unexamined practices. There may be awkward moments akin to taking off my black boots to reveal a holey pink sock that fit the moment only because my hospice patient’s laughter was full of grace and good humor. There may be other moments more painful than awkward in which the depth of our grace will be tested.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus commits acts of restorative mercy as he did flagrantly with the call of Matthew the tax collector, as he did quietly with the shamed and bleeding woman, and as he did publicly with the synagogue leader’s daughter. Many of us fit in at least one of those examples of our ancestors in the faith, restored daily in Christian community by the audacity of Jesus who calls us together to be his body in the world, excluding no one.

Like the prophet Hosea, we are drawn by God’s steadfast love through liturgical repentance into the restorative mercy of justice and righteousness.[8] Like Abraham, we are “hoping against hope” that God’s promises and reliability hold true against our doubts, fears, and fatigue.[9] Our faith rests on the grace of God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord who radically restores us to God and to each other for the sake of the world God so loves. Thanks be to God and amen.

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[1] Danny Zacharias, Associate Dean and Professor of New Testament Studies, Acadia Divinity Studies, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Commentary on Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26. Commentary on Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[2] Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Commentary Podcast on Bible readings for 6/7/26. #1087: Second Sunday of Pentecost – June 7, 2026 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[3] Cody Sanders, Professor of Congregational and Community Care Leadership, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Commentary Podcast on Bible readings for 6/7/26. #1087: Second Sunday of Pentecost – June 7, 2026 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[4] Livia Gerson, The Origins of LGBTQ-Affirming Churches – JSTOR Daily, March 23, 2021.

[5] Sanders, ibid.

[6] Peter J. Gomes. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart (New York: HarperCollins Publisher Inc., 1996).

[7] The Tower (Augustana’s Monthly Newsletter), “Becoming Who We Are: Alongside and with LGBTQIA+ persons and people of color in our community.” May 2026, Volume 50, No. 5, page 7.

[8] Bo Lim, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, USA. Commentary on Hosea 5:15-6:6. Commentary on Hosea 5:15-6:6 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[9] Sanders, ibid.

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Hosea 5:15—6:6

¹⁵ I will return again to my place
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will beg my favor:^6:1 “Come, let us return to the Lord,
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
² After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
³ Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”

⁴ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
⁶ For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Romans 4:13-25

¹³ The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
¹⁶ For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” ²³ Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Sermons

Accelerating the Timeline [OR The Zipper Merge Gets Us All There Sooner] Matthew 15:10-28 and Genesis 45:1-15

August 20, 2023 caitlin121608

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on August 20, 2023

[sermon begins after two Bible stories]

Matthew 15:10-28 [Jesus] called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand:¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” ¹²Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
²¹Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Genesis 45:1-15 [After Judah offered himself in place of his brother Benjamin,] ¹Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ²And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. ¹⁰You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ ¹²And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. ¹³You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

[sermon begins]

Picture this, we’re merrily driving along in two lanes, getting where we’re going at a reasonable speed. Suddenly traffic slows. Up ahead we can see a flashing arrow redirecting us from two lanes down to one. People start merging over and before we know it, the lane that’s going to end is wide open for a quarter mile, maybe half a mile. What do we do? Do we start merging early? Or do we go for the zipper merge and drive up the empty lane until the last possible merge point? Traffic engineers tell us that the very legal zipper merge is the most efficient way to keep traffic moving when lanes decrease. [1] I’m going to confess to being a zipper fan. One of the few here in Denver as far as I can tell. In the zipper merge, we use all the lanes right up to the cones and flashing arrow sign and then we alternate taking turns merging into the open lane. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been in a zipper merge situation where where someone who is an early merger blocks me from a lane that’s ending way up ahead as if I’m the demonic fiery beast Balrog in Lord of the Rings and they’re Gandalf – “YOU. SHALL. NOT. PASS!”[2] But the reality is that we all get where we’re going faster if we take advantage of the zipper merge, filling both traffic lanes as long as possible, and then taking turns to merge. Did I say that it’s legal? I’ve footnoted it in my sermon. Check it out. Honestly, in the thick of traffic, who doesn’t want to accelerate the timeline of getting where we’re going?

Accelerating the timeline is one way to understand the Canaanite woman in our Bible story today.[3] She’s very hard to ignore, taking up space and making noise where she’s not wanted. We often don’t know what to do with her any more than Jesus’ disciples did at the time. They just wanted her to stay in her lane, out of their way. The Bible would be easier to read without her there. And there she is, demanding that Jesus help her even after he calls her a dog. Most interpretations of this story leave us wanting, like finishing a puzzle only to find there aren’t enough pieces.[4] The interpretation that I like best at the moment has us reading backwards through the story. Starting with the woman’s faith. The Canaanite woman saw God’s promises as including her too. She spoke with that level of dignity in her moment of desperation. Perhaps she heard the stories about Jesus feeding of the 5,000 where men, women, and children ate their fill and there were baskets of broken pieces left over.[5] Did she equate the leftover broken pieces in those 12 baskets to the crumbs that fall from the table to the dogs? Somehow she knew that Jesus revealed God’s abundance. She seemed to know that God’s promise was expansive enough to include her. It’s not that Jesus doesn’t know about God’s promise to the whole world through the Israelites.

Jesus was raised on the stories of Jacob and Joseph too. Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and then became his brothers’ salvation. Joseph who forgave his brothers, wept on them, fed and housed them during a multi-year famine because God gave Joseph the gift of dreams. Joseph who was part of the line of Abraham down through his father Jacob who was renamed Israel and whose descendants were called Israelites. Jesus was a part of Abraham’s lineage now called Jews. Jesus revealed God and the Canaanite woman knew him by faith. God made promises to bless the whole world through Abraham’s lineage.

Jesus, talking about the lost sheep of Israel, may have had a timeline is his mind in which the whole world would be blessed, but the woman accelerated it to include the Canaanites perhaps sooner than planned. The Canaanites were “Israel’s notorious ancient foe.”[6] But no one wants to be left out of God’s promise – especially a desperate mother. Desperation is often overlooked when groups of “others” exist who have no power. It’s easy to tell the “other” group, “We can’t do that right now, we have to do this in order.” Or, “Well, you’ll get yours later.” Or to say, “Don’t worry, the process moves slowly, yours will come.” The woman didn’t have time because her daughter didn’t have time. Waiting until a more feasible time, a better time, another time, was not an option while her daughter suffered. I often wonder in these kinds of stories what I would have done as a mother and as a woman. What would you have done? Questions and arguments of this sort often happen across race and gender.

Arguments across race and gender often have to do with power much like the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman. We could argue that he had the power, and she didn’t. But we could also argue for the power that she had through faith, a faith that gave her the dignity to fight for her daughter. Her faith saw a God of abundance and claimed Jesus as “Lord.” If we’re honest about the power certain groups have over and above others, we can start working together across differences, with groups of others, to find a dignified path forward for everyone.

This afternoon, Augustana’s Human Dignity Delegates are inviting you on a field trip downtown to History Colorado to see the Sand Creek Massacre Exhibit that records the U.S. Military’s slaughter of over 230 children, women, and elderly Arapahoe and Cheyenne people in 1864.[7] Our Indian neighbors tell this story as not only as history, but as deeply personal and painful family history. The goal is to learn more about our Indian neighbors, so that we are equipped to love our neighbors as ourselves. To better understand Indian family history in Colorado allows for better understanding of our present moment and, perhaps, helps us to be better listeners as we attempt to live together in ways that move us all forward. If our God is a God who blessed the world through the ancient Israelites, then we are invited into God’s expansive view of the world as neighbor to neighbor. If we have enemies, Jesus calls us to love our enemies earlier in Matthew’s gospel, and to pray for our enemies as fellow human beings.[8]

Reading the Canaanite woman’s story backwards is a good way to challenge us from a place of faith through her story of difference and into some of the Pharisees’ ongoing challenge to embody the law. Pharisees were religious leaders like pastors. The law was a gift passed down to them from Moses through the generations, a baton in the form of a Torah scroll. The law was not meant for these Pharisees to follow blindly without seeing the people it affects or the God who bestowed it upon them. Jesus regularly took these particular Pharisees to task in Matthew’s gospel. Their high view of the law wasn’t the problem. We’re all supposed to see the law as a good thing – a good thing that helps us love our neighbors as ourselves.[9] These Pharisees knew and taught their people the verse in the book of Leviticus to love neighbor as self while making religion burdensome for the very people that it was supposed to free, creating stumbling blocks around blind corners that they could not navigate.[10]

Holding tightly to our faith and to God’s promises is encouraged. But holding tightly to tradition, to religion, at the expense of other people is something else entirely. Jesus expanded the circle of God’s promises time and again. Jesus saw this woman through God’s eyes. He saw her heart like God saw Job’s heart, knowing Job’s heart better than Job knew his own.[11] Jesus knows the Canaanite woman’s faith and “how much she knows the promise – he can question her, talk to her, challenge her, and offend her because she knows that God is good and that’s the God who Jesus is revealing in the flesh.”[12] His expansion of God’s promises through difference and beyond tradition means that we’re here by faith today, invited to the table by the crucified and risen Jesus. We eat at a table not our own. We eat at the table of Jesus who challenges us, offends us, blesses us, and asks us to build an even longer table. Amen.

_________________________________________________________

[1] Miles Blumhardt, “Roundabouts and zipper merging are polarizing, but here’s why traffic experts say they work.” September 23, 2021, for the Fort Collins Coloradoan. https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2021/09/23/roundabouts-and-zipper-merge-how-do-them-and-why-they-work/5795436001/

[2] Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2002). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bReJswiMGM

[3] Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Sermon Brainwave Podcast for the 12^th Sunday after Pentecost, August 20, 2023. https://www.workingpreacher.org/podcasts/917-12th-sunday-after-pentecost-ord-20a-aug-20-2023.

[4] Skinner, ibid.

[5] Matthew 14:20-21

[6] Richard Ward, Professor (Emeritus) of Homiletics and Worship, Philips Theological Seminary, Tulsa, OK.

[7] Sand Creek Massacre Exhibit, History Colorado, Denver. https://www.historycolorado.org/exhibit/sand-creek-massacre-betrayal-changed-cheyenne-and-arapaho-people-forever

[8] Matthew 5:44

[9] Leviticus 19:9-18, see v18.; and Matthew 22:34-40, see v.39

[10] Skinner, ibid.

[11] Joy J. Moore, Professor of Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Sermon Brainwave Podcast for the 12^th Sunday after Pentecost, August 20, 2023. https://www.workingpreacher.org/podcasts/917-12th-sunday-after-pentecost-ord-20a-aug-20-2023.

[12] Ibid.

Sermons

Matthew 22:15-22 – On Alien Annihilation, Attack Ads, and Alternatives

October 19, 2014 caitlin121608

Matthew 22:15-22 – On Alien Annihilation, Attack Ads, and Alternatives

Caitlin Trussell on October 19, 2014 with Augustana Lutheran Church

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 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. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 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 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Nothing draws people together like a common enemy. Some of my go-to movies are a prime example. Independence Day is one of them – a film in which a really creepy, roach-like alien species drops in to annihilate the world. They hope to chew up the planet’s resources, spit it out when they’re done, and move on to the next planet a few galaxies over. But those nasty aliens didn’t count on Captain Steve Miller – plucky marine pilot, or David Levinson – brilliant computer systems analyst. Even more, those aliens didn’t count on all the sworn enemies of the world uniting to work together to get rid them. Once the aliens’ ships ignite, explode, and fall to the earth, the movie-goer shares in the vicarious thrill of victory – treated to scene-after-scene of people from all kinds of countries jumping up and down in shared celebration.

Similarly, but with fewer special effects, the Pharisees and the Herodians unite against the common enemy they find in Jesus.[1] The Pharisees have had it with Rome and the tax that is at punishing levels. The Herodians are Roman loyalists who support the tax and are snooping around for evidence of treason against the state so they can report it back to Rome. Together the Pharisees and Herodians have concocted the perfect trap. If Jesus speaks positively about the tax, he’s doomed; if Jesus speaks out against the tax, he’s doomed.[2] We can almost hear the political attack ad, complete with the music of doom and the woman’s voice-over that sounds like the same person from ad to ad:

“Jesus, who is he really? Why won’t he pick a side and stick to it?” [Dum-da-da-dum]

Jesus goes on to evade the trap and flip it back on the ones who laid it. The Pharisees and the Herodians were quite smart about at least one thing. The money conversation can easily be used a trap. A trap that many of us get caught in whether it’s about taxes or spending or giving or receiving or something else about money entirely.

In the Metro East Pastors’ Text Study this week we talked about Jesus, Pharisees, and Herodians, and the trap. Many of us hear Jesus’ stories about money. We hear directions to sell everything then give it all to the poor, invest wisely, do not hoard money. We hear these stories and feel trapped by these stories along with Pharisees and Herodians. Hearing the stories invokes feelings of panic, disconnect, moral superiority, or utter inadequacy. We find ourselves thinking we should be saving more and investing more and giving more. Looking closely at these stories of Jesus, one of the discoveries is that we are not so much trapped by them as we are named in them.

A Lutheran Christian might call these feelings being convicted by the “law”; meaning that there is no way to give or spend or invest money without sin showing up. Whether conversations about money trap us in shame or superiority, the root of the problem is the same. Money becomes the lens through which we think about ourselves and our lives. But rather than deal with the sin, confess to it, meet it head-on, we look for the common enemy. Sometimes that common enemy is the church. Sometimes that common enemy is the state. Sometimes that common enemy is a faraway place or a mistrusted people. Regardless of how the common enemy is identified, they are the ones who come between people and money.

Whether shame or superiority is the driving force behind finding a common enemy, we need the reminder of the gospel. Last week’s sermon reminded us that Jesus, thrown onto a cross in a place of shame, frees us from shame. Frees us from shame that immobilizes us. Frees us into the gospel that enlivens us. For some of us, this freedom means taking a money class here on Monday nights to study and talk frankly with each other about faith, life, and money. For others of us, this freedom means confessing a secret pile of debt to a partner and getting some help to figure that out. For others of us, this freedom means that the word “money” takes its place alongside other things we publicly talk about and act on. As a people called the church, this means we also talk about giving money and act on it.

For some of us in the church, giving money is practical. Money is part of the cost of doing ministry within the congregation of Augustana. These costs can be broken down into money given to charitable organizations, international ministry efforts, youth ministry, music ministry, building maintenance, ministry staff salaries, to name but a few. These are ALL good things! Some people are faithful givers as a practicality; meaning that they are connected with the Augustana congregation and so they estimate their giving for the year and give consistently.

For others of us in the church, giving money is theological. Some say with the Psalmist that, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live it…”[3] If this is so, then money also belongs to God first before it belongs to any of us. So then giving money becomes an act of praise and gratitude.

And still for others of in the church, giving money is relational. People before us gave money as keepers of the faith, as stewards of God’s mysteries. Therefore, some give money now as stewards of the faith so that the faith is available to future generations as it is to us right now.

None of these reasons to give money are mutually exclusive, nor is this an inclusive list for the all the reasons people give money to their congregation. The point is that the Gospel promise holds even in our conversations about money. The “law” convicts us in all kinds of ways including the ways we use money. At the same time the gospel frees us – frees us to consider our underlying assumptions about money, giving, church, charity, stewardship, faith, all of it, as the gospel also frees us to give. Thanks be to God.

[1] Lance Pape, Granville and Erline Walker Assistant Professor of Homiletics, Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas. Working Preacher Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22 for Sunday readings, October 19 2014. https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2201

[2] Ibid.

[3] Psalm 24:1

Hosea 5:15—6:6

Romans 4:13-25

Pastor, Preacher, Speaker