Homily, October 22, 2023
From the Pastor
“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” John 18: 37-38.
In this liminal time of world change and uncertainty with political, economic, and grave social distress, it is to our great benefit as Christians to know what truth is. The above passage from the trial of Jesus before his crucifixion comes to mind as we consider today’s gospel. The Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus in a trap to get rid of him. They attempt to flatter Jesus, “Teacher, we know you are a truthful man and you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.”
This statement drips with hypocrisy. These religious leaders see truth in Jesus and acknowledge it as the way of Divine truth. Yet, they betray this very truth by trying to trap Jesus in a double bind. They imply that they know the truth of God, yet they refuse to honor that truth in Jesus. To answer their question about the census tax would trap Jesus against the authority of Caesar, or to betray the Jews who suffer paying the tax to a king who holds himself as God.
Because Jesus is the truth, he sees through the ruse and casts the bind back on the Pharisees. With obvious clarity, Jesus simply states, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Ceasar and to God what belongs to God.” Simple, but stunning. The Pharisees, who to their own conviction have a coin of Ceasar, can only depart in silence.
What is truth? The Christian truth reveals the constancy, fidelity, and unchanging reality of the love of God, freely given to the world in the person of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the truth of God. Why? Because God is love and Jesus is the fullness of the revelation of Divine Love through the Incarnation. How? As the essence of love, God gives the Divine self to the world in the person of the Lord Jesus. In the fullness of self-giving love, Jesus freely surrenders to death on the Cross without resistance, bitterness, or resentment to set us free. How are we made free? Jesus takes into his person your sin and mine, all the sin and evil ever committed as if he himself were the sinner. Taking on all sin, Jesus dies on the Cross only to rise from the dead three days later. In the Resurrection, Jesus defeats, heals, and reconciles the sin of all humanity through this perfect act of Divine self-giving love. This is the truth of God’s unconditional, unending love for all who will accept it.
This love and redemption cannot be achieved by any human being. It is all gift, unmerited, undeserved, and freely given. This gift can only be received. To accept in faith, humility, and repentance this gift of God is to come to know the truth of God offered through Christ. This is the truth that sets us free.
The world, even many Christians, are confused and uncertain about this deepest reality of our existence. Why? Surrendered love is hard; very hard, resisted, and often rejected for the sake of self-preservation in the form of my own liking. Deceived by the lie and deception of evil and the sin it ploys, even good-hearted persons of virtue become trapped in the illusion of power, pleasure, and control in this world. We are weak creatures subject to sin and death. We can do nothing to merit heaven on our own, and we don’t like that. We want some control over our destiny. We want to know where we stand and how we measure up. Our only salvation is in the One who accepts us as we are with love, assurance, and freely offered forgiveness. To share in so great a gift is to believe and do the best we can to imitate the model and example of our Savior.
We were made to know this truth. Love is the essence of what makes us human beings. We are made in the image of the Divine Maker. The Divine Essence is in each of us. We hold the truth and the truth is love. There is a sacred order to life within and beyond basic morality that calls us to the integrity and dignity of our human nature. No person can be their own highest truth. It is a lie and a deception of control, fear of vulnerability, or blind selfishness.
What belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God? The Christian scriptures call us to the responsible duty to support the social good through civil authorities in service of the greater good. Civil obedience of law, paying fair taxes, and sharing in the social good belong to ‘Ceasar’ and those elected to lead us. Thus, society is served in stability, rightful order, and advancement.
To God we owe our lives. We belong to God who created us as his beloved children and to Christ who redeemed us. We came into the world with no power and we will leave in the same condition. That should tell us something. We are dependent on God for all things including the very air we breathe, the wonders of creation as gift, and the promise of eternal life. Surrendering to love is hard, but it is the only way to live a meaningful, happy, and truthful life. Cling to nothing of the world for it will all pass. Live in the truth that is the love of God freely given in the Lord Jesus. Be a good citizen, work to better society, pay rightful taxes, but surrender your life to God in Christ. Pray for peace. Be a person of peace.
Father John Esper
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