Exodus 33:12-23
Matthew 22:15-22
I Thessalonians 1:4-7 

As we continue our journey with Jesus and Moses in the scriptures assigned for today, we are impressed with a parallel to the political debates and the candidates speaking to crowds throughout the nation.  Essentially they are each saying trust me!  We watch their body language, especially their facial expressions seeking to sufficiently believe in one of them to cast our vote. 

Well, Moses is struggling to know and trust God as he says to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are so pleased with me, then teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."  

Moses has cast his lot with God and is now struggling with that.  He questions – why did you send me to lead these people who seek a god they can see and trust.  OK, I know your name and know you trust me but how can I trust you?  I need to really know you more than just a name.  Show me your face (glory) and God replies “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you,  But," God said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."  Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." And so Moses was content that he knew and trusted God.  Have you seen the face of God?  Do you trust God? 

One night a little girl after getting ready for bed and saying her prayers, was being tucked in when she remembered that she had left her favorite teddy bear, "Teddy" in the playroom. "Mom, I need to get Teddy. He’s my best friend!  Her mother said, "I thought God was your best friend, not Teddy." Her daughter replied, "Teddy has a face!”  Perhaps we don’t really know God as our best friend until we have experienced God face to face. 

Years ago, I learned something about facing God which is much like facing truth and life.  Jesus told us that through him we would have God in us and we would be in God.  In other words, the face of God and our face would be the same.  (Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m told that most people have trouble really looking at their own face in the mirror.  Perhaps we don’t want to see us as others and God sees us.)  How about photos of yourself?  Well, one of the best spiritual disciplines I have learned is to stand in front of the mirror and make silly faces.  Think about those as the face of God.  Then consider having a conversation with God as you face the mirror.  It can be very useful spiritual discipline.

Once you have accomplished that you are ready for the next step in getting to know the face of God.  With each person you encounter, can you recognize God’s face in theirs?  Would it make a difference in your conversation with them if you did?  Jesus challenged us to not only do that but to learn to see the face of God in persons you think are most worthless.  How about the person who is angry or is dirty?  How about the person who is ungrateful for your kindness?  Remember the words of Jesus when you were told that you did not care for him when he was hungry, or in jail or homeless or sick.  “Inasmuch as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me.!”  You simply missed an opportunity to see the face of God.

Children are especially good at simply believing in God.  Perhaps that is because they have not been robbed of their innocence.  It is not unusual for a child to trust God completely.

A young lady was soaking up the sun's rays on a Florida beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel, came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She was surprised by the question but she replied, "Why, yes, I do." Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?" Again, her answer was "Yes!" He then asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray everyday?" Again she said, "Yes!" By now her curiosity was very much aroused. The little lad sighed with relief and said, "Will you hold my quarter while I go in swimming?"  Obviously, that little boy believed that when God lives in another, you can trust them.

In fact nothing seems to challenge us as much as our money.  In the movie, "Oh, God!" the idea was advanced that the reason God gave Adam and Eve no clothes to wear was because God knew that once they had clothes, they would want pockets. Once they had pockets, they would want money.  And the love of money is the root of all evil.  The worship of money throws you in competition with God.  Most of us agree with Joe Louis' famous words. "I don't like money, actually," he said, "but it quiets my nerves."

Perhaps you ought to trust God enough to put your quarter in God’s hands.  Martin Luther once said "I have held many things in my hand, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands that I still possess."  

The late Danny Thomas lost his life savings of $600.00 at a time when he was out of work. He and his wife, Rosie, had a baby on the way, and they needed money. Danny worked at part-time jobs so Rosie could buy groceries. He also borrowed money from friends. It was a tough time in his life. A week before the baby was born, Danny had the grand total of seven dollars and eighty-five cents to his name. What would he do? “My despair led me to my first exposure to the powers of faith,” Danny would later recall.

On Sunday morning Danny went to church. When the offering plate was passed he put in his “usual one dollar.” But something unexpected happened that day. A special missions offering was taken. The priest explained where the mission offering would go, and Danny felt he had to give something. “I got carried away,” Danny said, “and ended up giving my seven dollars.” He had given away all his money that Sunday. What in the world had he done? He walked up to the altar rail, got on his knees and prayed aloud. “Look, I’ve given my last seven bucks,” he prayed. “I need it back tenfold because I’ve got a kid on the way, and I have to pay the hospital bill.” He went home with a mere eighty-five cents in his pocket--all the money he had in the world. “You won’t believe this,” Danny Thomas later wrote, “but the next morning the phone rang in the rooming house hall.” It was a job offer. He was offered a part in a commercial. The job wasn’t much but the pay was good--seventy-five dollars. “I literally dropped the telephone receiver,” Danny remembered. “First I whooped with joy; then an eerie feeling came over me.” He remembered what he had prayed at church the day before. “The seventy-five-dollar fee,” he said, “unheard of for me at that time, was almost exactly ten times the amount of money I had donated to the church.”

The important truth about this story is not that Danny Thomas magically received a tenfold return on his money. He might have done just as well at the racetrack. The important thing was Danny Thomas’ lifelong allegiance to God. Those of you who know his story know that St. Jude’s Hospital for Children in Memphis Tennessee stands today as silent testimony to that allegiance. Often when God asks us, “What will you give?” we take a little bit that we can spare, the part we can easily give and offer it to God. The question is whose money is it anyway? 

That brings us to the gospel lesson for today.

The Pharisees were blinded by anger as they brought along the Herodians for a face off with Jesus.  Within Jewish society in Jesus day the Pharisees were clearly the authority in Jewish religious thinking and the Herodians who represented the wealthy Jews who were loyal to Herod who represents Roman authority.  This face off seeks to get Jesus between a rock and a hard place.

"Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.  Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. 

The poll tax mentioned in this passage was levied by the Romans against the Jews beginning in A.D. 6 when Judea became a Roman province. When it was imposed for the first time, it provoked the rebellion of Judas the Galilean.  The Herodians favored the tax, but the Zealots, Pharisees, and people deeply resented it.  So the challenge to Jesus had been is it lawful according to the Torah to pay taxes to the Romans. 

The Pharisees were so angry it blinded them. Think for a moment about the ironies here: We know, because we live on this side of the resurrection, that Jesus was God. They thought he was demonic, an agent of Satan. We know that Jesus is the King of kings. They thought he wanted to be the King of Israel. We know that he was the Son of God. They thought he was simply Joseph and Mary's son. We know that Jesus has influenced the world for 2000 years. They thought his influence would end at the cross. 

At this time of unprecedented financial instability, when all around us we see the effects of market destabilization and tremendous personal loss, we cannot afford to be blinded by fear of loss.  We need to be able to communicate truthfully with the face of God  We need to be able to trust that face.  This is especially intense as persons experience the loss of their anticipated retirement accounts and of layoffs when families live so close to the edge.  In the light of monetary problems and wars of two fronts, we are confronted with the evil resulting from a culture of enormous greed.  We don’t see it because we live it! 

Finally there is that other question raised by Jesus to the Pharisees.  Give to God that which is God’s.  Do we really believe that our money and our lives truly belong to God?  God give us eyes to see and a faith that enables us to trust you!  We want to know that we are safe when we are in your hands. 

Exodus 33:12-23 
Moses and the Glory of the LORD

12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."  18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."  21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.  They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.  Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"  But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.