In Whose Image?
Well, Jesus is really in a pickle now! At least that’s what His accusers are hoping!
As today’s Gospel opens, Jesus is at the Temple during the last week of His earthly life. It’s been a long week … and it’s only Tuesday! He has upended the tables of the money changers, and driven the dealers from the Temple courtyard. The Pharisees and elders have repeatedly tested Him on various religious issues - to no avail - and the Jewish powers-that-be are becoming more and more aggressive (and fearful) of Jesus’ influence. So the Pharisees have now - in today’s Gospel - racketed up the pressure by forming an unlikely alignment with the Herodians, setting another trap for Jesus, this time, over the issue of paying taxes to Caesar.
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Come in to the feast of Christ.
When Meg and I married, we had a great time. The service was reverent, she was beautiful and her dress was, too. (In the wedding pictures I looked more or less stunned, which I was.) We had a reception in the parish hall with a Dixieland jazz band that was a whole lot of fun and actually rather inexpensive. It was what we hoped, a reverent ceremony followed by a great party with our family and friends. It was a great time. Weddings usually are.
I like the idea of being invited to Jesus’ wedding banquet. Talk about a party! That wedding is the start of an eternal celebration between Christ and His church.
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We Must Bear and Give Good Fruit
Doris has described a number of key ways in which our church is actively involved in our community. There are more ministries we do as a church, there are many more that our members do apart from the church, from volunteering and serving as leaders with various nonprofits in our community, especially the Lake Wales Care Center, not to mention the unending acts of kindness and support that go on quietly within and beyond the church.
And, frankly, that is a constant focus. As I look back over the last 6 months of this pandemic, the continual itch is “What else can we do?” for our church family and our community.
All of this is vitally important to our life as a church and speaks to the fundamental responsibility that comes with being the body of Christ, with being Godly people.
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