29th Sunday Ordinary Time A

October 19, 2014

Click here for scripture readings.

Try as the Pharisees might, they could never pin a label on Jesus.

Here is the emperor's coin, Jesus -

are you pro-God or pro Caesar?

Here is a woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus -

do you support the Law or do you favor leniency for criminals?

Here are the two commandments of the Law, Jesus

what side do you come down on, God or neighbor?

Were we able to quiz Jesus ourselves in own our time and place, we might very well ask him all kinds of questions that we desperately seek answers to:

Jesus, are you pro-life or pro-choice?

Are you a socialist or a capitalist?

Liberal or conservative?

Which is more important: jobs or the environment?

Come on, Jesus, tell us, where do you stand:

Gun control? Nuclear weapons? Gay rights? Prayer in school

(ah, Jesus, you gotta be for prayer in school, right?)

But, considering how Jesus responded to the Pharisees, it's a pretty good bet that Jesus wouldn't bite.

Because Jesus comes not to speak to issues but to human hearts.

Jesus' agenda is not one of politics and power but the reign of God -

a reign in which compassion, reconciliation, justice and mercy are the coin of the realm. Jesus comes not with answers but with a vision for approaching those questions.

In response to our many questions, Jesus would probably say something like:

What good is it to be pro-this or anti-that, when children are starving, when families are in crisis,

when the world's wealth is in the hands of a few, when innocent people are persecuted and abused because of their skin color or the place where they were born or what they call God?

I'm calling you to something greater than labels.

I'm asking you to see the world as my Father sees it,

to understand God's dream for the world.

It's a dream that begins with what you see and feel and believe in your heart, the place where my Father's spirit dwells within you.

The confrontation over Caesar's coin is not the definitive answer to any church-versus-state controversy

nor an all-purpose formula for dealing with life's big questions.

While we yearn for clear answers to complicated questions and complex problems, the real purpose and meaning of life are found in the intricacies of our consciences and the values we hold in the depths of our hearts.

Jesus appeals to us to look beyond the simplistic politics and black-and-white legalisms represented by the emperor's coin ---

and realize that we are called to embrace the values centered in a faith

that sees the hand of God in all things

and recognizes every human being as being part of one human family under the providence of God.