9^th Sunday after Pentecost

 

 

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's;

and unto God the things that are God's.

(Matthew 22:21)

 

My recent and most enjoyable reading of Our Declaration by Dannielle Allen, along with our current tumultuous social and political upheavals; has caused me to think much about government.

 

I thought about that Sunday worship service during my first pastorate when I interviewed Rev. and Mrs. Dutton, veteran missionaries who had just returned home at the fall of Saigon to the communist. I asked about the church in Vietnam they left behind. The answer surprised me. Rev. Dutton told us that he told the church to be good citizens and to gather whenever and wherever they could for worship and prayer. Missionaries often surprise me. So we prayed for the church in Vietnam that they could be good citizens and find a way to gather together for worship and prayer.

 

It’s the same question our church faces this morning. How do we serve as good citizens and at the same time gather together, face to face, for worship and prayer? It’s a good question for “ordinary days”—these Christian Calendar days between Pentecost and Advent when we lean on the Holy Spirit to guide us through our complex world as Christ’s own—as Christians claiming the beginning of a new world (Christmas through Ascension—first half of the year); and at the same time honoring our present world (Pentecost through our ordinary days—second half of the year). Navigating through our ordinary days requires “a Spirit of wisdom” (Eph 1:17). Let’s pray for that: “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives” (Col 1:9).