"...Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. " (Matthew 22:21-22)

Prime Timers is a Christian Education group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. We follow a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. Next week's readings are right here, at the bottom of the page! You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00.

These are front and back views of a denarius coin from the time of Jesus. The emperor portrayed is Tiberius, who ruled from 14-37 AD.

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Living Under God's Rule

Murray Sykes led the Prime Timers today in a discussion from our Lectionary readings about the complications of accepting God's gifts. Jesus answer to the Pharisees trying to trap him with a question about taxes. Jesus answer, the title at the beginning of this page, is to give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things that are God's. This was the subject of Rev. Field's sermon this morning as well.

It is most important to realize that this is not Jesus laying a foundation for the separation of church and state! All of our readings today emphasize that the spiritual transcends the material. The passage from Exodus tells us that we cannot even look on the face of God without perishing! The Jewish faith regarded graven images as heresy, and yet here in Matthew are the Pharisees and Herodians (supporters of Herod) in the temple with coins bearing the face of the emperor, with his claim to divinity.

In Jesus view we are all "stamped" with the likeness of God, a living reminder that we are all God's children. Jesus caught the Pharisees in their own hypocrisy and emphasizes to us that devotion and loyalty to God takes precedence over material things.

Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) was a German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for speaking out against the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power. He is known for this poem:

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me."

On todays readings he wrote:

“We can have peace only when Caesar does not demand what is God’s. But there is strife whenever the powers that be try to prevent us from giving God what is His. Where yesterday there was peace, there may be strife today; and where there is strife today tomorrow there may be peace; for here nothing endures.
Here we are not at home, but on our way. We live not only by faith and not only by love, but by the hope of the fulfillment of His promise.”

One of today's guests gave a short prayer to end today's class.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, October 23rd are from Lectionary Year One, Proper 25-A, "Love for God and Neighbor": Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 and Matthew 22:34-46. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, ²all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, ³the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. ⁴The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’ ⁵Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. ⁶He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. ⁷Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigour had not abated. ⁸The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

⁹ Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁰ Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. ¹¹He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, ¹²and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling-place
in all generations.
² Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You turn us back to dust,
and say, ‘Turn back, you mortals.’
⁴ For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past,
or like a watch in the night.

⁵ You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
⁶ in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

¹³ Turn, O Lord! How long?
Have compassion on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶ Let your work be manifest to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷ Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands!

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

¹You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, ²but though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. ³For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. ⁵As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; ⁶nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, ⁷though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. ⁸So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Matthew 22:34-46

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ ³⁷He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ⁴²‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ ⁴³He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,
⁴⁴ “The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’ ”?
⁴⁵If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ ⁴⁶No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

NRSV