This Sunday the Pharisees attempt to entrap Jesus by taking a coin from their pocket that has the image of Caesar on it. Caesar believed himself to be a God, so the image on the coin is technically a “graven image” of a God who is not Adonai – and therefore a violation of the first commandment (which was covered a couple of weeks ago in Exodus.). For a faithful Jew to acknowledge, arguably even to carry, such a thing was a violation of Torah law. Not to acknowledge its validity would get Jesus arrested.
When I confirm people into the Episcopal Church, I hand them each a “medallion” with the Diocesan seal on them. Bishop Brian began this tradition, I gather. I had a pocket full at the Cathedral at the 10:30 service, but by the time I got to St. John the Divine, I only had one (Fr. Peter, I will give you the rest at Convention).
Naturally, I searched my pockets: in my alb, in my dress, in the jacket, all the pockets in my shoulder bag, all the nooks and crannies of my backpack, and then there was my car….
Here is what I found: a tiny plastic Jesus with a deacon’s stole, a sticker that says: “look at you staying hydrated!”, a note from a parishioner to add to my prayers, a heart shaped rock I got from the man in the Walmart parking lot to whom I gave a bag of food, and a bunch of battered business cards. No confirmation medallions, no money.
It made me think again about this scripture, that the thing the Pharisees pull out of their pockets is money. What we carry says a lot about us. It tells us what we think we will need – or thought we would need. It tells us what we want to hang on to. It tells us what we think is important enough to bring on the journey, and what others think we will need.
I think the idols I keep in my pockets are okay. They seem to say, “this person values relationships, she wants to be in community, she is a good Christian and she depends on her debit card too much.”
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us to take nothing with us: no walking stick, traveler’s bag, food, money, or change of clothes. But just for fun, imagine what Jesus might have found in his pocket at the end of a long weekend. And what you might want to find in yours.
Make a mental note and tell me what you learn….
You remain in my prayers,
Bp. Shay
