32 Sunday Ordinary Time, C, 10 November 2013, Luke 20:27-38

Model of the Second Temple in Jerusalem

You know, they say that, when we’re in the pub, we shouldn’t speak about religion or politics. The folk wisdom of our time suggests that these aspects of life are what divide us, and that the time we have a few drinks on us is not the time to sort these divisive issues out! No, the place to sort these things out is in their respective places – religion belongs in the Church and politics belong in the party offices (so, the wisdom goes).

Of course, that really isn’t true because both religion and politics are fundamentally about people. So, perhaps the proper place for any discussion of religion or politics is wherever people are. That leaves us back in the pub then… Maybe it is one of the places where we should discuss religion! I don't know.

Either way, today’s gospel story takes place in the temple, a very important religious centre for Judaism at the time of Christ. Jesus was teaching the people in the temple, probably in the courtyard around it. Various groups attempted to challenge his teaching, mainly because the people were amazed by him and wondered at him.

The chief priests and the scribes and the elders have arrived to listen to him, and they have sent in a few ‘questioners’ in an attempt to trap Jesus. The question about whether the people should pay taxes to the emperor had just come up. Jesus gave a fantastic answer: "whose face is on the coin? On the denarius? The emperor’s? Well, then, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s!"

Orthodox icon of the Resurrection

Then we get to the gospel story for this morning. In the temple, teaching the people. Causing both a religious and a political disturbance. People are talking, not just in the temple, but down the road in the inns and in the boarding-houses of Jerusalem. Who is this man? What does it mean?

One of the titles that we have for Jesus is ‘Teacher’. This part of the gospel is not the only part where Jesus occupies the place of teacher. There is the sermon on the mount in Matthew’s gospel, from which we have the beatitudes. And many other places besides.

This morning, Jesus is challenged about ‘resurrection’. It comes in the guise of a question about marriage, but the real issue is the resurrection. Do you believe in the resurrection? From the gospel, we know that the Saduccees don’t believe in the resurrection. But, they are very religious. They take religion very seriously. And, either they want Jesus on their side, or they want to scapegoat him and show him up as a false teacher. But that doesn’t happen. Instead, Jesus takes them very seriously, and proposes a ‘right-teaching’ for them on the doctrine of the resurrection.

And so, right teaching comes into the arena. It is brought out by the Lord who calls all people to himself. If we have right-belief, and if we live from it, then hope is ours. No matter what happens, the future, especially the future that lies beyond this world, cannot be taken from us.

The resurrection is central to our faith. Can we prove that there is a resurrection? No. Our faith is not built on proofs. Our faith is built on hope. Our faith is built on life. Our faith is built on the rock that is Christ. And, if we believe in the resurrection, then we believe that there is a future for us. There is a future for all people. If we believe this, our lives will never be the same again.

This is about death and life. Do we deal in death or celebrate life? Are we hopeful for the future, conscious that the future is in God? Are we at rest in our souls about what the future holds? Or, do we listen to the script about the horrors of the present time, and the horror of the time to come? Are we people of hope? Or people of despair? Are we people of life? Or are we people of death? Do we believe in the resurrection promised us in Christ? Or do we stubbornly hold onto our belief that there is nothing after this life?