Grits and the Gospel - October 18, 2026

Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of Grotes in the Gospel. My name is Reverend Katie Griffiths It is good to be with you today on this 21st Sunday after Pentecost We are slowly moving toward All Saints Sunday and then Advent And the start of a new lectionary year for those of you who keep up We are finishing up year A and we'll be moving on to year B at the beginning of Advent And we are excited to be on this journey together it is a Beautiful day here. I hope it is beautiful where you are and I hope you are surrounded by God's love and care and feel that in a beautiful way Let us come together now in a time of worship the Lord be with you and also with you Today's epistle lesson is from the first letter Paul to the Thessalonians people of Thessalonica And that church we are thankful for his words in the first chapter verses 1 through 10 Hear now the word of the Lord Paul Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians and God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ grace to you and peace We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of Love and steadfastness steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ for we know brothers and sisters beloved by God that he has chosen you Because our message of the gospel came to you not only in word only But also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction Just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake And you became imitators of us and of the Lord for in spite of persecution you receive the word with joy Inspired from the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaea For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaea But in every place your faith and God has become known so that we have no need to speak about it For they report about us what kind of welcome we had among you and how you turned to God from idols To serve a living and true God to wait for his son from heaven who he raised from the dead Jesus Who rescues us from the coming wrath Thus ends the first reading Paul speaks to the Thessalonians about their newly formed faith in the Christ that was resurrected and Will rescue us from sin and death. Let us be reminded of all of those things that we believe Friends, what do we believe? I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day. He rose from the dead He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting men Let us pray dear Lord. We come to you today just humbled at your example of how to hold ourselves and our leaders accountable Help us to be that shining beacon of light In our communities that you are for us in our own faith and in our own lives Hear us now as we pray those words that you taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us Can lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen Today's gospel lesson is from the gospel according to Matthew. We're in the 22nd chapter verses 15 through 22 Hear now the word of the Lord Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him and what he said So they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians saying Teacher we know that you are sincere and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth and show deference to no one For you do not regard people with partiality Tell us then what do you think is it lawful to pay taxes to the Caesar or or not? But Jesus aware of their malice said why are you putting me to the test you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax and they brought him a denarius And he said to them whose head is this and whose title they answered Caesar Then he said to them give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's When they heard this they were amazed and they left him and went away The word of God for us the people of God Thanks be to God Would you pray with me to Lord we come to you today just humbled at this idea that we are called To be yours and all that we do and to give to you To help further your kingdom Let the words of my mouth and meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in my sight. Oh, Lord Our strength and our Redeemer. I'm in I've been rewatching the West Wing lately It is my comfort show when things get weird in the world in the show president Judd Bartlett a devout Catholic grapples a lot with his role as president of the United States and his faith Many of the characters and storylines revolve around school prayer faith and the death penalty immigrants seeking asylum for their religious beliefs just to name a few It's almost impossible to separate our faith from our politics. I Have been criticized for speaking out against Politicians in the pulpit for calling out our president when he depicted himself as Jesus People tell me that they don't come to church to talk about politics, but to hear about Jesus People want me to stay in my lane well friends, I hate to tell you a large part of Jesus's ministry was taking on politicians Pharisees and Sadducees were the political leaders of the church Tax collectors were reviled by people of the time Jesus ate with them and called them out and taught men like Nicodemus a Pharisee Jesus did not shy away from politics. Why should we a Lot of the hesitation is that religion has been weaponized by a lot of groups and politics If you aren't of a certain political party, then you aren't a real Christian or if you are of another faith tradition You must be evil and you will destroy our country Fear of being ostracized or seen as a non-believer is so real to people That they wear their religion as a political badge of honor And that's where it becomes dangerous We see Jesus confronting not only church political leaders in our text today, but civil political leaders as well The Herodians were a political party That supported the Herodian dynasty and also opposed Jesus with the Pharisees It seems civil and church politics have been intertwined for a very long time This text is often used as a stewardship sermon Render under Caesar unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's and of course It is important to do both things taxes and tithing are necessary to make the world run But I think the meaning of what the politicians were trying to do is much deeper than a gold coin They were not just trying to trip Jesus up they were trying to tell him to back off To stay in his lane But he doesn't let them If you remember back to the last chapter that we've been looking at these last few weeks Jesus has been using parables to call out the leaders of the time They know he's talking about them and instead of hearing the lessons He's trying to teach they plot to find ways to catch him and something that they can use to kill him If they had only listened to him if they'd only heeded his warnings and learned the lessons He was trying to his best to teach them If they had only lived as he did and used their power and position To help the widows and the poor and the lepers and the children instead of lining their own pockets How much better would the world have been? Sound familiar Jesus didn't shy away from calling out the bad behavior of leaders Why should any of us? In fact the social principles of the united methodist church call us to do just that Did you know we had those It is the place that caused all of the hubbub in the split But it houses much more than our stance on the lgd Lgbtq community It speaks of child trafficking medical research immigration the worth of humanity the natural world It has a section called the political community And that section titled government has titles like government responsibility responsibilities civil disobedience restorative justice the death penalty Criminal justice war and military service there are sections about basic rights and freedoms where it talks about health care Elders and aging women and girls men and boys indigenous communities people with disabilities sexual orientation and religious minorities The united methodist church does not shy away from putting in writing And standing up and saying what we believe about the world of politics And the people that our government should help and not oppress Jesus did the same thing Jesus did it when he was being threatened with death So why should we shy away from it this is our lane to stay in In Jesus said it John wesley believed it Sometimes loving someone means standing up for and with them to bring about justice The preamble to the political section of the social principles says this Our involvement in political systems is rooted in the gospel imperative to love our neighbors To do justice and to care for the vulnerable As united methodists, we acknowledge that love requires responsible political action and engagement Aimed at the betterment of society and the promotion of the common good We acknowledge that such political engagement demands humility and mindfulness of our own Complicity and perpetuating injustice It also necessitates compassion prayer and a willingness to discern god's guidance We believe in the inherent worth of all people Which is established through god's gracious act of creation and most fully revealed in the power of jesus's life death and resurrection The understanding that people are created in the image of god is a central theme in john wesley's teachings We further believe that god calls all members of the human family To recognize and protect the dignity and worth of all people And to work for the well-being of god all all god's creation We therefore support structures in the church and in civil society That honor the basic freedoms and rights of all human beings and protect god's creation In particular We affirm the important work of the united nations in promoting peace and security championing human dignity and human rights and advocating for sustainable sustainable development Sometimes doing all of these things as jesus lived out and as god calls us to do The ministry of means getting our hands dirty and standing up when we see something that is happening in the world That is against the dignity and worth of all people How you are called to do it is as unique and individual as you are You may not be called to make a sign and march you may be called to simply call out your friends when they say something derogatory You may be called to quietly donate the causes you believe in you may be called to hand out hams Or sort clothes at open hearts. You may be called to make a breakfast casserole or deliver books to a book bin You may be called to write a letter to the editor or go to a city council meeting jesus did all of those Things to fight not just against oppression but for those who are marginalized I don't want to have to preach about politics. I don't want to read the text Each week in the lectionary and be reminded of the way that we have been fighting corruption and religious tyranny since jesus walked the earth But just like he did We are called to speak out when we need to we are called to be the humble and reasonable voice in the room Just like he was Jesus wasn't saying not to fund the government or to take things from them He reminded them that while all things come from god, we are still called to care for each other And those resources that we give our government should do just that If we give to caesar, what is caesar's then caesar should be responsible with it and take care of the country that he is Called to govern. This is not some radical idea. This is common sense I wish we didn't have to spell it out in the social principles Why do we have to put it in writing that We affirm that the gifts of women and girls are vital to god's creation and make important contributions to both church And society we support equal opportunities and rights for all women and girls regardless of national origin color ethnicity sexual orientation religion Physical ability or other characteristics How is that not just a given in this world And by the way, the same exact language is used for men and boys How is that not just how we naturally treat each other? But we know that is something that is not always extended to people. So we as united methodists stand up and say that We don't just say it We ensure that it happens in our communities Judd bartlett never really totally reconciled how to be a man of faith and a president The best he could do was to be a politician who did what was right for the people And use his faith as his moral and ethical compass And I think i'm good with that I want my politicians to have a moral compass and I want it to be directed by their faith no matter what religious affiliation that is I want them not to use faith as a weapon but as a guide That is a good lane for them to stay in When were they can be caesar while focused on god? If the herodians had done it The life and ministry of jesus would have been very different this Is our lane? We will stay in it because we are called to be there I am proud to serve a church that has mission in the forefront That works not just to worship and build community in these walls But works to make our community a better place for all the people who live in it We stand up when we need to and we support what we can and if On sunday mornings. I am called to say something about our political leaders when they go against the teachings of my faith Then I will absolutely stay in my lane and do just That Jesus showed me how And I try my best To follow his lead I'm in As you go throughout your week As you hear the things on the news that are bothersome and troubling about our country and our world I encourage you To find your own beautiful way To stand up And speak your heart and your mind because in life In death In life beyond death god is with us We are not alone Thanks be to god Amen