Thinking inside the Circle

 

Texts: Isaiah 1-7; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22

If like me you are sick and tired of people insisting that we must think outside the square, you may be pleased to know that I have been encouraging people to think inside the circle; and to show you what I mean I am going, for the first time in my entire preaching career, to use a visual aid.  It's not quite up to the minute, and it doesn't require any electronic or other equipment, but it is complex so you'll have to concentrate pretty hard to grasp it.  Here it is.  (Unveil paper with circle drawn on it.)

The more discerning among you may be able to work out what it is, but in case you're stuck I'll spare your blushes and tell you what it is.  It's a circle.  And strange to say, that simple circle has provoked strong and prolonged debate during the two meetings I have so far addressed on diocesan finances.  I started each of those meeting with a circle just like this one.  Then I wrote in the centre of the circle, two words – "The Bishop"; and I asked the participants what they now thought that circle represented.  They were on to it right away.  It must represent the Diocese – there's the Bishop at the centre of it; and, after all, we're here to talk about diocesan finances.  Roger's circle must be intended to represent the Diocese.

They began to relax.  It's always a good feeling to get the first question out of the way, especially if you get the right answer.  It was time for the second question.  "Where is your parish in relation to that circle?"  It was fascinating watching their expressions change.  Smiles were changing into frowns all around the room.  They were worried.  They suspected a trap, but they weren't quite sure where it was.  In both meetings they remained silent for quite a time.  So, ever helpful, I gave them a clue.  "Can I suggest that there are only two logical possibilities – either your parish is inside the circle or your parish is outside the circle.  Where do you say your parish is?"

Well, soon we will have the reading from St Matthew's gospel about the sheep and the goats; and that came to mind in watching the drama of this circle unfold at these meeting.  This circle separated – not sheep and goats – but those who are most guided by logic from those who are most guided by their feelings, the "head people" from the "heart people", we might say.  Logic says, the diocese covers the whole of Otago and Southland, and therefore it must include every parish in Otago or Southland.  That stands to reason, doesn't it?

The other group, the intuitive or "feelings" people didn't want to follow that route.  They "felt" or "intuited" (to use another very chic word) that this was where the trap lay; and so they felt safer in opting for the other possibility.  They felt their parish was outside the circle but in relationship with it; and, of course, being "feeling people" they wanted to add that they had great respect for those who held the other point of view, and had no wish to hurt anyone's feelings.  Indeed, they felt that both answers were valid in their own way.

I am, of course, teasing a bit; and it would be fairer to say that in both meetings, after we had worked through this little exercise with the circle, there was a general consensus that our parishes, all of them, are inside the circle; or to put it the other way around, the diocese comprises the parishes.  And if that's right, of course, then we were no longer talking about the diocese having financial difficulties, or the diocese facing a large budget deficit, or the diocese having to find more income.  We were no longer talking about "they", "them" or "it"; we were now talking about "we" and "us".  We are having financial difficulties; we are facing a large budget deficit; we are having to find more income.

Our whole mindset had changed, by reflecting on this simple circle.  But, despite the fact that I left this circle in full view for the rest of the meeting, our mindset very quickly reverted to type when we got into the details of the financial strife we're in.  We all said that we thought the collective costs of the Diocese should be met, in part, by contributions from all the parishes on a fair-share basis.  We all accepted that as a general principle, in the same way that people of goodwill accept in principle that we should all contribute to the national budget through taxation on a fair-share basis.

And then we all disagreed on what is a fair-share basis; and you won't be surprised to know that most of the participants argued for a basis that was most favourable to their own parish.  In other words, they started to think outside the circle.  Having agreed in the first part of the exercise that the diocese is us, when the rubber hits the road we mentally shift our parish out of the diocese, and argue our case against the presumed case of the diocese.  And virtually all of us do that, don't we?  Just as we all agree that as citizens it is fair and right that we contribute to the national budget, and then seek all lawful means to minimise the size of our contribution.

You see, the magic of this circle, is that it can equally well represent our country instead of our diocese.  So the question would then be, if this circle represents New Zealand, where do we place ourselves in relation to the circle?  Are we inside the circle or outside it?  And even "feelings people" would surely have to accept the logic of the view that we all belong inside the circle.  So the national budget is our budget; if New Zealand is facing years of deficits, we are facing years of deficits.  Do you see now why I suggest that, instead of thinking outside the square, we need to start thinking inside the circle?

Now, this is where the mystery of the circle takes on another dimension; we might say, it takes on a spiritual dimension.  For as people of faith, we not only live in New Zealand – we also live in the Kingdom of God.  And for us, they are not separate circles – one is, as it were, super-inscribed on the other.  And as people living in those two circles at the same time, we find that we have shared responsibilities in both circles.  That's not too difficult if there is no conflict between the two sets of responsibilities, but what happens when there is  History tells us that in extreme cases what can happen is martyrdom.  Fortunately, that is unlikely to be our lot in this country in the foreseeable future.  But conflicts can arise.  It's is time for a quick look at our Scriptures.

Think, for a moment, about the situation described in Isaiah this morning.   According to him, God has decided to use the King of Persia to fulfil his promise to rescue his people from Babylon, from exile.  But the fact is that while exile in enemy country sounds terrible, it wasn't.  The Babylonians, by and large, had allowed the Jewish people to settle in Babylonia, and live out ordinary lives, and practise their own faith.  Many had done very well for themselves; and, of course, the exile had lasted about 70 years, so a majority of the Jews in Babylon were natives of the country, children and grandchildren of those who had been forcibly removed from Judah, but without any actual experience of living in Judah.

So how should a person in that situation respond to news from the prophet Isaiah that it is God's will for Cyrus to conquer their adopted homeland of Babylon?  Should they rise up and welcome the invading Persian forces, or should they fight alongside their fellow citizens of Babylon and attempt to resist the invaders?  And as we ponder that issue, let's remember (as I've said in the notes) that in modern terms we are talking about Iran, Iraq and Israel.  See how challenging thinking inside the circle can be!

And those who came to Jesus thought they could outplay Jesus in this game of circles.  They lived in two circles at once, the Jewish circle (equivalent to the Kingdom of God), and the Roman Circle (equivalent to New Zealand).  And they asked Jesus whether or not it was lawful (that is, God's will) for faithful Jews to pay Roman taxes.  And Jesus' answer is very clear; it is God's will that we pay our debts, and that applies to all our creditors.  If we owe taxes, we should pay them, not simply because the law of the State says so, but because it is God's will that we pay our debts.  If we owe something to Caesar (the taxman), we give it to him as Christians.

And one way of picturing this is a circle, with God at the centre, and everybody and everything inside the circle with him.