This morning at Advent Lutheran Church (ELCA) we continued the Lenten Challenges series.
Sermon
My message, “Beginning Today” is based on the narrative lectionary passage: Luke 19:1-10.
You can watch below or read the manuscript.
Excerpt
April has arrived. And, it always begins with a light hearted holiday: April Fool’s Day. A day many of us appreciated more than usual this year.
And, now we are getting ready for another holiday that comes later this month. Go ahead. Say it out loud. We are waiting for ___________.
No, not Easter – that will come in due season. First comes Tax Day. That’s right. One of those special days that many people talk about but few celebrate.
Our Gospel reading about a tax collector is timely. Taxes are on everyone’s mind. And, to be honest, they are especially on mine. In my family I’m the one who gathers the records and files our return. I tend to do so as soon as I’ve received all of the necessary documents. And, this year was no different.
I filed my tax return and noted when my refund would appear in my bank account. Only the money never arrived. Not on the scheduled day or the next day or the next or the . . . well you get the point.
So I began to investigate. Earlier this week I spent a significant amount of time on the phone with the IRS. While the first person I spoke to was able to confirm they had received my return, she was unable to offer any further insight.
And then I met Alexander. He was the chief tax collector – at least as far as I was concerned – because he had the authority to look into my case. He told me he could help.
After placing me on an extended hold, Alexander returned to explain that my tax return had been flagged and was on hold. It has been referred to the Frivolous Returns Team.
There is nothing I can do to receive the large sum of money I’m due. This team – a group I’d never heard of until a few days ago – has 180 days to review my return. They alone will determine what happens next.
There is nothing I can do. I am powerless.
To be honest, I’m more frustrated with the IRS right now than I ever have been. And, this is despite me trusting that historically they have treated taxpayers fairly.
I don’t know Alexander, but I respect his authority. I don’t know the unnamed folks on the Frivolous Returns Team, but I am subject to their decision making.
Things were different in the first century. No one trusted the RTS – the Roman Tax System. And it was a system. A corrupt system. A system that extracted the maximum amount possible from as many people as possible.
Instead of people paying a fixed percentage of their income, they were subject to whatever the tax collector could extract from them. And, tax collectors were responsible for a geographic area – meaning folks knew their tax guy. Furthermore, all parties understood that the tax man had quotas and whatever he collected above and beyond that he was keeping for himself.
There was nothing worse than a tax collector except a chief tax collector. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector – the only one mentioned in all of Scripture. If people knew . . .