On Christmas Eve, I began my homily by saying, "In the waning days of the reign of George W, when Condi was the Head Minister of the State, and Deval the Governor of the Commonwealth, a child was born…." In Luke's description of the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry, we hear a similar listing of the current political and religious leaders.

When John was being given the Word of God in the desert, who were these rulers? They were a pretty sketchy bunch. The best of the lot is Lysanius of Abilene. All we know about him is that he was a freed slave. At the top of the heap, Tiberius, the Roman emperor, was described as "the gloomiest of men." He divorced the woman he loved to marry the Emperor Augustus' daughter. She was publicly unfaithful to him in places like the Roman Forum. Deeply paranoid, he instituted a reign of murder and terror among the nobility. Corpses were left to rot in public; if relatives expressed grief as they passed their dead loved ones, they too were killed. When Tiberius finally died, people chanted, "Tiberius to the Tiber," meaning, 'throw his body in the river.'

Pontius Pilate, while Roman governor of Judea, encountered resistance from the Jewish community over his building of an aqueduct. The project was to cross a sacred site, so Jewish people gathered to protest. Herod's soldiers, dressed as locals, infiltrated the crowd, and then slaughtered them.

Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, was the tetrarch ("ruler of a fourth") of Galilee. Herod married his brother's wife Herodias. When John the Baptist condemned the union, Herodias' daughter Salome danced for the ruler, and requested John's execution as her reward. Herod was later thought to be conspiring against the emperor, so he and his family were exiled to southern Gaul.

Philip was also the son of Herod. I saw the ruins of the shrines he had built to the Roman gods at Panias, his capital: not good Jewish behavior! He married Salome the dancer.

Annas and Caiaphas were father and son-in-law high priests of the temple. Caiaphas followed in succession, but was influenced by the older man. King Herod the Great abolished the hereditary nature of the office, and made it a political appointment. In the era of Roman occupation, the Jewish high priests had to be completely subservient to their overlords.

These leaders did not give of themselves for their people or serve the public good. John the Baptist was the son a high priest, but rejected the world of political power. The notables have palaces and a temple. However, it is in the wilderness that John, not the established leaders, receives the gift of the Word of God.

John's message is to repent your sins and be baptized. Some scholars think that John had been part of the ascetic Essene community based in Qumran on the Dead Sea. The Esssenes believed in frequent bathing for spiritual purification, as do the current day Mandeans, who claim descent from John the Baptist.

After being baptized, people ask John 'what should we do?' He tells them to share - if you have two coats, give away one. Tax collectors shouldn't overcharge and exploit the people. Soldiers should not practice violence or extortion, but live on their wages. John's simple message is 'repent, give in the name of God, and don't take from others.'

In our other reading today from Matthew, we hear Jesus comment on giving; his question about giving to Caesar comes from the Pharisees and Herodians. The Pharisees get a bad rap in the New Testament; the Pharisees emphasized synagogue worship services and Torah study. Following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, they become mainstream Judaism. The Herodians are something of a mystery as a faction. They seem to have been a royal party for Herod's family, as well as a Temple party. Herod had linked the two by appointing his sons as High Priest. With Herod's reputation for intrigue and murder, the Herodian's have a sinister, secretive quality.

The two groups ask Jesus 'is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?' The implied question is whether one should pay taxes to an oppressive regime in Rome and a paranoid murderer named Tiberius? Taking a coin with Tiberius' head on it, Jesus pronounces, "Render to Caesar the things of Caesar, render to God the things of God." He seems to slip out of the trick question without getting into trouble with the authorities. However, as Catholic Worker Dorothy Day put it, "If you truly render unto God the things of God, there will be damn little left for Caesar."

If all our gifts ultimately come from God, even the gift of life, how is one to give back? By service to those around us. My parents were tremendously generous to me, but they are gone now. I give back to them by passing on the love and care they gave to me.

Giving to others, or giving up for a greater good, are not necessarily popular these days. I heard a report on Public Radio on the planned efforts of the Obama administration to cut down on our use of gas and oil. They stressed that sacrifice will not be part of the agenda: 'Jimmy Carter told people to turn down the heat and put on a sweater and that didn't work.' In contrast, British writer George Orwell, at the height of the British Empire, argued for world democratic socialism. He explained that even though it would mean a lower standard of living for British workers, it would be just. When have you ever heard a politician make that argument for sacrifice?

In the 1960's, a comprehensive survey was done of religious groups involving Catholics, Protestants, and Jewish groups, liberal and conservative, concerning people who join congregations. The survey was repeated in recent years. Forty years ago, people who joined a religious institution felt they should give back something to their new group and the wider community; now, the religious joiners want to know how their new congregation will serve their needs.

Still, in my experience, people in church give to a sense of mission. I see our congregation's mission as a sacred center in the city, a beacon to spread our faith values, and a source of support as we try to live our beliefs. The church is both a sanctuary, where we can disarm, grow spiritually, and learn what it means to be human, and a meetinghouse, where we can encounter the issues of the world and discern how to act on them.

We can give to the church our time, talents, money, and our heart. We give our hearts when we care for each other and for our world. We can listen togetherfor the Word for our time. That Word may be new ideas from our JP Forum, or the ancient history of the early church in the Book of Acts, where people shared goods in common, replicated by the bartering of our Common Security Group.

Local scholar Lewis Hyde wrote on what he called "the gift cycle." I give something to you; you give something else to another; that person completes the circle and gives something strange and unexpected back to me. Scrooge and the Grinch give gifts that come back as freedom and joy, connection and community. Out of God's abundance, give your heart to love and serve. Though we are not rulers, in the wilderness, we may be given the Word of God for our time.

Benediction: William Blake wrote, "We are put on this earth but a short time to bear the beams of love." Give your heart in love and service.