Ten years ago, I was sitting in a judge’s office in Cheshire, Connecticut to legally change my name. I was already going by my name, Greg. But my legal first name was William. I don’t have anything against William; it’s just that I never used it. I grew up being called Greg. My school records had me enrolled as Greg. I only got into trouble when I got my driver’s license. My birth certificate said William, so that’s what it read on the license.

         I was about to get married, and we were organizing our paperwork. After the 9/11 attacks, identification became very important. I wanted my credit cards, driver’s license and passport to all match. I was the same person. I had the same parents. A change in my life caused me to rethink the consistency of my name.

         We all go through events in our lives that change us. Sometimes they are profound like the birth of a child or graduating from school. Sometimes things happen to us outside of our control that also re-defines us. We get a serious diagnosis. We loose a job or start a different one. Sometimes we make a choice in life that seems insignificant at the time, but it begins to change the course of our life. We choose to speak to a stranger and maybe we fall in love. We stick up for someone and we begin to have a passion for his or her cause. We take up a hobby and it becomes our vocation.

         At the moment of change, we may not even be aware of what is happening. As the future begins to unfold, we may not yet be sure if the change is a blessing or a curse. God calls Abram and give him a new name – Abraham. The new name is a promise that he will be a father to multitudes. The only thing Abraham has to do is believe it.

         We find this difficult. We are used to arrangements where everyone gets something. God doesn’t demand a thing from Abraham. God only promises and blesses. There is no contingency. There is no – “if you do this… or if you don’t do that… ” As difficult as this is to believe, this is how God works with us. God chooses to love us. Period. I know we have the Ten Commandments and the golden rule, but these are ways God shows us how to live. Our obedience has nothing to do with how much God loves us. God gives us the way to live because God loves us and wants to show us the way to live most fully.

         Abraham is called and blessed and given a new name all by faith. This is the context of Jesus’ teaching about taking up the cross. There is no contingency. Jesus is not saying, “take up your cross or you will not be saved.” God always loves us and blesses us. The cross is not the way to God. The cross is the way to live because we already belong to God. The cross is the redefinition of who we are, since God already loves us. Jesus invites us to take up a cross so that we can enter our true life, instead of wandering in our old one.

         We are cross people. This goes far beyond the usual idiom of “a person’s cross to bear.” This goes beyond the usual burdens of life – an alcoholic partner, a chronic illness, etc. These things are difficult and we know that Jesus walks with us helping us to bear these tremendous difficulties. When Jesus invites us to bear a cross, he is defining us a cross people who are busy dying and living. We are dying as we give up our old identities and old ways of living. We are living as we open ourselves to the new and unexpected blessings God will give us.

         This is what we practice in Lent. We give up something dear to us so that we might rely more on God. We don’t have to do this. We choose to fast or pray or study because we long to be closer to God. We long to follow in faith. We want to stretch ourselves and grow into the name God has given us. We want to be “Christian” – Christ-like. We want to be cross bearers, following a path where we give up our false selves at the graveside and live into our true selves as we leave the tomb. This path is just as difficult as it sounds.

         We wish it were easy. God’s love is right at hand. We know we can count on God to work in us and to bless us. The difficult task is to respond and begin to die and to walk the path of our new name.

         We look around us and see only hard work. The loss of the past is painful. There’s a lot to our church that is dying and passing away. There is a blessing in all this dying. There is room for new life as we let go of the old. If we see with faith, we can begin to see glimpses of what is alive.

         Despite all our struggles, we love each other here. We find friends here on the journey who hold us up and help us out. This building with all its faded glory is used for much good in the community. The shelter is spending some more time here because of their need for space and fewer volunteers. The Culinary School is about to graduate another class and nine people will have employment who could not find a job. Literacy Volunteers on the Green continue to tutor immigrants and strangers so that they can work and function in our community. Change for Change continues to collect our small blessings to help others. The food basket is almost always full.

         We are beginning to reflect on our faith. The women’s group and the confirmation class explore what it means to follow Jesus. The vestry is trying to think of new ways to use our resources more faithfully. It feels like a great and difficult burden. We are carrying a cross. It does not lead to outward measures of success. Our success is only measured in how much we become like Jesus. We are being changed. We are serving and striving and walking towards transformation. We are becoming new people. This is what the cross is for.

          "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods." If only we could offer such witty comebacks! What a great way to open up a stewardship sermon! It practically preaches itself. I also admire how easily Jesus offers a rather extraordinary lesson without really answering their question the way that it was asked. Jesus has been challenging the religious authorities and leaders of the people. He has stumped them with questions and he has told parables that don’t show much respect for the leaders. They are becoming worried that their status is being undermined. They start to work together to trap Jesus. They want to make him say something unpopular or difficult – as if they were making points during a debate.

         The question they pose has to do with the Roman poll tax. It had to be paid with a Roman coin. No one likes to pay taxes, but this coin has the image of the emperor, who is considered a God. The devout authorities, the Pharisees, believe it might be sinful even to touch the coin. The Herodians are political leaders who have been granted power by the emperor to rule the people, so they want people to pay the tax. If Jesus tells the people to pay the tax, he will be ridiculed by the devout Jews. If he tells people to not pay the tax, then the political leaders will arrest him for disloyalty to the emperor.

         Jesus doesn’t answer them yes or no. He asks to look at the coin. Since it has Caesar’s image, it belongs to him. This is the subtle point Jesus is making. If the coin belongs to Caesar because it bears his image, then what bears God’s image? We do, of course. If fastidious observers want to have nothing to do with a coin because of the image it bears, that same particularism therefore applies to us. We bear God’s image, and therefore we belong to God. Then we must give all that belongs to God back to God. We must give ourselves to God.

         This is the hard calling. It would be a great stewardship sermon if I could deduce from this saying the exact percentage you should all give to know that you were all doing God’s will. The hard answer is more than we can measure. It seems as if Jesus is telling us to take care of our responsibilities, remembering that everything we have and everything we are belongs to God.

         This is the difficult calling we have as Christians. We know that God reaches out to us and loves us no matter what. God gives us everything freely. The challenge is in how we respond. We live in a culture that is increasingly self-centered. We are living in a world where the measure everyone uses is “what’s in it for me?” We are growing used to a culture where we are all increasingly isolated. We are connected with more and more technological ways to connect with others, but all these connections are increasingly on our own terms. We can use social media or not. We can choose to text our friends and ignore the people around us. We are surrounded by the subtle message that we can choose everything about our lives. We are being groomed with the message that we are the measure of all things. We are made in our own image.

         Jesus reminds us whose we are. Jesus reminds us to whom we belong. Jesus’ call to give ourselves to God rescues us from giving ourselves to false idols. Jesus also rescues us from ourselves, when we would make ourselves the center and force the world to adjust to our own personal taste and wishes.

         It is not that we must lose ourselves and become spineless drones to follow God. When we realize that we belong to God, and all our gifts come from God, and all that we do is connected to God – it frees us. We are no longer hurrying to adopt a pose or personality that impresses our followers or friends (however loosely we define them.) Our worth is not based on how well we control or use the latest technological tool. Our value is based on how we reflect the face of God.

         We live in a world where we need to define who we are and to whom we belong. We have nationalities and cultures that we use to name ourselves. Perhaps we follow certain ideologies. Maybe we follow sports teams or listen to certain bands or artists. Jesus reminds us that we are not Pharisees or Herodians. We are not Jews or Greeks. We are not male or female, rich or poor, white or black. We are all made in the image of God. This is what gives us value. This is what reveals our loyalties and our responsibilities.

         The apostle Paul visited the city of Thessalonica. When he preached and taught about Jesus in the synagogue, a few members believed him. Many of the visiting Greeks also believed as well as a few important women. The good news divided the synagogue in Thessalonica. The city authorities got involved and the opponents of Paul arrested some of them “because they were turning the whole world upside down.” This is the faithfulness that Paul gives thanks for when he writes to them in the letter to the Thessalonians.

         We take it for granted that God loves us. God wants to give us more than assurance that we will get to heaven someday. God wants to change the world. God wants to free us all from the narrow definitions that enslave us. God wants us to bear this good news to anyone who will hear. It will cost us everything, but it is worth everything. Giving to God the things that are God’s ultimately returns us all to God. It may turn our world upside down, but it will put us in a place where we will find life.