Dealing with Religious Trolls. Sermon Proper 24

Sermon Proper 24, Year A – Matthew 22:15-22

Are you familiar with the term internet troll? The Wikipedia definition is “A person who posts inflammatory messages to provoke an emotional response.”

That sounds direct enough, but it’s too sterile. It doesn’t convey the emotional disdain caused by said group of people. Instead, let’s look at The Urban Dictionary—it will tell you what words really mean. This is slightly “edited.” 

An internet troll is an attention—“grabber”—who posts stupid comments on websites in an attempt to get a reaction towards themselves so that someone will acknowledge their pathetic, insignificant lives since they don’t receive any attention in real life.

In the 21^st century, trolls are mostly online, especially Twitter, but they have been around for centuries. 

Jesus experienced their pre-designed and well-rehearsed confrontation that only had one aim, to ambush him.

Trolls use morality, theology, or ethics as launching points. In today’s Gospel reading, the Pharisees come out of their holes and try to trap Jesus in his words. If he declared allegiance to God, the Romans would execute him. If he admitted loyalty to Caesar and said to pay taxes, it would disgrace him among the people.

This is a very practical passage. It shows us how Jesus handled these issues, and it gives us a model to follow when we encounter trolls and Pharisees.

First, he recognizes them. 

Matthew suggests that Jesus was “aware of their malice and knew they were putting him to the test.” The word “malice” is usually translated as “evil intentions.” 

Jesus knew that the political and religious climate was delicate, so Pharisees would try to use both against him. He knew people are vicious when their influence is threatened.  

So the Pharisees came together and plotted in the dark. 

“We’ve gotta get rid of this guy because he’s dangerous to everything we hold sacred.”

“Oh, I know, but he didn’t even go to seminary, so let’s trap him between religion and politics.”

That sounds like a good plan by itself, but they didn’t stop there. The Pharisees joined forces with the Herodians. They were a Jewish political party that backed the Roman government and the taxation of the Jews. The two groups customarily opposed one another, but they hated Jesus more, so they put their quarrels aside.

They went to Jesus with a compliment, “We know that you’re an excellent and faithful man who teaches with no motives. So tells us, should we pay taxes to Caesar?” 

It was either/or for them, but Jesus recognized that tactic. When we encounter Pharisees, who are more dedicated to an ideal than to God, the best thing we can do is determine the motives behind the actions.

Andrew Marantz did a TED Talk titled “Inside the bizarre world of internet trolls and propagandists.” Some of the primary tactics he lists are:

• Trolls drive content with emotion… everything is about emotion. 
• Trolls love to make accusations, especially moral and ethical ones, against people. 
• Trolls love drama, and many have sociopathic tendencies, so they do not care if their gossip or posts inflict pain on people and families.
  

J.R.R. Tolkien said, “Trolls are mighty slow… and suspicious of everything new to them.”

All of that is valuable information! How do we deal with trolls? Watch for them and recognize the tactics. 

Second, Jesus responds to them.

Jesus responded in two different ways. First, he called them out. He says, “This is so hypocritical… why are you testing me like this?” 

Jesus knew they needed to trap him between God and empire, between faith and politics, between the people and the emperor. 

Then he pointed the Pharisees and Herodians back to God. He said, “Give Caesar what belongs to him; his face is clearly on the coin. But more importantly, give God what belongs to God.”

He’s speaking about honoring God by devoting a part of what we have to God. He’s also talking about presenting our lives to God and whatever vocation and ministry God might call us to. 

So when we need to handle all the chaos, anger, bitterness, rage, prejudice, and racism, Jesus serves as the model! We can confront evil as Jesus did; tell people to give God what already belongs to God… ourselves… after all, God’s image is stamped on our hearts, not Caesar’s. 

Lessons from the life of Fr. Sngi

I wanted some fun last week, so I decided to see what would transpire if I trolled some Christians about God, country, and politics. So I headed over to a website that’s frequented by progressives and conservatives alike. Translation, it’s where Episcopalians and Lutherans go to fuss with Baptists and people who consider themselves non-denominationals but are conservatives with reformed theology. 

 I disguised my email and created a username; then, for my picture, I used a photo of Fr. Sngi, a Roman Catholic priest from India who passed in 2016 after 58 years of ordained ministry at 95. In the picture, he’s dressed as a priest, but he’s wearing a turban.

I went after both camps! I posted, “As someone on the outside looking in, it’s time for “American Christians” to stop attacking their government as if it’s demonic, and stop spreading COVID in their “rallies and marches.” It’s also time for them to check their malignant patriotism and their loyalty to their leader instead of God. Focus on God, and go be true Christians by producing the works of mercy and feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and healing to the sick. That’s the church’s vocation, not the American government’s job.” 

Then I got some popcorn, grabbed a Sprite, kicked back, and waited for the fireworks. Whooooooo, it was nuclear. The replies, in the name of Christian charity, of course, were nasty!

“Bigoted racist.” 

“Yet another white male homophobe.” – somehow Fr. Sngi transformed into a white American male. 

“Proof conservative republicans don’t care about the earth.”

This one is good….. “This kind of southern hypocrisy sickens me! The church has a moral obligation to overthrow this regime!” 

So, Fr. Sngi has assembled some impressive adjectives. He’s a straight white homophobic male who is also a southern racist republican intent on dismantling the world for oil. 

It didn’t stop there; I inflamed the other side of the aisle too. Three particular responses were deliciously fantastic. 

“Don’t even lump this guy in with us! He’s no conservative, just look at that turban; he’s foreign.” May I confess I heard that one in a deep southern accent?—”Faarrnnn”… that’s how to say foreign in the south, if you wondered. 

“You’re not even from here, so what gives you the right to tell us what to do with our country? This troll is proof we need more immigration restrictions and law and order.”

“This Arab has a lot of big words but not a lick of common sense.” 

So, Fr. Sngi is now an intellectually challenged Arab foreigner—probably… a turban-wearing terrorist—who is a threat to law and order and in need of a wall to keep him out of the U.S..

Fr. Sngi was none of these things. Fr. Sngi only said to worry less about the emperor and more about Jesus. No one agreed with Fr. Sngi about giving to God what belongs to God; they only concentrated on what was wrong with Fr. Sngi’s opinions. 

The more he pointed people toward God, the angrier they got. 

Then a man who had to be a parish priest posted a reply. His username was brilliant… it was the best I’ve ever seen, “sheepdog.” He simply replied, “Hey, I see what you did there, you trolled trolls. This is proper 24’s Gospel reading; Sunday sermon gold!” 

Amen.