Holiness and the Temple
When we meet someone new, we form our opinions of that person from the things they say and the way in which they act. I think it would be accurate to say that all of us have met someone and formed an early opinion of them that was changed at a later date by something they said or did that did not fit our first impressions. We first meet Jesus as a tiny baby in the manger and we hear all about God’s love for us… for all of humanity… that led to God coming to earth to be with us for love. Then we see Jesus, in his ministry, reach out to the marginalized peoples of Galilee to help them… to heal them… to accept them… and to teach them. We hear the story of how the children came to see Jesus and how Jesus rebuked the disciples for trying to keep them away. We hear the parable of the lost sheep… and the Gentle Shepherd who sought the lost sheep until it was found… and gently led the mother sheep who were with young. From all of these images, we form an image of Jesus… as a loving brother… a caring friend… a gentle Savior. And then, just as we are growing comfortable with this person we think we know, we read a text like this passage from John today.
Who is this man? This is an angry, violent man who seems to be out of control. What a contrast this man is to the image that we have in our heads. And yet, this man is Jesus, the Son of God… God Incarnate. How can we reconcile this image of the angry, violent Jesus with the Gentle Shepherd we have come to know?
It is estimated that the population of the city of Jerusalem would swell from its normal fifty thousand (50,000) people to more than one hundred and eighty thousand (180,000) at the time of Passover. Pilgrims would come from as far away as Persia… Syria… Egypt… Greece …and Rome. For a rough comparison, imagine the town of College Station, Texas, on a Saturday afternoon when an A & M football game is to be played, then double that number and hold on to the crowd for a week, instead of just one day. That’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed… a lot of weary travelers to put up for the night. Then consider that these pilgrims are coming to the temple to make a sacrifice. They will need an unblemished animal for that. They will also be paying their temple tax. It will be necessary for them to convert their local currency …the Roman tetradrachmae and denarii, or even currency used in other lands… for the Tyrian shekels or half-shekels needed to pay the tax to the temple. A local bank or currency exchange could do that.
I think it would be accurate to compare the crowds and the consumerism of the week of Passover in Jerusalem to the consumerism that seems to surround Christmas each year. The pressure to give gifts, which has its roots in the gifts the Wisemen brought to Jesus, takes almost all of us to the mall between Thanksgiving and Christmas… just as the need to sacrifice an unblemished animal at the temple forced every pilgrim to find such an animal in Jerusalem. Considering the fact that two-thirds of those coming to the temple were from out-of-town and, therefore, unfamiliar with Jerusalem, how convenient it must have been for the pilgrims that the merchants who sold such animals… as well as the currency exchange were all located right there in the temple precincts.
Now, I want to speak to those who are my age or older. Do you remember the first time that you saw a fast food restaurant located inside a business establishment… such as a university… a bank… or a retail store? Do you remember the sense of violation that you felt…the perceived inappropriateness of that juxtaposition? We’ve grown used to it now, but at one time, it was not the norm. Now, imagine that fast food restaurant… and a bank … and a retail store… located inside the walls of a church. Yes, I know. There are some churches that do have such features… a gift shop… an ATM… and even a Starbucks coffee store inside their church building. Is it wrong? Is that what this scripture passage is trying to tell us? Or is there something more that we are supposed to see beyond the consumerism?
I think it’s safe to say the merchants were making a killing off the week of Passover, but were they really doing anything wrong? You could say that, by exchanging money and selling birds and animals for sacrifice, they were providing a service for the pilgrims. Now, it is true that in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), Jesus accuses the merchants of cheating the people. “My house shall be called a house of prayer, “he says, “but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13) Perhaps there was some price gouging going on, but this was not the focus of Jesus’ anger, according to John, in his gospel account. As far as John was concerned, Jesus was upset because all the buying and selling intruded upon the sacred space for worship. These activities detracted from the primary focus of the temple … the primary purpose of the pilgrims’ activities. This was wrong. There should be nothing… nothing at all… that intrudes between faithful and their worship of God. And there is more. If there is anything …anything at all… that stands between the faithful and their worship of God, it must be removed. There is no excuse for tolerating the obstacle… or obstacles. There is no excuse for not taking action. Those who stand on the sidelines and watch are just as guilty as those who participate in distracting the faithful from worship.
Why do we tolerate what we know is wrong? Why do we stand by and do nothing… say nothing… when society places obstacles between us and the worship of our God? Jesus did not stand by and watch… he took action. He definitely did things… and said things… that made him very unpopular with the Jews of his day. They saw nothing wrong with what was happening at the temple. Perhaps, they saw nothing wrong because it had happened so slowly that they had become accustomed to it. Perhaps, the consumerism had begun at the edges of the temple and worked its way into the temple courtyard. Perhaps, it had started small and grown over time. But, slowly or fast… large or small… at the edge or in the middle… it was wrong… and Jesus took action. Taking a whip in his hand, he cleared the temple courtyard of all that might distract the faithful from worshipping God. He drove away all that was unholy and unclean… and he restored the holiness and righteousness of the temple… at least for a time. And for that, he paid a price.
What is it that distracts us from the worship of God? What outside influences pull us away from this precious hour each week that we give to God? And why do we allow these things to pull us away? How often do we speak out against the things that pull us away? How often do we take action to clear these obstacles from our lives? Of one hundred and sixty-eight hours each week, we give one … only one … to the worship of God. What will it take to preserve the sanctity… the sacredness… of that hour?
That’s the first question. But there is another dimension that we need to consider here. In this passage, Jesus spoke of two different temples. The first was the building in Jerusalem. The second was the temple of his body. When the Jews asked for a sign that what he said was true, Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He was talking about his body. At the time, the Jews did not understand what Jesus was talking about, but after his resurrection, his disciples figured it out. Paul picked up this analogy when he discussed the importance of holiness for individuals. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul tells his audience, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Later, he repeated this assertion, saying “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) If our bodies are temples of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in them, then the second question we need to ask is this: What obstacles lie within us that detract from the holiness and righteousness of this temple of God?
You see, it is not just the halls and rooms of this church building that need to be cleansed of all that detracts from the worship of God… it is not just the unholy things in this world that detract from Sunday morning worship… we also need to examine our hearts to see what obstacles there detract from the worship of God. What kinds of things might those be? I cannot answer that… for you… for only you… and God… know what lies in your heart. Could it be uncharitable thoughts of other people? Could it be a self-centered attitude that focuses only on self-gratification? Could it words or actions that, on the outside appear to be directed toward serving others, but in reality only serve self? What is it in our hearts… in our souls… that has put barriers between us and God… separating us from God… allowing sin into our lives? Is it time for us to cleanse the temple? Is it time for us to walk through all the corridors of our minds… of our hearts… and clear away all those things that have slowly… insidiously… wormed their ways in… and now clutter the courtyard of our souls?
Lent was made for that… for cleansing the temple… for ruthlessly clearing away all that which separates us from God. How can the Lord of Life live in our hearts if our hearts are cluttered with all the debris of life? Where will our Risen Lord live… where will our God reside… if the temple that is his home is too full of trash to allow God to enter in? Now is the time to clean the halls. Now is the time to sweep the floors. Now is the time to take whip in hand and drive out everything that stands between us and God.
The trumpet has sounded. The day of the Lord is at hand. The Prophet has called us to repentance. And God calls each of us by name… reminding us of his covenant… his faithfulness… and urging us to return… “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.” There is still time. Open your heart. Clear the clutter away. Invite your Savior in… come home to God…and let the Holy Spirit fill you will new life today. Amen.
John 2:13-22; Psalm 19