The Temple

 John 2:13-25 is the lectionary text for Lent III on next Sunday.

This comes early in John's Gospel.  THIS is how Jesus establishes Himself, after the miraculous turning of water into wine, in John.  It certainly is memorable.

Jesus marched from Cana to Capernaum to see mom, and then off to Jerusalem at Passover time.  It was quite a walk.

Jesus went into the Temple and found the merchants and money changers doing what they did - participating in the economy of empire, and not addressing the injustices of empire economics.  He fashioned a whip and drove them out, trashing the marketplace and pouring out the coins collected by the money changers, owning the Temple.  The money changers were notorious for unfair exchanges as they traded shekels for empire coinage.  They were making lots of money off the poor people who came to do what was commanded by God.  They had given in to empire values, and were colluding with the corrupt temple cult leaders.  Jesus exposed, resisted and confronted them dramatically.

The corrupt ones always demanded signs of God's favor and authority.  Jesus equated Himself with the Temple and foretold of His death and resurrection.  They only saw their building, the club house for the corrupt temple cult of that time.  Their vision of greatness was skewed by devotion to empire and its ways, so they could not see God's new Way in Jesus.

It seems to me that riding the fence of devotion to empire and lip service to God is not faithfulness.  Jesus claimed (Matthew) that we cannot serve two masters - God and wealth.  The same is true of power and status.  We cannot be faithful AND give lip service to God while doing all we can at the expense of others to promote our own gain.  God in Jesus does not allow it.  So, we must look at our own corruption in the church that bears Jesus' name, and whatever ways we are duplicitous in our devotion.  We must examine in this Lenten time of reflection, repentance and sacrifice of self, how we "blow about in every wind of doctrine" that might help us rationalize our unfaithfulness to God, and how "having itching ears to hear" what we want to hear in the Word has led us to our duplicitous devotion.  

Jesus did not mince words.  Jesus dramatically demonstrated how seriously God takes this church thing.  Jesus differentiated Himself and His Gospel from the Temple building, temple cult and trappings of religion.  Jesus cut through the layers of rationalizations and justifications to the truth of corrupt souls, leaders and ideologies.  Jesus confronted those who gave their devotion to empire while claiming God.  Jesus (Matthew) talked about division and separating the faithful from unfaithful in parables and in His vision of the end and His return.

We are in alignment with Jesus and Jesus' Good News Way of Agape Love and Grace, or we are in alignment with empire and its way of Greed, Lust for Power and Desire for Status.  We cannot serve two masters.  We cannot be on the side of the world and of God.  We cannot give lip service to God and our devotion to empire, at least we cannot do that and be faithful to God.  The Temple - Jesus - cannot be divided, though it is.  The Body of Christ cannot be divided, though it is.  

Jesus did not create the division, but Jesus certainly and dramatically pointed it out.  

So, how have we as the church that bears Jesus' name, corrupted the Way of God in Jesus?

How have we as individuals attempted to align ourselves with empire values while claiming to be children of the Kingdom of God?

How have we as a nation been duplicitous in our walk in this part of God's Kingdom, under empire?

Lent is our time to examine ourselves, reflect on our path to the Cross and repent of our unfaithfulness to God in Christ Jesus.  It is here.  It is now.

Pastor Jamie