Obstacles

Lent 3, Yr. B, March 11, 2012

Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

So Jesus comes into the temple and he throws a fit.  It's a humdinger of a fit too.  It's as bad as any tamper tantrum a toddler might throw in the middle of the grocery store.  He enters the temple and "found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables".  We might be tempted to think that this is something unusual, Jesus "finding" a little public market set up inside the temple.  Seems like a strange place to try to make a buck, or rather ... a denari or two.  Doesn't it?

Well yes, and no.  You see, there were rules.  No Roman money could be used inside the temple.  Roman money was profane, unacceptable, unclean because it bore the face of the emperor.  So when people came to make an offering they had to "change their money", convert it to temple coin (shekels).  But of course, that didn't happen dollar for dollar, or even denari for denari.  The money changers charged a fee.  In addition, the Temple was the only appropriate place to offer sacrifices.  Most people found it a little difficult to make their way to Jerusalem with a sheep or a goat tagging along behind them.   So when people arrived at the temple, they had to purchase their sacrifice.  Sometimes it couldn't be just any old goat.  Depending on the reason for the sacrifice, it sometimes needed to be an unblemished animal.  So vendors of sacrificial animals set up shop right inside the outer area of the temple.  You know, for the convenience of the faithful ... with a little profit thrown in for the vendor, of course.

So what's Jesus all fired up about?  What's the big deal?  It's just business as usual ... literally, and everything is chugging along just fine.  Pilgrims are changing their money as the law demanded and merchants are providing the necessary animals for sacrifice in the temple.  Why the whip of cords?  Why the tossed coins?  Why is Jesus chasing money changers and turning over tables?  Maybe he's overreacting a bit? 

The temple in Jerusalem was the footprint of God on earth.  It was the place where God was.  It was a large structure with several distinct sections, and there were thirteen gates leading into a main courtyard.  The whole thing was surrounded by a high wall.  Entrance to the courtyard was gained by entering one of the gates.  Each there for a specific purpose.  One to bring in wood for the sacrifices.  One for people with first born sacrifice animals to enter.  One where the Levites entered with their instruments.  One for women.  And so on.  Access was very well controlled by the temple guards.  It must have felt more like a fortress than a home for God.

Once inside the large open outer courtyard you would have seen the butchering stations where animals bought for sacrifice were killed.  There would have been outside altars where most of the sacrificial meat was burned.  The faithful on the fringe - called god fearers -  and women and children were allowed only this far.  This is where Jesus was in today's reading.  He's not inside the sanctuary.  He's not standing near the ark of the covenant.  He's out in the open yard and he's angry.

The temple was the place of reconciliation with God.  It’s where faithful Jews went to be put back in right relationship with God.  Whenever someone was ritually unclean, they had to go to the temple to be declared clean so that they could re-enter their community.  Whenever there was a sin offering or a thank offering or a guilt offering to be made, it had to be done at the temple.  If you wanted to get right with God, you had to find a way to get to the temple ... no matter how far you had to travel.   If you wanted to make things right with God and your faith community, you had to purchase an animal as an offering for the sacrifice you were required to make.  You had to change your money.  It didn't matter what your circumstances were.  It didn't matter how poor you were.  There were rules.  There were expectations.  It was a system designed to keep people out, to deny free access to God - and a system which allowed merchants to profit at the expense of the mostly poor folk.  It was a system that only allowed priests direct access to God.

After Jesus’ little outburst people are a little confused, and probably a little afraid.  The Jewish leaders ask Jesus for a sign.  "Give us something that justifies what you have done here", they ask.  Then Jesus talks about destroying the temple and raising it in three days.  He's talking about the temple of his body, John tells us.  In essence Jesus is telling them that people don't need the temple in order to be in right relationship with God.  They can come to God through him ... for free.  What a bargain!  No travel expenses.  No hidden fees.  No exclusions.  No limitations.  Anyone who knows Jesus, will know God.  Through Jesus anyone, women, children, god fearers and devout followers, all get beyond the outer courtyard. They all gain access to the inner sanctuary and the Holy of Holies,  and meet God face to face.  What a disaster for the temple leaders … and the temple system.

After two thousand years, we’re still in the same boat.  Better off in some ways, but still a religious system that hasn’t kept up with culture.  A system that still struggles with how to fulfill its mission of “reconciling people to God”.  Some of our structure and tradition continues to be an obstacle to those who come to us looking for God. 

At Two Saints several weeks ago, a man came who wasn’t familiar with the Episcopal service.  They were using a variety of music – some printed in the service leaflet, some in the 1982 hymnal, another song in LEVAS II and a song on an insert sheet.  The man was totally confused by all the books.  Our music can be an obstacle.

A young mother takes her young daughter to church to attend a service at the mother’s sister’s church.  The young child looks through a book and finds a picture that resembles her grandfather.  In the middle of the prayers of the people she shouts out excitedly, “Mom, look.  It’s grandpa!”   The gentleman behind her taps the mother and her sister on the shoulder and says, “Can’t you shut her up?  We’re trying to pray here.”  We can be obstacles.

A couple visiting a new church looks around outside and sees three sets of doors.  They are confused about which doors lead to the church sanctuary.  They had meant to get to church a little early, but now they are a few minutes late.  Hastily they pick the middle doors and walk into the front of the church.  Embarrassed, they duck their heads and hurry to the back as everyone watches.   Our buildings can be obstacles.

I’m presiding at the altar and every Sunday I call God, “Father”, and “Lord”.  I call Jesus, God’s “only Son”.  I use that language because that’s what our church decided was an accurate representation of our beliefs … 33 years ago.  Has the world changed at all since then?  Has our thinking about God changed at all in those 33 years?  I think it has.  Our religious language can be an obstacle.  I’m trying to think about this intentionally.  During Lent, Michael Hopkins and I are using some different language in our Eucharistic prayer, not to change our liturgy, but to try to say more clearly in today’s world what we mean when we use the traditional language of the church.  I’d be interested to hear what you think about it as we go along.

I find much the same problem with our 1982 Hymnal.  I have to tell you that it saddens me.  I love most of those hymns, but take a walk through that book someday soon.  See how many of our hymns are written using “old English” that is never spoken today.  See how many of the hymns are filled with “thee’s” and “thou’s”.  They are beautiful hymns and I’m not about to throw them out … but I’m convinced that we need to keep experimenting with some of the more contemporary options within our tradition to create a mix that will speak truthfully to more of us. I’ve asked Rob to choose some new hymns from other sources within our tradition, and I am excited to see what he finds.

The fundamental mission of the church is to reconcile people to God.  I think we need to seriously explore how well we are doing that, and intentionally seek opportunities to connect with others in the world.  If Jesus is the new temple, the new place where people can expect to encounter God .. and if we are the Body of Christ in the world … then we need to make ourselves accessible to others.  It’s not just our worship, and our buildings and our materials … it’s us.  We need to be willing to break ourselves open, to overturn tables and toss a few coins … so that there is space for God to be revealed.  We need to develop a new language and sing new songs … all firmly grounded in our rich tradition … a tradition that continues to grow and evolve with us as all good traditions do.

Amen.