The Rev. Carol S. Wedell
March 15, 2009

Given the current real estate market, I'm not sure if the old saying holds true.  I'm guessing it does!  In general, when you are looking for a house, a business or even a lot for a church, you'll be told that there are only three things that really matter:  location, location, location!  During the season of Lent, we spend time considering our location relative to God.  What is it that separates us from God?

Our reading today from the gospel of John is a story that is found in all four gospels, usually referred to as the "cleansing of the Temple."  If you don't know the story you might be waiting to see which cleaner was being used - Windex?  Comet?  Something more green?  The fact that it is included in all four gospels tells you that this event was very important in the life of the early church.  There are a few differences however between John and the other three.  The first is - I bet you can guess - location!  Matthew, Mark and Luke all place the story of the "cleansing" of the Temple during the last days of Jesus' life.

John, on the other hand, locates this event very early in the gospel.  The "cleansing" comes right after the first of the seven "signs" in the gospel:  changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  Placing the story here allows it to be an introduction to Jesus' ongoing conflict with the Jewish authorities, a conflict that the Fourth Gospel has its own way of portraying. The tie to the first miracle story is subtle but important. The water in the jars was water used for purification, such as ceremonial washing. Jesus transformed this water into something to be consumed, enjoyed, and used in celebration. Jesus began his ministry by overturning a system that had purification at its center. The religious establishment had straight jacketed itself with purity laws and customs that took precedent over knowing the heart of God and living life with joy.

According to John, shortly before Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  When he got to the Temple, he was not exactly pleased with what he saw.  There were various animals available for purchase, to be used as a sacrifice to God:  Cattle, sheep and doves.  There were people sitting at tables both selling these animals, and changing whatever currency they had into coins that were acceptable for use in the Temple.  Roman coins, for example, had the image of Caesar on them, so were considered idolatrous.  They were seen as breaking the commandment against making anything an idol, but to worship God alone.  All of this commotion was most likely going on in what was called the court of the Gentiles.

(I need all the children and youth to come forward so we can show the congregation what was going on.  Set up the kids praying against the outer wall of the Temple, and the youth busy selling, etc... Give instructions to the youth to be loud, obnoxious and even bump gently into the kids.  Make sure they talk about money.)  What do you see?  Kids, are you distracted by all of the noise and busyness behind you?  Would you find it easy to pray and worship God with all that going on?

So this Court of the Gentiles looked like an open air market.  The noises of cows and sheep, the clanging of coins and the hollering of people filled the air.  What is interesting is that all of this activity was going on so that the Temple could function.  It served a purpose that was supported by the religious leaders. If we wanted to translate it to our context, the people selling animals and making change are more like ushers or elders.  They're not bad guys who don't go to church. They're good guys doing what the church has asked them to do.

Yet when Jesus sees all of this he is really angry.  As one writer has said, "Here we don't find Jesus engaged in a flurry of light housekeeping activity, but in a mad rampage around the Temple courtyard.  In his hands is not a dust cloth, but a whip of cords.  He isn't shoving dust bunnies out from under the bookcase, but shoving moneychangers away from their desks.  When he has finished with his task of cleansing, the fresh clean scent of lemon oil can't be detected anywhere.  The cattle are loose, the doves are squawking and the people are upset." (Elizabeth McGregor Simmons, Journal for Preachers, Lent 2009, p. 5).

It reminds me of Austin Carr, the color announcer for the Cavaliers.  Whenever one of the players blocks the shot of the opposing team, you know what he is going to say:  "Get that weak stuff out of here!"  Except that while he is saying it with enthusiasm and fun, Jesus' words burn with passionate anger.  "Take these things out of here!  Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"

As a side note, you'll notice that John seems to set Jesus against all of the Jewish people, and not just the Jewish leaders.  This has made it easy for many people to assume a rather anti-Semitic viewpoint by either the gospel writer or by Jesus.  First we need to remember that Jesus and all of his first followers were Jewish!   Even after Jesus' death and resurrection, they continued to worship in the temple, to observe the Jewish faith.

Most scholars believe that this text was written by Jews, exiled from the synagogue, who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. This is insider language, borne of grief, distance and change.  This gospel was most likely written at a time when there had been a major conflict between those Jews who were followers of Jesus and those who were not.  Kind of like an "in-house" fight -not unlike the Presbyterian Church or several other denominations who find plenty to argue about within their denomination.  Unfortunately, there can be a significant amount of animosity that arises particularly from those who end of leaving.   Just prior to the writing of this gospel, those Jews who followed Jesus were essentially kicked out from the Jewish community.  So it is not surprising that there is a tilt against the non-Christian Jews as John is writing his gospel.

I don't know about you, but I have mixed feelings about this passage.  Seeing Jesus angry makes him seem more human, somehow.  I've certainly been angry - as have all of you.  So imagining this scene makes me feel a little better about the times when my anger has gotten the better of me.  We don't see Jesus angry very often in the gospels.  We are used to a more serene and gentle Jesus (hold up Jesus doll) - maybe even soft and cuddly!

But Jesus' anger is not directed at criminals.  These were folks who spent most of their life in and around the most sacred of spaces - kind of like those of us who gather for worship each Sunday.  So maybe his anger is directed at us, as well!  Jesus' anger that day was focused on the people who were trying to faithfully follow the rules and rituals of their religion.  Those who were selling animals and changing money were there with the blessing of the temple authorities. 

I think we should assume that those who were working in the court of the Gentiles had motives that were good initially:  they were trying to enable those who had come from long distances to be able to worship God properly.  Before long, however, they had settled into behaviors that worked well for the Temple, for the institution, but which actually kept people from true worship - just like we saw here in front a few minutes ago.

Jesus' anger arises in part because this sacred place, this place set apart for worship was supposed to be different than the world around it.  It was intended to be counter-cultural, otherworldly.  But when Jesus arrives it looks no different than the market place outside.  And the Gentiles, who are not allowed to enter the main portion of the Temple, are deprived of a sacred space in which to pray.  What was intended to be a model of an alternative way of living, a way of living that was centered on God, now didn't look any different than the world around it.

Jesus, a faithful Jew, was upset because the institution that held responsibility for the safe-keeping of the faith, had lost its way.  It was more concerned with rules and regulations than it was in allowing people to worship freely. Instead of a holy place, the Temple had become the center of a religious system that focused on ritual and not on God.  Jesus' anger is directed, not against unbelievers, but against believers who have trivialized worship.

The prophets had told of the day when the Temple would be a place of worship for all.  Now it has been corrupted by the culture around it. It isn't a place of true worship for anyone!  The purpose of this demonstration was to take Jesus' argument with the conventional religion of his day to the place where religious perversion always does it worst-the temple or the church. Jesus lets people know that "His Father's House" will not be run by the rules of the marketplace. This is a house of prayer for all people and it is not a convenience store with an ATM. It will be run by a different set of rules-a turning of the table set of rules.

In the Temple in which everyone may worship God is not to be contained in a building, but in Jesus himself.  In later chapters of John, Jesus will speak against any attempt to limit or restrict worship to a physical site, for "God is Spirit , and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

In John's gospel, Jesus is meant to be a controversial figure - certainly uncomfortable to be around! During Lent, comfort is not a priority.  What is Lent about if not asking the hard questions, not of our neighbor's religion but of our own? Are we the new money changers, using our rules and traditions to create barriers between others and God? How do we change the tables and live by new rules? 

Annie Dillard commented that "people in church seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute." Get out of bed, get dressed, open the hymnal, sing the songs, keep your eyes open, stand for the benediction, say hello to God, get a little dose of the divine, and go home. One writer said, that worship is for many a monotonous rite of passage. In the comic strip Doonesbury, two yuppie-looking parents tell their child: "Alex, honey, Mom and I have been talking and we've decided it's time for us to start attending church as a family."

The child says, "Church. Church is boring."

"We thought you might say that. All kids think that."

"Didn't you think church was boring when you were a kid?"

"Sure I hated going, but church was good for me, so my parents made me stick it out. You (will) end up hating church, too, but you have to put in the pew time, like Mom and I did."

"What if I like it?"

"Like it? . . . We'll cross that bridge when we get there honey."

Jesus came to bring people into the holy presence of God. When worship becomes a chore, we become worship critics, judging everything by our own tastes. Far too many 21^st century Christians tend to view worship as something that we attend for us, to get our weekly shot in the arm. But worship isn't about us - it's about God. We are just as likely to trivialize worship as the money changers in the Temple court.  When things which are not of ultimate importance stand in our way, or the way of others, then the church too needs to be cleansed, to make room for a genuine encounter with the Holy One.

In Exodus, the first commandment urges us to worship God alone and no other gods. This includes the false religion we often fashion out of Christianity. No idols, says Yahweh: don't let any institution, tradition, book or place become an obstacle to the worship and service of the one true God.

Are we closer to God as a result of our involvement here at Church of the Western Reserve?  Has time spent in worship led us to a closer relationship with Christ?  Have we grown spiritually?  Or are we spending more time evaluating the service, or the choir, or the budget, or the people in the pew behind us, or the flowers?  What have we put first?  Who or what do we truly worship?   Lent is the perfect time to let Christ come in and cleanse out the clutter and idolatries in our lives - the things we have let stand between us and God - in order that the gap between us and God may disappear and we may be drawn in to the presence of the Living God.