Sermons from St Faith's
Cleansing the Temple
Jackie Parry, Sunday, March
8th, 2015
I consider myself to be a peaceful person, quiet
(although my friends might sometimes say
otherwise!) and a bit of a pacifist. I’ve
mentioned before that I have, on the odd
occasion, sat on the fence rather than get stuck
in the middle of an argument. However, if
I witness an injustice, then I will speak up,
even though it might get me into trouble.
When I was a teenager and at college, I joined
the student union because I was told to it was
the right thing to do, but nothing every really
happened. However, an issue arose between
the student union and the local council and, as
discussions didn’t resolve the situation, it was
decided to hold a protest in the form of a
sit-in at the local council offices, and I was
asked to take part. I was terrified to
tell my mum, she was quite strict and I knew I’d
get into trouble for being involved.
However, I felt that the injustice at the time
warranted my involvement and, taking comfort in
knowing that she would be in work and therefore
unaware of my activities, I went along and
joined in the protest.
Unfortunately for me, the local paper decided to
write an article on the students sit-in and it
was published in a few days later; right on the
front cover, together with a large photograph of
the students involved in the protest. And
there I was ……clearly visible, right in the
centre, sitting on the stairs with the other
students, staging a sit-in.
My mum was furious with me because I’d missed
college that day. I was grounded for a few
days; but when she’d calmed down, she admitted
to being pleased that I’d stood up (or sat down
in this case) for what I believed to be a just
cause, and she also found it hilarious that I’d
tried to hide my actions from her, only for my
photo to be splattered across the front cover of
the local rag. The truth will come out!
Well, my story is probably no different to any
other person who speaks up for what they believe
to be right, and I’ve no doubt that some have,
on occasion, got into trouble for it too. But at
least they took action and did what they
believed to be right.
We heard in today’s Gospel reading about Jesus
in the temple, and his reported riotous anger as
he turned tables upside down, and sending the
money-lenders cash cross the floor. This
was a very powerful action from someone who was
relatively unknown until this point, because
Jesus had not yet started his preaching.
This ‘story’ is often considered to be about
seeing Jesus in a rare act of anger; but if we
look into this a little closer, we can see his
actions were not so much done in a moment of mad
rage, but in fact was a very considered and
careful action.
It was the custom for all Jewish males to go at
least once in their lifetime to Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover. So when Jesus
arrived in the city, there would have been
thousands of people there, a huge crowd crammed
into the narrow city streets, and an incredible
bustle and noise in the temple itself. It
must have been a chaotic scene, but a highly
excitable and thrilling experience for everyone
there. And, of course, it was peak time
for all the religious artefact traders; selling
their goods which were associated with temple
worship, and no doubt making a lot of money in
the process. As Jesus walked into the
Temple, into the midst of all this chaos, and
seeing the traders making a lot of money, it
would be understandable for his emotions to rise
to fever pitch.
But in fact he didn’t act straight away; he went
off and made a whip of cords first, which would
have taken some time to do. I can imagine
him sitting there, his fingers busily making the
whip, whilst quietly watching the crowds and the
market sellers, and planning his next
move. Only when he was ready, did he act
accordingly, and began overturning tables and
shouting “How dare you turn my father’s house
into a market!”
This was an act of deliberate disruption, rather
than an act of hot-headed anger. Not
just disrupting the events of that day in the
Temple, but also an act of disruption that would
cut to the core of the historic Jewish faith and
all it stood for. Jesus was saying that
the old way of “doing faith” was no longer
appropriate; that the heart of faith had become
lost in the ritualism of the time, and that the
passion for God had become lost in the passion
to buy animals and birds to use as
sacrifice. He is confronting the people of
God with a deeply uncomfortable truth.
This was a moment for them to re-assess their
spiritual life. The Jewish nation had lost
sight of what was truly important. They
had become more focused on material things, even
when being used as a sacrifice, for people were
benefiting financially through the materialist
ritual at the temple, instead of focussing on
God and making Him the centre of their worship
and life.
Jesus saw that the purity rituals of the time
had become rituals of discrimination: Jews
in the Inner Court, Gentiles in the outer court;
Men and women segregated. In focussing on
their need of material things, their purity of
heart had become lost. Therefore, Jesus cleansed
the temple to make room for everyone. He
came to welcome all people into God’s
family. His prophetic action points ahead
into the future at the end of his life, when he
would make a New Covenant, not based on animal
sacrifices; not dependent on one holy building;
rather, a New Covenant made effective through
Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection for
all humankind.
In order to keep our church buildings
comfortable and viable places for worship, it is
a fact that we need to raise money to cover
these costs. And this is fine, as long as
we keep God in the centre and the focus remains
on him. It is when people become obsessive
about materialistic things, that there is the
risk of unknowingly pushing God, and loving one
another, to one side.
I love watching the Vicar of Dibley, but there
was one particular episode which reminds me of
this very subject. During a storm a
tree had fallen through the large picture window
in the church, smashing it to pieces. The
parishioners quickly started fund-raising to get
the money to pay for a new one, and there were
huge discussions and arguments as to what images
should be portrayed in this new stained glass
window.
At the same time, there was a news report
highlighting the plight of the starving people
in Africa. Seeing this, the vicar was so
moved by the plight of the people, that she felt
it was wrong to spend so much money on a stained
glass window, and so she sent the money to
Africa, and replaced the broken window with a
much cheaper, clear, pane of glass. The
businessman who had donated a large amount of
the money was quite irate at first, but then, as
they all stood in the church and looked through
the window, with the sun setting in the valley
below, the image was more beautiful than any
stained glass window could ever be. The
people realised that they didn’t need a new
window to remind them of God, because He was
clearly present in the unspoilt beauty of the
earth, in his people gathered there, and in
their gift given to help those who were
suffering.
When Jesus showed his anger in the temple, he
was telling the people they needed to change, to
re-focus and put God back into the centre of all
things. Until that moment, people had
constructed temples and looked for places where
they could meet God and obtain his favour; but
now God had made himself present in Jesus.
He was, is, the living temple; broken,
crucified, and resurrected.
It is He who delivers Gods riches to us, and He
who is to be found in the centre of our
life. Jesus calls us to change; to change
ourselves and the world around us. As
Micah reminds us, “What the Lord requires of you
is to do justice, and to love kindness and to
walk humbly with God?”
And in His presence, may we be an instrument of
his love and peace, and have the wisdom and
courage to turn away from those material things
which can distract us from God; to stand up for
Him, and make Him the centre of our life.
Amen.
Sermon St Faith’s, Great Crosby
Jackie Parry
Readings: Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:
18-25; John 2: 13-22 8th March
2015
Jesus clears the temple
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