Sermon - 2015-03-08

Today, the gospel lesson can seem a little odd to us in our modern times.  To hear of animals being in church for a purpose and having people who would exchange money, this whole scene seems rather odd.  However, in this moment there are still lessons and a history from which we can learn.  

The animals are there for a purpose.  The animals would be offered as a sacrifice to God within the Holy Temple. Whether it was a calf, lamb, goat, or dove, each of the animals was meant for a different sacrifice that a person would offer to God to either ask for forgiveness or blessing. The animal would be butchered with part of it going towards God on a fire and the rest would be used to feed the priests and the poor within the community.   Those animals were part of the relationship and worship experience which the people of the Old Testament maintained as tradition. The money changers were there in the Holy Temple had a purpose as well.  Many of the people there for the Passover Festival were traveling from many lands. It was important that all the money in the temple would be Roman coins.  Since Rome controlled Jerusalem at this time, even as I explain this, it can still seem foreign because it is the old Jewish form of worship.  

Many of the people who were traveling to Jerusalem at this time of the Festival of the Passover were coming from several miles and the only thing that they could bring with them was money.  Now we often do this in our own modern times.  We will bring debit cards or credit cards to make purchases that we need in the land that we are traveling.  There is an exchange in value of currencies.  Today, it is often done by a computer and not by a person.  The animals were needed for offering sacrifice and celebrating the Passover Meal.  The use of animals at celebrations of holiday still continues with Turkeys at Thanksgiving, lamb or ham at Easter and other meals that we as families gather around to celebrate a certain holiday, but not as sacrifices.  

This world that we are witnessing is not all too foreign to us.  We come this story of Jesus protesting that all of this is taking place within the Holy Temple. The one place on Earth that God’s presence is known for all people.  Jesus chases out the animals and overturns the money changer’s tables disrupting all of the transactions and work that was taking place in the temple. What Jesus was truly protesting were the things that were happening. The very act of sacrifice had been brought down to a money transaction. People could get back on God’s good side after doing something wrong.  Jesus is protesting the very actions of the money changers and the selling of sacrificial animals. There is blood being spilled and something taken out of your life of great value.  All to remind you, of the great value what your relationship with God is truly about.  This was how the Holy Temple operated and had operated for hundreds of years.

This reminds me a story.  A little boy was searching for his wallet.  He was digging through all his toys. He began opening drawers and dumping out all the clothes within it.  His mother heard the ruckus and went up stairs to see what was happening.  She asked him, “What’s the matter?” He cried, “I am looking for my wallet. Have you seen it?” “I have not but I will help you look for it. Where was the last time you saw it?” “If I could remember that, I wouldn’t be looking for it.” exclaimed the boy. The two searched for an hour.  Finally they located the worn and almost tattered wallet. The wallet was given to him by his grandpa. In it were the two most important things to the boy. A picture of the first fishing trip and the boy caught a fish and smiling from ear to ear. In the picture, his dad and grandpa were standing next to him, equally as proud.  The second thing was a slip of paper with his dad’s cell phone number on it.  His dad had just left for a business trip and that number was a way for him to get a hold of his dad no matter where he went or when he wanted to talk to him.  

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is cleansing the Temple and completely changing things for his ministry in the world.  Jesus is doing something new which is removing the old and laying the foundation which will be restoring all people to a relationship with God.  When confronted by the religious leaders about the authority he has for doing all of this in the Temple, Jesus notes that it will be him that is destroyed and raised up.  Jesus will be the final sacrifice and the one to whom all may turn.  

I really begin to think, how do I view my relationship with God and the church.  When I go to church, is it something that I understand and draws me closer to God?  When I offer a sacrifice to God, why am I doing it?  Am I doing it to feel better or because I know how important my relationship with God is? Which leads me to my last question. How much am I sacrificing?  Jesus was willing to lay down his entire life for my sake.  Giving up his own life, so that I may have life and I may understand and know it’s full value.

Perhaps we should reflect on the phrase, “What’s in your wallet?” as a calling to understand, who God is in our daily life.  As the Creator and Sustainer of all things including yourself, do we consider the value God is in your life?