Day of the Church Year: 3rd Sunday of Lent
Biblical Text: John 2:13-22
When Jesus makes a whip of cords, drives the sheep and cattle out of the temple in Jerusalem, pours out the coins of the moneychangers stationed within the temple court, and overturns their tables in the gospel of John, unlike a similar story in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus is not condemning revenue enhancement at a place of worship. Jesus is not prohibiting bake sales and parking meters at church. Jesus is not critiquing economic activity in a religious setting. In the gospel of John, after Jesus’ driving out, pouring out, and overturning, Jewish leaders ask Jesus, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” or basically, what justifies your actions? And Jesus responds, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Astonished, the Jewish leaders remind him that it took 46 years to build the temple and he would raise it up in three days? Then, the moment of clarity. Jesus is speaking of the temple of his body.
The gospel writer John composed his gospel in around 100-110 of the common era, at least 70 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, at least 30 years after the destruction of the temple in the Roman-Jewish war. In this brief but devastating war, the temple was destroyed, the temple in which faithful Jews sacrificed to God and where they believed God lived. At the time of the writing of the gospel of John, Christians of Jewish background were likely grieving the destruction of the temple. These Christians likely told stories of the good old days just like we do, stories of a grand and beautiful temple, stories of sacrifices made properly and exquisitely, stories of yearning. But according to Jesus on the day he drives out the sacrificial animals, pours out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturns their tables, the temple is no longer necessary for the temple is not the place where God lives nor is sacrifice relevant. Instead, Jewish-Christians meet God in Jesus, not in the temple, and the way Jesus gives of himself in his life, death, and resurrection puts an end to all sacrifice. Effectively, Jesus declares: there is no reason to yearn for the temple and with it, the ability to sacrifice, because that age has passed.
We also like to tell stories of the good old days. We don’t tell stories of the temple, but we do tell stories of packed churches, Ladies Aid events, and Luther League youth activities. The 1920s through the 1980s were the golden years of mainline Christianity in America, the years during which Grace founded 5 other Lutheran congregations, the years Grace split in half every time we reached a thousand members—or so the story goes. This story is a grand story, worthy of telling and retelling. But that age has passed. The world in which we live today is a very different world, especially this pandemic world, and that’s okay. While the Spirit of God powerfully moved among the people of Grace in those years, the Spirit of God has not failed us—even though the church looks very different than it did in 1950.
The world around us has changed dramatically and continues to change at a pace humanity has never before known. Though I’m not a historian, I would hazard a guess that the past two decades of human history have included more technological development than any age, period, and this technological development has had profound effects on our relationships, on our work, on our educational institutions, on our government, and yes, on our church life and our understanding of God. Technology is not the only part of our life together that has changed, of course. The pandemic, as the most obvious example, has radically shifted our lives. Tomorrow mark a full year since we worshiped inside our buildings, gathered after worship to eat cookies and drink coffee, served the pancake breakfast, sat around a table for Bible study or a council meeting. Do these changes mean that God is no longer accessible to us, that our faith is decimated, that the church is closed?
No. God has walked with us this whole way, and not just through the pandemic but through the large and small changes of all ages passed. Our faith, our spiritual disciplines, our day to day experience of God are changed, yes, but not destroyed. And, just as the early Christians struggled to understand, the church, the worship space of the faithful, the actual physical brick and mortar is but a useful space to gather, a practical tool in doing ministry. The buildings here at 1124 N 3rd Street are sacred for many of us not because of their gothic architecture, the lovely organ, or even the truly beautiful stained glass windows. Friends, the reason this space is sacred for us is that here, we have heard good news. Here, we have sung our hope. Here, we have been washed in the waters of baptism. Here, we have given of ourselves and learned the joy of generosity. Here, we have served our neighbor. Here, we have made promises before God and the community to life-long partnership with our beloveds. Here, we have mourned our dead. Here, we have entered into the lives of others and built relationships. Here, we have seen the face of God in others. The buildings are a sacred space for us, but they are simply a venue for relationships, God’s word, sacraments, worship and music, and acts of service. Two thousand years ago, Jesus enacted the irrelevance of the temple along with its sacrificial system and spoke of the temple of his body, meaning those who sought God would find God in him. In him. Not in the temple, not in a building, not in a ritual sacrifice. Friends, today, we are the church, the body of Christ. Loving God, people, and creation, serving others, doing justice. We are the church. Praying and studying, practicing generosity, forgiving others. We are the church, the body of Christ. We are the way God builds a loving, just, non-violent world.
Our question of the day is: How have you personally or how have you seen others be the church during this time when we haven’t been able to go to church? To find the reflections of the community, go to the March 7 live stream worship Facebook feed.
We are the church, the body of Christ not by our own strength or wisdom but by the spirit of God alive in us. Thanks be to God! Amen.