Becoming The Easter Movement: Upping the Ante
1 Corinthians 1: 18-19; John 2: 13-22 March 15, 2009
Jesus was upset…angry…because what started out with the best of intentions now had become a hindrance to the poor, the needy , who seek to be in the temple where ancient worshipers believed God resided on earth. The rules were in the way….not God’s rules…the 10 Commandments…but the unspoken rules (then: the right sacrificial animal bought with the right money…today: what’s acceptable to wear, to say, where to sit)…the unspoken rules were in the way. Zeal for worshipping in the right ways had gotten in the way of the true meaning “worship/temple”.
And so Jesus threw out the money changers…the thought that you would have to have only temple money (not the regular currency) in order to buy a sacrificial animal! (Have the pledge) He threw over the tables of the merchants selling only blemish free animals….as if this is what God wanted….burnt sacrifices…and only perfect ones at that! (As if the God of creation out of chaos wants every thing good, decent, and in order)
Let’s see today, he would throw out …what? The chairs and the pews! This church facility is not such a big deal compared to the love of God and the loving of God’s people! Jesus would throw out the heating bill in favor of warming hearts. He would draw people in any way he could regardless of their ability to ever contribute a cent or come regularly let alone become a member. He would have us leave this place rather than only be “faithful” in this space!
You see, Jesus is raising the ante….would turn it all to rubble if “this” kept even one person from God. The only reason the temple exists: for us to be close to God for awhile and so be made new to go back out again into the world….to give people courage to look foolish in the eyes of the culture and thank God with every look we get.
No signs. No logic. Just enough faith to “be” different….to be a walking, talking temple. And, so nothing…no thing, place, institution, person…can keep you from God cause God is already within you…no perfect sacrifice needed! The point Jesus’ teachings in John begin making is the point he finally died to make…nothing can keep God from you and you from God….not even the temple!
Jesus is telling us we are each the place/the temple in which God dwells. Recognize this reality, this reality in others. Nothing could be more sublime than this, more freeing….
We think we’re doing good the way we’ve set up our worship….and largely this is so…but we don’t see our hidden faults….that can play out right here. We don’t see how within ourselves we have set up so many rules that we don’t have a chance to be free to be…we don’t like messes…rubble….we want there to be an orderly way to get things done and the way sometimes becomes more important than the thing we’re trying to accomplish.
But friends, entering the temple may mean upsetting things a bit, doing some rubble rousing….with Jesus life and death and Easter life the ante has indeed been raised!
Within you, what is it that’s making you angry? How has the ante on your peace and joy been raised? What obstacles, rules, usual ways of doing things….need to be removed from your life for you to make it to the Holy of Holies within you?
Lent happens. In this movement, the ante has indeed been raised. We enter….we see the difference between worldly wisdom and God’s, true power with vs power over. We are moving from human foolishness to divine foolishness…we are raising the ante.
Raising the ante moving us along…yes, at a time when many churches are facing crunches and worrying about ministry, our ministry is doing well and our story is shaking up some things. We are raising the ante about the way church is suppose to be/has always done things.
Raising the ante moving us forward….yes, that’s what happens when our kids are open to the spirit and are faithful to come and fully participate no matter what their families’ schedule.
Raising the ante, becoming a movement….we are….disagreeing and staying alongside, focusing on what works, on the ministry, on process and not product, on our own responsibilities. Advocacy. Individual support for healing. Children and teens leading. Opportunities for introspection and education…information and inspiration.
You know the word church means a gathering of people….not a building or its meetings or it work…but the people themselves as they believe and find ways to move along together making a difference in their own lives and in the world by making real our experience of God and God’s ways as revealed to us in the incarnation of God’s wisdom known to us as Jesus.
Stay the movement…it’s worth the trouble! Raise the tables, the roof, raise up your spirit….don’t let the dust settle. Raise the ante! We are movement, indeed!
As we move through this economy and the emerging culture that surrounds it, everything looks different. But one thing remains the same…and maybe more so. That would be the number of conversations I hear where people are expressing their anger. We are indeed an angry group of people…here’s the thing. We feel the way we do for really good reasons…our fear and sadness have turned inward as anger expressed outward. We can take the insights of the anger and use them for good as we take the energy that anger releases and use if for good…recycle it for good. You see, we are in that marketplace…of the temple, of the world, in our homes….where life intersects faith and belief. Will we stand back and gawk at the angry people stuffing our own anger, will we release our anger, we will use and abuse others in their innocence…because we can!...others who are trying their best to play by the rules. So bent on doing it right, we’re getting it wrong….we’ve forgotten what the “it” is that we’re trying to do….and so often God, even with the best of intentions, God seems almost a byproduct of church life rather than the point of our life together…that’s the point Jesus is making….. zeal for my father’s house has taken on a whole new, unsavory context.
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