[Propertalk] Draft of sermon for March 15 on John 2:13-22

[Joe Parrish]

Here is a draft of my sermon for March 15 on John 2:13-22.  A final version will be posted by Monday evening, God willing, on our church web site at http:sjnj.org

Peace and blessings,

Joe

St. John's Episcopal Church

61 Broad Street
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201
The Third Sunday in Lent (B)

March 15, 2009

A Sermon by the Rev. Joe Parrish

The Holy Gospel according to

John 2:13-22
 
Make us holy people in your holy kingdom, Lord.  Amen.

 

     The challenge of encountering an angry Christ terrifies most of us.  What if we make Christ upset; would he drive us out of his kingdom?  That seems to be the conclusion if one reads between the lines here in today's gospel lesson.

     The late comedian Richard Pryor told of his experience of having to pick his own switch for his father or mother to use on him when he had disobeyed as a young boy.  If he chose a big switch he would get bruised, but a tiny switch would cut, so he had a quandary!  He said he just took a very long time making the right choice.  But even his choice and the time he used was regulated so it wouldn't anger his parent more than they were already.  What a decision!

     Nowadays, it is probably somewhat illegal to use a switch on any child in New Jersey, so the point isn't so relevant.  However, words can often harm a child more than a physical reprimand.  We remember forever a sincere comment about how little a parent may think of us.  I talked to a man the other day who had left the home of one of his separated parents at an early age because of an extremely insulting and demeaning remark that parent had made to him.

     Jesus' actions are made as a response to how he sees others demeaning his heavenly Father's house, the Temple precincts, the court of the Gentiles which was supposed to be the place non-Jews and women could pray.  Instead, that Temple area, about the size of a football field, had been turned into a marketplace.

     St. James' Episcopal Church on Madison Avenue in Manhattan had opened its doors to any who wanted to come inside during the week, thinking it would help the homeless find some place to sit and pray during the day.  But, lo and behold, the drug dealers caught on to that open building and quickly began selling drugs inside the church.  Finally, the church had to hire one or two people to watch the pray-ers to be sure that was what they were doing!

     Suppose we had to wear a sign on our backs that read, "Call God at 1-800 - DIAL GOD, if you are unhappy with how this person is behaving.  Wouldn't that phone line become one of the most clogged in the telephone system?  And who but a few truck drivers want someone to report them if they are not driving safely?  However the few trucks who have those signs always seem to be obeying every traffic and speed limit rule, in my experience.  But who here would voluntarily put such a sign on their private vehicle: Call this person's church if they are seen operating their vehicle in an unsafe manner!  However, I can see this as somewhat of a punishment for repeat traffic offenders!  "Call Judge so and so at 1-800-MY JUDGE if this vehicle is being operated in an unsafe manner."  Wouldn't that be punishment?!  Of course, pranksters would immediately abuse such a system, so the callers would have to report their contact information also.

     I do a lot of driving back and forth to Trenton, New York, and various other places.  I take it as my civic duty to report vehicles who are disabled along the roadway if it seems the person doesn't have a cell phone.  And I call the New Jersey Turnpike Police when I see dangerous obstacles on the roadway.  Sometimes they do ask for my name and phone number, but I gladly give it to them, since I am making a verifiable report.  But I would not necessarily want to have my cell phone number on the back of my car!

     Jesus saw through the rampant disdain for God that was going on in the Temple by all that buying and selling.  It was required that one had to make an offering in a coinage that did not have any Roman symbol on it, so common currencies had to be exchanged to make one's tithe, due to that artificial Temple law.  And to find forgiveness for any sin, one had to offer a burnt offering on the continuously burning pyre of the Temple.  That required a person to either drive cattle to the Temple, which was understandably not at all easy, or one had to buy an appropriate sacrificial animal at the Temple itself.  The main choice of a sacrificial animal by the rather poor people was turtle doves, so that was what they had to buy at the Temple.  But the richer people were expected to buy sheep or cattle.  Thus it was quite a farm menagerie that Jesus found there that disturbed him.  It was more of a zoo and an exchange bank than a place of prayer.

     After I had been at St. John's some years I talked to some graduates of Elizabeth High School and was dismayed to hear them say when I told them where I was the pastor: "Everyone at the high school knew they could buy almost any drugs there in that Garden!"  We immediately had to fence and gate the Garden with chains and locks since we could not afford to hire someone to monitor what was going on in that Garden all the time.  The few who may have come to pray were far outnumbered by the ones who came to sell or buy or use drugs or alcohol.  So the Garden is no longer open during the weekdays, but only on Sundays when we can have it under some observation.  Before that we constantly had to call the Elizabeth Police to get people out of the Garden.  It was an unending battle.  But we were no where near the football size Temple area Jesus encountered.

 

     The first century Jewish historian Josephus reported the High Priest Annas was profiting enormously from the sacrificial system he had going on in the Temple precincts.  One estimate of Annas' income from the businesses in the Temple was over a hundred million dollars per year!  No wonder the plot to murder Jesus was laid by the Temple authorities, with surely the high priest Annas' hand behind that effort, when they heard Jesus had disturbed their Temple businesses.

 

     This season of Lent is a time when we can pray and meditate about how we can redirect our lives towards the One who saves us, Jesus the Christ.  We get tossed about by all the rumors and tides of the stock market, employment figures, taxes, etc., so we tend to lose our focus on the One who really matters in our spiritual life.  Few people even have a spiritual life they are so beset by the ups and downs of modern living.  Are we reading our Bible daily, or even weekly?  Do we talk to any one ever about our faith?  How about inviting someone to church?  The Bishop is coming Palm Sunday, April 5, and Easter is April 12, so those two big festivals are something we can speak to our coworkers and friends about.  Bring them with you to church!  Let's have a crowd here those two Sundays and every Sunday!  Wouldn't it be nice to have a reason to open up the big church on those Sundays?!  So take this as your challenge: each one bring at least one new person Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday!  Each one bring at least one other person who normally doesn't attend church.  And make them and all feel at home at church!  This is indeed God's house.

 

     But beyond that, we ourselves are the new home of the Holy Spirit proclaimed by the prophets.  If we have God in our hearts and minds, we are the domicile where God lives.  So our words and deeds are how others find God and God's Son.  It is up to us to bring the gospel to all whom we come in contact with.  Without us, the world will never be redeemed, the world will never find eternal hope.  And those in the world without Christ will be condemned to eternal oblivion.  So we have a big task ahead of us.  We are the feet, minds, arms and hearts of the One who died on the cross and rose again on the third day.  We are Easter people.  And we need to bring others out of their sin and into the Resurrection of our Lord.  By our example and words we are the ones sent out to bring the Good News to all the world.  And we have to begin with our friends and family and acquaintances.  Pray that God will lead you to at least one new person you can bring with you to church on Palm Sunday and Easter.  God is faithful to hear those prayers.  So pray with confidence!  And God will answer our prayers for St. John's, for America, and for the world.  If you take this assignment to heart we will have a glorious Palm Sunday and Easter!

 

     The figure of the cross has been analyzed by some psychoanalysts.  They say the geometric shape of the cross suggests that of a person with his arms outstretched.  So the cross is seen as a symbol of love, with arms open and ready to embrace us and offer us sanctuary from the world [Leonard Sweet, quoting psychoanalysts Bernard G. Meyerson and Louis Stollar].  It is this sign of sanctuary we need to offer to others.  Here is where they can find the peace which passes all understanding.  The Savior who heals our sins gives us victory over evil.  In Christ we encounter the true character of God's love, God's humility, and God's meekness.  And in Jesus we find the strength to bear our crosses in life without having to panic each time things don't go exactly our way.  God does hear our prayers.

 

     We each need to find the money changers in our hearts where we are swapping the spiritual for the physical, the high for the mundane, and we need to clear out those problems in our priorities and replace them with spiritual readings and holy actions for the Lord and our neighbor.  Be sure to spend a regular time daily for bible reading and prayer, and work to add to those minutes we have with God in our lives.  Each new habit needs to be begun now.  The Holy Spirit will help us to grow our time with God further day by day.  

 

     May we have a Holy Lent.

 

     Amen.  

 
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