January 16, 2022
John 2: 13-25
Today’s lesson from the Gospel of John offers us a question that is especially relevant in these pandemic times when worship has been taken online and congregations are left to gather virtually.

John writes his gospel after the Romans have destroyed the second Temple. When today’s story takes place years earlier, the temple has been under construction for forty-six years. It is an immense, ornate structure.

Today, Jesus makes the first of his trips to Jerusalem.

It’s the Passover festival and … and he goes to the Temple, the place where God had promised to meet the people. The place where the Word of God resides.

He arrives and sees a marketplace … there were money-changers who took the people’s denarii and converted into the currency of the empire. The people would take that money to another part of the courtyard and purchase an animal to offer as a sacrifice to God.

The sight of such a marketplace makes Jesus angry … so much so that he tosses over tables … chases the animals from the Temple grounds and tells people to release the doves from their cages.

It’s interesting to note that the people weren’t doing something unlawful at the Temple.

In fact, they were following the law that had been set out in Scripture … that if you were a pilgrim and had to travel a great distance and could not bring your animal sacrifice with you, then you brought money to the Temple and purchased the sacrificial animal there.[1]

Sheep and cattle were sacrificed by the well-to-do, while doves were all that poor pilgrims could afford.

Even though Scripture allows for such an economy, the priests were notorious for charging exorbitant prices and the animals were being brought onto the Temple grounds rather than being corralled or sold on nearby land.

Perhaps, it was because the economy of the marketplace had overtaken the true focus of worship life. Perhaps, it was because law and tradition had become more important than the people’s relationship with God. Perhaps, it is because it became clear that that relationship needed to be revised or renewed … but whatever the case, Jesus is upset over what has become of his father’s house and actively and boldly protests this reality … the word “overturned” has more than one meaning in this story. 

Jesus will overturn the world’s expectations and priorities just as he overturned the tables of the money-changers.

Of course, those in power … the people with a stake in keeping the status quo are upset with Jesus over his actions. It won’t be the last time. In John’s gospel, this passage introduces a thread that will be woven through the story of Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus was bringing a new world view … a new perspective … to lives of faith. The relationship between God and the people will change … the structures of faith will change or they will fall away … and those in power don’t like such a view.

Jesus tells the people to destroy the temple and that he will raise it up in three days. When he says this, Jesus isn’t against the temple … but rather he is against what it has become.

The people scoff … with the temple gone … where would they meet God?

One takeaway from this story is the need to consider what needs to be cleansed from our lives or the life of the church in order for a fuller, deeper relationship with God to be possible.

But another question seems more pressing … especially in light of the effects of the pandemic.

I invite you to consider this morning … or whenever you are taking in this service … if your building were gone … where would your community meet God?

Faith communities have been struggling through the pandemic’s ebbs and flows for almost two years.

Gathering for worship has become problematic … and even if congregations can gather in-person … there is an unfamiliar … an uncomfortable … feel to it. During the past two years, some congregations have had to make the difficult decision to close their doors because they lack the resources to keep their buildings functioning.

We have been pilgrims in the pandemic wilderness … if at the end of the journey, we discover the familiar structures of faith are gone, we should take this passage’s lesson to heart. The bricks and mortar should not be held at the centre of our worship life.

That is a space occupied by Jesus … the temple that was raised in three days. This space represents a more intimate, self-giving transformative relationship.

Theologian Craig Koester says that a new view of God … a new type of relationship is described in today’s passage.

In a podcast on today’s passage, Koester says:

 “Jesus is the place where sacrifice … where atonement is made … where the at-oneness with God is possible.”

“The worship community will centre on his self-giving … it will centre on his formation of relationship … on his initiative  … he will be the centre of the worship community once the building is gone.”

Centuries after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, we know that the grace we have received is God’s presence in our lives. This presence is there whether worship takes form in-person … online … in a building or not.

It is not held within a structure … it is what we carry with us.

And this grace calls us to be loving, reconciling and justice-seeking … to turn over the tables of the status quo … regardless of where we gather.

AMEN

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[1] Deuteronomy 14