March 8 2015 Give It Up - Destruction

March 8, 2015 “Give It Up – Destruction” John 2.13-22 Pastor Jacqueline Hines

Jesus turned the tables over in the Temple. [ slide #1 tables turned ]There he was again, disturbing the peace. Has Jesus ever disturbed your peace? If so, take heart. The whole purpose is to bring you greater peace. [ slide #2 peace ] Doing God’s will brings great peace and a clear conscience.

All four gospels include the story of Jesus turning over tables and shouting for the sellers and buyers to get out of the Temple. His reason - it could no longer be identified as a house of prayer [ slide #3 people in prayer ] for all nations as God intended.

Jesus did this during Passover when worshippers came from all corners of the world. They came to celebrate of God’s deliverance for allowing the angel of death to pass over their homes. Like the pope coming to Philadelphia, every hotel and business looked forward to an increase in sales during Passover. And of course, they had to exchange foreign money as needed.

What a beautiful sight that must have been though, each worshipper wearing clothing made with designs and fabric from their world. Backpacks filled with exotic snacks eaten as they hummed melodies from regions we have seen only in pictures. Each heart encompassed stories of how God worked wonders in their villages that were just as awesome as those in cultures far, far away. Though big and burly, some soldiers, some farmers, they humbled themselves, obeyed God’s mandate to gather, remembering God’s blessings at Passover. 

It does something marvelous for the soul to pray together in unity with others,      [ slide #4 plug prayer] for we are all the same even when we are different. Gathering together in one house of God for one purpose takes us to higher heights and deeper depths of God’s love and human harmony.  A diversity of people with one mind and one prayer gives strength with which we can do what otherwise seems impossible. It is no wonder that Jesus wanted to push the issue and passionately remind everybody that God’s was a house of prayer for all nations, but it had become a den for thieves. They had not only stolen by hijacking the poor and needy, they had bankrupted the magic, majesty, and miracles that God had lovingly given.

God was not pleased and everybody knew it. Some wanted proof that Jesus had the right to confront them. They said, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” For making a whip of cords, driving  both the sheep and the cattle out of the temple, for pouring out the coins of the money-changers and overturning their tables, for telling those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’  What sign can you show us for doing this? Where are your credentials, your prophetic authority, your impressive remarks and powerful deeds that prove you are high and mighty, that prove you are sent by God?

The only answer Jesus had for them was beyond their comprehension. He said, “In three days I will raise up the Temple that you destroy. “ At first they thought he was talking about tearing down the beautiful temple that had taken 46 years to build. [ slide #5 Temple  ] The Temple was 35 acres, the size of 24 football fields, and one of the largest constructions in the First Century. We can picture the double colonnades of[ slide #6 columns  ] the  temple fortified with stone walls with three gates on each side –[ slide #7  gate  ]. In total there were 12 gates whose names through the years, like streets and avenues, represented their function, history and activity [ slide #8 people socializing at the gate  ]: the horse gate, lion gate, sheep gate, garbage gate, flower gate, valley gate, tanner’s gate, golden gate, (which Jesus is said to have entered on Palm Sunday) and the Eastern gate that led worshippers to the sanctuary - for everyone knows God enters our lives from the East, which is on the right. [ slide #9 candle ]

One scholar* notes that the Greek word for Temple in this text does not refer to the whole 35 acres of the temple, but just the sanctuary, which is also symbolized as the body of Christ, the Church, and all us members united for the cause of Christ. The temple was like a tiny town. It would serve no purpose to eliminate all socialization and sales.

One day when I was a substitute high school teacher, a gang of hoodlums came to the room and began to throw dice for serious money. When I told them to stop, they defied me because they viewed me as having no authority. They attempted to turn a place of learning into a place for illegal activity.  

Jesus gave them a sign that was over their heads. He said, if you “Destroy this Temple,  “I will raise it in three days.” The thought of destroying that lofty Temple, was so ridiculous. The idea that what they built was indestructible was inconceivable. But, Jesus, the son of God, they could destroy at the blink of an eye, [slide # 10 Jesus on the cross  ] for he was of far, far less value than anything they were interested in.

Those worth less are always with us, so there is bound to be at least one poor soul on a list of people for whom others could not care less. Lent is a time to ask ourselves – who’s on my list? Lent is our time to let God examine the quality of our connections and our disconnections.

We do not want to be a part of destroying God’s great plans for us by turning God’s house into – a marketplace - an “emporion” [ slide # 11 Greek - emporion ], a place where worldly empires are being built and spiritual values are being destroyed. We want to be fully aware of all the ways the devil is trying to sell us a bill of goods.

Years ago, during a season of prayer, I found myself flooded with moments of great discernment. Many wondrous things happened. One day, I began to focus on a certain drawer in the corner of the living room.  I could not get my mind off of the drawer, so I finally looked in, wondering if God were trying to get my attention or did I just need more rest. I found an old piece of paper with a joke and some foul words on it. It did not please God, and I knew it had to go.

For, is not our house, God’s house? [ slide #12 table ] Amen.

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