Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon from John 2:13-22 on March 15, 2009 (Lent 3B)
A terror stricken town left him to face four killers, single handedly at high noon. Time was his deadly enemy. With every swing of the pendulum, with every second, a man's life ticked away. Never have so few moments held such excitement. A shoot out on main street. A fist fight in a horse stall. Retiring Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) insists on defending his town from a gang of hooligans who are due on the noon train -- but he faces the task alone as the cowardly townspeople flee like rats from a sinking ship. Director Fred Zinnemann creates an incredibly tense Western (rightly considered one of the true genre classics) that unfurls in real time -- as the clocks on the wall constantly remind us. The film is called High Noon and it is a Western Classic.
Our Bible story today may be the closest thing to a Westerner we have in the New Testament. Like a rodeo cowboy, Jesus rounds up the bad guys and whips them into shape. Or at least he casts them out of the temple. Picture Jesus, the meek and mild, taking a whip and slapping it over the head of some temple banksters as he yells at them to get out of Dodge. He overturns their money tables and sets the stage for a later confrontation in which he will be on the receiving end of the death penalty, Roman justice style, crucified on a cross, between two criminals.
We ordinarily think of this dramatic scene happening during Holy Week when Jesus comes into Jerusalem for the Passover. But John places this story in the beginning of his gospel. And Jesus proclaims to all who witness his cleansing of the temple: "Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days."
The temple cleansing is a dramatic act that follows Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Out of the ritually pure water of Judaism Jesus creates the new wine of human salvation. Then Jesus appears at the central focus of the Judaic religion: The temple. There at the temple Jesus presents himself as the new site of God's revelation. Through the symbolic acts of creating wine from water and presenting himself as the new temple, Jesus embodies what is new as replacing the old. (Adapted from Abingdon Commentary, The Displacement of the Temple, John 2:13-22)
We know all about replacing the old with the new. That is a common theme these days. We have a new president. We have a new congress. We have a new economy. We even have "New Age" religion and politicians from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to President Obama talk about the need for a New World Order.
Just this week, NPR had this to say about the new replacing the old:
The universe may be expanding, but just about everything in it is shrinking. The economy, hopes for a quick financial turnaround, plans for the future, prospects for jobs, home prices — all shrinking. Interpersonal communication is getting shorter. E-mails are shorter than letters; Twitter is briefer than e-mail — each tweet must be 140 characters or less. Advertisers are experimenting with 15-second TV ads. Miller Brewing even ran a one-second spot during the Super Bowl. Companies are downsizing. Newspapers are tinier. So are magazines and cell phones and digital media players. The notebook computer has been shortened — in size and name — to the netbook. (The Amazing, Shrinking Everything! by Linton Weeks; online)
The trend toward miniaturization makes one wonder about our destination. It's amazing how the technology keeps "dumbing us down" in the sense of allowing less and less verbiage. Perhaps eventually we'll get down to the computerized version of "yes" "no" or "1" or "0" logic, we're either "on" or "off" like a computer circuit and only able to blip blip blip after we all get the brain chip and become THE BORG.
The early church in the years just after Jesus lived was a close knit human community. Their community was not based on technology but on spirituality. They wanted to answer the question: "Who is Jesus?" The church today has a more practical question question: "WWJD? -- "What Would Jesus Do?" When confronted with the injustice of banksters running the temple, Jesus drives out the day traders. He overturns the tables of the merchants, and according to today's reading from John's gospel, made a whip for the very purpose of driving out the money-changers. Considerable violence. No wonder they hated him and sought to crucify him, for it seems violence almost always breeds violence.
Ultimately a violent event lies at the very centre of our faith. A very violent cross. Some people find the cross an offensive symbol, because of its violence. But perhaps the cross is actually the violence that ends all need of violence.
The cross kills. If I was really able to take up my cross, to face anything which has such a hold over me that it's crushing the life out of me, perhaps then I'd learn how to handle conflict, but find the need for violence had largely disappeared.
We could change the question from WWJD to WWJF: "What Would Jesus Find?" What would Jesus find in our churches today? Although he probably wouldn't find cattle or sheep, would he find the same attitude -- religious rituals being just a business? Is the church building simply a place where people and God take care of business? Can worship become centered on the things we do, rather than the God who is present giving to us and forgiving us in Word and Sacrament? How can we change faulty worship attitudes?
Can "church as business" be a problem for the "professionals" in the church? Can leading worship for the clergy become simply a job for which we are paid? Does the laity sometimes think that they are "paying" the minister to do the worship for them -- thinking, "We pay them to do this for us"?
Do we think of God more as a vending machine -- put in our sacrifices or offerings or good deeds and out comes blessings? Do we misuse our (supposed) obedience to the Ten Commandments as bargaining chips with God?
Why the whip (only mentioned in John) and the harsh actions? Wouldn't it have been more diplomatic and have caused fewer problems to sit down with the church leaders and discuss the problem? When are swift, harsh actions needed rather than diplomacy? When should a pastor just do what he believes is right, or go through the session or other governing board? (Brian Stoffregen, Questions)
We can never permit buildings, symbols, signs, organizations, traditions, customs, liturgies, or any features of church life or worship to become substitutes for our real devotion to our Lord himself. All these things in themselves can become too important. We know how difficult it is to introduce a new book of worship, a new liturgy, a new hymn, or a new custom into the church, because people make idols of their traditions. Ask presbytery officials also how difficult it is to close down a church building where only a handful still come to worship. When we worship God in spirit and in truth we know his Real Presence in us and among us is the Risen Christ, who is our Real Temple, our Real Altar. We worship him and adore him when we receive all that he offers to us by grace. We dramatize that when we come together for worship, and we gather him to ourselves when in faith we receive him.
There is a story about a man who visited a church. He parked his car and started toward the front entrance. Another car pulled up nearby, and the irritated driver said to him, "I always park there. You took my place!" The visitor went inside and found that Sunday School was about to begin. He found an adult class, went inside, and sat down. A class member approached him and said, "That's my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing. After Sunday School, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down in an empty pew. Within moments another member walked up to him and said, "That's where I always sit. You took my place!" The visitor was troubled, but said nothing. Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ to be present with them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change. Scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and cried out, "What happened to you?" The visitor replied, "I took your place."
Some things that happen in church are silly. Some things are down right scandalous. Some things may even be sacrilegious. But the Church is still the body of Christ and it was for the Church that Christ died. (B. Richard Dennis, Over My Dead Body!)
So where does that leave us? The Cosmic Christ, resurrected Son of God, will come riding back into town one day: ETA – TBA (Estimated Time of Arrival to be Arranged by God alone. In the mean time, as technology continues shrinking us down in the everlasting process of miniaturization, let's keep our hearts big and as wide open as the vast expanse of the wilderness in those old Western movies. Jesus' unforgivable sin was to stand up to the power structure of his day and present himself as the salvation solution. Although not as dramatic as Christ's temper in the temple, we also will take a stand for justice. We will stand up for justice for children. Lent throws us into the mystery of Jesus Christ. Lent shoves us down on our knees in submission to Jesus Christ, the king of king and Lord of lords. That's not a bad position to be in come high noon on Good Friday.
