Taking Stock! (Ash Wednesday)

Reading: John 2:13-22
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 13, 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

Back in the time of Jesus there was a big business in Jerusalem. It was called the Temple. A lofty institution that covered some thirty acres.  It's inner sanctuary was the Holy place where only the High Priest could enter on special occasions. Beyond that were a number of courts to which access was granted according to status. There was the Temple court, then the Court of the Priests, then the Court of the Israelites, then the Court of the Women and then finally, the largest area, the Court of the Gentiles.

Everybody was allowed to enter the Court of the Gentiles.  It was designed to be a place of prayer and preparation.  A place where those denied access to other areas of the temple could seek and find God. A place where people could prepare their hearts for worship.

One of the things that was important for worship in those days was paying the temple tax.  The temple tax was one half shekel a year. It was the equivalent of about two days wages.  You couldn't pay your temple tax in any old currency.  It had to be paid in Sanctuary Shekels.  At Passover time Jews from all over the world, with Greek, Roman, Syrian, Egyptian, Phoenician and Tyrian coins jangling in their pockets made their way to the Gentiles Court.

Before they could pay their taxes, money had to be exchanged.  So, the money-changers set up their stalls in the Court. To change your coinage into sanctuary shekels, a fee equivalent to half a days wages would be charged. If you didn't have the exact coinage, then you'd be charged another half a days wages. There were various other rates and schemes that all involved money flowing into the money-changers pockets. And this was before you'd paid a penny of your tax.

Along with temple taxes, worshippers would also bring an offering. This could be an oxen, or a sheep or a dove. You could buy a dove down at the Jerusalem market quite cheaply.  However, there was a law about temple sacrifices that said that a sacrificial victim had to be without blemish.  In the Gentiles Court there were appointed temple inspectors to examine the offerings and see if they came up to the grade.  The strange thing was, none from the market ever did.

So they advised worshippers to buy their sacrificial animals from the selection they had in the Gentiles court.  The difference was that an animal purchased there could cost as much as twenty times more than one purchased down at the market.

Merchandising is a good thing in the Market Place, but not in the temple.

That day when Jesus went to the temple to pray and prepare Himself for the difficult days that were ahead, what did He find, a place of prayer for all nations?  "No" he said, "It's a den of thieves".  It was nothing more than a market place.  The sellers were trying to exact as high a price as possible. The pilgrims would argue and defend themselves with an equal fierceness. The oxen would be mooing, the sheep bleating, the doves cooing, beggars begging, the children running wild, and it was all very much the sort of place that it was never meant to be.

And Jesus got mad.  Real mad. The theologians use the words "Wrath" or "Righteousness indignation" or as John's gospel puts it, "Zeal for thy House will consume me"  He overturns the money-changers tables, scattering the coins all over the floor. He drives out the animals. "Get out, this is God's house, not a marketplace."

Nobody lifts a finger to stop Him because everybody knew He was doing the right thing.  The temple authorities knew what was going on, but it brought in a lot of much needed revenue, some of which paid their wages, so they turned a blind eye.  The money-changers justified their practices because a lot of their earnings were being siphoned off by the people they had to pay for permission to put up a table in the court.  The temple inspectors justified their refusal to allow offerings in the temple that hadn't been purchased there, by saying they were ensuring God got the best.

The people went along with it because it was easier to put up with the way things were than dare challenge those who had the power to make their lives very uncomfortable.  Everybody knew it was wrong, but no-one did a thing to make it right.  Except for Jesus.  He had the authority to put things right.  This was His Father's business and His Father's house that they were fooling around with.

Jesus claimed the temple as His own. He uniquely identified Himself with the temple. When He said to the Jews who questioned His authority, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up", He was using a figure of speech to point towards His own death and resurrection.  He spoke of the temple as His own body. He also claims our lives for Himself.  Paul tells us, in 1Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"

As we consider the temple of our own lives, are there things in us that Jesus could rightly get mad at? Are there things that we need to clear out of the way to truly worship God?

What really angered Jesus that day was that here was something beautiful that had turned ugly, something sacred that had become profane.  A place of prayer and peace had become a place of pandemonium. The greatest gift of all God has given to us is the gift of life itself.  Yet many go through life divorced from any sense of its mystery or is wonder or it's sacredness.  So life becomes cheap, people become numbers or objects to be manipulated for others ends and any sense of meaning or purpose goes out of the window. 

As Christian people we have a particular responsibility.  People look to us to model Christ-like living.  "You are a temple of God" says Paul. Well, that's real nice! But what sort of temple are we? The sort where you find prayer and peace which leads others to the presence of God, or the sort that would invoke Jesus' anger because it was so full of un-spirituality and compromise.

The season of Lent is a time when we are called to examine our hearts in the crystal clear light of God's love.  I'm not going to stand here and tell you what's right and what's wrong in your walk with Christ.  That's the job of the Holy Spirit, to bring conviction of sin and open up previously unexplored heartland's to the scrutiny of God's love. We know where we are weak and where we are strong.  We know if there are areas in our lives where we say, "I really must work at that". That's what Lent is all about; opening up our hearts to the Savior.  As we think about Jesus clearing the temple in Jerusalem, I invite us to consider what God needs to do to clear out the temple of our own lives.

As we do so let us remember that the very nature of God is love. God is not mad at us. God loves us. He sent Christ to save us. He sends the Spirit to renew us and reshape us. But for that to happen we have to pause and take stock. We have to seek to be the people God truly wants us to be. The clearing of the temple was a wake up call.

I invite us on this Ash Wednesday to consider coming forward and being marked with ashes. It won't grant you any better access to God. It's a sign of being awake to God's call to repentance. It's a reminder that your inward prayer has to be backed up by outward actions. 

Be marked with ashes as we begin our Lenten pilgrimage. Clear out the temple of your heart. It's not a bad way to begin the journey!

Amen.