Dedication festival

A shorter sermon for 8:00am Communion

I often wonder quite what the media circus that exists today would have made of Jesus, especially this passage from Matthew.  You can imagine the headlines carn’t you, “Rebellious Rabbi” or “Maniac Messiah”.  Not the gentle Jesus meek and mild, we expect.  But Jesus’ anger is never directed at the poor, the widows and orphans, the oppressed, those who are on the margins of society, it’s always against abuse by governments and officials who use their position to abuse those in need.  And we mustn’t think that Jesus is against authority, he isn’t, he told the Scribes and Pharisees to render unto Ceaser the things that are Ceaser’s and unto God the things that are God’s. Jesus recognises that society needs a properly ordered authority to prosper, that Kingship comes from God and with it the real responsibility to govern wisely, even-handedly and with the best interests of their subjects at heart. That’s what we still hope for when we elect our governments, that’s what the Arab Spring is all about.

But he is against those who abuse their position for their own ends, and this is a classic example.  Last week we had the passage from Matthew where Jesus is questioned about his authority to do what he does, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority”.  A confrontation that occurred the day after Jesus entered the Temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and those who sold doves.  Luke has it he began to drive them out, a much more physical act than overturning some tables, and there is a wonderful depiction of that in the stained glass window in the Lady Chapel.

So what we heard today should really have been before last week’s reading to put it into context, no wonder the Temple Religious leaders wanted to get rid of him. If the entry into Jerusalem like a conquering hero, a king, was defiance, here is defiance added to defiance. It seems that Jesus is doing everything he can to make the authorities notice him.

To understand it a little better and to help visualise the scene, an explanation of what the Temple at Jerusalem looked like may help. What the Bible calls the Temple was a vast building with many courtyards, each one for different purposes, more properly it is referred to as the Temple precincts.  The Temple itself was a comparatively small building, and contained the Holy of Holies, into which only the High Priest might enter, and then only on the Day of Atonement.  Surrounding this was a vast space occupied by various courtyards, firstly the Court of the Gentiles, into which anyone might come, Jews and non-Jews, hence the name, but a Gentile could not go any further on pain of death.  Then came the Court of Women, into which any Israelite could enter, then came the Court of Israelites, which is where Jewish men gathered for the Temple services, lastly, the Court of the Priests, which only the priests could enter and where the burnt offerings and sacrifices were made.  This led to the Holy of Holies.  A vast place with many areas for different people and purposes. Always full of people, on special occasions like Passover, the place would be packed with thousands of visitors who had come to Jerusalem for this very important festival.

The incident with the money lenders and the dove sellers took place in the Court of the Gentiles.  This was always crowded with people because this is where pilgrims had to change their money to pay the Temple Tax of one half-shekel, and the money changers charged for this of course, and they made huge profits, especially from the visitors from other countries, rather like the recent report about the excessive charges made when we change our money into foreign currency when we go abroad, apparently we are being ripped off every time, and we don’t realise it. The 0% charge isn’t exactly correct.

The selling of doves was far worse, most people visiting the Temple had to make an offering for something in their lives.  You could buy animals for the sacrifice outside the Temple, but the official inspectors inside the Temple would reject the animals and you then had to buy inside the Temple from the official sellers.  The prices inside the Temple were considerably higher than outside, a pair of doves could cost 15 times more in the Temple, so it was a double-wammy really.  Made worse by the fact that all these stalls selling the sacrificial animals belonged to the family of Annas, the Chief High Priest, who Jesus would meet a few days later after his arrest.  According to John, Jesus was taken before Annas, then before Caiaphas, his son in law, for questioning before Pilate sat in judgement.

Just as Jesus wasn’t against proper authority, used for the good of the people, he wasn’t against the Temple and its activities, as a Jew he knew the Temple was where the Covenant people of Israel found God, hence the Holy of Holies.  He also understood how important gift offerings to God were to the Jewish people.  What Jesus was against was the abuse of all this.  Those money changers and the dove sellers who were exploiting those who had to pay their Temple tax, and were required to make animal offerings. Instead of being there as a symbol of God’s love and to help the people, the Temple became a symbol of oppression and greed, feeding on the backs of the poor, oppressed and the exploited.  It was a barrier to ordinary people worshipping in the House of God.  That’s what Jesus was angry about.

As Christians, we need to learn from this incident, and look at our own lives and the actions of our Church’s locally, and in the wider Church, indeed all Christian communities.  Are we preventing people from worshipping in the House of God because of our attitude to others, especially those who are perceived to be different from us, either by tradition, or by their social, or ethnic backgrounds.  Do we prevent people worshipping in the House of God because we build into our worship practices that exclude others or are threatening to others who don’t understand what we do and why we do it? Take it from me people can be afraid to come to church because they literally don’t know what to do during the service, when to stand, when to sit, when to kneel, and then if they sit where Mrs Snodgrass has always sat!!  It may sound silly to us because we are used to it, but it is a fact, and we not only have to make someone welcome in our congregation, we must ensure that they don’t feel foolish because of what we do instinctively.  Good Liturgy should enable and inspire us to worship God, not hinder it.

And then of course, we can all see that a spirit of bitterness, a spirit of argument, of strife can get into a Church, which makes the worship of God almost impossible, can destroy the very foundations of what church is meant to be, a house of prayer, love and reconciliation.

After Jesus had driven out the money changers and the sellers of the doves, we hear that the blind and the lame came to him in the Temple and he cured them.  The sick, the poor, the widows, orphans, the dispossessed, those living on the margins were still in the Temple, they didn’t run away, why should they, they had done nothing wrong, they needed Jesus more than they needed the money changers and the dove sellers because they could see the blind were given sight, the lame made to walk, and now they received the blessing of God through his Son healing them. 

The challenge for us all is whether we are like the money changers and the dove sellers, or do we try to truly model ourselves on Christ, and care for the poor, the sick, the orphan, the widow, stand up against injustice and for what is right and good and true. One of the prayers for the Order of St John is for “Our Lord’s, the poor”, which acknowledges our duty as a Christian Charity to care for the sick and poor, no matter what religion. That’s a big challenge for us but we must try, otherwise the money lenders will take over the world.  Amen.