Date: 15^th March 2009

Preacher: Chris Green

Churches: Draycott & Rodney Stoke

Readings:

Hosea 6, 1-6

1 Corinthians 1, 18-25

John 2, 13-22

Lent 3

There is a lovely tradition in St. Leonard’s, Rodney Stoke, of the ‘pet service’. On a Sunday morning before the annual village pet show, animals are brought into the church to be blessed. I think that it is the only occasion that I have seen animals in church.

When I was a child, hearing about Jesus cleansing the temple of the animals and money-changers, I used to think of it as the ‘animals in church’ story. I used to imagine the scene played out in our church in Ealing. Cows being chased up the aisle, goats climbing into the pulpit, pigeons flying round our heads… The picture entertained me during more than one sermon… but I had no difficulty imagining why Jesus was annoyed, with the animals in church.

However since that time, I have often wondered what Jesus was really objecting to. It is the nearest he gets to violent direct action. But it nowadays it seems to me somehow disproportionate. Perhaps a greater understanding is needed of the context.

So come with me to Jerusalem, in the Passover of AD 30 or thereabouts. The emperor Tiberius is on the throne in Rome, Herod Antipas rules as his vassal in Jerusalem. And you are a curious Gentile visitor.

It is festival time, so the broad Roman streets of Jerusalem are thronged with Jews from all over the Empire. They speak a Babel of different tongues. A cohort of legionaries stamps by. People move aside- under the prefect Pontius Pilate the Romans have become edgy. There have been ugly incidents.

In front of us is the Temple of Herod the Great, the third Temple. It was built to rival the legendary one of Solomon of old. It is made of huge stones, and its courts are raised atop a great platform- the temple mount- fifty feet high. They say the mount covers 35 acres. It dominates the city.

Join the press of people going up into the Temple by the Southern gate. There are baths and shops to either side, hawkers, beggars, and some watchful temple guards. Everyone is doing business- the traders live for the Jewish festivals, when the population swells by several times.

Climb the broad stairway leading up into the temple; find yourself in the outer court, the court of the Gentiles- a vast space atop the mount, mostly open to the sky. In front of you, a domed central tower rises 80 feet above the holy of holies. Round this are the courts of the Jews, where sacrifices are offered. But this is as far as you can go- notices in Greek warn that a Gentile who penetrates further will die.

Here the Jews hold the line against the pagan world. The coins of the Empire- with the head of Caesar- can go no further, and must be changed into Jewish currency- money changers with their booths are all around. And here are animals – you can buy a bull, a sheep, two young pigeons. The Jewish Law prescribe sacrifices for all occasions. Prices are high, but these are Temple grade specimens, unblemished. You wouldn’t risk herding local animals from your own village. Thousands of animals take the one-way journey onto the temple mount every year. The Jews used to sacrifice their own livestock where they wandered, and had a meal with their God under the desert stars. Here the city air is thick with the smell of flesh burnt by the temple priests. And into this scene strides a rustic Rabbi, a northerner from Galilee… and he looks angry…[pause]… Here the Gospel begins.…

What did move Jesus to his display of righteous anger?

Well obviously he cared deeply about the way in which God is worshipped. And he is devoutly pro-Temple- he calls it ‘my father’s house’. You only defend something you care about.

Did an animal market on the Temple mount offend him? Perhaps. But given the sacrificial system, surely this was no more than providing a service- like votive candles for sale in a Catholic church (although perhaps smellier).

Perhaps it was the money men? We all like to blame them, these days- were they extorting or cheating (or giving themselves huge bonuses)? We are not told that. They were just providing a service made necessary by Jewish Law.

No, I think it was something more basic. This is Jesus is rejecting religion itself… [pause]… in the form that had has found it. Jews may not be the political masters in their own land. But this makes them try all the harder to call on their special relationship with God. They think they can ‘manage’ God through sacrifice, ritual, rules. And it is this that rouses Jesus’ anger.

Jesus’ indignation has many echoes in the Old Testament. The prophet Hosea, nearly eight hundred years earlier, proclaims that God desires mercy (justice?), not sacrifice. Amos and later Isaiah say something very similar. They plead that we should not mistake the form of worship for its essence- the love of God and neighbour.

Well we don’t sacrifice the animals that come into our church. But we have our own systems for dealing with God. You do something for God, and get something in return. You believe certain things, and do certain things, and get the rewards (or at least avoid the punishment). Perhaps we can get God’s approval with a bit of Lenten fasting?

And we do accept the coin of the realm in our collection plate of a Sunday morning. But we require a conversion of other coinage before we think God will accept it. We use special language, and ideas found no-where else. The Nicene Creed was determined in 325 AD. All readings in Church are all taken from a book whose contents was closed in about 400 AD. Such ancient currency is often not recognised in the modern world.

During Lent and Holy Week, we approach again the events that set the Christian faith into motion two thousand years ago. How do we reconnect to the mystery behind our traditions?

Well the letters of St. Paul are the earliest Christian documents we have. The experience was still raw. And Paul writes these extraordinary words to the church in Corinth: ‘We preach Christ crucified, which is an offence to Jews, foolishness to Gentiles!’ Remember that Paul was a Jew, so he knows what he is talking about. He is saying- this Jesus tore up the rules of religion- healed on the Sabbath, consorted scandalously with sinners, and exposed himself to the most shameful death his world had to offer, becoming cursed by God himself, according to the Law.

And yet, we Christians are called to see in this life, this death, God’s very presence. It is a window into God’s own self-emptying love, into God’s very nature. Our conditions, qualifications- dare one say, our religion? melt away.

We can only turn aside in awe, and wonder, and silence.

Amen.