READING: John 2:13-25

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and dove, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

SERMON: How Much Does Worship Cost?

This morning’s gospel reading shows Jesus in a different light from the image we usually form. We see an angry Jesus instead of the healing and gentle Jesus, we see Jesus’ personality and response to injustice. In this morning’s gospel reading we see that Jesus was a social reformer, an activist, someone who would stand up for the little guys.

This morning I wish us to see what it was he was fighting for. The issue is worship, and that’s what we are going to focus on.

Now, let’s go over this again. Jesus had returned to Jerusalem to visit the temple to offer the sacrifices for the holy day of Passover. Now the temple was a big structure. The temple area alone took up about 35 acres of land in Jerusalem.

The temple precincts were made up of four courtyards that surrounded the temple building, each decreasing in their importance to the Jewish mind.

• First, there was the Court of the Priests. Only the priests were allowed to enter this court.
• Second, there was the Court of the Israelites. This was a huge courtyard where Jewish worshippers met together for joint services on the great feast days. It was also where worshippers handed over their sacrifices to the priests.
• Third, there was the Court of the Women. Women were usually limited to this area except for joint worship with men on the Great Feast Days or to make a sacrifice.
• Last was the Court of the Gentiles. It surrounded all the other courtyards, and was the place of worship for all Gentile converts to Judaism.

Note that the court of Gentile was also the furthest removed from the very centre of the Temple area, the Holy of Holies, which represented God’s presence.

A high wall separated the Court of the Gentiles from the other courts, so this was the closest they could come to God’s presence. There were even signs hung on the walls threatening death to any Gentile who went beyond their own courtyard.

What Jesus did was not so much clear the Temple itself, but he also cleared up the outer court, the place where Gentiles were supposed to be allowed to worship.

The Temple was a place of worship and prayer, but the atmosphere in the courtyard was more like that at a carnival. There is the bleating of sheep, the flapping of pigeon’s wings, the ringing of cash registers, and the haggling over prices. And the smell is like a barnyard. What a way to worship! It would certainly have kept our church wardens on their toes!

Maybe the worst part of all is the fact that it was in the Court of the Gentiles. This was the only place that Gentiles were allowed to enter for worship.

Jews might be able to get away from it all, but this market place in the Temple virtually excluded the Gentiles from worship.

And Jesus stood up to this. Jesus made his own people angry by standing up for the outsiders. Jesus annoyed the Jews by sticking up for the Gentiles. Jesus was a rebel with a cause, a social revolutionary.

So what was the problem? Well, I want us to look at 2 things that this story tells us about worship, and they are going to seem completely opposite of one another. First, this tells us that worship is not meant to be made to be too hard. And secondly, this tells us that worship is not meant to be made too easy.

Now, the word “worship” is a little hard to define. Someone said that worship is the humble response of believers to God. It is based upon the work of God. It is achieved through the activity of God. It is directed to God. It is expressed by the lips in praise and by the life in service.

Worship is what happens when a believer really sees God for who He really is. It’s not a matter of rituals and duties, though they are tied into it. Worship is what happens in the heart when a believer aims to let God know that the creature appreciates the Creator.

The Gentiles were trying to worship. They may not have got it right, but I don’t know if anybody actually ever does. But the shopkeepers and moneychangers were making it impossible for the Gentiles to worship. They were putting their own whims and wishes and desires and conveniences ahead of others’ needs. They were distracting and blocking other people from worship.

I wonder if we do that. After all, we are now the Temple. Jesus entered the actual physical Temple. Then He called Himself the Temple at the end of the passage. But further New Testament teaching says that we are the Temple. We are where God lives. We don’t “have to” go anywhere to meet God. He is where we are.

I would like to add, then, that over the years people have fought over what church buildings should be for, and what they should not be for. They have argued against special singers coming in and selling their CD’s in the church. They have claimed that God’s house should not be turned into a marketplace.

But that’s not what this passage is saying. This place is a building, but where God lives is in people’s hearts. I’m not saying to disrespect it, because it was money given to God for God’s purposes that built this.

I’m offering a thought that some people care more for how the church looks than for how their heart looks. They take care to admire a building, but they let horrible things like gossip and judging and bitterness infest their own hearts.

Now honestly, do you think God cares more for a building or your heart?

But getting back to the passage at hand: I wonder if we distract others from worshipping. I wonder if whispering and talking distracts others around us from really worshipping. I wonder if insincere lives make it difficult for others around us to concentrate on what they are supposed to be doing. I’m not saying we are completely responsible whether or not someone else worships. But we have a part to play in it.

God did not set us up to judge if someone else is worshipping or not. It’s not up to us to decide if others have it right or wrong. It’s not up to us to determine someone’s heart, which is where worship really takes place.

We can have a tendency to delight in separating, in making a “us-who-have-it-right verses them-who-have-it-wrong” judgement. We love to figure out if someone is right or wrong and we are wrong in doing that.

But what we can do is play a part in encouraging others to worship. We can choose to NOT complain about the song choices or preaching topic. We can choose not to grumble. We can choose not to question motives of the other worshippers around us. We can choose to worship for ourselves and just hope that other people do also.

How we worship affects others. We can make it harder for people to worship, or we can make it easier. We can be a stumbling block to them, or we can be a stepping stool, helping to lift them higher in seeking and worshiping God.

But the 2nd thing we can see from this passage about worship is that that worship is not meant to be made too easy. Jesus was looking around at how easy everything was, how convenient things were. After all, a person didn’t have to grow his own crops for sacrifice or raise his own animals for sacrifice, or for that matter even bring his own sacrifice. All a pilgrim had to do was show up and spend money. For the pilgrim sacrifice wasn’t much of a sacrifice. The sellers and money changers made the worship almost pain-free. Religion made too easy.

Jesus said different things about the difficulty level of the spiritual walk. Sometimes He said it was easy, sometimes hard. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” But He also said, “Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He also said, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Paul the apostle said, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And then Peter said, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

At times the Christian life is seen as struggle and a challenge and other times it’s seen as just sitting back and enjoying the ride. I suppose the truth is that it’s both.

Finally, I wish to close by asking you this:
How seriously do you take your worship? Does it come so easily for you that there’s no stretching and finding something new?

Are you the same person you were 12 months ago?

Is your life of worship a distraction for others around you? Do they mock you?

Does it cost you anything, and I don’t necessarily mean financially?

Do you find it a challenge to live up to what God wants?

Remember the words of Jesus “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Amen

PRAYERS

Lord of Lent, come to your Church and ask us your hard questions. Are we faithfully proclaiming your Gospel? Are we demonstrating in our life together the justice of your Kingdom? Have we welcomed the weak and given prominence to the poor? Come to your Church to spring-clan our ways of life, our structures and our priorities, point out to us the cobwebs, the dirt, the extravagance and the waste. Create in us a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within us.

Lord of Lent renew our lives

Lord of Lent, come to the nations and challenge our idolatries. Spring clean the sordid cupboard of this world’s false gods. Sweep out the false pride, the self seeking, the deceit, the corruption and lies. May the kingdoms of this earth seek justice, peace and the lies. May the kingdoms of this earth seek justice, peace and the integrity of creation. May we look beyond immediate advantage to seek the common good, and be drawn to it, as a lark to the dawn.

Lord of Lent renew our lives

Lord of Lent, look with compassion on those whose minds are full of anxiety and bewilderment. We remember people who are lonely, imprisoned, despairing and humiliated. Clear away from them all unnecessary feelings of fear, guilt and self hatred. Assure them that when you spring clean our hearts and minds you know what you are doing, for you have been there, one of us, and you are to be trusted.

Lord of Lent renew our lives

Lord of Lent, turn your healing love towards those who are sick and in pain today. We have I our hearts some known to us, some known to the Church, and some known only through the news. We bring them to mind know….. Clear away from them, we pray, those things that hurt, harm and hinder them. May your healing touch still have its ancient power.

Lord of Lent renew our lives

For ourselves, Lord, we pray that your spring clean would be thorough and true this Lent. Give us both discipline in dealing with our faults and gentleness in dealing with others, and help us to know the difference. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us.

Lord of Lent renew our lives

Renew our Church, renew our world, renew our hearts, our cleansing Lord of Lent.

Merciful Father, accept our prayers for the sake of your Son, our saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

And so we bind our prayers together in the words that Jesus taught his disciples

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen

Revd Kevin. Associate Priest at St.Wilfrid and St.Thomas