Third Sunday of Lent

Third Sunday of Lent
March 19, 2006

"I, the LORD, am your God... You shall not have other gods besides me." (Exodus 20). " Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up... many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them..." (John 2: 13-25)

Our father Moses receives the commandments from Yahweh, and delivers them to us as a gift for all time. All of them are based on our trust in the one God and our reverence for all that is sacred in this God and each other. This is a defining moment in human history. The commandments are rules of attitude and conduct which we would naturally follow even if they were not written down. They are "written" in the order of nature and in the human heart and mind, as necessary for life as food and shelter. Nevertheless, being distracted and forgetful, we seem to need divine authority to keep us focused on essential things.

Jesus, in a rare display of aggression, throws the "money changers" and sellers of sacrificial animals out of the Temple, even though they were performing a necessary service for pilgrims and worshipers (like Jesus himself). His disciples recognized that he was motivated by zeal for worship in spirit and truth. There are times when I would love to assume that my own aggression is similarly righteous. More often the truth is that I am indulging in self justification. Through history and to our own day our most sacred places and practices have always been at risk of being subverted by money and profit even though both are required to keep them going. When does the business of religion threaten the integrity of our worship? Consider our anger and anxiety about how much it is going to cost us to deliver justice to victims of sexual abuse by the church. We can generate considerable anger, without any knowledge of the facts, that "they are just out for the money". This attitude may reveal more about ourselves than it does about the motives of those who come forward with the truth.

Religious leaders challenge Jesus over his right to assume responsibility for the integrity of the Temple and his statement about rebuilding it in three days. This discussion is not about how long it would take to rebuild the Temple structure. It is about the rebuilding of the spirit through the resurrection. Jesus refuses to get trapped in an argument about this. People were following him for the wrong reasons. They were enthralled with his marvelous deeds and words and missing the point of his intimate relationship with the Most High. For this reason "he did not trust himself to them", because they were looking for signs and proof. We have the cart before the horse. Trust, not miracles, "proves" the power of God. This would be a good time to consider what is most sacred to us, and what brings us closer to the heart of God and each other.