Lessons: Exodus 20:1-17; I Corinthians 1:18-25; St. John 2:13-22

“Making a whip of cords, Jesus drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.”

My goodness, that’s not the Jesus most of us know, is it? That’s not the Jesus we hear so much about today, is it? The Jesus I often hear described, in books, and publications, in sermons and protest marches against war on Iraq—presents Jesus as ever-loving, peace-ful, unwilling to raise a hand in anger. The Jesus I hear often talked about today, in gatherings of pastors, and in our bishop’s letters to President Bush, encouraging him not to use force, is a Jesus who would never do something like we see him doing in this gospel account. The Jesus we see described here, making a whip of cords, pouring out coins on the floor, over-throwing the tables this way and that—this Jesus seems so, different, so out-of-character from the modern Jesus who is meek and mild and non-violent, that it makes us ask, would the real Jesus, please stand up?

Would the real Jesus ever make a whip of cords? Would the real Jesus ever, in a zealous rage, scatter jars of coins on the floor, and turn tables upside down? Would the real Jesus ever approve of military action, or would he tell President Bush to just turn the other cheek? If you listen to some well-meaning preachers and bishops of many different denominations, you’d have to conclude that no, Jesus would never, ever condone war, or military action—because Jesus is always presented as being strong in his weakness, preferring to beat swords into plowshares. Which indeed, the scriptures do tell us. These scriptures, and many others teach us that we are to seek peace and pursue it—to be, not just peace-lovers, but peace-makers. But, does that mean there is never a time when we are spurred to action? Does that mean that peace, can never come from military intervention? Does that mean there should never be a pre-emptive military action, to ensure a long-lasting peace? As pastor and preacher, I’m not presuming to condone or bless our president’s move toward war against Iraq, but I’m also hesitant to criticize or condemn this action, based on some mistaken image we have of Jesus as some kind of milquetoast Messiah who would never raise a hand, never speak a harsh word, never be roused to physical action. In fact, what I’m really talking about, is not war, or President Bush, or Iraq—what I’m talking about is Jesus, and how we all succumb, more or less to the temptation to want to mold and shape Jesus into the kind of Savior we want him to be.

For those who believe in non-violence, we fashion a Jesus who would always turn the other cheek. For those who don’t like to talk about sin, and don’t want to feel guilty, we imagine a Lord who offers forgiveness and mercy, without repentance and an acknowledgement of guilt. For those who can’t quite handle a Jesus who gets angry, and is zealous, and wields a whip, and makes a shambles of the courtyard of the Gentiles in the temple—we, well, we have two choices. We can ignore this biblical text, and act as if it never happened. Or, we can walk away from Jesus, and never look back. Or, there is a third choice. And that is, we can strive to learn from Holy Scripture, the fullness of who Jesus is—accepting Him, not as we’d like Him to be; not as the kind of Messiah we’re comfortable with, but accepting Him as the Lord and Savior, depicted in the Word of God. Which means accepting Him as Son of God and Savior, without condition or restriction. Which means accepting the fact that, as St. Paul writes, we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but for us, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Which means accepting God’s wisdom, even though it may seem foolishness to the world. To accept the fullness of who Jesus is, without trying to shape Him into a Savior who fits our needs, means that sometimes, WE will need to be re-shaped, and re-molded, so that our lives will come into alignment with God’s will and purpose, and not the other way around. So that accepting Him in His fullness, would also mean, giving Him free reign in our lives, actually inviting Him into the temples of our lives, to clean house, to get rid of whatever, in our lives, offends God; realizing that welcoming the fullness of Jesus’ presence into our lives, might mean he will do a little table-turning, and coin-throwing. Realizing there might be things in our lives that will upset Him, and that we will need to let go of—to be the temple of His body, in the world today.

It’s interesting that when Jesus spoke of the temple being destroyed and raised up in three days, while the Jews were thinking about their temple, in Jerusalem, being torn down and raised up, Jesus was thinking about the temple of His body —and that could mean, both His own, physical, earthly body, but it could also mean, the temple of His body, the Church, which may at times, need to be torn down, and raised up. His body, the Church, which is not this building, but us—you and me—the body of Christ, in flesh and blood. Which during the season of Lent, takes on special meaning, as that’s what Lent is all about in the first place. It’s about inviting Jesus into your life, to be, not who you want Him to be, but to be who He is—Son of God and Savior. Inviting Him in, to cleanse, and rearrange, and resurrect us; to make us once again, His body, His holy habitation. It seems to me this gospel lesson is presented to us, this Third Sunday in Lent, precisely to challenge us to examine ourselves in the light of the Ten Commandments, which we heard in our first reading, and in light of the reality of who Jesus is, and who he calls us to be, to face up to whether our Jesus, is the true Jesus, or some other Jesus, who is more to our liking. And as we are confronted with Him, we have to ask, am I accepting Jesus, as he truly is? Am I receiving Him, in His fullness--anger, zeal and all! Or do I feel the need to re-fashion Jesus, to accept Him as Lord of my life? These are important questions for us to be asking, during Lent. So, will you pray with me about the answers?

Lord Jesus, we know all too well, how we human creatures, are forever trying to shape and mold you into the Savior we want you to be. We have things set up in our lives very nicely, most of the time, and some of us are offended, by your talk of cross-bearing, and crucifixion, and following the Ten Commandments. But in the season of Lent, we invite you into our lives, anew. We invite you to come into our hearts and homes, to rearrange things, if need be. To come into our lives, to cleanse us of whatever might keep us from you, and your Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit. This season of Lent, put to death, in us, that which needs to be done away with, and raise up in us, that which is Godly, and good, and pure, that we may truly be prepared, to follow you, obey you, praise, worship and serve you, as our Savior, crucified and risen. Amen.