Third Sunday in Lent

Besides the separation from our deceased loved ones, moving to another place is likely one of the most traumatic experiences a person can have. Those of us who have gone through it can attest to the truth of this. The only good thing is that you get rid of the baggage that we have gathered over the years. Today in the Gospel we see that the Israelites have gathered too much baggage as well. Jesus clears all the accumulated junk out of the Temple. But it is more than about removing items. It is more! Jesus is calling all people to worship God “in spirit and in truth”, as he later will proclaim in the Gospel. Just like the people of Israel, we also gather too much clutter when worshipping God. We should be merely focus on the Lord. In a sense we have forgotten how to genuine worship God. Even our liturgical acts can become written in stone, so there is no room for the spirit of God to move. Just like the pharisees and scribes, we have accumulated a lot of things throughout tradition, which might not be what God wants. In many of these rituals it is more about traditions then about God. More about us than about God.


When you worship in Spirit you enter the transcendent space of God. He claims us as his own and we have to respond appropriately. We should not practice a primitive religion based on certain rituals or else the deity will be offended. That is not what our God is like. We are worshipping a relation God that is love. He wants us close to him and be known by us. In order to worship in the way that benefits us spirituality and is genuine, we need to prepare our hearts and minds by being faithful to the covenant relationship. We need Gods wisdom to embrace us. We have to let Jesus cleanse us, as he cleansed the Temple, to cleanse the Church, to cleanse us and leave all the baggage behind. Then we are able to enter into the new Temple, which is Jesus himself, praying in and through him.


A close look at the Gospel accounts reveals that Jesus cleansed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem on two occasions. Why did Jesus cleanse the Jewish temple on these two occasions? During His first cleansing Jesus clearly cleansed the temple because those selling pigeons, sheep, and oxen were doing so as a business rather than as a spiritual service. Sellers began profiting from the system. This misuse of the temple system of worship was what angered Jesus. During the second cleaning, Jesus again rejected the Jewish system of moneymaking from God's Passover. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. The temple was to be known as a house of prayer, not as a place where merchants took economic advantage of people. Jesus cleansed the temple both near the beginning and near the end of His public ministry, making clear He rejected the distortions of temple worship as well as His authority over those in the temple. He ultimately proved His role as Messiah. And so for us. Jesus is the Head of the Church and He stills cleanses his Church. He does not have to ask the deacons, the priests, the bishops or even the pope for permission. He is the head of the Church and the Holy Spirit is his Vicar.



Jesus was aware of the huge religious and political significance of the temple in his day, and yet he challenged it, and he challenged those responsible for it, because he recognized that the temple was not in fact serving God’s purposes. As Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, ‘Stop turning my Father’s house into a market’. There is a big difference between a house and a market. A house has the potential at least to be a home. A market could never really be a home; people go to markets to buy and sell. Buying and selling are not activities you associate with home. The temple was to be God’s house, God’s home, a place where all people could feel at home in God’s presence. The activities associated with the market were preventing the temple from being the home that God wanted it to be, a spiritual home for all the nations. Jesus saw that here was an institution in need of reform. Every institution, including the Church, is always in need of reform. The church, in so far as it is a human institution, is in need of ongoing reform. The church exists to serve the purposes of God, the purposes of God’s Son, in the world. However, inevitably, because the church is composed of human beings, it can also serve as a block to God’s purposes. And as a matter a fact, it often does. In the 2nd Reading, Paul sets God’s wisdom over against human wisdom, God’s power over against human strength. The church can sometimes substitute God’s wisdom with human wisdom, God’s power with human strength. Just as in the gospel reading Jesus wanted to purify the temple, the risen Lord is constantly working to purify the church. All of us who make up the church need to be open to his purifying presence.


In Revelation we read that God was not satisfied with most of those with authority in the Church. Those in positions of leadership in the church have a special responsibility to listen to what the Spirit may be saying to the church. They need to bring it into line with Gods purpose. As as the early church was fallible so is the modern day Church. And that is logically because it is made up of people. But we can improve if we listen to Gods spirit. In this season of Lent we need to particular listen to what God saying about the Church and about our lives. As a Church Community we are called to allow the Spirit to renew our lives so that we become more Christ alike. The fiery Jesus of the gospel reading who is passionate about what God wants remains alive and active at the heart of the church today. And he will be fiery towards us, if we make the Church something that is not in line with his purpose. The relationship between the Lord and the church, between the Lord and us, will always be one of renewal, because the Lord will always be working to purify and renew us. In the light of the gospel reading we might ask ourselves in what ways we have allowed the values of the market place to override the values of the gospel in our own lives, in the life of our society, in the life of the church. So in this time of Lent let us listen to what the Spirit is saying to us and let our lives be influenced by it. So that we can be truly be followers of Jesus Christ.

Amen.