There's Gonna Be Some Changes Made ~ John 2:13-22 ~ Sunday, March 11, 2012

It's really difficult to picture the scene in our minds...

The gentle and kind-hearted Jesus… is rampaging in the temple.  With a whip of cords, he drives out the money changers and the animals they were selling.  He overturns their tables and scatters their coins all over the floor...

Can you picture him acting in this way-- during Passover, the holiest festival in Judaism?  Can you picture the faithful Jews who must have been terrified by what he was doing? 

It is difficult to imagine Jesus ever so angry; so aggressive, and even so violent...

But there are reasons why he did what he did...  This was not wanton destruction and mayhem.  This was an act of God.

The Temple was supposed to be a place where people encountered the living God. 

But Jesus does not see worship; he doesn’t see prayer; he doesn’t see God’s people serving the needy and outcast.  Jesus sees only commerce. 

The temple, the sacrificial system, and even the practice of changing pagan money containing images were all instituted at God’s command.  But God was doing something new—and the Temple and its sacrificial system were no longer serving God’s purposes.  The temple wasn’t bringing people closer to God.  If anything, it was keeping God at a distance. 

So it had to go.

God was raising up a new temple—one that people will destroy; and yet, will be raised up after three days.  No longer would God’s people have to go to the temple to encounter God—for with Christ, the new temple, God’s people will worship God through the Holy Spirit.  There will be no more need for sacrifices—because Jesus will be the perfect sacrifice that will atone for human sin.  Jews and Gentiles alike will worship God as one Body; there will be no exclusions of persons due to race or gender or social status or cleanness versus uncleanness… 

So having heard how Jesus reacted to what he saw in the temple, what would Jesus have to say about our church? 

It wouldn’t be going out on a limb to say that there is much that would delight Jesus. 

God is working in amazing ways through our many ministries and through each of you.  The love of Christ is transforming the lives of people in this congregation, throughout the Kiski Valley, and around the world. 

And it’s not wrong for us to celebrate all that God is doing.  We should celebrate—and we need to be more open in sharing with one another the ways in which we are meeting Jesus Christ in this church. 

But in what ways would Jesus challenge us to change? 

We would not have to concern ourselves with change if the world we live in never changed.  But it does change.  The Kiski Valley has changed.  People’s spiritual needs and longings have changed.  And therefore, our ministry of Christ must also change.  We must be prepared to worship, to proclaim, to educate, and to reach out in ways we’ve never done before.  We may even have to let go of certain beloved traditions and treasures of our past if we are to faithfully follow Jesus Christ. 

And it is not easy for us to know the specific ways that Jesus is calling us to change.  But we know our mission.  We are called to be the loving arms of Christ, reaching out to gather the least and the lost into his presence.  The things that need to change are the things that stand in the way of that purpose. 

What things might we be holding onto too tightly, at the expense of holding onto Christ?

If Jesus walked in here today, I doubt he would tell us that we must throw everything out and start over fresh.  I doubt that he would command us to change and become like the churches that are thriving right now.

He, too, would celebrate the amazing things in the life of this community.  We are blessed with gifts and talents and passions through which we are shining the light of Christ into the world.  So as we look to tomorrow, these gifts are the foundation upon which we will build our future—by God’s help. 

The challenges are great—both within this congregation and in our context.  We have a large and aging building that is in need of extensive and expensive repairs.  Our church body has suffered heart-wrenching losses of faithful co-workers in the life of our ministry.  These are tough economic times in the Kiski Valley, and the communities are not growing. 

But we have a mission—and we have Jesus Christ; we have each other; and our cup of God’s blessings overflows.  We have all we need to serve Jesus Christ. 

So will we allow Jesus to come into our church and shake things up a little bit?  Will we allow him to challenge us to take risks?  Will we allow him to lead us out of our comfort zone—and be lifted by his grace to do his will?