Upside Down
“Upside Down”
John 2:13-25
March 19, 2006 CCUM
Rev Carolyn Waters
Read: Exodus 20:1-17
John 2:13-25
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he 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. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
23When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
The giving of the Ten Commandments is included in the lectionary readings every Lenten season.
(Following are selections from: Rev. Ben E. Helmer http://www.episcopalchurch.org/6087_72521_ENG_HTM.htm)
The Commandments need to be seen in a larger context, as part of God's covenant with God's people. The passage in Exodus that I just read is the conclusion of God inviting Moses up to the mountain and then agreeing to address the people of the Exodus directly, albeit cloaked in thunder, fire, and smoke.
Even amidst the noise and fear of God's speaking, the reader is struck by how passionately God cares for the people and how much God's desire to have a relationship with them shapes the giving of the Commandments. These aren't just the house rules of a stern parent, they are the terms of relationship for God's people who are loved and cared for by their creator. It's almost as though God is saying, "Look, I know what will make you miserable, and here are ten things to avoid that will keep you from misery."
By the time of Jesus' ministry, a whole system had been put in place to uphold the Law and help people who break it find a way back to a right relationship with God. The faithful loved God's law, recited it and its application night and day. In addition, a sacrificial system had been developed so people can offer the proper sacrifice at the Temple and have their relationship with God restored.
Part of that sacrifice involved purchasing ritually clean animals. Since Roman currency was considered idolatrous because it was stamped with the image of Caesar, one had to exchange Roman currency for Temple money to purchase the sacrificial offerings. Anybody who has traveled and changed currency knows the moneychangers always get a fee, and that was exacted on the Temple steps.
Jesus saw this practice for what it was: an unnecessary barrier between God and the children of God. He saw the poor having to borrow money in order to purchase the animals of sacrifice. He heard the arguing and fretting over whether the moneychangers were charging a fair exchange. And he'd had enough. He singled out a table or two, and drove out the dove sellers and the moneychangers. Two interesting points: One, Jesus didn’t get arrested for doing this; and two, in John's account this event took place at the beginning of his public ministry, where the other Gospels place it at the end.
Regardless of placement in the Gospels, the results are the same: controversy. Commentators remark that Jesus wanted to eliminate the system that kept God and the people of God apart, while enriching the pockets of some at the expense of the poor. The new temple will be the spirit of Christ, the presence of God with us, who will replace the building and its sacrificial system. People will no longer need to rehearse sacrificial piety in order to be in a good relationship with God. Jesus, as the new temple, will make that possible forever.
So, the link between the giving of the Ten Commandments and Jesus' passionate love for the people of God is a covenant relationship, one in which God desires to show us love and makes it possible for us to be in a loving relationship with our creator. The giving of the Commandments and the cleansing of the temple are both acts of love that remove barriers we create between God and ourselves.
Today as we worship in places that are deeply special to us, we might reflect on the barriers we have created that could separate people from God in worship. Is our church welcoming? Barrier free? Do we offer hospitality to guests and strangers? Do we take strangers to the coffee hour and make sure they are introduced? In what ways might we better become a place where anyone seeking God might feel they are welcome, safe, and free to enter?
Over the next six weeks you will be receiving information about what it would mean for our congregation to identify itself as a “reconciling congregation.” In so doing, we would be clearly communicating to Denver and to the denomination that we do truly are an “open” place……..for all people. Standing up and stating that we are “reconciling” means that we turn the tables of the General Church over in regard to its discrimination against gay and lesbian people.
DeWitt Jones, a photographer for the National Geographic produced a motivational film a few years ago called “Celebrate What’s Right with the World.” Using his well known skills as a photographer, he approaches what we see in the world with our eyes and hearts and shows that we can look at something and see even more beauty in it if we simply change our perspective. With the slightest adjustment in the way we look at “things”………..life can be very different.
I think that’s what Jesus must have been doing that day. He was able to see beyond the acceptable practice of the people to something greater and more meaningful in our relationship with God. But before he could get others to see what he could see, he had to turn everything upside down.
Hear these words from Jack Johnson’s current hit song from Curious George!
Upside Down
Who's to say
What's impossible
Well they forgot
This world keeps spinning
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
There's no stopping curiosity
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
I don't want this feeling to go away
Who's to say
I can't do everything
Well I can try
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren't always just what they seem
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
This world keeps spinning and there's no time to waste
Well it all keeps spinning spinning round and round and
Upside down
Who's to say what's impossible and can't be found
I don't want this feeling to go away
Please don't go away
Please don't go away
Please don't go away
Is this how it's supposed to be
Is this how it's supposed to be
John 2:13-25
March 19, 2006 CCUM
Rev Carolyn Waters
Read: Exodus 20:1-17
John 2:13-25
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he 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. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
23When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
The giving of the Ten Commandments is included in the lectionary readings every Lenten season.
(Following are selections from: Rev. Ben E. Helmer http://www.episcopalchurch.org/6087_72521_ENG_HTM.htm)
The Commandments need to be seen in a larger context, as part of God's covenant with God's people. The passage in Exodus that I just read is the conclusion of God inviting Moses up to the mountain and then agreeing to address the people of the Exodus directly, albeit cloaked in thunder, fire, and smoke.
Even amidst the noise and fear of God's speaking, the reader is struck by how passionately God cares for the people and how much God's desire to have a relationship with them shapes the giving of the Commandments. These aren't just the house rules of a stern parent, they are the terms of relationship for God's people who are loved and cared for by their creator. It's almost as though God is saying, "Look, I know what will make you miserable, and here are ten things to avoid that will keep you from misery."
By the time of Jesus' ministry, a whole system had been put in place to uphold the Law and help people who break it find a way back to a right relationship with God. The faithful loved God's law, recited it and its application night and day. In addition, a sacrificial system had been developed so people can offer the proper sacrifice at the Temple and have their relationship with God restored.
Part of that sacrifice involved purchasing ritually clean animals. Since Roman currency was considered idolatrous because it was stamped with the image of Caesar, one had to exchange Roman currency for Temple money to purchase the sacrificial offerings. Anybody who has traveled and changed currency knows the moneychangers always get a fee, and that was exacted on the Temple steps.
Jesus saw this practice for what it was: an unnecessary barrier between God and the children of God. He saw the poor having to borrow money in order to purchase the animals of sacrifice. He heard the arguing and fretting over whether the moneychangers were charging a fair exchange. And he'd had enough. He singled out a table or two, and drove out the dove sellers and the moneychangers. Two interesting points: One, Jesus didn’t get arrested for doing this; and two, in John's account this event took place at the beginning of his public ministry, where the other Gospels place it at the end.
Regardless of placement in the Gospels, the results are the same: controversy. Commentators remark that Jesus wanted to eliminate the system that kept God and the people of God apart, while enriching the pockets of some at the expense of the poor. The new temple will be the spirit of Christ, the presence of God with us, who will replace the building and its sacrificial system. People will no longer need to rehearse sacrificial piety in order to be in a good relationship with God. Jesus, as the new temple, will make that possible forever.
So, the link between the giving of the Ten Commandments and Jesus' passionate love for the people of God is a covenant relationship, one in which God desires to show us love and makes it possible for us to be in a loving relationship with our creator. The giving of the Commandments and the cleansing of the temple are both acts of love that remove barriers we create between God and ourselves.
Today as we worship in places that are deeply special to us, we might reflect on the barriers we have created that could separate people from God in worship. Is our church welcoming? Barrier free? Do we offer hospitality to guests and strangers? Do we take strangers to the coffee hour and make sure they are introduced? In what ways might we better become a place where anyone seeking God might feel they are welcome, safe, and free to enter?
Over the next six weeks you will be receiving information about what it would mean for our congregation to identify itself as a “reconciling congregation.” In so doing, we would be clearly communicating to Denver and to the denomination that we do truly are an “open” place……..for all people. Standing up and stating that we are “reconciling” means that we turn the tables of the General Church over in regard to its discrimination against gay and lesbian people.
DeWitt Jones, a photographer for the National Geographic produced a motivational film a few years ago called “Celebrate What’s Right with the World.” Using his well known skills as a photographer, he approaches what we see in the world with our eyes and hearts and shows that we can look at something and see even more beauty in it if we simply change our perspective. With the slightest adjustment in the way we look at “things”………..life can be very different.
I think that’s what Jesus must have been doing that day. He was able to see beyond the acceptable practice of the people to something greater and more meaningful in our relationship with God. But before he could get others to see what he could see, he had to turn everything upside down.
Hear these words from Jack Johnson’s current hit song from Curious George!
Upside Down
Who's to say
What's impossible
Well they forgot
This world keeps spinning
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
There's no stopping curiosity
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
I don't want this feeling to go away
Who's to say
I can't do everything
Well I can try
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren't always just what they seem
I want to turn the whole thing upside down
I'll find the things they say just can't be found
I'll share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs
This world keeps spinning and there's no time to waste
Well it all keeps spinning spinning round and round and
Upside down
Who's to say what's impossible and can't be found
I don't want this feeling to go away
Please don't go away
Please don't go away
Please don't go away
Is this how it's supposed to be
Is this how it's supposed to be
posted by Rev Waters | 8:22 AM
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