When Ruins Become Resurrection
Year
B, Lent 3
When I was first ordained, I never imagined
that I would serve at a historic parish.
I am still not sure that I am called to serve at historic parishes in
general as much as I am called to St. John’s specifically. What I found most appealing about St. John’s
was their story of continual rebuilding.
This site we are on now is the 4th site of this church. We have been on this site since 1728 and this
building has been though three wars. It
has been burned and pillaged. It has
been rebuilt. And that is what has
fascinated me the most about the history of this church, the rebuilding and the
tenacity of the community itself.
Of course, I confess that I am
occasionally guilty of the bragging rights that come with being the oldest
English speaking church in continuous existence in America. I have been known to refer to certain 300
year old churches as contemporary. I
also like to put air quotes around the word “historic” when it is describing
any church that is not St. John’s. It is
slightly obnoxious, but I just can’t help myself at times.
I was thinking about my pride in
this church as I was reading this Gospel reading regarding the Temple in
Jerusalem. Religious authorities had a
lot of pride in the temple. Jesus wasn’t
always a fan of religious pride. This Gospel story is one that surprises
people. It does not fit into the image
that people have of Jesus. People picture
Jesus with a lamb over his shoulders and children on his lap. They imagine him teaching and healing. They don’t usually picture him with a whip
driving animals and people out of a temple while overturning tables and in
general causing a scene. This is not the
peace loving Jesus who we imagine in our heads.
Yet it was clearly an important event in the life of Jesus because all
four Gospel writers recorded it.
What was it that got Jesus all riled
up? There are a lot of theories about
that. Since he said, “Stop making my
Father’s house a marketplace!” some people have assumed that he was angry about
the fact that people were selling animals in the temple. This is possible but unlikely. Selling animals was a necessary part of the
temple system. People were supposed to
make sacrifices and most people did not travel with sacrificial animals. So it made sense to sell the animals at the
temple. Others have said that Jesus was not upset that these animals were being
sold, but that they were being sold at an unfair price. The sellers were taking advantage of people
and profiting from these sacrifices that were meant for God alone. This makes
more sense in light of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
In those three Gospels, Jesus tells the people that they have made his
father’s house a den of robbers. But he
does not say that in John’s Gospel. He
just tells them to stop making his father’s house a marketplace.
I wonder if what he really meant was that they
were making the temple a market place for God.
It was as if they were implying that they had exclusive rights to
God…that people would only be in God’s presence when they were in the temple. This was especially a concern in a time when
there were many people who were ostracized from the temple. Not just anyone could go in the temple, which
means that God’s love was limited. Jesus knew that this was not the case. He knew that God was everywhere, present at
all times. Jesus also knew that his
life, death, and resurrection would transform how and where people perceived
God. He wanted to introduce that change
now.
The people who had the power in the
temple were angry that Jesus thought he had any right to call this holy temple
his father’s house. So they asked him
for a sign…presumably a sign of his power.
His response was even more troublesome.
He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up.” They were astounded. The temple
that he was standing in had already been under construction for 46 years and it
wasn’t even finished yet. And this
carpenter was going to destroy it and build a new one in 3 days? But Jesus was not talking about a temple made
of bricks and mortar. He was talking
about his body. His body was where God
dwelled. And his body would be destroyed
in the crucifixion, but in three days in would be raised.
Jesus was not saying that God was not present
in the temple anymore. He was saying that
God was not limited to the temple and no human institution had control over
God’s presence. No person or religious
body could say that some people had access to God and some people did not. That
is what got Jesus all riled up. People
weren’t just trying to control money and power; they were trying to control
God. They were trying to limit who had
access to God.
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| http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g06697/ |
One of my favorite images of St.
John’s, is the painting that depicts the church right after the burning of
Hampton. It is called “the ruins of
church at Hampton.” During the civil war, the town of Hampton was burned
down. The one structure that was left
standing were the walls of St. John’s. I
have always loved this image because it conveys the strength and sturdiness of
the church. Recently, I discovered a new
perspective. The walls remained, but the
doors, the windows, and the roof were gone. There is an openness to that image
that is refreshing. I imagine God’s
presence overflowing from the open windows, doors and roof. There are no limits on the expansiveness of
God’s love. It’s like God’s love is breaking down the doors. It is bursting out.
Obviously, since then we have rebuilt
the roof, the windows and the doors. Yet
what if we were to adopt that image of the wide open church in some way? We
could rename that painting. It would no
longer be called “ruins”, it would be called “resurrection,” not because of the
building that it would one day be, but because of the opportunity that we have
been given again and again to rebuild.
Since we now have actual windows, doors and a roof, the members of this
historic church are called on to be our windows and our doors. We are the connection to the church and the
community. We are here to tell the
community that there is no limit to God’s abundant love. It is overflowing and walls cannot contain
it. We, the members of St. John’s are to
be the vessels of Gods overflowing love.
Not only that, but we too are temples of the Holy Spirit. God dwells in us and even our walls cannot
hold that.
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