Renewal through Thanksgiving
Sermon preached by Rev. Patricia Farris
March 19, 2006

Over the centuries, many interpretations have been made of this almost shocking story of Jesus Cleansing the Temple. It was the time of the Passover in Jerusalem. The city was full of pilgrims who would have come for the observances. In those days, the Temple was large and diverse, a bustling place full of commercial activity and crowds of worshippers. Animal sacrifice was required at the time and so these people who had traveled far to come and worship would have been doing as they long had done, finding animals for purchase in the temple itself. Nothing unusual going on that day.

But In this rare outburst of anger, of righteous indignation, Jesus explodes. He takes a whip of cords to drive out all those selling animals and all the animals, too. He throws over the tables of the money changers and shouts: “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

Why is how the people have long worshipped suddenly so wrong and so offensive to God? Scholars posit all kinds of explanations, and each holds part of the truth. That the coins of the realm bore the image of Caesar and Jesus wanted none of that in the house of God. That the sacrifice of animals had become abhorrent and was no longer to be tolerated. That the money changers who exchanged Roman currency for Jewish money made a profit on their exchange at the expense of those who had come to worship and this sort of commerce had no place in God’s house. That the temple tax was a burden on the people.

Jesus was clearly incensed. Was it the fraud, the exploitation, the profaning of the Temple, the commercialization, the greed? Each of these explanations contains part of the truth of this story, but we must dig even deeper to get at the heart of the matter.

For even that day, John tells us, the disciples remembered the Psalmist’s words: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Psalm 69:10. Zeal for your house will consume me. The house of God, the oikos, the household of God, that is, God’s people. Zeal for God’s people will consume me, Jesus is saying in his angry actions this day, not so much the place, the Temple, but the PEOPLE. And anything that becomes a barrier between the people and God, anything that gets in the way of true worship of God and full deliverance of God’s people, anything that gets in the way must come down in order for God’s new heaven and new earth to be made manifest. (continued...)

"Renewal through Thanksgiving" by Rev. Patricia Farris, March 19, 2006

On this, all the commentators agree, for we hear it throughout Jesus’ ministry, in all his preaching and his teaching and his healing, and even today in his righteous indignation, we hear this, his central message. Anything that keeps God and his people apart, any brokenness, any sin, any system of exploitation, any pretense, any pride or arrogance, any false security, anything that lets some in but keeps the many out—every barrier must come down.

Our Lenten theme this year is Renewal and we’ve been exploring that in a variety of ways each week. If you already noticed that today’s title is “Renewal through Thanksgiving,” you may be wondering how in the world I’m going to get from this story of Jesus cleansing the Temple around to Thanksgiving. I don’t think any of us would welcome Jesus showing up here in our sanctuary this morning to drive us all out with angry whips or over in Simkins Hall to throw over the tables of those selling tickets or books this morning. So let me suggest another possibility today and it can be seen in our new partner relationship with Bethany United Methodist Church in New Orleans. For all that might have kept us apart is now broken down. Everything about “life as usual” no longer applies, not only for them, but for us. Out of terrible devastation is coming new life for them, and for us.

First let me be perfectly clear. I am in no way saying that God sent the hurricanes to destroy New Orleans and its people. I’m not saying that God caused the levees to break. These were acts of nature, not acts of God, and if anything, were only exacerbated by human complicity in global warming, in faulty engineering, in political inertia. God is NOT the cause of this destruction, but God IS working mightily in this re-construction to break down barriers, to lift up God’s people, and to make new life and new ministry and new worship and new mission happen. And for all this, we give thanks.

Right from the beginning, we didn’t want to just send a work team to any old place in New Orleans, although, believe me, the need is so great that that alone would have been a worthy thing to do. I have spoken to people from churches whose teams have already been in the Gulf Region and the people there on the ground tell them: “If you weren’t here, if the church wasn’t here with us now, we would have lost all hope. Because you, the church, you are the ONLY people here right now working to help us rebuild.”

But even so, when we first knew that much would be required of us in this disaster, we didn’t want to just go and do a job and come home. Working through our United Methodist connectional system, we said that we wanted a partner relationship with a church there so that over and above what the work team does, a lot of other stuff can be happening, too. That we could get to know the people of that congregation, God’s people, a part of the oikos, the household of God, whom we hadn’t yet met. That maybe our Youth service team could also go there. That maybe our children and families could do something for their children and families. That we could be in prayer for one another. (continued...)

"Renewal through Thanksgiving" by Rev. Patricia Farris, March 19, 2006

And you know, I can already see that, by entering a relationship with these folks, by turning a project into a relationship, much more is already happening, not only for them, but in us. Barriers are being broken down. And like any kind of human relationship, we cannot predict all that it will bring, but we can be certain that because of it, our lives and our congregation will be richer and more faithful as well.

For we have discovered that this congregation with which we have been partnered by the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church is the strongest African-American church in the conference. It’s the flagship church. Before the hurricanes and floods, it was a powerhouse of mission outreach to the people of its community. Before this current devastation, it was reaching out to meet needs and be a place of hope and promise. And because of its vitality and because of its vital role in the community, the bishop of the Louisiana Conference has designated Bethany UMC as a congregation ready to grow its mission to the next level. Our efforts to assist in their rebuilding will serve not only one congregation, but the community surrounding it and the whole Louisiana Conference. Their commitment to their community sets an example for us and should cause us to reexamine our commitment to the people who live all around us.

For six months since the storms hit, Bethany’s pastor has been working out of his house, because there is no functioning church office, still no mail delivery to the area where the church is located. The congregation, scattered across the country for the last six months, is reuniting this morning in their first worship service. We’ve contributed folding chairs so they can worship today. We sent them the old communion trays that we were no longer using so that they could share in Holy Communion as they worship today, and yellow ribbon to tie all around the neighborhood to welcome people home, and thanks to a generous donor from our church, new Bibles for their sanctuary. Here is Pastor Edwards reply to us this morning:

“On a cold December morning I stood at the curb of Piety Street and I watched
demolition crews wheel out a wheel barrel of our red pew bibles and my heart was broken. I cried buckets of tears of sorrow as I watched powerlessly. I could hear the turning of the wheels of the wheel barrel and saw the ultimate heaving of our BIBLES, the WORD of GOD, onto the rubble pile and as they were
tossed into the trash. The sound of them hitting the ground as waste was like
a thump of death to me, as Pastor, Sunday School Teacher and Bible Scholar.

O but last evening as I returned to my home and saw blocking my front door a mound of boxes standing nearly the height of my front door, I cried tears of great JOY! We now have BIBLES to put in the hands of my people. Bibles for a people who nearly 7 months ago stood before a hopeless chasm not knowing what the future would hold. NOW we have the WORD OF GOD as an assurance for direction, protection and introspection of a bright future! (continued...)