Sunday, March 17, 2024

Reflection on Psalm 51:1-12 and John 12:20-33

 



Psalm 51 is attributed to King David, and it portrays the time after David has ordered Uriah to be killed in battle so that he is free to take Uriah’s wife for himself.  The prophet Nathan confronts David with the truth of his actions, and this sends David into a heart wrenching period where he agonizes over the state of his own blackened heart; a good heart that had somehow become rebellious and horribly twisted, causing it to miss the mark, to miss its goal, to fail in accomplishing what it was created for. 

He describes himself as being filled with “offenses” which literally means being filled with “rebelliousness.”  David sees himself as rebelling against God and all that God had hoped for in his life. 

He asks to be washed clean because “wickedness” sticks out of his heart like twisted branches on a thorn bush.  “Wickedness” here literally means “bent and twisted.”  He has become twisted and gnarled, with a heart that is unrecognizable when compared to its younger self. 

He cries out to be washed of his “sin.”  He wants all that drags him away from his God-given goal to be washed away in the same way that God flooded the earth in order to wash away the evil that had attached itself to it.  He no longer wants to “miss the mark.”  He no longer wants to miss the goal of his God given life.

“Have mercy,” he cries.  “Blot out my offenses,” he begs.  “Wash me,” he asks.  “Cleanse me,” he calls.  “Create in me a clean heart,” he sings.

“I don’t want to be forgiven,” the young man pleaded confusingly.  The young man had hurt his mother deeply.  He had stolen his mother’s wedding ring.  Each night, his mother would crawl into bed and kiss her ring “goodnight” in the same way she had kissed her husband each night before the cancer stole him away from her.  Then, she would bring the ring down from her lips, place it in a small bowl on her nightstand, turn toward where he used to lay, and she would go to sleep. 

It was the same ritual of love every night.  Her son had seen it a thousand times. 

So, when he had run out of funds to pay for his addiction, and he found himself in a life-threatening situation of debt, he snuck in quietly one night, took the ring, and sold it.

His mother was heartbroken.  Not only had she lost her husband.  Not only had she lost her wedding ring.  Not only had she lost the one ritual that kept her broken heart from falling completely apart each night.  Now, she had lost her son, and he knew it.  He saw it in her blank face.  He saw it in her emotionless eyes.  He saw the ties between their hearts snap right in front of his face, and he was ashamed.  Like David, he wondered how his heart had become so rebellious, and twisted, and broken.

“I don’t want to be forgiven,” the young man pleaded.  “Forgiveness is not enough.  I have been forgiven a million times and it hasn’t done any good.  I want a new heart.  I want a new life.  I want things to be completely new between us,” he said of his relationship with his mother.  “I want God to make for me a completely new heart.”


One day, some Greeks, some people who knew little about the Jews and their religion and their ways, but obviously wanted to know more because they attended a Jewish festival, asked if they could, please, talk to Jesus.  Philip, who knew how to speak Greek, told Andrew of these Greek people’s request, and they both went and told Jesus.  Apparently, Jesus’ vision of “drawing all people to himself” was starting to come true, and he had not even placed a hand or foot on the cross (John 12:32).  Even before he had spread wide his arms on the cross in a tortuous, self-giving love to all people, people were being drawn to him and to his message.

Jesus taught things that spoke to their hearts.  Jesus taught in ways that they could understand.  He taught that, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:23-24).

Jesus taught that grain must fall to the earth and die.  If it gets stuck in the air, attached permanently to the plant, it will be good for nothing.   If it is eaten, it is just a single morsel of life for the one who eats it, barely sustaining any life at all.  But, if the grain falls into the ground and dies, buried in the tomb of the soil, it will become alive, grow, and bear so much more fruit and life than it could have ever done if it had not died.

Sometimes things need to die completely before something new can grow up.  Jesus says, “Those who love their life lose it,” those who like their life just as it is in its broken form will get lost in their life and lose all purpose, “and those who hate their life in this world” those who let it go and let it die as it is, “will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25).  This seems like a message that the shame stricken young man needed to hear.  It seems like a message that King David was finally realizing.  Sometimes hearts need to break and die, before God can give them new life.  Sometimes people’s hearts require more than forgiveness, sometimes hearts need to be created again from scratch.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32).  This is Jesus promise to us; who have hearts that have faltered and failed. 

Those who struggle with hearts that are rebellious and broken, come to the outstretched hands of the one who will still accept you in an embrace.  Though you may have burned all other bridges in your life, you cannot possibly burn this bridge.  Allow Jesus to create a new heart.

Those whose hearts have become twisted and unrecognizable, understand that the pain of burning those twisted branches and burning away that old life is not your heavenly condemnation.  It is not the beginning of hell, though it may feel that way.  Rather it is essential to clearing the space for a new heart of love and a new life.  Those who have been through the flames understand that Jesus arms are outstretched even for you.

Those who have fallen short of who they had hoped to be and have painted a life that is not as beautiful as God had likely hoped, know that you can still find your rest in the outstretched arms of Jesus, who welcomes the failures and doubters and strugglers and dead.  Know that Jesus holds you close as he rises out of the ground to new life, creating a new heart even in you.

Have mercy on us, O God.  Wash us.  Restore joy and wisdom deep within our hearts.  “Restore to [us] the joy of your salvation and sustain [us] with your bountiful Spirit” (Psalm 51:12).


"Create In Me"

Words and Music: Jira Albers; © 2010 by Jira Albers. Posted with Permission. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Reflection on Matthew 5:9-12 (Lent)


 

Matthew 5:9-12

9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Reflection

Jesus continues the beatitudes with this notion: “The good life belongs to the peacemakers, for they will be called God’s children.”

Peace.  When I think of peace, I think of solitude in a cabin, far away in the woods.  I think of deer grazing nearby as I sip some warm coffee.  I think of gentle breezes against my face while watching flowers rustle slightly, dancing in the morning sun.  In other words, when I think of peace, I think of separating myself from others in order to find solitude.

What I usually do not think of is jumping in the middle of two angry parents, fighting in the parking lot, over the custody of their children.  But, that is exactly what my wife, Randele did a few years ago when we walked to the car, only to find a man and a woman screaming obscenities at one another while one child sat fearful with tears, and the infant cried as a result of this moment of temporary neglect. 

Randele stepped into the middle of the angry words and reminded both parents that their children were right there.  She stepped into the middle of the battle and told them to take a breath.  She stepped into the middle of the battle and helped them to talk about, not what would happen to the children over the next 10 years, but what should happen between them and their children for the next 10 minutes, and then the weekend.  Randele was moved by the Spirit of Jesus to be a peacemaker in that moment.

Our English translation of “peacemaker” is exactly the same as Jesus’ words in the Greek.  A “peacemaker” is literally someone who actively “makes peace.”  They step into situations of tension, conflict, and war, and intentionally strive to bring people into right relationship once again; to make peace.  “The good life,” Jesus says, “belongs to the peacemakers.”

As you can see, Jesus’ notion of peacemaking has nothing to do with trying to get away from it all.  There were religious folks in Jesus’ time who tried to do just that.  They would go live in the wilderness, away from others, and find a life of peace.  Maybe, they found some quiet, but they did not “make peace” come about in anyone’s lives but their own.  They were peace seekers, but they certainly were not “peacemakers.”  Jesus lifts up those who actively seek ways of peace between people or groups of people in conflict as being “children of God.”  Seekers of solitude are not “peacemakers.”

Nor are those who seek to create long-term peace through short term battle considered peacemakers.  There were those in Jesus’ time, the Zealots, who sought to destroy their Roman occupiers through violence in the hopes of creating a lasting peace after the Roman’s defeat.  Peace through power.  That is exactly what the Romans did.  They created peace through power.  Neither the Zealots nor the Romans, nor anyone who seeks peace through power are who Jesus is talking about when lifting up the “peacemakers.”  The world has given Nobel Peace Prizes to people who have created peace through power in the past, but Jesus would not.

There are also those who actively ignore the injustices of this world and simply try to work with the broken systems of this world.  They seek peace by simply making the best of things.  They too are not who Jesus envisions as makers of peace. 

Peacemakers inherently put themselves in the middle of conflict in order to bring people, or groups of people, or nations into a good relationship once again.  They are peacemakers.  They are the children of the one who actively created a peaceful garden in the beginning of time.  They are children of the one who actively seeks to live with all of creation in that peaceful garden way once again.  Those who actively stick their necks out for the sake of peace are children of God.

Being one of God’s peacemakers does not mean that you will find peace within your own life though. 

Notice that Jesus immediately continues with these words: “The good life belongs to those who are persecuted for trying to create right relationships, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  The good life belongs to you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

To this day, you can hear peacemakers being denigrated as “pansies,” “wimps,” and “snowflakes.”  They are told to keep their noses out of other people’s business.  They are called “weak” and “cowards,” because they refuse to give in to violence.  Peacemakers upset those who want to clutch and maintain power over a situation or a people.  Peacemakers upset those who seek to use violence in order to get peace.  Peacemakers are accused falsely of many things in order to discredit their words and circumvent their peace-seeking ways. 

Randele was able to deescalate the hatred in that parking lot and was able to bring those two parents to an agreement about the children and the weekend.  She was able to create something that resembled “right relationships” again between the estranged parents.  But, it might not have gone that way.  They could have both turned their violence on her.  They could have directed their hatred in her direction. 

Those who seek to live in Jesus’ kingdom of peace, and who seek to bring others into those kingdom ways, will undoubtedly find hardship, persecution, and evil directed against them. 

After-all, people who thrive in the dark do not want to come into the light.  Those who hold onto the power do not want to release their grip. 

Peacemakers, builders of right relationships, forgivers, and generous givers can all find themselves with targets on their heads as they seek to live Jesus’ vision of the good life which includes upholding the powerless, the grieving, and the afflicted. 

So, how do the peacemakers and builders of right relationships not lose heart as stones of hate are thrown their way?  They listen to Jesus and “rejoice.”  They are members of an exclusive group of people who have all been persecuted for striving towards God’s vision of the good life.  They join with the prophets and with Jesus himself as people who believed in God’s vision for the good life and were spit upon for it, or worse. 

Jesus says they should, “Rejoice and be glad!”  They should sing their praises to God and celebrate.  They should join in the chorus of those who sought right relationships in the 1960s, whose voices sang out above the heads of those who would persecute them, based on their skin color:

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. 

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. 

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. 

 

Jesus gave it to me, I’m gonna let it shine.

Jesus gave it to me, I’m gonna let it shine.

Jesus gave it to me, I’m gonna let it shine.

let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”

And, that reminds me of the conclusion to the beatitudes.  It goes, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.  “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

But, we will talk about that more next time.  In the meantime, know that the children of God are you who actively seek peace.  The good life belongs to you.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Reflection on Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-21


As I studied the Bible stories for this week, I discovered something that is simply the basis of terrible nightmares.  The serpents that were unleashed on the Israelites after they complained that God did not care about them and left them out in the desert to starve are literally described in the Hebrew text as “fiery snakes.”  Having snakes hunt you down as you run for shelter is quite bad enough, but having snakes that are lit on fire hunting you down?  Let us just say that I may or may not have had an uncomfortable night of sleep after that discovery.  It is not I have a terrible fear of snakes or a terrible fear of fire, but I just may have a terrible fear of snakes on fire.

As the story continues, God had Moses construct a fiery serpent made of bronze and had Moses put it on a pole.  The Bible says that “whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.”  I really like that God created a way for the Israelite people to be saved from these flame engulfed, slithering creations.  All the people had to do was look at the bronze serpent, and they would be healed from their bites or burns or whatever these serpents did.  That is great.  What I do not like is that these people still needed the cure of the lifted up pole.  The fiery serpents never went away as they wandered in the wilderness.  They continued to threaten.

Now, there are a lot of things that I do not know.  Were these slithering vipers really on fire, or did their fatal bite just burn a lot until you drew your last breath.  I do not know.  Sometimes the factual and the metaphorical blur in these biblical stories.  But, what I do know is that the idea that there are still threats out there in this world is absolutely true.  There are still slithering creatures, real and metaphorical, threatening to create chaos and death out there in the wilderness of our world. 

Another thing that I do know is that in the Hebrew Bible, the snake is the land companion to the great sea dragon (the leviathan), who was an agent of chaos out in the sea.  Just as the sea dragon was envisioned to create monstrous, chaotic storms out at sea, the snake was similarly envisioned to create chaos and death on the land.  In fact, people who create chaos and death throughout the Bible are quite often described as having snake like features, or wearing scaly clothes.

Have you ever known anyone who seems to create chaos wherever they go?  Now, I do not want you to start saying their names out loud.  We do not need any tension in the air as we awkwardly look around at one another.  But, you know the type of person that I am talking about.  No matter what they say, it comes out wrong and creates hard feelings.  No matter what they do, they always end up hurting someone around them.  Sometimes, it just happens because that is their personality.  Other times, it is a calculated effort to destroy and create chaos in the lives of people around them.  No matter who you are thinking about, the ancient writers would have written them in the story as wearing boots made of snake skin.

But, this presentation of chaos in the Bible is true.  The forces of sin, death, and chaos are still slithering out there in the world, waiting to strike.  Just as snakes strike when you are not paying attention to where you are stepping, so too the fiery snakes of chaos strike when we have let down our guard.  When the Israelite people stopped trusting that God would love them and provide for them out in the wilderness, and when they let down their guard and allowed the forces of chaos to linger near, God allowed the fiery snakes of chaos to strike at their heels.

Making a declaration about God’s character, John 3:17 claims that, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” In this story from Numbers, God also had no desire that the chosen people would perish.  God had no desire to condemn them.  This is clearly evident when the people cried out to be saved from the snakes.  God instructed Moses to make that bronze snake on a pole so that people could look at the snake and be saved.

There are so many things that I do not understand in the Bible.  Why did looking at a fiery serpent of chaos heal people from fiery serpents of chaos?  It does not make sense.  However, a wise therapist one told me that you cannot seek to be saved from the chaos of your life unless you are willing to look at the chaos of your life.  How can you be saved from a sin that you refuse to see?  How can you rebuild your broken heart if you refuse to acknowledge that it has cracks in the first place?

This is hard.  I mean it.  Maybe, I am a typical male, but it is hard to look at the cracks and sins and hurts and acknowledge that they even exist.  I think that this is because, acknowledging that they are there, looking at them, truly seeing them, would then require that I acknowledge that I might need help.  And as you know, many of us would rather die in the wilderness of a snake bite, than acknowledge that we need help. 

How many introverts does it take to change a light bulb?  One, unless they need help – in which case it is still one.

But, if you cannot seek help, then you will not be able to accept help.  If you cannot look at the problem, you cannot be saved.  “Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live” (Numbers 21:9).

Again, there are a lot of things that I do not know or understand.  For example, I do not know why God instructed Moses to create an idol, when God has explicitly stated in the Ten Commandments that God’s people are not to create idols.  The Bible clearly says not to create idols, in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4).  Snakes would be included in that prohibition.  But, God wants Moses to do just that in order to save God’s people.

Again, there are lots of things that I do not understand, but what I do understand is that behind God’s rules for us is always a deeper meaning and purpose.  The rules are intended to bring more peace and more life into this world.  They are intended to allow the life that God created to thrive.  God’s rules are not intended to be treated as a god in and of themselves.  I do know that even God’s rules can become idols for some people, stifling people and clouding God’s intentions to allow life and love to thrive. 

How many Christians have you known who have failed to show love and compassion because they were so caught up in trying to make others follow God’s rules?  One of the biggest reasons that those who are unchurched refuse to step foot in one is because they have seen too many followers of Jesus refusing to love like Jesus.  They have seen Christians hold fast to rules rather than holding fast to Jesus.  But, God has no issues with this.  If God needs to create an idol in order to save God’s people, an idol that allows them to trust in God once again, then an idol will be created.

And indeed, the bitten people who trusted that God had created a way to save them from the fiery serpents by gazing at the bronze fiery serpent, were indeed healed and saved.  Their lost trust in God had been restored, as a gift from their merciful God.

You know, God does create images.  God created us in God’s image.  And, God stepped right into an earthly image, when the Word was made flesh and walked and talked and healed us.  Jesus is the image of God to whom we gaze when we find ourselves lost in the darkness and chaos of this world. 

[Jesus said:] “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).

Things have not changed since those days of fiery serpents in the desert bringing their chaos.  We look around us and people are still hurting.  People are still struggling to make a way in this life.  People are still seeking answers.  People are still lost.  People have a hard time admitting that they live in the dark.  People have a hard time admitting that they may need some light.  As John says, “people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed (John 3:19-20).  People are still caught up in the chaos of this world.

But, there is a pole upon which we can gaze to find our healing and wholeness once again. There is a pole upon which we can see humanity, as it could be…as it should be.  There is a pole upon which we can gaze in order to be saved.  It is a cross shaped pole.  And the image it bears is not the serpent.

[Jesus said:] “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes [whoever trusts] in him may have eternal life.”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  (John 3:14-17).

I do not understand a great many things, but I do understand that our world is broken and constantly delving back into chaos, including my own life.  I also understand that this cannot change unless we actually see our chaotic life in fine detail.  And, I understand that God has no desire that we remain in a life of chaos.  Nor does God have any desire to condemn us.  We are God’s image bearers.  We are not someone to be thrown away.  Instead, we are each someone who is worthy of redemption, and worthy to have true life with the eternal. 

Look up from the chaos.  Look up and see the blood.  Look up to the cross and see the one who loves you, even to the point of dying for you.  Look up and see Jesus, your salvation.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Reflection on Matthew 5:6-8

 


Matthew 5:6-8

6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Reflection

After having just had a routine medical procedure that required not eating for over 24 hours, I am definitely hungry.  I am starving.  It is taking all of my will power to keep from wandering over to the fellowship hall in order to find some leftover oatmeal packets, or frozen communion bread, or even some coffee creamers and crackers.  If you put a newspaper ad with a picture of pizza in front of me, I would probably attempt a bite. 

What if we were as hungry as that, starving for good relationships with God and one another?  What if we craved loving relationships as much as we crave food?  Well, if we did, Jesus says that we would be living God’s idea of the good life. 

Usually, when we are told that we should “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” we usually think that means we should hunger and thirst for doing really good and holy things.  And though, I by no means want to dissuade you from doing good and holy things, this way of defining righteousness ends up missing something important.  It ends up missing the fact that that we do good and holy things for someone.  We do them, not to get points on our ticket to heaven.  Rather, we do them out of love for our neighbors.  We do because we walk in the ways of God.

Listen to this translation of the beatitude: “The good life belongs to those who hunger and thirst for right relationships, for they will be made full.”

After being angry with God for years because of a terrible tragedy, a man once told me, “I think I need to start walking with Jesus again.”  The man truly hungered and thirsted for the life he used to have with Jesus, and he wanted more than anything to have that relationship again.  In this beatitude, Jesus promises him that his hunger will be filled. 

In a similar way, a woman recently talked to me about how, a couple of years ago, she randomly decided to knock on the door and say “Hello” to the struggling family next door.  Today, she is known as “Grams” to the kids.  Loving God and loving neighbor is what righteousness is all about. 

And, this naturally leads us to the subject of mercy.  Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”  Of course, when we think of “mercy” we think of forgiveness.  And, we should.  Jesus’ entire life, death, and resurrection were all about the forgiveness of sins and restoring us to right relationship with God.  In a similar way, when we forgive those who have wronged us, we are making the relationship with them right again.  However, Jesus’ idea of mercy does not stop at forgiveness. 

When the blind beggars on the side of the road called out to Jesus, asking that he might have mercy on them, they were not asking for forgiveness.  They were asking Jesus to help them, because they were helplessly blind.  When the Good Samaritan saw the man beat up on the side of the road, and he stopped to take care of the man, he did so out of mercy. 

Mercy is an act of love where you care for someone in the same way that you would care for a family member.  Mercy is a “generous love.”  So, what Jesus is telling us is that, “The good life belongs to those who show generous love, for they will receive generous love.” 

This generous love is exactly what “Grams” is showing the family next door.  When she takes care of the children next door when they are sick, and their parents need to be at work, she is not only acting in a “righteous” way, she having “mercy” on the struggling family.  She is joining Jesus in his life of generous love by generously giving of her time and concern.

Now, joining in this life of generous love comes out of what Jesus calls a “pure heart.”  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God,” Jesus says. 

What he means by that is this: “The good life belongs to those who desires align with God’s desires, for they will see God.”  The people who desire to walk with Jesus and desire to love as Jesus loved them, are the people who will recognize Jesus.  Living Jesus’ idea of the good life is all about finding out what God cares about, and then actively caring about those same things.  It is living a life of “right relationship,” “generous love,” and discovering that deep down in our hearts, we really do desire what God desires. 

I pray, this Lent, that you pay attention to Jesus and notice who he cares about, and what he cares about, by remembering everything he did for others.  I pray that you will look at his healings, and his feedings, and his care for those who are despised by others, and see a bit of his reflection in your own soul.  I pray that you look at Jesus and see his generous love given especially to those who were not his own earthly family.  And, I pray that you look at Jesus and notice with new eyes what a right relationship with God and what a right relationship with one another is all about. 

I invite you to continue following Jesus this Lent, walking in the ways of his kingdom.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Reflection on John 2:13-22

 

During war, generals talk about unintended, incidental casualties (collateral damage) and families console themselves with the idea that their loved one sacrificed themselves for a greater good. 

People are sacrificed, even to this very day, for a greater good.  But, I thought that Jesus overturned the tables at the temple of sacrifice?  I thought he had freed the sheep and the cattle, driving them away from their sentence of death.  Is not Jesus the last great high priest who, as the book of Hebrews describes, Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself” (Hebrews 7:27). 

I thought that Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all.  I thought that sacrifices had come to an end?  When needless sacrifices burn us to ashes, we remember, as the disciples did, that Jesus promised, “I will raise it up.”

But, children are still slaughtered in our public schools, and we witness the public sacrifice on our televisions.  It is all done so that incredibly disturbed people may make a statement to the world in a bloody piece of performance art.  It is a human sacrifice for a cause. 

Not as traumatic, but still troubling, children are constantly at the whim of powerful adults who make decisions that directly impact children’s lives, but have nothing to do with the actual welfare of the children.  Their lives are sacrificed so that powerful adults might look good and strong in a high stakes game of “popularity contest.” 

Even today children are sacrificed in war zones, on the altars of violence and starvation, in an attempt to demoralize and break the enemy.  They are sacrificed in a battle of power, over which their little hands and little voices have no control.  

John 2:15-16 says that Jesus, “Making a whip of cords…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. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here!’’

Jesus drove all the sacrificial sheep, cattle, and doves out of the temple so that they might be free to live…to live their lives…lives that are gifts from God.  If Jesus cared this much for sheep and cattle, why does the world still allow children to be sacrificed? 

I thought that Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all.  I thought that sacrifices had come to an end?  When needless sacrifices burn us to ashes, we remember, as the disciples did, that Jesus promised, “I will raise it up.”

I learned a long time ago in school that the Jewish temple is long gone.  I had learned that it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.  I also learned that the temples of human sacrifice in the Americas had also become a part of distant history.  As a child, I had learned that sacrifice was a thing of the past.

Yet, bodies still lay in our city streets.  Young bodies and women’s bodies are snatched away when we are not looking and traded as goods to be bought for the satisfaction of others.

Beautiful bodies, created carefully by God’s own hand, are used to sell cars, dish soap, and gum rather than reflect the love of God.  Why is it OK to sacrifice the infinite worth of God’s beautiful creation to sell a piece of gum; something that costs less than a dollar?  Are we not more precious than that?

I thought that Jesus had spilled the money changer’s baskets?  I thought that the tables had been overturned?  I thought that Jesus had cleared out the temple of sacrifice and placed himself on the altar?

I thought that Jesus’ sacrifice was once for all.  I thought that sacrifices had come to an end?  When needless sacrifices burn us to ashes, we remember, as the disciples did, that Jesus promised, “I will raise it up.”

One day in Jerusalem, Jesus stepped into the temple and cut off the power.  It was as if he had taken a huge set of clippers, walked up to the huge multi-cables that feed power to a football stadium, and cut the cables that power the lights and television equipment.  Mary Hinkle Shore, modern day biblical scholar and theologian, points out that Jesus’ action of setting free the animals intended for sacrifices and spilling the coins of the money changers (money that was required to make transactions in the temple) was the equivalent of cutting the power to a stadium. 

Jesus cut the power of the temple for a reason.  It was going to be gone soon, destroyed by the Romans, and the sacrifices intended to bring life back into a world of death, sacrifices that set humans right with God once again, were going to be taken care of by someone else. 

Jesus, himself, was going to walk up to the altar of the cross, be nailed to it, and give up his life as the final sacrifice to bring life.  Jesus carried all the sins…all of the brokenness of our world…onto the cross and put them to death alongside him.  Jesus’ death was the last sacrifice.  His death was the final sacrifice to make things right in the world.  No other sacrifices would be needed.  His body is the last temple.  No other temples will need to be constructed.

And, if that is true, which it is, that means that temples of sacrifice are no longer what the world needs to make things right.  Even though the world insists otherwise, we do not need more bloodshed to create peace.  We do not need more bloodshed to make our political points.  What our world desperately does need is a temple that carries new life with it.  What the world desperately needs is to hear Jesus’ words, “I will raise it up.”

What if we had a temple that brought healing rather than harm?  “I will raise it up.”

What if we had a temple that brought people together rather than driving them apart?  “I will raise it up.” 

What if we had a temple that could love and create new life out of death?  “I will raise it up.”

What if our new temple was not built with stone and mortar, but could walk around and live with us?  What if we could see our temple and feel its touch?  What if our temple of new life could never be destroyed?

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," Jesus declares. 

Jesus is our temple.  Jesus is the temple of God that walks with us, talks with us, heals us, forgives us, and brings us new life. 

Jesus is your temple of new life.  Jesus is the one who can take the tragic sacrifices of our world and make something of worth out of them.  He is the one who can transform a sacrifice of sin and hate into something made of love.  He is the one who can transform a heart of sin and hate into something made of love.

What if your worst pain could be transformed into something worthwhile? 

What if your worst sin could be forgiven and your past made into a story that could heal others rather than hurt? 

What if God’s temple cared about you.  What if God’s temple would never consider sacrificing you for any cause?  What if God’s temple set you free to live your life as God always desired for you?  What if Jesus was the last sacrifice?

We have a temple that can be rebuilt in three days.  We have a temple that cares.  We have a temple that raises us out of sin and death. 

We have a temple, Jesus Christ, who never looks at us and says, “Here’s a lost cause, why don’t we sacrifice it.” 

Rather, Jesus looks at our rubble and says, “What fine building material!  What can I make with that now?”  Jesus is our temple.  Jesus is the one who promises, “I will raise it up.”