John 2:13-22

March 7, 2021 – Lent 3

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

John 2:13-22

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making 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. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After 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.

| Centering Prayer |

Think of a nest;

Of a bird settling into that nest.

“Every bird nests with its kind,”

is says in the Talmud Baba Kammah,

a writing of Rabbinic Judaism,

“and man with its like.”

(http://halakhah.com/babakamma/babakamma_92.html)

The bird settles.

It inhabits.

It hunkers down, nestles in, and wraps the nest around itself.

The bird dwells safe and secure in the nest.

Where does God dwell?

The word Shekinah ( SHeˈkīn-ə )

Is an English transliteration

Of the Hebrew noun meaning

Dwelling,

Settling.

It signifies the dwelling or settling of the

Divine Presence of God.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhinah)

The word Shekinah alone

Is a wonderful springboard to the imagination.

It serves as an invitation for the faithful

To search further,

Listen more closely,

Encourage curiosity in one another,

Especially during this time of Lent, asking

Where does God dwell?

Where is God’s neighborhood?

…

In the beginning,

God is more of a dis-embodied voice,

Speaking to Adam and Eve,

Noah and Abram.

At most, God is described as a vision in a dream.

God first abides

As near as I can tell,

In the Burning Bush that is not consumed on the mountain top.

God speaks to Moses from the Bush,

Telling him to rescue God’s people from Egyptian captivity.

(Exodus 3)

During the Exodus and the period of time Canaan was conquered,

The Tabernacle served as a portable dwelling place

– a tent sanctuary, if you will –

For the Divine presence.

The Tabernacle was also the location of both Ten Commandment tablets

Given by God to Moses on the mountain.

Our Hebrew ancestors transported the Tabernacle

On the journey from Egypt to Palestine.

When Solomon completed construction

Of the Temple in Jerusalem a thousand years later,

The Tabernacle,

The believed residence of God and location of the sacred tablets,

Was permanently located

In the Holy of Holies,

Behind the Inner Temple.

See the book of Kings, chapter 8,

For a beautiful description of the dedication of the Temple.

The Temple was plundered by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 BCE.

Perhaps during this time

The Psalmist proclaimed,

“I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,

until I find a place for the Lord,

a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

(Psalms 132:4-5)

The Temple was rebuilt, starting in 536 BCE by Cyrus the Great

As recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah,

Dedicated in 515 BCE, and

Rededicate by Judas Maccabeus in 165 BCE.

Herod the Great renovated and expanded the Temple in 20 BCE.

It is following this last renovation

Which Jesus visited the Temple

And drove out the money changers and merchants from the outer courts

With whips of chords.

“Take these things out of here!

Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

Jesus commanded with zealous consummation.

(John 2:16b)

Where does God dwell?

In the time of Jesus,

It was believed that God abided

Literally in the very Temple

He just cleared.

Jesus answered their criticism with

“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

(John 2:19)

Let’s be clear,

The entire Temple system was held together by a thread.

Organized Judaism resorted to

Taxes, tithes, extortion, and fund raisers

for their very existence.

Selling livestock and changing money were necessary for survival.

And Jesus tells them by words and actions to

Shut it down.

Shut it down?

Where would the Shekinah go?

Where would the Divine presence of God abide?

“That’s just crazy talk, Jesus.

Get hold of yourself, and stay out of our business,”

This was the response Jesus received from religious leaders.

Jesus is asking

Is the Temple necessary?

His table turning disruption answered the question:

Not anymore.

…

The Gospel today begs the fundamental question of God’s location:

Where does God abide?

Where does God abide?

This was the question of the Samaritan woman

When she asked Jesus about worship.

(John 4:19-24)

Should we worship at Mt. Gerizim or Jerusalem?

“Neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

… true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”

When the blind man sees who Jesus is, he worships him.

(John 9:35-38).

He doesn’t direct his worship to the Holy of Holies.

He worships Jesus.

His blindness, both physical and spiritual, is gone.

The man born blind can now see that

Jesus himself is the presence of God.

John confirms the dwelling place of God

In his opening monologue,

“It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (John 1:18)

At the center of Jesus cleansing the Temple is this fundamental question:

Where does God abide?

Jesus proclaimed: the Temple is his body.

The Shekinah has left the Holy of Holies

And resides within his body.

The Body of Christ is the dwelling place of the Divine Presence.

Let that sink in for a moment.

The Body of Christ is the dwelling place of God.

In the post Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension narrative of the New Testament,

The Body of Christ takes on new meaning.

The Body becomes all of Christ’s followers,

All Christ’s disciples,

The localized and globalized community of faith

Baptized and known as Christians

Who follow Jesus as the Son of God.

…

This review of Hebrew and New Testament scripture

Is a wonderful tour academic,

But how does this impact you and me today?

1. God moved into our neighborhood

When we became a member of the Body of Christ.

Peterson, in The Message, uses this phrase,

And I like it a lot:

God moved into our neighborhood.

God has never been so approachable

Or as intimate

As God is Right this very moment.

God is with you and is in you.

“Those who love me will keep my word,

and my Father will love them,

and we will come to them and make our home with them,”

Jesus promises.

(John 14:23)

You and I have become the vessel for Shekinah,

The dwelling of God.

2. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them,”

Jesus teaches.    

(Matthew 18:20)

Love it or hate it.

God dwells in the local church.

We all love those mountain top experiences in worship

When we experience the presence of God.

But how about those experiences

Of conflict and disagreement?

God is here –

For God dwells with us and is in us.

Take the log out of your own eye,

God is able to help you.

Take your complaint directly to the other,

And if that doesn’t work,

Take another witness with you.

If that doesn’t work,

Go before the elders.

Know that God is here to help work it out.

How about when the local church is part of a denomination

With which you or I might disagree?

Yes, God dwells even here.

God dwells

At district and conference gatherings,

At youth and mission events.

God dwells

At conferences that threaten to divide

And at gatherings meant to revive the Holy Spirit.

Shekinah is in the Body of Christ.

3. Once God dwells in you or me,

The presence of God is always with us.

You and I become the Holy of Holies in the world today.

God dwells in us

And therefore,

God goes where we go

And does what we do.

The world of non-believers and non-followers of Jesus

Comes to God through the Body of Christ.

They experience God through us.

So watch what you say,

Because it reflects upon the God within.

Don’t swear.

Tell the truth.

Speak positively about one another.

Build up one another.

Follow through on your word.

Pay attention to what you do.

Live a transparent life.

Love the Lord and love your neighbors.

When you sin, apologize, seek forgiveness, and strive for repentance.

Reach out and lift up those who are in need,

Both here at home, and to those half a world away.

God doesn’t recognize borders,

and neither should Christians.

If we are the only God non-Christians experience,

Then we better be leading with our A game.

As we go forth today,

The Gospel question for you and I to ponder is this:

Are we living responsibly

As vessels of God,

As God’s dwelling place?

Shekinah is within.

Let’s work individually and collectively

To share God with the world,

That God might nest in the lives of our neighbors, too.

Amen.

(This theme is inspired by the excellent commentary of Karoline Lewis, Associate Professor of Preaching, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, as found at working preacher dot org)