Cleansing the Temple…

While stationed in England with the Air Force (1994-1997 and 2005-2008) I was able to see many beautiful cathedrals and churches that were hundreds of years old.  In some of the cathedrals, statues had been literally defaced by Puritans during the time of Cromwell’s Interregnum (1640-1660).  Stained glass windows were also destroyed by zealous Puritans who felt that these images were idolatrous.  Sadly, this wasn’t the first time that desecration had happened to sacred spaces in England, Scotland and Wales.  During the time of the Reformation, under orders of King Henry VIII, forces loyal to the Protestant cause sacked Cathedrals, Abbeys, and Monastic communities in the mid 1530’s.

The ruins of the Abbey at Bury St Edmunds (above) stand as a mute witness to that action.  These ruins stand as a testament to “man’s inhumanity towards man”.  Sad is the fact that it was at St Edmundsbury Abbey that King John met with dissatisfied earls and barons three centuries earlier in 1214.  The results of that meeting would be sealed at Runnymede the next year when the Magna Carta was signed and much of the King’s power was stripped away from him.  Another King, Henry VIII, with a lust for power and wealth ordered the sacking of monasteries and abbeys during the mid 1530’s using the Reformation as the reason for “cleaning up the corrupt houses of religion”.   While visiting St Andrews, Scotland (not to play golf, mind you… they wouldn’t let my sorry game anywhere near the links, trust me!), I heard a rendition of a sermon that John Knox preached against idolatry and the church.  His sermon was so fiery in 1559 that the crowds sacked religious houses in Perth.  I had read somewhere that he regretted the actions of the crowd. Now I am not saying that the system wasn’t corrupt and the glitter of gold was more tempting to the religious authorities than the glitter of the Gospel which called them to serve the least of these.  However, was the carnage and destruction necessary?  In a word… NO!

I think about these ruins and the lives lost as I reflect on this Sunday’s Gospel reading from John.  In John 2:13-22, we read how Jesus, “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.” (John 2:15)  Jesus was furious!  What had been initially structured as a sacrificial system under the Law had turned into a gross abuse of the people, especially the poor.  While the sacrificial system itself was not the focus of Jesus’ wrath, the system had been developed into a cash cow for many, including the Temple insiders.

You see, when people came from all over the land to offer sacrifices at the Temple, it wasn’t easy to bring your sacrifice with you.  For one thing, traveling would make it difficult to keep the animals in decent shape and alive.  Plus, the offerings had to be without blemish and you wouldn’t want to travel all the way to Jerusalem only to be turned away because your sacrifice wasn’t ritually pure.  So in steps the religious authorities with the idea of providing “approved and pure sacrifices” from an “approved source”.  However, not any old common cash would work there.  You had to have the Tyrian Shekel which was the “approved coinage” for the transactions.

So it is easy to see where the corruption comes in.  Remember how tax collectors like Zacchaeus defrauded their own fellow citizens?  Yes, the same thing was happening in the Temple.  The people who had no choice but to buy “Temple approved” sacrificial animals.  And they had no choice but to exchange their hard earned cash for “Temple approved” coinage before buying “Temple approved” sacrificial animals.  It sort of reminds me of the Loan Sharks who set up shop right outside of military installations and prey on the cash strapped young military members and their families.

The Law had become corrupted by the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and he was furious.  As he walked daily among the poor and the destitute, the lepers and the lame, the blind and the hopeless; he saw both the reality of their situation and the reality of the lack of action by God’s servants on their behalf.  The Law, which was a covenant between God and God’s people, had been turned into an impossible maze of rituals and rules that no ordinary person had a hope in heaven or hell of keeping!  Something had to be done to restore the true covenant between God and God’s children which called on them to Love God and Love Neighbor.  Yes, Jesus did make quite a splash with the whole whip of cords, overturned tables, and driving out of the animals.  Whether it was at the start of his ministry as John has the story placed, or at the end of his ministry after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover on what we call Palm Sunday as the other Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) place it; the actions of Jesus caught the attention of the religious authorities.

So how does this impact us today?  Are we called to sack cathedrals and burn or hang people in the streets because they disagree with us as was done in the Reformation?  No, that is NOT what the impact is supposed to be on us today.  I believe this story from the life of our Lord calls us to inwardly examine our own interior temple and ask the Lord to cleanse and renew us.  During the Lenten season, we are called as a body of believers to do some spiritual introspection and “housecleaning” in our own lives.  I do believe that the church and believers needs to do this today.  Perhaps refocus our actions and our thinking on the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets?  You know… Love God with all you are, heart, soul, mind, body, and strength… and Love your neighbor as yourself…

Lord help us to cleanse the temple of our own lives that we might be witnesses to your love, justice and mercy for all people.