March 3rd, 2024

PRAYER: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that you have inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation, and that you will empower our application. Amen

SERMON: This week we begin a three week journey through the Gospel of John. This week and the next two weeks our Gospel readings will all come from John. You will notice a change in the tenor and the approach in John's writing. Mark was writing to folks who were Gentiles - Christian converts and Roman believers. While John was writing to Jews, Hellenists, and  Samaritans which leads to the conclusion that the Fourth Gospel was written with both evangelistic and didactic aims. There are thematic and cultural differences which are helpful to identify. 

Last week, with Mark,  we explored the concept of why it is important that we should accept that Jesus was and is the Messiah. That we need to examine what we understand about the Messiah. 

We talked about dealing with suffering, rejection and death as part of the role of the Messiah. How for generations the people of Israel, the Hebrews, had been holding on to and encouraging each other with the concept of the conquering hero Messiah. The people were hoping for their circumstances to be changed by the Messiah. They were looking for the reestablishment of the Kingdom of Israel with all its glory.
 
Instead Jesus was talking about suffering, rejection and death and how that would have brought the idea of Jesus being the Messiah into question. We talked about why people would have had to look at their expectations, their hopes, their longings, and their desires and when they heard Jesus talk this way. That this kind of talk was the reason some people chose to turn and walk away.

I admitted that I have at times wondered about this teaching and what it means for me as I seek to follow Jesus. Then I also raised the question of what the Messiah coming again means for me now. I have to ask: "What am I looking for? What am I hoping for? What am I longing for? What do I desire to see in the Messiah when he comes again?"

This week in the reading from John's Gospel there is in stark contrast to the reading from Mark last week and the week before. Here in John we see Jesus acting like the Messiah the disciples and the crowds were actually expecting. Here, Jesus steps up, and acts in a way that many people probably expected that the Messiah would act.

But he does it in a place most people don't expect him to do it. The Temple. The Temple courtyards had become a place of exchange. They had become a place where it was acceptable to negotiate and barter to achieve "the right kind of offering" to make in the temple. Here in the courtyards you could find a way to be acceptable to the temple authorities. So that you could go through the religious practice necessary and walk away feeling satisfied with the end result.
 
Jesus confronts these practices. He in fact throws the vendors out and proclaims their actions as "blasphemous." He condemns those who not only do them, but also those who have allowed these practices to become acceptable.

And what is the reaction to his actions. The people respond by questioning his actions, they even go as far as to question his right to do it. "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 

It is almost as though Jesus is now being questioned and condemned for acting the way that the people seemed to indicate they wanted him to. To use my own words to interpret this situation: "Hey Jesus we want you to act like the Messiah, begin a revolt, challenge the authorities, and give us someone we can follow. But wait not that way, or with that situation." 

Again I find myself asking myself: "what do I expect from the Messiah." Or perhaps while I am waiting for the Messiah, what do I expect from the Holy Spirit as he is active in my life and my world. I sometimes think I call on the Lord, the Holy Spirit to act and to be active in my life. Then I find myself saying "Whoa, just a minute I wanted you to do something, but that wasn't what I expected you to do."
 
How am I expecting the Lord to respond to my prayers and petitions? What do I want to see happen in my life and in the lives of other people around me? How do I then respond to what the Lord chooses to do?

Lent is a good time to pause and consider some of these questions. To stop and think about how I understand the Messiah. To examine my current responses and reactions to Jesus.

The passage from John this morning takes an interesting twist after the people ask Jesus for proof that he has the authority to do what he has done.

Jesus doesn't answer them directly. In fact he begins what seems to be another conversation altogether. He points to himself as the temple. To understand what he is saying we need to be willing to accept his new interpretation of his body as the dwelling place of God. The Temple had been built as a place where God's presence was acknowledged and sacrifices were made on behalf of the people. Jesus takes that imagery and creates a whole new interpretation. He becomes the temple. He predicts that his body will be sacrificed on behalf of the people. But that is not the end; he is raised from the dead three days later and supersedes the role of the Temple in the lives of the people.
 
It is interesting that John writes: "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."

John creates a moment of emphasis with this glimpse into the future. The disciples will remember these words and they will believe the Old Testament scripture prediction of the Messiah, but they also remember the words Jesus speaks to them here in this place at this time.

So as I end this morning I want to encourage us all to think about how we react when we don't see and hear the Messiah acting the way we want or expect him to?
Perhaps there have been times in the past when we have asked for or expected the Lord to respond to our need or to our prayers and he didn't appear to do what we asked for or expected. Is there a chance this has become a block to our believing and trusting in him now?

May the Lord bless us in our understanding of what he is doing and how he is moving in our lives.

I would like to end this morning with

A Collect for Guidance from The Book of Common Prayer
Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.