Homily Lent 3B: Is nothing sacred anymore?

Homily for 3rd Sunday of Lent Year B 2018 

Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25 

Introduction 

"Is nothing sacred anymore?" That's what we say, when a person says or does something outrageous, something unbecoming, something that crosses the line. 

Scripture and Theology 

But while we use this phrase metaphorically, when Jesus entered the temple and found money changers and people selling "oxen, sheep, and doves," he literally thought: "is nothing sacred anymore?"  Picture in our own Church here, an ATM machine on one side and a coffee dispenser on the other.  That was the kind of spectacle that Jesus found in the temple. 

But what is wrong, one might ask?  After all weren't these traders and bankers providing an important service to the worshipers at the temple? 

We know that many Jews traveled from very far to come to Jerusalem.  Think about Joseph and Mary who had to travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem.  Surely they could not drag along with them a sheep or an ox for sacrifice for 100 miles on foot.  Besides, the animals for sacrifice had to be without blemish or else the priests would reject them as being unfit for sacrifice.  So the safe thing to do was to buy an animal from the temple precincts, from the “approved” merchants whose stock was certainly "kosher" and acceptable. 

As for the money changers, they too served those pilgrims who brought money for alms and donations for the temple.  Again pilgrims came from the whole world with foreign currency, especially Roman currency.  But this money usually had an icon of their pagan rulers, just like our dollar bills do.  So, since this currency bore those pagan images, it was not acceptable in the temple.  The money changers exchanged this unacceptable money for acceptable Jewish coins, again providing an important service for worshippers. 

And yet despite their great service Jesus was so angry that "He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables . . ."?  And as for "those who sold doves he said, 'Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace.'"  In fact this is one of the very rare occasions when Jesus is visibly angry in the gospels.  Why? 

Some might think that what ticked Jesus off was the mess of a meat market and the chaos a stock exchange. 

• You can imagine the annoying bellowing of the oxen, the bleating of sheep and the aggravating tedious bird noises, to say nothing about the awful smell that the animal waste must have left behind. 
• You can also imagine the mess caused by large numbers of people trying to get change from the bankers.  If you have ever gone shopping on Black Friday, you can certainly imagine the spectacle. 

But it is not this disorder and pandemonium that upsets Jesus; he could have put up with it. What upsets Jesus is much more profound; the temple, a sacred place, had been turned into an ordinary place.  Yes, these activities of trade and money-changing are good things, but they must done outside the temple of the Lord.  They must not rob the temple of its status as a place set apart for worshiping God.  Jesus rightly asks: "Is nothing sacred anymore?"  Jesus rightly tries to restore the sacredness of worship. 

Christian Life 

That we must set apart some things as sacred, is something we value as human beings, even apart from religion.  Growing up as a child, I was taught that certain things were reserved, were special.  For example, on Sunday we wore special clothes, our Sunday best and then put them away for the rest of the week.  Also, dad's chair was reserved only for dad or mom or another adult; we children could not dare sit on that chair, unless we begging for a smacking.  And as for mom and dad's bedroom, that was out of bounds, unless we were invited there.  And by being taught to treat these things as set apart, these places as sacred, we grew to have respect not only for our parents and elders, but respect as such. 

And when I became an altar server, the priests at my parish continued to teach us to respect God's house, to respect the liturgy.  I remember Father Fred, this tall and burly no-nonsense priest pulling aside one morning and giving me a stern talking-to.  And what was my big crime?  Instead of going to the sacristy via the usual longer route, I cut through the sanctuary like I owned the place.  I have taken many classes since in liturgy; but that was truly my first lesson. 

What Father Fred taught me, and what the Church continues to do, by setting apart some things for God is simply a fulfilment of God's own wishes.  In today's first reading we heard him say: "I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God."  You can see what he means in the Ten commandments given to Moses, the first three of which, are really asking us to set apart some things for God. 

1. "You shall not have other gods besides me." 

2. "You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain." 

3. "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day." 

God is asking that he is treated specially, and so his  name and day. 

We honor these commandments first of all by the way we treat the house of God and by the way we celebrate the liturgy. 

• Consider our church buildings; they are adorned and decorated differently from our living rooms, from our offices, from conference halls; they are adorned with images of Jesus, Mary and the saints, rather than our worldly heroes, with altars and pews, instead of tables and chairs, a tabernacle instead of a cabinet, in such a way as to remind us about God's presence. 
• Consider the solemnity and seriousness with which we carry out our liturgy: the silence, the sacred rituals, the sacred Word.  That is why, for example, we don't read anything other than the word of God at Mass; not even at funerals or weddings do we read our favourite poems or sing our favourite pop songs, because the liturgy is sacred, set apart for God.  A few years ago a parishioner at one parish asked me why I did not tell jokes at Mass like their pastor; my answer was I did not because the Mass was not a comedy show, and moreover, I am not that funny. 

But observing the sacredness of the Lord's House, the Lord's Day, the Lord's name, the Lord's Supper, is not an end in itself; it is a means to something greater.  Just like my parent's lessons in sacredness were really a lesson in respect, so our observing of sacredness is really a lesson in holiness, a symbol of setting ourselves apart from sin, setting ourselves apart for God. 

For when we obey the commandments of God, even the other six commandments, we are in fact observing a certain sacredness: 

• "Honor your father and your mother," because motherhood and fatherhood are sacred roles given by God to raise up humanity. 
• "You shall not kill," because all life is sacred, from natural conception to natural death. 
• "You shall not commit adultery," because sexuality and covenant of marriage are sacred gifts from God. 
• "You shall not steal," because even private property is sacred. 
• "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor," because speech is the sacred vessel of truth. 
• "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, [nor his property]," once again because what belongs to others is sacred. 

Conclusion 

What can we take from today's Scripture Readings? 

• That our God is a jealous God, who demands that some things are reserved just for him, you know being God and creator and all.  We must give him glory, honour and praise, especially his name. 
• That Jesus the Son gets really mad when we don't give the Father his due, especially his House. 

These lessons should be cautionary tales for us, especially during this Lenten season, inspiring us to bring back sacredness to the Church, the Lord's house, to the Sabbath, the Lord's Day, and also into our homes and our lives.  For when we translate this sacredness into our lives, we set ourselves apart from sin, set ourselves for God in holiness. 

And so when the Lord looks done on us from heaven he will not wonder: "Is nothing sacred anymore?  Rather he will see us giving due honour and glory to the Lord's Name, the Lord's House, the Lord's Day, and most of all to ourselves the Lord's People, the Temple of the Lord, a people he has set apart as his own, so that we might be holy and he is Holy, sacred and he is sacred.