“What Does It Mean to be the Church of Jesus?”
John 2:13-22
Recently I read an article in Christianity Today entitled “Boring Church Services Changed My Life.”
The author writes that there was never a day in his life when he wasn’t going to church.
His parents were both heavily involved in the church.
He writes that he believes more than ever that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is what saves you…
…but he adds, “I also believe that in some ways church does—or did—save me.
It didn’t save me in the ways you might expect: a spectacular Sunday service, a homerun sermon, or a gripping worship set.
God’s primary tool to transform my heart was not the conference speaker or the travelling revivalist or the worship concert.
Those events were important, but now I realize that, more often, God changed my life using routine worship services in which I sang hymns I didn’t quite understand and heard messages I didn’t quite grasp.
Now, in dark and stormy seasons, what comes into my head first?
The lines of hymns I learned as a child in church.
The verses I memorized on Wednesday nights.
The passages of Scripture we stood and read aloud.
During times of fear and anxiety, I drift back those words of hope.”
Now, the author is a pastor himself and he finishes the article by writing: “When I think back on the simple routines—the liturgies—that changed my life, I’m encouraged in my own pastoral role.
I’m reminded afresh that the work of ministry is not so much about finding new, tantalizing ways to make people excited about Jesus, but about the timeless rituals that shape their hearts.
Because somewhere in your congregation are children singing words they don’t know, listening to Scripture they don’t understand, and fighting sleep during a sermon that doesn’t hold their interest.
They don’t realize it yet, but the Spirit of God is pressing the gospel message, through yet another “boring” church service, deep within their hearts.”
Does that not convict your heart to get out there and try and get as many troubled kids in church as possible?
How many children live in the homes surrounding this church, and are in bed or watching television or looking at their phones right this minute?
How many of them are not even aware of what goes on in a church?
How many do not know that Jesus loves them; there is a God; they are of sacred worth, and there are people who care about them?
There are tons of them, I’m afraid.
What can we do to bring them in, if not their parents, at least them?
I think this is our only hope, and their only hope as well.
If Nicholas Cruz or Adam Lanza or Dylan Klebod or any number of the other kids who have shot up our schools over the past two decades had been brought up in a loving church, how many children would be alive today?
Now I’m not trying to say that churches are perfect.
They are not.
Churches hurt people.
Churches have a lot of problems.
After-all, churches are made up of people.
That’s why the Church of Jesus Christ needs to be honest and sincere in its quest to find out what it means to TRULY BE the Church of Jesus.
I love the church.
And Jesus loved the Temple.
And He refused to allow the Temple to be anything other than a place where people find God.
When Jesus entered the Temple in our Gospel Lesson for this morning He found very little in the way of love for God and neighbor.
Instead, it looked and sounded like an open-air market.
The cattle were mooing, the sheep were bleating, the turtledoves were cooing, people were yelling, and coins were clanging.
These things had to happen in order for the Temple to function, but it had become almost entirely corrupt.
The Temple Tax had to be paid in Temple coinage, so money changers were a necessary part of what was happening.
Problem was, they were not giving people a fair exchange—they were ripping people off.
Also, the people coming to the Temple either brought their own animals for the sacrifice or they could buy an animal from the Temple.
God had set this system up in order to aide those who traveled a long distance.
It wasn’t supposed to be about making money.
In any event, what had happened was that since sacrificial animals had to be without blemish…
…even if folks had bought animals outside the Temple and brought them in—the animals had to pass inspection.
Due to the corrupt system, hardly any animals passed.
So, just about everyone had to buy an animal from the Temple at outrageous prices.
The Temple had become corrupt.
Greedy people were making money hand over fist at the expense of God’s agenda which is helping the poor, reaching out to the “least of these,” practicing social and economic justice, and worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth.
So Jesus drove all this mess from the Temple area, and He said: “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
Because of this, the pilgrims couldn’t celebrate Passover properly and the Temple lost a lot of revenue that day.
We could easily point fingers at the churches that preach the “prosperity Gospel” and seem focused on money, money, money—thus, getting the pastors rich--as modern day analogies of what made Jesus so mad at the Temple.
But we all get things wrong one way or another, do we not?
There’s not much point in bashing other churches, we need to just focus on ourselves.
What can we do better?
Where do we fall short?
In any event, it should come as no surprise that the religious leaders question Jesus about His brazen attack on the Temple.
They demand of Him: “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
And Jesus answers: “See this temple? Destroy it. I can rebuild it in three days!”
They take Jesus literally, and it enrages them.
And they remember it.
Matthew and Mark tell us that this is the only specific charge they bring against Jesus at His trial; and of course, it is thrown back in His face by His tormentors as He dies on the Cross.
But Jesus is not talking about the physical Temple; He is talking about His body.
His enemies will seek to destroy Him.
They will think the deed is done.
And for an instant, the shadow of the Cross will seem to have won.
But this will not be the end, for Jesus will rise from the dead.
And the Jewish Man crucified outside of Jerusalem will be raised to stand forever—replacing the Temple.
People will try and destroy Him; and they still do, but ultimately all those efforts are in vain.
Particular churches may come and go.
And at times it may seem like the Church of Jesus Christ is sunk!
We have so many buildings—huge structures which were once filled—but are now nearly empty.
Almost every church across every denomination is in rapid decline.
On any given Sunday there are many, many more children out playing in their front yards or sitting in front of the computer rather than sitting in church.
And there are many more parents who are sleeping off a hang-over or working or playing rather than bringing their kids to worship and learn about God.
We live in a culture that no longer values the church.
We live in a very secular time.
But this is not a reason to give up.
This is a reason to get busy!!!
For where will these people turn when the going gets rough and things get dark?
Will they grab a gun and kill somebody?
Will they turn to alcohol or drugs?
What other options will they know of?
This is a reason to learn what it means to be the Church of Jesus and then do it well and with integrity—live it—be it!!!
For the Church of Jesus Christ is the only hope for this world!!!
The late Fred Craddock told a story about visiting his father who was dying of throat cancer in a hospital in Nashville.
When he got there his dad was taking a nap, and so he started looking at the flowers, the cards from Sunday school classes, church circles, the Youth Group, the Choir—just about every group you can think of in a church had remembered his daddy.
Fred said that the remarkable thing was that his dad didn’t go to church.
His mom was active in the church, but his dad saw no need for it.
Fred said that when his dad woke up he smiled and reached out his hand, because he could no longer speak.
After a while his dad took out a pencil and wrote the following on the back of a Kleenex Box: “I was wrong about the church.”
(pause)
Jesus gave His life in order to save people through the Church.
You are the church!!!
And a good one at that; a really good one.
As we prepare to go to Holy Communion, I’d like to share just a few more words from that article I read in Christianity today…
… The author writes: “Week after week, as a young child enduring the routines of our church, I didn’t realize what was happening to me.
This repetition built in my heart a deep reservoir of theology.
And now, as a husband and father and pastor, whenever I stand and sing the hymns, I can barely contain myself.
At times I cannot sing; I can only weep.
Some choruses evoke memories: My father serves communion while ‘Jesus Keep Me near the Cross’ plays faintly in the background.
Dad fights back tears as we sing ‘Jesus Paid It All.’
These rituals train our hearts.
We sing to ourselves songs, hymns, and spiritual songs.
We hear the same gospel preached to us, over and over again.
We lift the cup to our lips and the bread to our tongues remembering, again, our place at the King’s table.
Through these practices, God takes our hearts and seals them for his courts above.”
Who is missing from the Church of Jesus Christ this morning?
Do we know how important it is that they be here—that we be here?
What are we going to do about it?
