Every so often, as you drive around the various neighborhoods in these parts, you will notice the presence of dumpsters. Sometimes they are there to collect the waste from construction; sometimes reconstruction; but other times, the dumpster seems to be just for junk.
I find this last kind of dumpster to be the most interesting; even exciting. I’ve often imagined how great it would be to just have a big old dumpster in my driveway for awhile. Oh, the things I could throw in there! There’s the tricycle that was run over by a car, the old bed frames and the old couch. You know what I mean? Of course you do, because you’ve been thinking about dumpsters too. You may have even been longing for a dumpster. While garage sales perform virtually the same function, somehow a dumpster is just so much more gratifying. You heave it, you hear a crash, and the junk is out of your life.
If you ever have the opportunity to have a dumpster, you’ll find yourself getting carried away with what might be called “dumpster fever”. You’ll fill it 2/3s of the way, and then you’ll start walking around the house looking for something, anything that you can throw away to fill it up. Your wife’s precious moments collection? No, better not. That 50 year old Evinrude that your husband loves but hasn’t worked on for 5 years and is dripping grease from it’s lower housing all over your garage floor. Nope. Better not. If you’re not careful, you can end up tossing everything in there!
And why is that? Because our houses have a tendency to get cluttered. And sometimes, we get to the point where we just want to reclaim the space we once had so that we’ll have a place to live. After all, that’s what houses are for: they were not meant to be waste collection facilities; they were meant to be place to live.
Of course, you might not agree with what I say, you might actually like your junk and would hesitate to throw any of it away. And that’s okay. The dumpster thing is just an illustration. An illustration meant to evoke the feeling of being cleansed and set free. I’m sure you can imagine a situation in which you feel that way.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus was all about the business of cleansing the temple. In this text we find that Jesus and His disciples went into Jerusalem for the Passover. People from all over were coming in to Jerusalem to worship and offer sacrifices. And since many were not able to bring their own animals for sacrifice, they chose to buy animals in Jerusalem. In addition, they also had to have their money changed into the local currency so they could pay the temple tax, which went to support the upkeep of the temple. And everything was pretty much on the up and up with these customs. So far so good.
So during passover, there was an abundance of people who sold animals, and people who changed money which were much needed services. But by Jesus’ time, they had become corrupt. While they still provided a service they were ripping people off, taking advantage of the visitors. Not only that, they had actually moved their businesses into the courtyards of the temple! The temple took on an almost State Fair appearance; complete with advertising vendors and stinky display barns. Under these circumstances it became difficult, if not impossible for anyone to think about worship and their relationship with God. They were too busy keeping a tight grip on their coin purses and their noses.
It is no wonder that the sight of this greatly disturbed Jesus. He quickly made a whip out of cords and drove out the animals and the animal vendors. He overturned the tables of the money changers, scattering their coins. And to those who were selling doves he said, "get these out here! How dare you turn my father’s house into a market." The temple was the place where people would go to worship, to pray. The temple was the place where God had promised to meet and remain with his people. And Jesus was so very concerned that people be able to have this real worship, that he had absolutely no patience for anyone or anything that would prevent it. And these moneychangers and animal salesmen were doing just that, so they had to go.
So how does this apply to us today since there is no more temple? Besides the fact that it was leveled in about 70AD, with the completion of Jesus mission on earth, it would no longer be necessary. In the former days God dwelt among his people in the temple, but with the coming of Jesus, it is no longer through the temple that we approach God. It is through Jesus that we pray, through Jesus that we receive forgiveness and atonement.
So where is God’s house in our time? Some would suggest that it is church buildings; that church buildings are the modern version of the temple. Not so. In truth the temple of today, the place wherein God dwells, is you and me. ICorinthians 3:16 "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?" And in another place in scripture it says "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?" and still another place in scripture. "We are the temple of the Living God."
So you yourselves are God’s temple. Pretty cool wouldn’t you say? But of course, that leads us to a question: What kind of stuff do you have in the temple? What kind of stuff have you packed away in there? Is there some junk in there? Is there some junk in your life that prevents you from really living with him? You are meant to be the house of God. Have you become a house for something else? I’m referring to sinful attitudes and behaviors.
Think hard now. Are there things in your life that now hinder your relationship with the Lord? Are you being honest in day to day business? Or have you been dishonest? Have you been sexually pure and decent? Are you having sex outside of marriage? Are you messing with pornography? And you children, do you honor your father and Mother? Or do you dishonor them with an air of superiority; thinking they are stupid and you are smart? And you who bear the grudge, you who focus the energies and direction of your life on that one person who did or said the wrong thing to you. Is that what your temple has become? A sanctuary for bad thoughts against others? And you who whine and see your life as a series of regrettable calamities; incapable now of seeing all the blessings you actually have. Do you realize who you are whining against? Ultimately its against God.
You need a dumpster for your life my friend! If you want to truly live your life, if you want to live it with the Lord, this junk in your life has got to go. His temple, your body, your life, has got to be cleansed!
But you say, “Wait a minute, I saw how Jesus cleansed the original temple, he made quite a ruckus. He was quite angry actually. Never seen him so angry as this. He actually made a whip and started thrashing away. Is he now going bring that same anger at me? I just don’t think I could bear that!” But hold on, you’re forgetting something. Remember, you are the temple! Jesus wasn’t angry at the temple! He didn’t go and whip the walls of the temple! He was angry at the unsavory characters who had taken up residence in the temple. He was angry at all the junk that was preventing people from using the temple for what it was meant to be used. He’s angry at all the junk, the sinful attitudes and behaviors that might be preventing you from being in fellowship with the Lord. He doesn’t want to punish you. He wants to help you. He wants to give you release. He wants you to be free from all the junk that has gathered in you.
And this can happen by the cleansing power of Jesus. But you say, “well, my sinful attitudes and behaviors are part of me...I have been the willing accomplice to the havoc they have raised in my house....so I really am guilty and I should be punished” It is true, you have been a willing accomplice. You yourself have collected and gathered this junk. But that is the brilliance and love of our Lord. In loving brilliance, he made a way to keep and redeem the man or the woman while getting rid of the junk. You don’t burn your house down just because its filled with junk, you get rid of the junk and redeem the house.
What you’re feeling is guilt over your sins. Rest assured, your guilt has been answered. Answered by your loving Savior who was whipped, stripped, beaten and crucified for the guilt of your sins. When he went to the cross, he was carrying the refuse of our lives so that we could become God’s holy habitation; his temple. And don’t start feeling guilty because someone did so much for you. Jesus will have none of that! Accept the fact that someone in heaven loves you with a pure and unadulterated love. A love that is free from self-interest and is expressed in self-sacrifice. Through the prophets, even before he was born, Jesus said, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” This is Jesus. He was zealous for you and me. So zealous that he was willing to be consumed in redeeming us.
So don’t be afraid of the cleansing that Jesus would like to do in your life. It’s really something that is very exciting; even exhilarating. It’s like having a dumpster outside your house. It’s a wonderful opportunity to clean up your house and actually live for a change. You can live with the Lord! You can live more simply. You can live more lightly. You can live in freedom and without guilt; and with no small amount of joy.
And here’s what really cool. The Lord wants you to have the joy of helping in this. Ephesians 4:22-24, the apostle writes: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Do you get it? You get to actually take part in giving things the old heave ho. You get to take your sinful behaviors and attitudes, lift them up and over. You get to hear that gratifying crash of the junk of your life as you throw it out and start anew! Ah, dumpsters, you gotta love em! AMEN
