My Pastor gave an awesome sermon last week

“Beautiful Law”

John 2:13-22

Psalm 19

A sermon given at Hope United Church of Christ

Bill Ragan, pastor, 3/15/09



Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be blessed and made holy by you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

So, we are still at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This Thursday marks the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and the beginning of that war. The war in Afghanistan began almost two years earlier.

We have forcefully exerted ourselves as the world’s one great superpower, but have we been fighting for justice or for our own self-centered interests of security? Have we been guided by God’s beautiful law or have we been ruling ourselves?

In our gospel reading for today, Jesus fought against the same kinds of injustice that continue in our world, in the regime of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, and in our communities today. Jesus saw the children of God, the pilgrims — many of whom had probably gone into debt in order to finance their journey to Jerusalem — he saw these folks being mistreated by the scribes and other Temple authorities who were living comfortably off of the business of the Temple. The whole system of sacrificial animal offerings and the centrality of the Temple had come to be an oppressive, abusive system. The Temple authorities had become so preoccupied with the minor laws and rituals which served them best, that they had all but forgotten the Ten Commandments. They were living a lie and misleading the people of Israel who looked to them for the forgiveness, wisdom, and guidance of God. Jesus saw this injustice, and he immediately, forcefully, and angrily responded to it.

Who are the Temple authorities for us today? Fortunately, for me, its not the clergy anymore. We just don’t have the power and authority that the Temple priests had in Jesus’ day. I would like to think that the reason we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is because we are like Jesus, responding to an oppressive, abusive regime. I would like to equate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the Taliban with the money-changers, and justify war that way.

But I have my doubts. You see, in this example from the gospel, Jesus and his followers did not have worldly authority and power like our leader and country does. Jesus was just another Jew in the eyes of the authorities. We, the voting public and participants in this democracy, are more like the Temple authorities than like Jesus.

Over the past eight years, our country has entertained the terribly dangerous combination of religion and state that we deplore in Iraq and Afghanistan — that abuse which Jesus so forcefully opposed two millennia ago in Jerusalem. These wars have perversely been portrayed as a conflict between the Christian right and the Islamic wrong. But the differences are not that great between these two great religions. We worship the same God; we share the same ancestors in faith — all the way back to Abraham; we even share a great reverence for Jesus. We are well on our way to becoming just like those we are fighting, and we are looking more and more like the Temple authorities of Jesus’ day.

What can we do to change it? We can start by embracing and following God’s beautiful law as the writer of the Psalm sings to us today. We can take God’s love of justice into our heart and soul and let God correct our selfish, fearful, self-centered ways.

God calls us to follow Jesus in challenging oppressive systems, but we don’t have to go halfway around the world to find them. We can best be world leaders and a superpower that is a light on a hill by changing our own ways. Jesus is, right here and now, turning over the money-changers’ tables in our own temple of consumerism, media obsession, Darwinian capitalism, and military chauvinism. We can show true leadership in the world not by continuing these wars until we can somehow claim victory, but by listening to God’s angry voice, humbly admitting where we as a country have been unjust, and doing what we can to close the gap between rich and poor, provide equitable education for all children, and build a world community based not on violence, but on justice and compassion.

But alas, we are still at war. God have mercy on us! God is warning us to change our ways. Will we turn our desires away from the futile pursuit of running the world and securing a false sense of security for ourselves and turn towards God’s beautiful law which is sweeter than honey? Do we desire God’s love and justice more than the gold, even the fine gold of economic security? Will we continue to fight these wars or will we let God make the words of the mouth, and the meditation of the heart of this country acceptable to God, our rock and our redeemer?

of wisdom,but where are our wise men,we need love and truth to combat the evil in our own land.Thanks for posting and God bless you and your wise pastor.

How wonderful that you have an understanding, humble pastor with the ability to communicate our role in present day madness.
Thank you.

The best book of the Trilogy IMO is "Engaging the Powers". Jesus did not seek to start a new religion but to start a non-violent resistance movement.

spokesmen of faith are supposed to be doing.

We've been talking a lot about domination systems, too. A very good way to look at things - and particularly at Jesus' mission in those last days. A non-violent insurrectionist, looking to overthrow the bonds of domination - whether the temple leaders, the Romans, the wealthy, or whatever keeps some people subjugated toward others. A scary thought to anyone comfortable with the status quo, as too much of our history attests.