|
|
|
Sunday March 15, 2009 "Sacred Space" John 2: 13-22 |
 |
|
Location: Blogs Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 3/17/2009 9:55 AM | In the Galilean countryside, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee is a place called “The Primacy of Peter.” Tradition says that this is the place where the resurrected Jesus called to his disciples from the beach, instructed them where to throw their nets for the biggest catch possible, and then, made breakfast for them at daybreak.
Today there is a pretty little chapel very near the beach. Up a small path sit several small outdoor worship areas, places where pilgrims can share communion and feel the presence of Jesus. Mounted on a rock about half way between the chapel and the beach is a simple sign, “This is holy ground.”
When I stood in front of that sign almost 2 years ago, I thought to myself, “Of course it is.”
Just what makes a place “holy” or “sacred?” It’s not as easy to answer that question as it first seems. Maybe by thinking about spaces that are sacred to us we might see some commonalities and be better able to answer that question.
So, where are the sacred spaces in your life?
This place, surely is one for me. It is one of those places where I am most able to focus on God and God’s Word. When I am in this sanctuary, I am aware that we gather for a shared purpose: the worship of God. It is a place where I feel safe.
Another sacred space for me is…home. The home of my origin and every home I have shared with Carol during our almost 22 years of marriage. It is sacred ground in so many ways: it is the place the family gathers in times of celebration, in times of sorrow. It is a place of learning and a place of love. It is a sanctuary not unlike this place, a place of safety and refuge.
I can shut my eyes and feel like I am home: happy, content and safe with people who love me.
The other sacred space in my life is our property in the upper peninsula of Michigan. It is where I spent all my summers growing up. It is where I first felt God’s very real presence in my life. It is where I can still go today and feel not only God’s presence, but my parents and grandparents, friends and relative who are no longer with us. I can hear the sounds of 100’s of campers who traveled through the Conely Camp for years and years. It is where I am most connected to God’s purpose in my life, and I feel safe.
So, what is the connection between all these places? Well, God’s presence is celebrated at the Primacy of Peter, and in this sanctuary, at home, and for me, in Barbeau, Michigan, In each of the places I described there is something else that I am very aware of: even though Gallillee has been the site of much violence over the years, standing where Jesus stood, I had an overwhelming feeling of safety.
This sanctuary is a place where I feel enveloped in safety.
Our land and cottage on the St. Mary’s River is a refuge of safety, away from cell phones and computers and other distractions. And home, well, I pray that all homes can indeed by havens of safety and comfort.
I am sure that the Temple in Jerusalem must have been one of those places, for the people of that time, too. Even Herod understood its importance and helped improve it over the years.
Think about the era in which Jesus walked the earth. Palestine and Israel were anything but safe. The Hebrew descendants of Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David knew the whip of tyranny that Rome yielded over them. But the temple, God’s Holy residence, was a place of refuge, a place of safety, a sacred space.
At the great temple, pilgrims would come at various times of the year to make their sacrifices to God, to celebrate God’s grace and presence, and to feel the safety of being in God’s house.
Then comes the passage that we heard Dan read this morning and a question keeps nagging at me: what does this passage say about Jesus?
He is a faithful Jewish man. He is coming to the Passover celebration like many, many other faithful Jews. He certainly knows all about the sacrificial system that requires unblemished animals of many kinds to be used in the various rituals. If unblemished animals were to be sacrificed before God, where would they come from? People that traveled several days to get there would not have them. If the animals were unblemished when they left home, they certainly would have been blemished after travel over the rugged terrain of Palestine. Therefore, the need for unblemished animals to be sold to the pilgrims was very real. Without them they could not worship their God.
Jesus would have understood that when worshippers came to the temple, a temple tax had to be paid. More to the point, the tax could not be paid in Roman coinage, yet that was the standard currency of the day. Pilgrims in the far reaches of the countryside would not have access to change the money. They needed money to pay for the special tokens used for the temple tax. Again, the need for money changers was a reality.
Too often I think we hear this story and think that Jesus was against commerce. I don’t think that is the case. There are other places where we saw Jesus eat and drink with business people. He did not condemn the making of money. He did question what would happen if we allowed money to become too important in our life, but that is a slightly different story.
What does it say about Jesus that he went into this sacred space, this one place where faithful Jews could feel welcomed and safe, and disrupted it to the point of chaos? What does it say about Jesus that, at least for the short term, he made it so his brothers and sisters gathered there could not worship?
There are two good answers to those questions. First, it tells us that Jesus was a prophet. This passage begins with the cleansing of the temple, but it ends in a discussion with the temple leadership. When Jesus bellows that they have turned his father’s house into a marketplace, and overturns the tables, the temple leadership demands to know what warrant he has for such an action. In other words, they are saying, “Show us a sign that you have the authority to make such statements. Show us a miracle.”
Jesus responded by saying “tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days.”
They, of course, misunderstood him. He was talking about himself. They would destroy him, but in three days, the would overcome that destruction. We are also told that after the death and resurrection of Jesus had become a reality, his disciples remembered what he said, and it was one more piece of the puzzle of their faith.
What else does it tell us about Jesus that he undertook the cleansing of the temple? Jesus believed that there was a time and place for everything. He believed that worship time is NOT the time to be changing money and selling sacrificial animals. Inside the temple gates was not the proper place, either. The temple was a sacred space and these were not sacred activities.
Jesus provoked the temple leadership by saying very directly to them “you have forgotten the purpose of the temple.” But that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Jesus knew that the temple leadership, having lost sight of the purpose of the temple, would soon find themselves being led even further astray. So far astray, in fact, that they would deliver Jesus to his death and thus put their own positions and comfort above God’s will.
The prophetic Jesus is an extremely important image that we carry from this passage. But the Jesus who fights for the sacred spaces in our lives is the one that resonates with me. The sacred times and places of our lives today are in danger of being crowded out. We have become a society that has something going on 24 hours a day. Stores are open around the clock. Television never stops. Sundays used to be set aside for rest and worship, but now our Sundays are as just as full as any other day of the week. Worship competes with recreational activities and sports and work and all manner of events.
Is there anything wrong with any of these activities? No. But when we get so caught up in those things that it means we do not have the time for worship or Sabbath in our sacred places in our lives, then we run the risk of being led away from what is important.
Jesus knew that the sacred space represented by the Jerusalem temple was a necessary part of of the faith journey of his Jewish brothers and sisters. They needed the safety and the comfort of the temple to help sustain them. They needed the calm that comes from knowing that God is near. They needed the peace that sacred time allowed them.
We need it, too.
If we are to become who God would have us be, we need sacred time in our sacred spaces to commune with God, to feel God’s presence, to feel the calm and experience the peace that prepares us for the days ahead. And if we let our time in our sacred spaces be crowded out of our lives, we will be the poorer for it.
Never was this more important than right now. We live a harried existence. We are inundated with messages that cause us to worry. Uncertainty is a watchword of the day. Now, more than ever, we need this sacred space and this sacred time.
It is easy to see why I included the Primacy of Peter, this sanctuary, and our home and our place on the St. Mary’s River as sacred spaces. God’s presence is palpable in those places. Being able to spend time in any of those places is a salve to the hurts inflicted by this world. They are safe places. They are places that restore my soul.
Every place has a purpose, but every purpose is not limited to one place. This sanctuary renews my spirit. But so does our place in Michigan. So did my visit to the Primacy of Peter. And so does a day shared with family at home.
God made it clear that work is a normal part of life, but God did not create us to be drudges, relegated to a life of endless work. God did not give us vocational skills only to tell us that we should use those skills and no other. The issue in today’s scripture is not that the money changers and the animal merchants were doing something inherently wrong. Rather, it was that the temple – that sacred space – was not the place to be doing it. And during worship – that sacred time – was not the time to be doing it.
God calls us to a life of work. God calls us to a life of worship. God calls us to a life of recreation and fun. God gives us ears to hear beautiful music and eyes to read soul stirring literature. God gives us tears to cry and laughter to share.
All of these things have a time and place. And in their own time, in their own place, all of them are sacred. All of them.
So when you leave this place, when you find your other sacred spaces and times: protect them, honor them, make space for them. And most importantly, thank God for them; today, tomorrow and always.
Let us pray: Gracious God, thank you for the place and times in our lives when we feel your presence. Help us to realize that when we take the time to honor you, to worship you, and to delight in the safety of your grace, everywhere we go, becomes a sacred space. Help us to recognize those sacred times, those sacred places and most importantly, your holy presence, every day of our lives. Amen.
| | | Permalink | Trackback |
|
|
 | |