The way of the master

I can remember several years ago, having a conversation with a guy I had known on and off since early childhood and part way through the conversation, I felt the need to vent some frustration: so, I said “Man, do you know when we talk, you never ask me how I am?”

Now, before I go on, let me provide a little context: This guy had been institutionalized and had very fractured social experiences.

So, when he responded with a gently toned “How do I do that?” I kind of knew where his was coming from. It is like the setting of our first reading.

Inside exodus, we see a community trying to reorientate themselves to what it means to be a free and functioning community. You can hear all the universal human questions now right?

“who am I?”

“why are we here?”

“Where do I belong?”

It is interesting to note that some questions never shift with time do they?

The ten commandments provide a least part of an answer to those in the exodus story. What might we take away if we look at them from our worldview?

One of the first things to consider or unpack is that this familiar reading carries with it images and ideas, and depending on our exposure to them, some of the ideas may not be that pleasant and in some cases painful.

I think that sometimes we can tend to take the narrative of this reading quite seriously. “Oh, these are these are religious commandments – I better do what They say or I could get in trouble”. But what are they saying or pointing to?

Well, if we know the story, we know they were already in a relationship with God before the commandments were given, inside our reading he is identified as the God who set them free from slavery in Egypt.

So, the commandments serve as signposts and guides as to how their relationship will work.

In this reading the people are being called onto a living relationship with God and one another God is not only calling them out of slavery, but he is also saying to them – follow me, this is what you were made for: to interact in harmony with me and each other. Take what you know and give the world value.

Perhaps, that’s the first question for us today “What do value and care about and how are we bringing it to life?”

Take a moment to think about that.

As we turn to John this morning, we come face to face with the seemingly familiar narrative of Jesus turning over temple. This is featured in all four Gospels.

In Mark, Matthew and Luke: the focus is primarily around how the system is being misused and exploited rather being used as a gate way to worship.

In John, the focus is quite different and something we could easily miss.

In John, the focus moves from the use of the system to the purpose of the system itself.

As we have looked at before, John offers a unique look at who God is and who Jesus is.

As you have heard me say before, I love the fact we see inside the pages of John, a completely barrier free experience between God, Jesus, and the world:

That is experience being offered to us today. Jesus is the gateway to worship.

Remember, right at the beginning of John we are introduced to the oneness of God and Jesus in John’s beautiful retelling of creation.

This idea is reenforced in the “I am” statements in John.

Along with that, the miracles in John, are as much overt statements about who Jesus is as they are about healing.

With all that in mind, let us look at some interesting elements of todays Gospel.

The first thing we note is that in John, Jesus turning over the temple is at the beginning of the Gospel rather than at the end: Mark, Matthew and Luke give the story the role of being the dramatic event that leads to Jesus’ arrest trial, and death.

John, however, places it earlier right after the wedding at Cana in his narrative It is the events surrounding Lazarus ultimately led to Jesus’ arrest, trial and death.

The placing of today’s Gospel interesting because the wedding at Cana points to a kind of marriage or union between Christianity and Judaism: but it also points Jesus not only being the life blood for the Jewish community but for all of humanity.

This idea is carried over in today’s Gospel, Jesus seems to be saying “Don’t look At the system you are in, look to me and what I point towards”

So, that might be the second question for us this morning, it’s a challenging one given that so much of thinking is around systems and structure right now.

The question for us might be “Are we looking towards Christ as our way?”

In fact, if we take away one thing from today’s Gospel, it should be Christ’s call to look to him, his example, and the relationship he offers.

we are also being issued with a warning and a challenge. The warning is displayed to us when the leader’s comment:

“It took forty-six years to build this temple. What makes you think you can rebuild it in three days?”

Here we are warned not to always take things are face value or literal value And also, to remember that the way we see the world is not the only way it can be seen.

The challenge is to make sure we take the time to think about and process our faith as we live as the disciples did, Jesus offers them a lesson, and this is often followed by discussion and or explanation. John reminds us that faith is a process. Dramatic events such as the ones described in John, are doorways to faith, not the substance of faith. They point us towards what to have faith in, Jesus the son.

We note in today’s Gospel that there is a reflective dialogue. As in, they went away thought about what they saw and understood part of it.

How do you think that might work for you?

Is it journaling like me?

Coffee and chat with a friend?

Reflective prayer?

Take a moment to think about that.

Today we have been issued with some challenging invitations.

We have been invited to take things we have been immersed in, like the Ten Commandments and think about how we might bring them to life.

We are challenged to take things that we hear in church and think about what they mean.

We have been invited to remember that God often works in provocative ways, including turning a house of worship inside out: all with the goal of getting us to think about what true worship actually is.

We are being challenged not to hide behind our comfortable systems and language, ( in fact, if you’re feeling brave enough ask yourself this… what system am I meant to flip upside down) but rather step into a living form of worship where Jesus is the doorway, the reason, and the centre.

Amen