Sermon: True North

Sermon for Lent 3, Year B

Vicki Hesse, Seminarian, March 11, 2012

Text: John 2:13-22

At one point in my life, 

I tried to get a private pilot’s license. 

I never did finish that, but I did

complete much of the book study,

practical flying and four “solo” flights.

On one of these “solo” flights,

I planned to fly from San Carlos to Modesto. 

I established the route, listened to the weather,

completed the checklist and took off. 

As I approached what I thought was Modesto,

I announced my descent.

“Cessna Tango 5546 on final.”

NO response.  Hmm. Curious.

At 500 feet

I can see in plain letters

the name of the airport traced across the landing strip,

M-A-N-T-E-C-A. 

Ooops.  That’s not MODESTO. Wrong Airport. 

This was my lesson in adjusting

the “magnetic declination” on the compass of the plane.

See, “magnetic declination” is the difference between

magnetic north and geographic north. 

Setting the “magnetic declination” incorrectly

meant that in that 90-mile trip, I was off by 20 miles. 

That error with the magnetic declination 

was a barrier to my arriving at my destination. 

I am sure that Jesus did not have to

set the magnetic declination

on his compass to get to Jerusalem. 

The trail to Jerusalem was probably well worn

by the time Jesus went there.

The trail to Jerusalem was well worn, because

the Passover festival was near.

As a pilgrimage feast, the Passover annually drew

thousands of Jews from all over the region.

The festival itself was a

required religious experience –

every Jewish male over 12 years of age

had to attend,

despite the barriers to God that they experienced.

First, they had to travel

long distances to complete the required activities

as outlined in Leviticus.

Second, since the Passover was major event,

the city and The Temple were busy, not quiet and prayerful.

The event itself was held in the Temple –

A space of ~35 acres, about 1/6 the size of Jerusalem. 

The entire enclosure was paved with colored stones,

surrounded by colonnade of white marble 40 feet high.

There was a lot of activity in and around this place –

not only Jewish people gathering in the temple,

but those who supported the festival

and helped the pilgrims.

Third, the pilgrim had to abide by specific rules -

more barriers to attend to before they worshipped. 

The religious authorities - “The Jews”

supervised the activities that required

pilgrims to sacrifice unblemished cattle, sheep or doves. 

Since pilgrims came from a distance,

they needed to buy an unblemished animal

and thus a fourth barrier;

they had to exchange money, since the sellers

of these animals required temple currency –
not coins bearing the image of a Roman emperor -

Once all these barriers were crossed,

Then, they could worship God.

=====================

Passover was near,

and as a faithful Jew,

Jesus came to the temple,

a sacred space,

a dwelling place of God on Earth.

Jesus entered the temple through the Court of the Gentiles. 

The area set up as an open-air market. 

There were cattle bellowing, sheep bleating, doves cooing,

and people changing money

all necessary activities ostensibly to benefit the pilgrims,

but really – essentially, all barriers to worshipping God. 

Which makes me wonder, is it any different today? 

Do we experience barriers to God?

I heard recently that

“10 o’clock on Sunday morning is

the most sacred hour of the week”

and “9 o’clock on Sunday morning is

the least sacred hour”

That is when we experience fractured relationships.

We frantically get the kids dressed,

we slam down our breakfast & coffee,

we worry about being late,

even as we desire to arrive in a mindful, pleasant mood.

We sense our distance from God, in this least sacred time.

I recognize this in myself – even during the week.

Just one more item to do at school,

just one more topic to discuss before this meeting is over,

just one more thing to do before I pray.

Surely then I forgive my loved one,

Surely then I will know that I am loved by God,

Surely then I will spend time with Jesus. 

Does this ring any bells?

The rules of society,

the expectations of our lives,

the demands of our culture,

set up barriers to God,

barriers to noticing God in our everyday life. 

Perhaps the magnetic declination

of our inner compass is off?

And so, by the grace of God,

Jesus entered the Temple scene to remove the barriers.

In a flurry of activity, Jesus interrupted everything.

He found the cattle, sheep, doves, and moneychangers.

With a cord whip,

He drove out the sheep and the cattle.

He poured out the coins.

He demanded the dove sellers to leave.

Jesus upset the market place and

recalibrated what was important.

When he said,

“Stop making my Father’s house a market place!”

The disciples recalled scripture,

From Psalm 69, (Psalm 69:9)

“…zeal for your house that has consumed me”

From Malachi (3:1),

“…the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.”

And from the prophet Zechariah (14:21),

“there shall no longer be traders

in the house of the Lord of Hosts

on that day.”

On that day, God was in the house of the Lord of Hosts and Jesus removed the barriers for the people.

On that day, Jesus made himself known as

the locus of God on Earth,

the center of faith,

the focal point of worship.

On that day, Jesus was (and is) the temple –

The one that would be raised /in his resurrection/ on Easter.

The disciples remembered this event and

freed from the barriers established by authorities,

they believed the scripture and

the word that Jesus had spoken.

God made God’s self known on Earth,

through the in-breaking,

surprising activity of Jesus, on that day

in the temple

as the temple

for the temple.

He removed the barriers then.

And he removes barriers now, for us.

As we know Jesus, we know God. 

This is a new and re-calibrated way of looking at the world. 

God acts in surprising ways in our lives. 

And so, we notice:

God, through Jesus, recalibrates our “magnetic declination.”

God intercedes in surprising ways

to break our routines,

to drive out old patterns,

to pour out the coinage we think we need,

to open our eyes to God’s activity in the world. 

These examples occur every Sunday here at St. Andrews.

In the liberating words of an Ash Wednesday sermon,

that reframed what fasting means –

not from food but from what we obsess about.

In the creative formation of the newcomer’s ministry,

that teams up diverse spiritual gifts –

with inspiring hope and fresh ideas to make St. Andrew’s

a radically welcome place. 

In the abundant harvest of “Plot against hunger,” that provides food for hungry people through Arlington Food Assistance Center.

In the innocent voice of the little boy who interrupted the Confirmation service in the midst of renewing our Baptismal Vows when the Bishop asked, “Do you believe in God …” and before he could finish his sentence “…the Father?”

This little boy shouted out, “YES!”

With Jesus shaking things up in our community,

we catch authentic glimpses of God

through sound,

through stories and

in the breaking of bread. 

God, through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection,

has already made a difference in our lives. 

Which is why we come here,

in this sacred temple,

the temple of Jesus. 

We come here to remember

stories of God’s continued action

in our lives and in the life of the church

We come here to experience

the real presence of Christ

in the bread and the wine. 

We come to know the Word made flesh and

made known to us in

radical, re-orienting, re-calibrating ways. 

This Lent, we can look at our calendar and

with God’s help, remove some of those barriers. 

The good news is that

God is active and present in our church

and our every day life.

Is your compass pointing to true north?

Amen