A reflection for Lent 3
Once every 6 weeks or so on a Saturday night, the Tattslotto division one prize pool is an eye wateringly significant amount of money. Jeanine and I usually have a ticket at about this time and we have never won this insane amount of cash… ever. We do not make an investment hoping for a return. We buy a dream. Sadly sometimes, just sometimes, I catch myself being a bit transactional about this ticket. “Dear Jesus, if I be a good boy for the rest of Lent would you please make the numbers come up? I promise that I will give some to the roof restoration fund, the Glenthompson mural restoration and the bishop's discretionary holiday to Vanuatu account.”
Maybe it’s not quite as blatant and crass as that, but there is a little misguided way of thinking that the surest way to get the corporate box seats in heaven is by something we do. The reality is that our name place at the wedding party is on the table because the host wants us to come. It has nothing to do with how often we are on the reading roster or the washing up.
And this is why we have the story of the cleansing of the temple and why Jesus is so cranky about the money changers who peddled the transactional way of theology.
This story of the cleansing of the temple is a little bit special because it occurs in all 4 gospels. But there are some differences. Matthew, Mark and Luke all put this story towards the end of Jesus ministry. Today we have John's account and he places it at the beginning of Jesus ministry. In chapter..2 In cleansing the temple The Master is out with the old and in with the new. The transactional is gone and a new sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice of the cross. Jesus himself is the price that is paid. Interestingly, it is only John who will explain this teaching with the line about the destruction of the temple and its raising again.
The Parish Council of the temple don’t understand what Jesus is getting at; after all, the synagogue is Heritage listed, took all this time to build and not even the John Murnane could Warren Steele could put up a new temple in 3 days time.
There is another problem with this transactional way of thinking. It is heavily weighted towards the more wealthy that come through the door. I mean what happens if you are a faithful, practicing Jew who really wants to offer a sacrifice to the Lord but it's been a miserable year in the cornfield and you can’t find enough denarii for the prescribed sacrifice. Does God love you any less?
From the other end of the argument, are those who did win Tattslotto loved more by God just because they had the right numbers on Saturday night? The next logical step of this disappointing argument is that the wealthy are obviously very good boys and girls because God has blessed them with an abundance of everything they need. Also those who are less fortunate with material possessions must have done something really naughty and God has quite rightly stripped them of everything, or at very the least withheld His favour. It’s a heinous, flawed and misguided way of thinking. It conveniently forgets that most of Our Lord's ministry was with the down and out, the halt, the maimed, the leper, the blind, the prostitute and the widow. The woman loitering with intent at Jacobs well who has 5 husbands and the 10 lepers are classic examples.
Thank goodness The Master cleanses the temple and turfs out the money changers… the gatekeepers if you like. Those who decide who gets in and who stays out. Sometimes I think we have come a long way and sometimes not. Many of you will know that my parents divorced and each sought remarriage in the Church. This was in the late 1970s early 1980’s. Each was turned away and told that remarriage was impossible. Fortunately we seem to think differently now. However, today's gospel is a salutary lesson for us gatekeepers, especially for clergy. What do we ask of those who come seeking God's blessing on their life? Surely it is not what they can do for us, but what we can do for them. It is not just about what we can do for God in the present and the future, but what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ and what the Master continues to do for us every single moment of our life.