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<div><span style="font-size: small">Lent 3</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: small"><span style="color: black">Mark 2:13-22 - <b>"Clean House" </b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">Mark 2:13-22 - <b>"</b></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt">No Cleansing, No Refreshment</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">"</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt"> by Leonard Sweet</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">John 2<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">,</font></font> the sermon title "Clean House"</span>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">The
portrait of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Gospel appointed for this
day has proven to be something of a conundrum for interpreters through
the years. What we see is the Lord Jesus in a violent rage driving
animals and people out of the Temple. Years ago Bruce Barton, in a very
popular book, The Man Nobody Knows, used the story to demonstrate how
virile the Lord Jesus was. He surmised that the Lord Jesus was capable
of Herculean strength and prowess because of his outdoorsy lifestyle and
vigorous walking missionary tours. However, others have been concerned
that this public demonstration which had all the earmarks of a near riot
was most unbecoming of the normal life style of Jesus. Also, if this
were a pique of temper, could not someone accuse Jesus of being guilty
of a sin which all of us dislike very much?<br>
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Then, of course, there is the additional problem of finding this story
in the beginning of the Fourth Gospel, whereas the other evangelists
place it in Holy Week at the beginning of his passion. Could it be true
that Jesus cleansed the Temple twice? Is John right and the others
wrong? Or is it the other way around? Or could there be another reason
why John places the story where he does? There is good reason to think
that it is the latter. The story of Jesus cleansing the Temple helps us
to understand several very important aspects of the church and its
worship.<br>
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1. The Context and the Importance of the Temple</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">2. The Shock of Challenging an Old System</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">3. The Body of the Church and the Sacramental Body</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">4. Our Worship in the Spirit of the Lord</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">The rest of this sermon can be obtained by joining <a target="_blank" __removedlink__928394776__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8EAQABDwJXD0kCBQVKDAtXUVw%3D"><span style="color: blue">http://www.sermons.com/signup</span></a> </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt">The full text of the following sermon is available at <a target="_blank" __removedlink__928394776__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8EAQABDwJXAUkCBQVKDAtXUVw%3D"><span style="color: blue">www.Sermons.com</span></a>. </span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
</font></font>John 2 the sermon titled "No Cleansing, No Refreshment" by Leonard Sweet </span>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Do you realize how much you pay to get “roughed up?” </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">You heard me right. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">You even pay big bucks to get roughed up on a daily basis.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">To
be sure, you don’t think about this activity as getting “roughed up.”
You probably think of it as your morning shower or your evening bath. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">But
consider what you do as you go about your daily cleansing rituals.
Whether you use a washcloth, a loofah, or one of those “buff-puff”
thingies, as you rub and scrub in the bathtub or shower you are roughing
up and sloughing off dead skin cells. Pumice stones grate off rough
calluses. Facial scrubs are peppered with “micro beads,” gritty bits
designed to gently “rough up” your tired skin, exfoliating and revealing
a fresh new layer. To “come clean” some things have to go</span> — <span style="font-size: 12pt">dirt, sweat, and a layer of old skin cells. That’s why cleansing involves some “rough stuff.”</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">In
today’s gospel text Jesus’ actions, his “cleansing” of the Temple
courtyard, is accomplished with a vigorous roughing up. But what exactly
is Jesus so set on scrubbing off? </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Jesus’ anger is focused against the economic activities going on outside the Temple…</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">A Good Cleaning</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">When
Jesus entered the temple that day he found a faith that was stale,
downright dirty. People were taking advantage of others and ritual had
become more important than the condition of the heart. What Jesus did, I
believe, was challenge a smug, hypocritical religious system that
desperately needed to change. Therefore, a little demolition was
necessary, not to mention an all out assault to clean house.<br>
<br>
The faith community at that time was so wrapped up in rules and ritual
the fresh revelation of God could not get through. It was impossible for
them to "see" because they were blinded by obstacles that hindered
their ability.<br>
<br>
In this story we get an image of Jesus as a one-man wrecking crew,
swinging a sledgehammer. There is no way to make improvements in an old
house without making a mess. There is plaster dust, dirt, nails and
smelly carpet. It is hard work. It is impossible to paint without
getting paint on yourself. I am sure that Jesus absorbed a few skinned
knuckles that day, not to mention getting his garment dirty.<br>
<br>
The faith community needed a good housecleaning and Jesus took it upon himself to do just that with zeal and determination.<br>
<br>
Keith Wagner, Spring Housecleaning our Faith<br>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">A Passover Crowd’s Needs</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">It’s
estimated that the population of Jerusalem would swell from 50,000 to
180,000 at Passover. Pilgrims would come from as far away as Persia,
Syria, Egypt, Greece and Rome. For comparison, think about College
Station on the Saturday afternoon of an A&M football game, then
double that number and hold on to the crowd for a week, instead of a
day. That’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed; a lot of weary travelers to
put up for the night. Plus, they’re coming to the temple to make a
sacrifice. They’re going to need an unblemished animal for that. They’re
also going to pay their temple tax. Somebody’s going to have to help
them exchange their currency. Get the picture? The commercial
implications of Passover were enormous, perhaps comparable to the
Christmas season in the United States today. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">So,
I think it’s safe to say the merchants were making a killing off the
week of Passover, but were they really doing anything wrong? You could
say that, by exchanging money and selling birds and animals for
sacrifice, they were providing a service. Now, it’s true, in the
synoptic gospels; i.e., Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus accuses the
merchants of cheating the people. He says, “My house shall be called a
house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Mt. 21:13) </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Perhaps
there was some price gouging going on, but this is not the focus of
Jesus’ anger, according to John. As far as John is concerned, Jesus is
upset because all this buying and selling has intruded upon the sacred
space for worship. In John’s gospel, Jesus says, “Take these things out
of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace (a house of
commerce).” (John 2:16)</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Philip W. McLarty, Spring Cleaning</span></div>
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