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“FROM PASSION TO COMPASSION”
3RD Sunday in Lent March 19, 2006
John 2:13-22 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”, But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”
Grace to you and peace, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
This surely must have been one of the most dramatic scenes in Jesus’ life. With no apparent warning, he charges into the temple square, eyes, blazing, furious with what he sees; fashions a whip out of cords, drives out the animals, turns over the tables of the money changers, and accuses those selling the sacrificial animals of turning the center of worship(his Father’s house into a marketplace. This is NOT the image most of us hold on to when we think about Jesus. I think we much prefer “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”; from the baby in the manger, to the Jesus welcoming the children to come to him, even to the Jesus who lays now his life to his accusers who strip him, beat him, and place him on a cross. Here in John’s Gospel is a Jesus of action in a picture of determination and great resolve. He’s ready to make a clean sweep of anyone who would make a mockery of God’s place of worship. A shocking view of Jesus for some who might think, how can Jesus be both good and “good and mad” at the same time? Yet an appealing to the more activist persons among us wanting a Jesus of action and determined. There may even have been some appeal to those first disciples who wanted the Kingdom to be established in a visible way within the context of their day. All four gospels tell this story but in Matthew, Mark, and Luke it appears as Jesus is moving steadily to the cross. But in John, few events have taken place when suddenly this first great act of public ministry finds him “raiding” the temple. It would seem more in context had Jesus experienced all kinds of scheming and plotting by his enemies. Here in John no one has said anything against him, yet! So here in the 4th Gospel we don’t have to wait until the end to find out who this Jesus is—the Son of God and the Word who has become flesh. And in his sparring with his critics, we find Jesus making a significant move. He comes with a passion which moves from passion to compassion. The word, passion, has taken on additional usage and connotations in recent years. We seem to use it with greater frequency as we talk about things about which we have strong feelings. I seem to recall that is previously had the connotation of an over-whelming sense of love for another person, as in a passionate relationship. But today we ask, “What’s your passion?” Or we say, “I’ve discovered my passion!” I connects with how we spend our time, where we get our personal satisfaction, how we direct our talents into meaningful experiences, where our personal gratification or “self-actualization” takes place in our lives. Passion simply implies a strong emotion that has an overpowering and compelling effect. A fervor of burning intensity, a restless, flame like emotion, or an enthusiastic zeal for a cause. It can be an overwhelming drive which draws our attention or centers our energies. When I read this story from John, the reaction of Jesus seems to focus on this intense fervor or zeal which is anything but self-gratification. Jesus is always “a man for others”. In this story, Jesus seems to have recognized something that is not only “out-of-line” with his concept of righteousness, but something that is drastically wrong with the sacred purposes of the temple. It may also help us to understand, if we realize that the emotion which we most often translate as “anger” has little or nothing to do with Jesus’ personal temperament. We’re not talking about Jesus having a short fuse, or getting out on the wrong side of the bed in the morning, or being in a bad mood, or throwing a temper tantrum. Here, in the temple story, Jesus emotion would more rightly be described as righteous indignation. It hardly seems to be at all personal since he probably didn’t know the names of anyone in that outer court. Rather, more in line with what Paul in Romans calls “the wrath of God”, as when life is out of sync with the will and purposes of God. Jesus cleansed the temple to restore it to its intended purpose. For it was meant to be a place of worship and prayer. He is set against the counterfeit and commercialized injustices he encountered that day. So that righteous indignation becomes an action in the name of what was meant to be, but had become corrupt. To have such a passion for advocating beyond himself, makes it possible to be both good and “good and mad” at the same time. His passion, this overpowering and compelling emotion saw that this system was exploiting people rather than praising and giving reverence to God. This isn’t the only time we see this passionate emotion of Jesus. In Mark l:42 he encounters the man inflicted with the dreaded disease of leprosy. He witnesses how this illness ostracizes the man from society and he heals him. In the 3rd Chapter of Mark, he meets a crippled man and Jesus was asked whether it was acceptable to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus look around at them in anger, Mark writes, and was “grieved at their hardness of heart”, so he says to the man, “stretch out your hand” and is healed. And in Matthew 4 where Jesus is in the desert after fasting for 40 days he is tempted by the devil three times and Jesus rebukes the devil. No, this isn’t talking about individual temperament, personal vendettas, or family grudges. His anger is directed toward an institution, a system that was unjust and needed to be changed. It seems clear that Jesus’ deep feelings, his passion was more than anger—it moved from passion to compassion which is that deep sense of understanding what it is like to walk in the shoes of another. His pervasive empathy was for those who experienced injustice, oppression, and lived on the underside of the power and control of others. Here, compassion was the sorrowing for the suffering and troubles of others. What becomes even more clear is the realization that the religious leaders never quite understood and that the disciples only understood or remembered after the resurrection of Christ. For Jesus was replacing the temple as the focus of God’s presence in the world. Jesus becomes the center of worship from then on. In these coming weeks we are moving steadily toward yet another understanding of the word, passion. I believe that Jesus always acted intentionally because of his deep passion for all people and the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Yet what Jesus finally does on our behalf has become known as the Passion of Christ. As mentioned last week, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem and the word passion becomes identified with the suffering and the death of Christ. As he moves steadily toward the cross on our behalf, he takes upon himself the sins of the world, dies to set us free from our sins, and offers us the gifts of life and eternal life. It is the embodiment, the ultimate goal of Christ’s compassion that is fulfilled in the passion story of Christ. Through the events of Passion Sunday(Palm Sunday), Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and eventually Easter, we are Reminded once again of just how far God, whose Son for whom we are named, will go. Given these action on the part of Christ, given that this message is now the center of our faith, there are some questions to ponder as I think further about this story.
And what do WE remember about Jesus? Does our remembering lead to believing? I’m thinking about what John wrote near the end of his Gospel in Chapter 20 where we read: “Jesus did many other things and not all are written in this book, but these are written so that you will believe in Jesus as the Son of God and in believing have life in his name.” There is a prediction of The Passion in this morning’s gospel, just one in John’s Gospel. For when Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up”, he is telling them that he is the new temple. Through him and in him new life is to come. It’s not just a reform, but a new order, a new understanding of worship, and a new witness to salvation that is breaking in. There is something more to be learned from this compassionate Christ who is filled with passion. As the People of God, a healthy dose of righteous indignation can fuel our passion to be a compassionate people as we live out our lives in the midst of a broken and hurting world. These months of March and April, we as a congregation are focusing on poverty and hunger. During March we are encouraging donations of food and money to support the efforts of the local Food Shelf. During April we’ll be urging the support of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal in a variety of ways. These issues call us to those who need our commitment but not only through our charitable gifts. More so, to be advocates where the injustices exist in our midst. We are called to be signs of hope in the Christ’s name. There is something to be said for diplomacy and tact. We usually make more progress toward improving matters by remaining cool and polite, balanced and reasonable. It’s an art we all need to cultivate. But there is also something to be said for “moral outrage” or “righteous indignation”. When we witness the injustices that oppress people, when systems prohibit people who are powerless and unable to be self-reliant, then our charity needs to move beyond charity to justice. I was reminded of a saying at the Men in Mission breakfast a couple weeks ago that says; IF PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY YOU CAN GIVE THEM SOME FISH AND THEY WILL LIVE ANOTHER DAY. BUT IF YOU NOT ONLY GIVE THEM FISH, BUT TEACH THEM TO FISH FOR THEMSELVES THEY WILL BE HELPED TO FEED THEMSELVES IN THE FUTURE. BUT WE MUST ALSO MOVE OVER IN THE POND AND GIVE THEM A PLACE TO FISH.” When our passion yokes with our compassion, we have begun to walk the walk of Christ. The Lenten Season invites us to learn once again the passion of our compass-sionate Lord, whose life moved toward the cross. For us, our faith and our actions are renewed and nurtured once again at the foot of the cross. This morning, we are fed once again with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are the gifts of grace given to us through the Passion of Christ. And he empowers us to live centered in him for the sake of others as an impassioned people in his name. Thanks be to God. Amen Pastor Clark
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