March 15th, third Sunday in Lent

John 2:13-25

13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the moneychangers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After 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.

23When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

(For those in parishes where there are people being received into the church at Easter, there are different readings for Christian Initiation: the First Scrutiny. The Gospel is the story of Jesus talking to the woman at the well, John 4: 5-42)

Recently I spent a few days with my daughter and my one-year-old grandson, James. I hadn’t really forgotten how busy a mom can be but the few days I spent with her and James as well as visiting the parents of two young ones really reinforced the understanding that a mother has precious little time to spend in quiet reflection on her spiritual life. If there are a few minutes here and there where her attention is not being demanded and if she isn’t trying to catch up on things like laundry or taking a shower or sleeping, the mental energy required to consider her own spiritual needs is often just not there. She’s running on empty. She needs the Lord to pour himself into her because she doesn’t have what it takes to climb ladders and pull herself over obstacles and clear away the inner debris. She is poor.

It isn’t just mothers that find themselves achingly poor in spirit. Women in all walks of life, young and old, are often stretched beyond what they have to give. They write spiritual checks and get N.S.F. notices from their hearts.

When Jesus walked into the outer courts of the temple, what he saw made his heart ache for his people. Before they could even enter the temple they had to deal with a chaotic cacophony of demanding noise. Foreigners had to exchange their money for the Jewish currency so they could pay the temple tax, at an inflated price of course. People couldn’t just bring their own animals or doves for sacrifice because their animals would most likely be judged as blemished and unacceptable and they would end up having to buy anyway from the “Purveyors of Fine Cattle and Sheep – Guaranteed to be Without Blemish” (and guaranteed to line the pockets of the temple coffers). Naturally, the animals being sold were quite expensive. The people were being ripped off. If this was allowed in the temple court, was did that say to the people about their worthiness to come to God in their need?

When I read the Gospel, I thought of someone like my daughter feeling empty and poor and so needy of spiritual sustenance going to the house of the Lord to place herself before God and ask for his blessing and grace. I saw her faced with chaos and noise and grasping greedy hands reaching out to strip her of the little she had. And I saw her crushed in spirit before she even had a chance to be in God’s presence.

Jesus saw this too. When he saw the vendors and moneychangers gouging the people, people who had so little to begin with, I believe Jesus looked down through the ages and saw his Anawim, “the poor ones of the Lord”, stumbling to God to ask for his graces and blessings but finding themselves faced with hurdles and hoops to jump through before they could approach the throne. “My Father’s house is a house of prayer!” he cried (Mark 11: 15-17). Prayer: conversation and relationship with his Abba. How can people pray to a loving Father if they’re hungry or scared of the authorities’ displeasure or unsure of whether there will be enough money left over to feed a family? How can they seek love and healing if they don’t know they are worth being loved and healed, if they feel they are only worth being taken advantage of?

One of the reasons Jesus came was to let us know that God is our Father, our Abba…our loving Papa. There is no good father who doesn’t want his little ones to run into his arms freely, especially if they are scared or uncertain or don’t know how to handle things or just need a big hug. This is Father Love. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t turn them away. Don’t make it hard for my children to come to me.”

“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.” We often think of the poor in spirit as someone other than ourselves because, no doubt, there is always someone worse off than we are. But, you know, you are allowed to be a poor one. You are allowed to say, “I have nothing. I can’t pay the price I’m told it costs to come to my Father and climb into his arms.”

And Jesus answers, “It’s all right, Small One. I paid the price.”

This is the third week of Lent. If you have a moment in your poverty, think of Jesus stopping on his journey to the Cross to clear the temple for you. Think of him driving out the noise and chaos and unfair demands and grasping hands reaching out to rob you of your right to enter the Holy of Holies. See him turn to you to say, “There. It’s done. They’re all gone. Now you can enter and be with my Father.”