Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area,
with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
John 2:13-16
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area,
with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said,
"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."
John 2:13-16
The reading today is full of rich foreshadowings. In one of them, Jesus entered the temple area and found it full of oxen, sheep, and the money changers. It’s one of the times in Scripture where we might say, Jesus loses it. He made a whip of chords and created a kind of chaos, scattering the animals and overturning the tables in a fury. He shouted, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” To me, his rage is saying, don’t you get it, this is my Father’s house, a place of prayer, worship, and soul-searching?
Sundays, we come to “My Father’s House” but do we understand really where we are and why we are here? It’s not the time to plan next week’s work plan, nor meals for the week, nor even rumble about the argument you had with a friend. It’s our gathering to worship to Lord, to bring our joys, our sorrows, our gratitude even our brokenness to Him. Together, we listen, we sing and we pray.
One Sunday, as I, the lector, waited in the back of the church for the processional to begin, I turned to the Celebrant and said,
“I hope someone came today who deeply needs this time with the Lord. Let’s pray for that person as we do this.”
He turned to me with a solemn look and answered,
“I certainly hope there are many more than one.”
What I heard from him was something akin to what Jesus was trying to say that morning in the temple area..
“Don’t you get? Don’t you get why we come here? This is our Father’s house.”
I felt almost as ashamed as the moneychangers might have, too. Had I lost the awareness that all of us benefit deeply from this time with the Lord? We are well reminded by this story.
The sign above the Main Street entrances to the sanctuary at St. Mary's says, “Be At Home In My Father’s House” It’s there to us remind of the lesson Jesus was teaching that morning. Sometimes I nod at the sign, a nod that says, Yes, I know, I’m entering My Father’s house. I usually add a mood statement to this, like; ‘I’m here, Lord, and I bring a grateful, ready heart.’ Be it St. Mary’s or St. Bridget's, as each of you climb the steps to the church, try to nod with meaning. Yes, I’m entering my Father’s House; acknowledge Him. Tell Him why You’ve come.
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Regarding the sign at St Mary's - it always bothered me, I thought it should say "Be at home in OUR Father's house", but now I get it!
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