Can you believe it’s time to send our children back to school already? We sent our two oldest boys off to school yesterday. Just as she did when they went off to kindergarten, momma bought her babies their school supplies. She buys all the typical things y’all buy for your children when they go off to school, but since ours go away to school we also set them up with a debit card that they can use in case of emergencies. Sounds reasonable right? But over the years it has become increasingly apparent to Michelle and me that a teenager’s definition of an emergency and a parent’s definition of an emergency are vastly different. Apparently in the mind of a teenager spending $18 to download music to your phone is an emergency. The teenage emergency that amused me the most was the $27 one of them spent on whey protein. Apparently, there was some sort of emergency in Michigan that required our teenager to bulk up with muscle mass. Now I know to the freakishly fit parents in our congregation that sounds like a reasonable, maybe even wise purchase, but to his frumpy father, I’m not so sure I understand what emergency whey protein is addressing for my teenage son.
Now I will admit there is a lot about healthy living that I don’t understand. There are so many exercise programs out there it is hard to know what to do: hot yoga or cross-fit, Pilates or free weights? And it seems there are twice as many diet plans: Akins or vegan, calorie counting or fiber feasting? I know admitting this is going to earn me a lengthy lecture from maybe the freakishly fit among us, but I have no idea what glutton is and why it is bad. Is it worse than high fructose corn syrup? Is it better than salt? How does it compare to free radicals? And what makes some cholesterol good and other cholesterol bad? Should I choose natural sugar or artificial sweetener? And what in the world is a super food? Do they have capes? Do they fight crime?
There are so many different diet plans and so many different exercise programs out there it’s hard not to be confused. But the real question we should all be asking is why bother? Why not just let ourselves go, you know let it all hang out, enjoy a salty high fructose corn syrup sandwich with a bowl of bad cholesterol on the side and an artificially sweetened drink of free radicals to wash it all down. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we shall... well let’s not think about how the rest of that saying goes.
Why bother taking care of your body? To be sure there is a part of us that bothers because of pride. We are proud of our superior health, proud of our athletic accomplishments, proud of the compliments we are paid. Pride has made Jenny Craig rich and pride has given Richard Simons more than 15 minutes of fame. But there is another reason why we want to take care of our bodies - a God pleasing reason. It has something to do with being consumed with zeal for God’s house. See if you can figure out what the connection is as we study John 2:13-22.
Our lesson begins by telling us “13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” We know of at least three times that Jesus went to worship in the temple in Jerusalem: when he was a young boy, this time at the beginning of His three-year ministry, and then again at the end of His ministry when He instituted the Lord’s Supper. The Passover was one of those lasting ordinances that God instructed His people to celebrate for years to come. It was a reminder of how God delivered them from death and set them free from slavery in Egypt when the blood of an innocent lamb painted on the doorframes of their houses caused the angel of death to Passover their homes.
Jesus was not the only one in town to celebrate the Passover. All Jewish males 12 years old or older customarily made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the Passover. As a result, the city was packed. Thousands upon thousands of the faithful came from all over the country to join their voices with those who sang songs of thanksgiving and hymns of praise to the Almighty God who had delivered them from death and set them free from slavery.
Unfortunately, in addition to Jesus and the rest of the faithful, Jerusalem also filled with profiteering swindlers. We read, “14 In the temple courts he [Jesus] found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!’” There was a need for animals to be purchased for the sacrifices that were a part of the Passover worship services. There was a need for currency to be exchanged from the pagan to the temple coin. It was not that these men were meeting a need that offended Jesus so much; it was the corruption, the exploitation, the greed, and the irreverence in God’s house. These men took advantage of the people’s need. Like charging $5 for a box of Milk-duds at the theater or making people pay $10 for a cheeseburger at the airport, these men were using the church to price gauge the people of God. So Jesus got out a whip and went to work.
As profiteering herdsman went chasing after their livestock and the swindling money changers scrambled to pick up their filthy lucre, Jesus’ disciples recalled the words God had used to describe the promised Messiah in Psalm 69:9, “17… Zeal for your house will consume me.” Jesus had so much love and concern, He was so devoted to the preservation of God’s house that he forcefully removed sin and corruption from it.
Are you consumed with zeal for God’s house? A portion of the offerings you give are used to pay for the mortgage of this church, so I would say there is some love for God’s house. You are careful about who you let preach in this pulpit because you are concerned about purity of doctrine preached in God’s house. And although I have never seen anyone get excited to see their name posted on the church cleaning schedule, the church still gets cleaned on a regular basis because you care about how God’s house looks. I think it is obvious that y’all care about God’s house. But are you zealous? Are you “get out a whip and go to work” zealous for God’s house?
Well let’s see. What would you do if you discovered a drug dealer was selling drugs in the bathrooms of the church? What would you do if you showed up on Sunday morning and a brood of drunks were having a drinking contest in the fellowship hall? What would you do if you learned that a pimp was using our sanctuary as a prostitution parlor on Saturday nights? What would you do if the sermons preached from this pulpit were laced with vulgarity and profanity, cursing and swearing? What would you do if God’s house were full of such sin and corruption? Well if you are consumed with zeal for God’s house you would likely say, “It’s whippin’ time!”, right?
Sounds like you are consumed with zeal for God’s house. But to make sure let’s read a few more passage about God’s house. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says, “19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “…we are the temple of the living God.” 2 Timothy 1:14 says, “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” Ephesians 2:22 says, “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Hebrews 3:6 says, “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house.” God’s house is not just a brick and mortar building. God’s house is you and it is me. By the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, God has set up residency inside of you.
If selling drugs in the church bathroom would offend you, then how can you expect Jesus not to become offended when you intentionally and repeatedly snort or inhale, ingest or inject a chemical or a poison or a toxin that harms your body? If drunks in the fellowship hall offend you, then how do you think Jesus feels when you continually and repeatedly drink yourself numb? If prostitutes conducting business in the sanctuary offends you, then how do you think Jesus feels about the woman reading 50 Shades of Grey or the man surfing the internet for a thrill or the teenager that allows their hormones to rage out of control? You would be offended if I laced the sermons that were preached from this pulpit with vulgarity and profanity, cursing and swearing, well then how can you believe for a moment that some of the things that come out of your filthy mouth are not offensive to Jesus?
If you truly wish to be consumed with zeal for God’s house, then it’s whippin’ time. It’s time to forcefully remove sin and corruption from your heart. Drive it from your body aggressively and completely. Jesus was not soft on sin in the house of God and He is not soft on sin in the hearts of men. Jesus once told His disciples, “43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.”[1] Jesus isn’t promoting bodily mutilation. Rather, He is stressing the seriousness of sin and the importance of repentance. He is saying, it’s time to get your house in order. It’s time to clean out the corruption that has cluttered your heart. It’s time to scour the sin that stains your soul. It’s time to be consumed with zeal for God’s house and repent.
Thankfully, Jesus was not just consumed with zeal for the temple in Jerusalem. Thankfully, Jesus is also consumed with zeal for you. The Jews questioned Jesus’ authority to drive the money changers from the temple. They asked Jesus to give them a sign. Jesus told the Jews, “19… Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Jesus has so much love for you that He uses His whip; His Law to forcefully drive sin and corruption from you. But more than that, Jesus was so concerned about what would happen to you if you were to die in your sin and corruption that He allowed His temple to be tortured, crucified, and buried so that your temple might be protected, cleansed, and raised. Jesus was so devoted to the preservation of God’s house that He allowed His temple to be destroyed so that your temple might be saved. Praise God that Jesus is consumed with zeal for God’s house! Praise God that Jesus is consumed with zeal for you.
So why bother taking care of your body? It is for the same reason that you pay the mortgage on this building, concern yourself with the purity of doctrine preached in this pulpit, and preserve this facility with regular upkeep and cleaning. You take care of your body both physically and spiritually because your body is the house of God.
God, forgive us for the times we have failed to be consumed with zeal for His house. God be praised that Jesus is just as consumed with zeal for us as He was for the temple in Jerusalem. God, cause our grateful hearts to be consumed with zeal for Your house. Amen
[1] Mark 9:43-47