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March 8, 2009
Psalm 19 and John 2: 13-22

Two thousand years ago.

 

There we were, set-up and ready to sell our merchandise. It was easy, convenient. Here, at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, as Passover approached, we helped people prepare to worship God. After a long, dusty, exhausting trip to Jerusalem, we offered people “one-stop shopping.”

 

The arrangement made a lot of sense. Animals carefully raised and selected to be sacrificed to God: the cattle, the sheep, and the doves, readily available for purchase, right here, at the temple.  Why not? Our services meant convenience. People from out of town did not need to wander through the streets of the city, shopping for an animal to offer to God; wandering and bartering after their long journey.

 

And the foreign currency they brought with them, those awful coins that have an imprint of a Roman lord or a pagan symbol, those coins that are not worthy to be offered as gifts in the temple- here we exchanged those foreign coins into coins that are acceptable at the temple. We offered an exchange service for foreign travelers. 

For a moment, in the commotion, I heard no sounds, I saw no faces. All that I saw was the sunlight bouncing off the rising dust and the coins scattering about, in slow motion.

 

Then, all chaos broke out. The thundering noise of the cattle’s hooves, the bleating of the sheep blending with the shouts of the men; some people were trying to corral their animals. Others were trying to subdue the man with the whip. Others were just standing there, frozen in their steps.  

Now how will the travelers get rid of their foreign currency? What about them? Where is it written that we cannot set up our shops here? What is wrong with what we are doing? And I wanted to ask this man: who are you, to toss us out? Look at the losses we are facing now! We worked hard to get ready for the Passover crowds. And look at the havoc he raised during this holy time! 

Where is God in this over-turned world?

 

Here we are, in the twenty-first century.

 

Thousands of people are dying each year from preventable diseases such as malaria and cholera. Children are orphaned and economies are torn to shambles by HIV and AIDS. Natural disasters - earthquakes in China, the tsunami in Indonesia, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast - destroy communities with limited resources for rebuilding. Walls are built between neighbors: the security fence being built between Israel and the West Bank, the border fencing being constructed along the border of Myanmar and India, and the border fence being constructed between the United States and Mexico.

 

As the sun rises and shines on this world which is God’s temple, which tables being overturned today? 

And here we sit this morning, with footsteps in the sanctuary.

 

Have you noticed? Have you wondered? Have you followed the steps that are beginning to encircle our worship?

 

There on wall - and behind you on the window - our journey through Lent progresses. And there is an unsettling along our path. As we walk with Christ, taking steps toward his death and resurrection, we are unsettled.

 

This familiar story of Jesus cleansing the temple in Jerusalem makes us uncomfortable. Each of the four gospels retells this story. But only John places the cleansing of the temple early in Jesus’ ministry.

 

In John, the stampeding cattle and scattered coins are Jesus’ first public appearance. And the people around him ask Jesus what sign he can give them, as they question his authority. Where does Jesus lead us? Where do the footsteps go? Where will the dust be unsettled, and God’s glory be shown?

 

As the sun rises and shines on this world which is God’s temple, which tables are being overturned today? 

You see the question all the time on bumper stickers and wristbands, but I like the words selected by the blues singer Chris Thomas King:

            Tell me…what would Jesus do?

            [so] Tell me… what would Jesus do, if he had to walk a mile in my shoes?

Sometimes natural events bare the tables that need to be overturned. In August of this year it will have been four years since we sat, glued to the tragedy that unfolded before us on every news station as Hurricane Katrina ravaged the coast. The people living along the Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama Gulf sought rescue, shelter, and medical help. Many people lost their homes, all their material possessions, and their jobs. Approximately one-fourth of the people who lived in the areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding were children under the age of 18. The three states hit by Hurricane Katrina rank among the poorest in our nation.

            [so] Tell me… what would Jesus do, if he had to walk a mile in [their] shoes?

            Would he steal food to feed the hungry and the poor?

            If a child needed shelter, would he break down the door?

            Would he take a moments rest? Could he have a moments peace?

            With all these children still in misery?

Our church has been very active in its support of the Back Bay Mission of the UCC, in Biloxi, Mississippi. In June, the confirmation class will be traveling to Back Bay and participating in a weeklong work camp. There are those of you gathered here today that have also worked on homes along the Gulf coast. You have traveled into the devastation and walked a mile in the shoes of individuals who have lost everything. Jobs. Homes. Friends. Family. Those of you who have already experienced a week at Back Bay know that the youth will return with many stories, and pictures, to share. 

And, as we have been learning, it takes a long time for the dust to settle. It takes many volunteers many long hours and many footsteps to rebuild homes.

 

Two of my friends that traveled to Biloxi a year ago, and were assigned to a week of “cleaning and sanitizing.” For my friend Denny, traveling to Mississippi to volunteer with the rebuilding after Katrina brought back memories from when he was stationed in the Biloxi area in 1961.

 

He remembered encountering both the “best and the worst” of experiences there in the 1960’s. One of his favorite experiences was walking along the Gulf shore talking to the fishermen and shrimpers as they sat around fires on the beach.

But then there was the time Denny was arrested while he was serving in the Air Force in Biloxi for “violating local customs”. The crime: walking down the street with a friend who was African American.

 

Five months after Hurricane Katrina roared through, Denny returned to Biloxi. For him, the contrasts in the community before and after the hurricane were stark. The Gulf shore, which had once been a beautiful retreat for the fishermen at the end of the day, was torn apart and littered with debris. And here, in a place often divided by color, people from around the country worked side-by-side with the people of Biloxi. Skin color didn’t matter. Tables were beginning to overturn.

            So tell me…what would Jesus do?

            Tell me…what would Jesus do, if he had to walk a mile in my shoes?

            Would he open his door and make every sacrifice?

            Would he give all that he had so save his brother’s life?

            Would he leave behind the one who need him the most?

            Or would he reach out for every desperate soul?

Traveling into unsettled places. Retreating into the wilderness. It is often a desert wilderness that Jesus retreats to in order to find solitude and pray. Footsteps in the sand.

 

This week many colleges and universities are on spring break. Students are flocking to Florida, Mexico, and yes- the indoor water parks at the Wisconsin Dells.  Yesterday, Barb Turner and a contingent of students from Edgewood College left to walk in the border area between Arizona and Mexico. They will be working with Humane Borders. Humane Borders relies on hundreds of volunteers to maintain over 80 water stations set up in the desert.

 

Along the border between Mexico and the United States, it is estimated that during the cooler “travel” months between October and July, thousands of people attempt to cross from Mexico into the United States. Most are not aware of the dangers they face in the desert. Most have not even seen a desert. Most do not know that it will take them three and a half days to walk through the desert. Many have been told it will take them 45 minutes. Most do not know how much water – at least eight gallons- to bring along on the walk.Since 1998, more than 3,000 men, women and children have died in the border area between Mexico and Arizona.

 

The group from Edgewood will be checking the water stations, collecting trash, restocking emergency rations and first aid kits. They will see the footprints of the migrants left behind in the sand. 

            Tell me sister, what would Jesus do?

            Tell me, brother, what would Jesus do?

            And tell me, what you gonna do, if you had to walk a mile in my shoes?

How do we respond to God’s footsteps? How do we respond to the tables that need overturning? How do we react to the events in the world that don’t make sense? How do we react to the events within our own church that might not seem to make sense?

One person can’t fix everything. Not with a whip. Not with words.

But that’s not what God intended.

God intended us to be able to walk in the shoes of our sisters and brothers in Biloxi, Mississippi.

God intended us to walk in the shoes of those of us shaken by cancer, those in our midst homebound due to illness, our neighbors cast out with HIV/AIDS.

Just as Christ walks along with us.

Each day. Sunrise to sunset. Step-by-step.

God intended us to walk in the shoes of those tossed upside down by the loss of a job. God intended us to walk in the shoes of our friends facing alcoholism and drug addiction. We, as a community, can walk in the shoes of our neighbors who seek food for their families and those without shelter.

As Christ walks along with us. Step-by-step.

And here, in this sanctuary we can walk together as one, step-by-step, through Lent.

Here in the solitude we can walk together, taking steps through the chaos toward Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Here we can remember the footsteps

Of God walking with us…

Christ walking beside us…

And of the Spirit walking within us.

Sunrise to sunset. Step by step.