what is worship for?

This is the second in a series following through the book: The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, which follows the Gospel of Mark's narrative from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday. I recommend reading this book, rather than relying on my interpretation of it.

I wonder what it would be like if this church wasn't here. What difference would it make to your life, our life, to the people of this area and city.

Some  background on the passage we heard from Mark’s gospel this morning.

Mark uses ‘frames’ or ‘sandwiches’ as a literary device. In this passage, the story of the fig tree ‘frames’ the story of the Temple; that is a hint that they are related stories. This isn’t the only place Mark uses that technique, when you are reading Mark’s gospel, keep an eye out for it.

During this part of Israel’s history, Israel was part of the Roman Empire. The Temple was a significant place for the people of Israel. It was also a place where Roman political power and Jewish religious power intersected.   

Mark places this event the day after the entry into Jerusalem, and during the week leading to the crucifixion.   This was Passover week, remembering the Passover when the people of Israel left slavery in Egypt. Passover was huge, lots of people coming in to town, one person describes it like the Christmas rush. Religious tourism was an important part of the economy of Jerusalem, as pilgrims came for major festivals.

The traders associated with the Temple were in an outer area, and a necessary part of the Temple life. Pilgrims came from all over the Mediterranean region, so buying animals for sacrifice was much more practical than carrying them great distances, also the temple tax was paid in local currency, so money changers were essential.

One part of the Passover celebrations was sacrificing lambs. The sacrificial system was part of life for many ancient cultures for centuries. People maintain relationships with each other in two basic ways – giving of gifts and eating together. Think about the people you are friends with, how often do you meet for a drink or a meal. When people sensed the divine and were looking for ways to relate,  giving gifts and eating together turned into a sacrificial system.  In sacrifice as ‘gift’, the animal or grain is burnt on the altar. The idea was that the smoke rising to God was a gift. In sacrifice as a shared meal, the animal was transferred to God by its blood being poured over the altar, when the animal was eaten, it was divine food in a feast with God, where God was the host.

The so-called ‘cleansing of the Temple’ Jesus quotes from Jeremiah chapter 7. Here Jeremiah is calling people’s attention to their false sense of security in the Temple. ‘den of robbers’ is Jeremiah’s way of saying a hideout for  thieves, thieves who steal people’s life by oppressing them, by acting unjustly and without compassion.

So what does all this mean for suburban NN, in NN in the 21^st Century?

Do you have a place you go when you want you don’t want to accept responsibility? As a child did you have a way of avoiding the consequences of your actions? I have read that studying theology can be a way of avoiding God, I wonder if coming to church is also a way of avoiding God, all the outward signs of faith, but none of the transformation.

The Temple, the place considered to be God’s home on earth, and the priests whose role it was to offer the sacrifices in the holy of holies where ordinary people did not go, had become a refuge for collaborators. Is this church a place for people to come and pretend all is well in the world, to come and ignore inequality, oppression, poverty and injustice? Last week we looked at the difference between the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God. Does our worship allow us to sit comfortably with the status quo, confident of our own in heaven, comfortable with our place in the world.

Remember I mentioned the framing of this incident with the story of the fig tree. Now it was not the season for figs, so the story of the fig tree, read on its own, doesn’t make a lot of sense. But looking at the Temple story framed by the withering fig tree, helps us make sense of the Temple story.

The Temple without fruit is not worthy of its name; just as a fig tree without fruit is useless.  While the Old Testament includes variety of sacrifices for different occasions, there are also places which talk of the need for justice, compassion and inclusion; because without these things, the sacrifices are meaningless.

Looking at sacrifice as a meal with God, how long can we sit at the table with God, as a guest of God, and not  be changed by that encounter.

Reading the gospels we get a picture of Jesus as someone involved and interested in all of life. It can be easy to spiritualise the stories we read, but that is not the intent of the Gospels. What we do here this morning, is not an end in itself. Worship is not for the sake of worship. That is not to say that worship and worshipping together are not important, but they are not all there is to our Christian faith. We believe that in worship, we encounter Jesus, or maybe we become more aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Praising God is good, remembering the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is good, celebrating the coming of the Spirit is good; but they are not ends in themselves.

This morning N was baptised, what will he learn from hanging around with this congregation?

A poem:

Like a well-barnacled ship,
the gospel lumbers through time
encrusted
with layered domestication.
We find it difficult
to think of Jesus
angry.
Love God.
love you neighbour.
love your enemy.
But anger?
Jesus’ anger disturbs
yet reveals
there’s a time for anger.

When we focus on places in which to worship
rather than people to serve
there’s a time for anger.
When we focus on self
and ignore the extreme need of many
there’s a time for anger.
When we accept poverty, injustice, war
as part of the natural order
there’s a time for anger.

There’s a time for anger
that results in action
that
heals the hurting
supports the suffering
relieves the exploited
frees the enslaved
brings God’s love to bear.

There’s a time when it’s wrong
not to be angry.
© Jeff Shrowder, 2012.