March 4, 2018         We Preach Christ Crucified                             

This morning, our gospel lesson from John tells us about Jesus coming to the temple and becoming enraged at what he sees, grabs a whip of cords and drives the sellers and the money changers out of the temple. Jesus is angry at these people who have turned the Jewish religion into some kind of for profit business, and used the name of God to do so.

And so it is appropriate this morning, that this gospel reading is paired with the reading of the ten commandments in the old testament, so that we might look at some examples of how they had been corrupted by the Jewish leaders and even how we have corrupted them today.   

The first example of this is the 3^rd commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Many people understand this to mean we shouldn’t use God’s name as an expletive. God this and Jesus that. But the real intention of this law is that one should not use God’s name to justify themselves or their pursuits. Business people who say they are good Christians in order to sell a product. Politicians who claim Christian values to get elected. And Christian groups that support behaviors that are decidedly not that of Christ. Yet the Jewish leaders had little problem with people using God’s name to come to the temple to sell their products.

Another example is the 4^th commandment. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. God gave this commandment because in Egypt the Israelites were forced to work 24/7. The intention was that in taking a day to honor God, they would be freed from this grind. In our world today, this isn’t just about our work hours, we face a 24/7 grind of living for ourselves, we work for our living, then we work for ourselves on weeknights and weekdays. Even taking a day for ourselves has become work. And that’s why we are to take a day to honor God, to love our neighbors, to realize our lives won’t fall apart if we think of someone besides ourselves. But the Jewish leaders boiled this down to not doing any work on the Sabbath, even work that might help a neighbor.

A third example is the 10^th commandment, Thou shalt not covet. A few months ago, I wrote an article contrasting a table with roast beef and a table with salad greens. I spoke about the constant need people have to have the best in life. Part of this involves comparing ourselves to our neighbors, and not wanting to miss out on a better life. This kind of competition drives us to bigger houses, better clothes, better vacations, and etc. until we are like the guy in that commercial, mowing the lawn and moaning, “I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.” That’s where coveting gets us. Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders boiled this commandment down to stealing and adultery. 

And so, even before Jesus gets to the temple, he is already upset that the leaders of the jewish religion have reduced the law to a set of moralisms that they use for their own purposes to divide and rule over the Jewish people. And then he comes to the temple, and sees them breaking the commandments against taking the lord’s name in vain, honoring the Sabbath, and not coveting, and he loses it!

This morning in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles” This morning I have focused on the stumbling block to the Jews part of this. They have reduced their religion to a moralism that no longer serves God or benefits neighbor. The second part of this is that Jesus is folly to Gentiles, because the gentiles love winners, and see no reason for suffering one another in love.

Yet this past week, at our Wednesday morning devotion. Our speaker talked to us about suffering one another in love. He spoke about hearing the voices of those we disagree with, not to formulate an argument, but to actually listen so that we might understand their fears and frustrations. To listen in a way that makes them human to us, brothers and sisters, however we disagree. The Gentile way of thinking in modern times is that might makes right, that the winners write the rules, and the history. Yet this winner’s attitude pits us against one another, and divides, and conquers us. The value of suffering one another in love, is that it unites us, includes us, values us, and creates a community of faith, fellowship, friendship and love. The path of suffering one another in love is folly to the Gentiles, but it is the Wisdom of god for all of us.

And so we come to the last part of this sermon, We preach Christ Crucified. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as a measure against both corrupt religion, and corrupt politics. For those who come to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, crucified by both of these forces, there is freedom for us, so that we many never be ruled by them anymore. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ!