There Is a Time and Place for Everything

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  March 3, 2024

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Read John 2:13 – 22
 
Our text for the morning takes place at a time just prior to the Jewish Passover which commemorates God sparing the lives of Israel’s firstborn children in Egypt and freeing the Hebrews from slavery. 
 
In keeping with the Jewish tradition… Passover continues to be celebrated to this day as a reminder of God’s deliverance.  And within Christian tradition… we can make a connection to this as we think about the blood that covered the doorframes and protected the Jews in biblical days as a symbol of the blood of Christ that covers and protects us today.
 
Now, according to scholars, the Feast of Passover was one of the three pilgrimage festivals when Jews were commanded to travel to Jerusalem for a collective observance.  And as part of the weeklong observance, the people were required to make animal sacrifices for sin and pay the required temple tax.  But first and foremost, the people were there at the Temple for worship.
 
And that is the reason why Jesus and His disciples had come to Jerusalem… to worship in the Temple and to celebrate the Passover.
 
However, what Jesus saw when He arrived at the Temple was extremely upsetting.  According to the Message Paraphrase:

[Jesus] found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.  Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right (John 2:14 – 15, MSG).

Perhaps it goes without saying that THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING… but this was clearly NOT the right time and it was most definitely not the right place for what amounted to opportunists trying to cash in on a captive market.
 
The religious leaders had allowed the money changers and merchants to set up shop in the temple court under the guise of making things convenient for the worshipers while at the same time raising money for temple upkeep. 
 
Part of the requirement for everyone to pay the temple tax also included the requirement that it be paid in the local currency.  This meant that visitors from out-of-town had to exchange their money for the local currency.  And it was common practice for the changers to charge exorbitant rates of exchange.
 
And along with paying the temple tax, the people also needed to make the requisite sacrifices for their sins.  However, many found it difficult to travel long distances and bring their own animals.  So, there were merchants who conducted a flourishing business in the courtyard… selling their animals at much higher prices than anywhere else.
 
This practice is not so unlike what we find in the food courts and shopping areas at airports or concession stands at different theaters and arenas where the price of a single bottle of water is more than what you might pay for an entire case of water at BJs, Costco, or Sam’s Club. 
 
Much like the money changers and merchants in the Temple court, the airport merchants and theater concessionaires have the average consumer over a barrel, so to speak. 
 
But just because they CAN get away with charging whatever prices the market will bear… does not mean that they SHOULD charge such exorbitant prices. 
 
Coincidentally, there was quite the uproar this past week about a fast-food chain that was exploring the idea of what they were calling “surge pricing” …increasing the prices for menu items during peak times of the day. Needless to say, this idea went over like a lead balloon and they have since reconsidered their strategy.
 
Now, as we look back at the text… it was these extreme acts of greed and self-indulgence that angered Jesus.  The money changers and merchants were clearly taking advantage of the people who had come to the temple for worship… and they had the audacity to do it right there in the temple court!
 
There was so much commercial activity happening in the courtyard that the visitors… many who had come from far distances… found it difficult to worship… which was the main reason they had come to the Temple in the first place.
 
So, what did Jesus do? 
 
Well according to the Message Paraphrase:

[He] put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. [And] He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!”

Talk about being in the right place at the WRONG time… But rather than offer a “mea culpa” for their actions… the Jews had the nerve to ask Jesus for some type of miraculous sign that would serve as proof that He had the authority to clear out His Father’s house.
 
But when Jesus responded to them, they did not understand what He meant when He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
 
They thought He was talking about tearing down and rebuilding the physical structure where they were standing at the time… which was somewhat perplexing to them… because it had taken forty-six years for the temple to be built… and even with that, it was still not completely finished… so there was absolutely no way that anyone would be able to tear it down and build it up again in only 3 days. 
 
But Jesus was not referring to the actual building. 
 
He was talking about Himself… declaring that His resurrection from the dead after three days would be more than enough proof that He is the Son of God and that He has all the authority needed to do what He had done. 
 
But this was something that would not become clear, even to His disciples, until after He was raised from the dead.
 
Now, this idea of Jesus, not the physical building, being the Temple… points us to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 6 (19 – 20):

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

It is a reminder to us that the true church is not made up of brick and mortar… rather it is embodied in the flesh and blood of believers. 
 
It is like the lyrics to the old song “We Are the Church” say:

I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!
The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple;
the church is not a resting place; the church is a people.

If we are willing to acknowledge that THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING… as we think about what it means for us to be the church today… and come together in this house of worship… our prayer ought to be that when people come inside these walls… they will feel God’s love emanating through us… and they will know that right here and right now is where they were meant to be.
 
But how do we do that? 
 
Well… one thing our text tells us is that we do NOT do that by turning the house of worship into a marketplace.  
 
Now to be fair, I am not knocking those worship centers that have bookstores and coffee shops on the premises.  But let me suggest that where those things do exist… they should not become the focal point for why people are gathering.
 
Our eyes ought to ALWAYS be fixed on Jesus… because He truly is the foundation of the church.  And when we come together, as the psalmists remind us… our goal ought to be to “worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness” (Psalm 29:2, 96:9) …and to “Worship the Lord with gladness; [and] come before him with joyful songs” (Psalm 100:2).
 
Now, if we were to take a look at the Book of Acts, we would find the following description of the early “church”:

They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers… [and] They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved (Acts 2:42, 46 – 47).

Clearly, they understood that THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING… and each day presented them with the opportunity to do what God had called them to do – to worship together, fellowship together, and praise God together.
 
And at the end of the day, that is what God is still calling His children to do – to worship together, to fellowship together, and to praise God together… and being ever mindful that it is not about us.  It is all about the One who calls us.
 
Now, as we think about our own denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), I have been known to tell people that we are the denomination that never wanted to be a denomination. 
 
I say that because when Barton Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, and Walter Scott got together in the early 1800s, their desire was simply to return to the Christian unity that was reflected in the faith and practices of the New Testament… particularly what we read about in Acts 2.
 
For them, the goal was to live out the idea that they were, “Christians only, but not the only Christians.”  They had no desire to be encumbered by denominational labels, church polity, doctrines, or creeds. 
 
They merely wanted to come together as believers in Christ with the understanding that THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING… especially as it relates to being the church… the body of believers… the disciples of Christ
 
And for them, the right time and place to demonstrate that Christ’s love and sacrifice is for all… is at the Lord’s table.
 
That is why… to this day… the Communion Table remains open to all who are followers of Jesus Christ. 
 
This is even reflected in our identity statement as a denomination which says:

We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.

Because, what it all boils down to is that we are one in the Spirit… and we are one in the Lord… and at the core of who we are as Disciples of Christ… as members of the denomination but more importantly as the followers of Jesus… we are called to live in unity.
 
As founder, Barton Stone, would say, “Unity is our polar star.” 
 
And when people come across the threshold into this house of worship… the call to unity ought to be so pervasive that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this where they are meant to be.
 
As the Psalmist David wrote in Psalm 133:1, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”   Whether friends, visitors, family members or those whose names are already on the roll here at Ledgewood Christian Church… the call is for all of us to live together in unity. 
 
But how can we possibly hope to live together in unity in a world that seems more fragmented and divided than ever? 
 
Well let me suggest that this is THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING and right here… right now… is where it needs to start… in the midst of the body of believers and in the context of worship.
 
If we want to be the true church that God has called us to be… we must become a model of unity that can be replicated in our homes, our schools, in our communities and on our jobs. 
 
Because if we… if you and I really are the church, that means wherever we go, we bring the church with us. 
 
So, as the church… it is up to us to take advantage of every opportunity that we can to share the Gospel… to spread the Good News about Jesus… whether we do that with our words or through our actions.
 
I don’t think it is any secret that there has been a concerted effort by some people to distort the message of the Gospel to promote their personal agendas… but rest assured… at the end of the day, Jesus will ensure that His message is heard… loud and clear… over all the rest.
 
It is in the Gospel of Matthew (25:35 – 46) that Jesus teaches us that whatever things we do for the hungry, homeless, and hurting… we do those things for Him.  And whatever things we choose not to do for the hungry, homeless, and hurting… we are choosing not to do those things for Him.
 
But even as we think about what it means for us to be the church and show our love for Christ by showing love to others… we must be sure that in whatever we are doing, our motives are pure.
 
Otherwise, we might just find ourselves on the receiving end of the same harsh rebuke that Jesus had for the religious leaders of His day, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’” (Matthew 15:7, Mark 7:6).
 
And so, it is incumbent upon us as the church to recognize that even as we argue for the right to life for unborn children… we cannot lose sight of those children who are starving and suffering after they are born… 
 
As we advocate for shelter and protection for animals who have been abandoned and displaced… we cannot forget about the men, women, and children who are unhoused… living in shelters or couch-surfing from place to place… in need of a permanent home they can call their own.
 
And even as we lift our voices in protest against the wars and atrocities that have been raging around the world… we cannot turn a blind eye to the violence and brutality that continues to erupt in our own communities…
 
THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING and this is the time and place for us do more than honor the Lord with our lips… as the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”
 
It is in the book of James (2:14 – 17) that we read:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Or as it reads in the Message Paraphrase:

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

It is up to us to do more than simply call ourselves the church… we must BE the church. 
 
Now, before we join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship, #272 The Church’s One Foundation, I want to invite your attention to what appears just before the song, under the heading #271, “The Church.” 
 
It is the opening paragraph from the Design of the Christian Church, the document that provides governance for the denomination.  It has been revised since the hymnal was printed in 1995, so that paragraph now reads:

Within the whole family of God on earth, the church appears wherever believers in Jesus the Christ are gathered in His name. Transcending all barriers within the human family, the one church manifests itself in ordered communities bound together for worship, fellowship, and service; in varied structures for mission, witness, and mutual accountability; and for the nurture and renewal of its members. The nature of the church, given by Christ, remains constant through the generations, yet in faithfulness to its nature, it continues to discern God’s vision and to adapt its mission and structures to the needs of a changing world. All dominion in the church belongs to Jesus, its Lord and head, and any exercise of authority in the church on earth stands under His judgment (The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) rev. 2017).

And while the Design may have undergone some revisions in the past and will likely be revised again in the future… one thing defies all revision which is that the basis for who we are as Disciples and the foundation upon which the church is built… always has been and always will be Jesus Christ.
 
And so, in keeping with our theme this morning that THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING… it is now time for us, as the church, to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: The Church's One Foundation (v. 1, 2, 5) #272.

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