"Protest"
A Sermon of
The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
The Third Sunday in Lent
March 19, 2006
Text: John 2:13-22
I
At his baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus saw the heavens open and he heard the words, "You are my Son, the Beloved." From this deep sense that he was loved unconditionally by God, Jesus came to any equally deep awareness that all men and women were loved by God. He especially felt called to reach out to those who might not believe that they were loved: the outcasts of his day: tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, and all who were on the margins of respectable society.
Far from rejecting Jewish institutions, Jesus honored the heritage of his ancestors. He was a devout believer of the Jewish covenant and he patterned his life in conformity with Jewish tenets and practices. In fact, Jesus was more devoted to his religion than others and he sought to reform Jewish religion so that it would show forth its shining essence. It is as a reforming Rabbi who wished to purify his religion that we understand his actions in today's Gospel passage known as "Cleansing the Temple."
We need to ask: What was wrong that needed cleansing? How did the temple function in Jewish religious practice? What was Jesus protesting? A bit of background: Every Jew over nineteen years of age had to pay a temple tax in Jewish currency only, because foreign coins were considered unclean. The tax amounted to about two days' wages. Since pilgrims came with foreign coins from all over the world for the Passover, the money changers performed a useful service. In addition, there were merchants in the Temple selling oxen, sheep and doves to the pilgrims since it was customary to make a thanksgiving sacrifice for a safe journey. The sellers had a monopoly on this trade because animals bought outside the Temple had to pass their inspection before being sacrificed. There may have been some blatant extortion at the expense of poor pilgrims. What is bad is that these injustices were being done under the guise of religion.
But the biggest problem was something else. The real corruption lies in the fact that the Roman authorities who had conquered Jerusalem had taken control of the most holy of Jewish shrines, the Temple. The Roman Procurator appointed the chief priest and granted the high priesthood as a franchise to corrupt officials. The Roman procurator kept control of the high priest's sacred garments and only loaned them back for the great feasts if the high priests did the Procurator's bidding.
This Roman control of the holiest of Jewish shrines rankled and upset the Jews, who saw this as an insult and humiliation. This was the great offense that Jesus was protesting, rather than the money changers or exorbitant charges for the animals. Jesus, in this symbolic way, protested the Roman occupation and defilement of the temple. His action would not change things by itself -- the Romans were too powerful for that -- but it was a powerful symbolic protest. And his example comes down to us today as we look at injustices that we cannot change by ourselves. We too must take our stand and oppose injustice as best we can. As Martin Luther said, "Here I stand, I can do no other."
II
St. Patrick, whose feast we celebrated on Friday, opposed injustices rampant in his day such as kidnapping, slavery, and intertribal warfare. Patrick, as a teenager, was kidnapped from his family in England by Irish pirates who brought him to a slave market in Ireland and sold him to one of the local kings of Ireland. For six long years Patrick was forced to tend the flocks of the king and often slept outside tending the sheep and cattle. During these long and lonely days and nights Patrick called out to God for comfort -- and God befriended him and gave him strength. Patrick finally was able to escape and return to his family in England. He then went to France to enter a seminary and was ordained a priest and then a bishop. He felt that God was calling him to go back to bring the Christian faith to the Celts who had enslaved him. How extraordinary: to return to the very people who had made him a slave! This is what Patrick did, and, he was enormously successful. He labored among the Celts for 30 years, from his late 40s to his late 70s, and was able to win many over to the faith. Through his influence, kidnapping and slavery were ended in Celtic lands and intertribal warfare was greatly reduced.
III
I think of Mahatmas Gandhi who took on the mighty British Empire and won independence for India. Gandhi patterned his movement on the non-violent example of Jesus and through moral persuasion, boycotts, and non-violent protest was able to end British occupation of his country.
I think of Rosa Parks who protested segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, and ignited the civil rights movement that ended segregation and secured voting rights for minorities throughout our land.
I think of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager whose story is told in the movie Hotel Rwanda. He was not able to stop the holocaust that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis in his country, but he courageously shepherded over 1,000 innocent people to safety.
What are some of the ways that we can protest injustice today? In our leaflet, This Week, you will see information about efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur. If ever there were an evil crying out to heaven for action, this is it. Hundreds of thousands of people have been raped, robbed, and killed and millions have been driven from their homes. The nations of the world are standing on the sidelines. Please look at the column in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof, "A village waiting for rape and murder" posted on the bulletin board and the website address printed in our leaflet. We can protest this genocide and add our voices calling for action.
Jesus was one solitary force who made a symbolic protest against injustice in his day. We too can take our stand. We cannot change everything, but we can do something to make our voices known. The season of Lent is a time to move out of our comfort zones to hear the cries of the poor and to extend our help.
Amen.