This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on Sunday, March 7, 2021.
Psalm 19:9-14
9 The fear of the Lord is clean
and endures for ever; *
the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb.
11 By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how often he offends? *
cleanse me from my secret faults.
13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me; *
then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offense.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in your sight, *
O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
From the Book of Common Prayer, 1979
1 Corinthians 3:16 -20
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,
‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’,
and again,
‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are futile.’
John2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
REFLECTION
Lord, keep us from the dominion of presumptuous sin. Amen
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In a reflection on Psalm 19 posted last October, I defined presumptuous sin (arrogant sinning) as “something that proceeds from a sense of entitlement, pride, and self-deceit. The psalmist is cognizant that engaging in presumptuous sin can subjugate and recoil on those who engage in such offensive behavior.”
In today’s lesson from the Gospel of John, Jesus recoils on those practicing presumptuous sin; the Temple’s money exchangers and vendors supplying sacrificial animals, who felt entitled to cheat people out of their money with unfair money exchanges and fixing a premium prices on animals used in sacrifices; particularly, during religious festivals when large crowds would come from far away lands to worship at the Temple and offer sacrifices.
Jesus took great offense to this practice of open extortion and literally cleans house. People making required sacrifices would find themselves at the mercy of money exchanger and vendor who would cheat them out of their money when they arrived. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, as he cleansed the Temple, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers.” [Matt. 21:13]
In the Synoptic Gospels, this event takes place during the week of Jesus’ crucifixion but in the Gospel of John, it takes place near the beginning of the Gospel. The authors of this gospel are intentional in their use and placement of the events and stories found in the Synoptic Gospels as a way to guide the reader into a deeper understanding of who Jesus is.
Just before the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple, John records a story that isn’t found in the other gospels, the Wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. In John, this event is recorded as the first miracle of Jesus. The Gospel of John utilizes what I refer to as coded language and imagery.
For example, in that story, water turning into wine symbolizes baptism as a change in the make up of one who seeks a deeper relationship with God. It is used to describe the journey into the Mystery of Faith as being initiated in baptism and culminating in communion. Before this journey begins, Mary tells the servants (code for Jesus’ followers), “Do whatever he tells you.”
And so we begin this journey with a house cleaning.
In the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple, Jesus refers to his body as a temple. Within Jesus’ metaphor is the implication that our bodies are temples also. As Paul reminds us in today’s first lesson, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? …God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
It is helpful to understand that what this house cleaning entails. It is a purging of presumptuous sin from the temples that we are; the presumption that I have a right to do what I want because of who I am or because others are doing the same thing, and so on. The presumptuous sin is rooted in lies which are the most damaging sins of all.
Last Sunday, Jesus asked those who would follow him to deny themselves. The difficulty with presumptuous sin is that it is self-deceiving. It blinds oneself to the need to deny oneself of one’s illusions, to rid oneself of that which is untrue.
In this past year, we have witnessed the result of presumptuous sin on a national scale. It can be subtle; in that, it can sanctioned by cultures and systems, but it is more likely to become a private domain, an excuse for doing what I shouldn’t or an excuse for not doing what I should.
Cleaning the temple of our souls involves turning the tables on sin and purging the arrogance within; turning away (repenting) from whatever is blocking the way and turning towards the one who helps us find our way, the life-giving word that is Jesus.
Rote repentance can become a non-stop sin-cycle where one keeps spinning one’s wheels in the ruts of sins we really don’t want to get rid of. If we find ourselves going nowhere in our spiritual lives, perhaps we’re dealing with a presumptuous sin we are unaware of or don’t want to let go of.
We living souls are temples, the places where God dwells in us; the collective places where the Body of Christ dwells on earth and from which the light of God shines on those living in darkness that’s all around. That light can’t get out if our souls are too cluttered with a selfish sense of entitlement and mired in self-deception.
There is no escaping the effects of sin and committing sin in this life. There is only the grace of God that shields us from its effects. In this world we are going to sin, but we don’t have to be shackled to them. We don’t have to keep spinning in them.
Turning over the tables of self-deception and presumptuous sin involves giving it a name; identifying that which is blocking the light within us and turning away from it. The good news is that we can repent. We can turn towards Jesus who knows our attraction to sin, our struggle with sin, and forgives it unconditionally and cleanses us from it so that we may shine as the temples in which God’s Spirit dwells.
Amen.
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Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
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