Quick review:
John begins his sharing of the Good News with a prologue in chapter 1 that really is a synopsis of his entire gospel. Jesus the light that shines in the darkness and in Jesus there is grace upon grace; a huge heaping helping of grace in our ordinary every day lives.
Then, Jesus is at a wedding where the wine skin runs dry and he changes water into the best tasting wine you've ever had! There is an abundance of wine, more than was needed or necessary ~ which is to say this was a tangible moment of grace!
Right after that...Jesus goes into the temple, makes a whip out of reeds and drives money changers out. Whoa...wait...how is that again?
How do you go from the joy of a wedding feast to the anger of creating a ruckus in the temple? How do you go from laughing and dancing at the new life of a couple to making a scene in the most sacred space known to the Jewish faith? Talk about an emotional roller coaster! And yet, perhaps, not so much. Both stories are rooted in passion. Passion for enjoying the grace of life and passion that we cannot be silent in the face of injustice. Both stories are rooted in hope. Hope for what God is doing and hope that God will work through us to transform systems that exploit.
This chapter also represents the complex the truth of the already and not yet. In Jesus our Christ we encounter the already of God's realm. We already taste on the tip of our tongues the deep joy of true life, like the best wine. And yet, things are not all rainbows and chocolate rivers. There is too much brokenness and pain and suffering and discrimination. We live in two realms: the already and not yet. We live in God's grace; yet God's grace is not some magic pill for what ails you or our world.
What do we make of the cleansing of the temple? Too often I think it is seen as a critique of Jewish system of sacrifice and offering. And yet, the church today also encourages people to make sacrifices...not with doves or goats...but with time, talent and treasure. We cajole and sometimes even guilt people into giving more. The truth is it takes time and money and gifts to be the body of Christ. And the truth is there is never enough to do every thing. The cleansing of the temple is an opportunity to reflect on our own stewardship.
Stewardship is a difficult word...a foreign word...to many of us. We tend to think of it as being a manager for what we already own. But Stewardship is not ownership. It is more like watching over something that does not belong to you. But wait...we will protest...I earned this pay check or bought this house. We are brought up in a culture of either or rather than both and. Stewardship is a challenge to our either or thinking...how can time be both God's and mine? That is the stewardship question with which we all must wrestle.
Stewardship shines the light on the already and not yet quality of God's realm. We do share faithfully and give generously...and we are sometimes afraid and hold back for a rainy day.
I hope these few thoughts might invite you to reflect on your own life. I hope reading this passage from John might also help you reflect on where God's still speaking voice is inviting you to re-evaluate and re- prioritize our lives to embody more the realm of God here and now.
For God's realm is not a destination we reach once, but a daily decision for us to embrace God's call for love, invitation to justice, and God's humble prayer for our world.
May there be traces of God's grace for you this week!
Blessings ~
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment