Ex. 20:1-17; John 2:13-22
Be of Good Courage
I once heard the definition of courage as fear that has said its prayers. This morning I would like to speak to you about courage. Now the courage I am going to reflect with you about is not necessarily the kind of courage that soldiers display in battle; although that image is the kind of courage we might think of first. Rather, the kind of courage I am referring to is the courage to stand up for an unpopular cause.
I would like to reflect with you on the kind of courage that allows a person to seek help when confronted with addiction, to get out bed when dealing with deep depression, or to speak the truth in love, as St. Paul writes, when there could be the cost of a job, the cost of a friendship, or maybe the cost of one's life. Our Hebrew text from Exodus and our reading from John speak about the cost of discipleship and how it takes courage to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
I am reminded of another definition of courage from William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, when Caesar says to Cassius, "cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." Only the valiant know the cost of discipleship and in Rome it would not be their soldiers who were courageous but those men and women who resisted Roman power to find their way to freedom and to a new life in Christ.
When Julius Caesar died, it was the advent of Rome's growing power over the world. By the time of Jesus' birth over 70% of the known world was enslaved by the Romans. The sun rose and set on men and women who would never taste the air of freedom. To most, it was only a dream. Through military might, economic sanctions, and paid vassals, Rome was able to enslave foreigners and captives and to stamp out all rebellion with punishing results. It was into this world that Jesus was born.
As a boy, Jesus went with his parents to Jerusalem as all pious Jews were encouraged to do especially at the time of the Feast of the Passover which recalled the Israelites eventual liberation from the Egyptians by Moses. The Temple in Jerusalem was the heart and the soul of Jesus' people. The holy building was created and assembled under the orders of King Herod, a well known vassal of the Emperor Tiberius. Inside the Temple the people would offer sacrifices in thanksgiving to God by paying for a bird, such as a dove, to give to the priests as an offering. People would have to pay with Roman coins and then given their tokens of sacrifice to be offered.
As Jesus grew up, we can imagine how hard the people of Nazareth worked. Scraping together enough money to leave work, make the journey to Jerusalem, and then give their hard earned wages to the priest. When Jesus grew into his public ministry one of his first acts, according to the Gospel of John, was to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover with his disciples. Seeing his people year after year give their wages to the Temple priests using Roman money to buy the sacrificial offerings was a defilement of the Temple and all it stood for as a visible tribute and sign of God.
Some people might say that Jesus lost his temper. He was not himself. He lost it. He made a bullwhip, poured the coins out onto the floor of the Temple, overturned the money changers tables,and rebuked them sternly. Then Jesus added the cryptic remark, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." I don't know about you, but I find this incident early in Jesus' public ministry disturbing. Many of us tend to think of Jesus meek and mild. His demeanor is more one of gentleness and tenderness. Not here. He is like a lion here. No wonder C.S. Lewis used the image of Aslan, the Lion, to portray symbolically Jesus.
From this moment on Jesus is targeted for arrest and tattooed for death. But, up to this moment, Jesus was not marked. Yes, he was well known as healer; and true, he was a rabbi of renown. Yet, now he steps into the darkness of evil; and it will be this interplay between light and darkness that will be a hallmark of John's Gospel. Yet, into this wilderness of darkness, Jesus' courage, would lead his people, and all people for all time, into the everlasting life and light of the living God. Instead of a Temple made of marble, ivory and stone, it would be made through the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Jesus shows us the face of courage. He shows us his humanity in full view with his righteous anger for the injustice and oppression laid upon his people by greedy and powerful people. You and I do not have to look far to see that greed and power are still with us when we look to Darfur, Syria, and to our country where people are out of work, still without adequate healthcare, where violence in our cities goes unabated. The picture that is ingrained in my mind of courage is the picture of the unknown man standing in front of four tanks during the Tiannimen Square uprising. If you notice the man he is carrying a bag in his left hand as if he had made a choice of rather going to his office like a good worker, he went the other way and walked out on the Tarmac and stood in front of the tanks as a silent witness to freedom. An ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. He follows in a successive line of courageous people like Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Joan of Arc, St. Stephen, and Moses.
Through the courage of Moses and Aaron in the face of the Pharaoh's power that the people were lead from slavery into freedom. And, it was in the wilderness that the people were given a guidepost for living a faithful life in God through the Ten Commandments. I know people riff on the Commandments as the ten suggestions as if they could be taken or left. Yet, for those Israelites they were a gift from God. By keeping the Commandments, God would always be their God through thick and thin, through wind and fire, through war and peace.
The Commandments were given by God to Moses on two tablets. One was God centered; and the other one was neighbor centered. They offered a direct edict from God about how to live with faith, compassion, and courage. Keep the Commandments and I will keep you. Through the centuries, the Ten Commandments have served as the guideposts for Jews and Christians alike. I am sure many of you have seen or remembered the Commandments posted in churches, homes, and even in public places. Over time, these reminders have been either replaced, removed or forgotten. Yet, I would offer to us that they are as much a gift to you and me as they were to those first men and women who saw them.
Of all the Commandments which hold equal value, the one that reminds us to be courageous people, like Jesus was in the Temple, is the one in the middle of the Commandments about keeping the Sabbath daily holy. It reminds us of creation and how God rested. It reminds us of liberation and freedom that the Israelites enjoyed as they left their yokes behind to find a promised land of milk and honey. It reminds us of the Resurrection of the Lord's Day that every Sunday is Easter as we celebrate our Lord's life, death and resurrection and are connected to God and one another through the Holy Eucharist. To practice Sabbath is to take a leap of faith.
During the Lent, this Commandment of keeping the Sabbath Day holy is a reminder of how far we can stray from God's hope for us. It takes courage to take a time-out, a real time-out. Consider how you make time for God. Consider how you make time for joy. Consider when was the last time you intentionally took time for joy. When we are faced with tough decisions or seem to be falling into the abyss of anxiety God has given us, even commanded us, to take time away from work and from the pressures of life. Read the Commandment carefully because it includes all people - family, friends, aliens and strangers -- even animals -- even all creation. Through God's gift of this commandment all creatures become the same. No rich or poor. No male of female. No black or white. No slave or free. All of creation become as one in this Commandment.
The Sabbath allows us to be free not enslaved to time nor wedded to others' authority nor to the personal, economic, and political forces that eat away at us. Taking Sabbath time allows for all people to long for a better world, to dream the good dreams of God, and to consider alternatives from a world that can fetter us down into slavish, routine lives. Sabbath time is a subversive act. It is countercultural. It is not the way of the world. Sabbath time is the way of God.
Jesus embodies for us the courageous life. He took time with God, considered his options and then acted. And he beckons us to follow his good example to keep our convictions, to live honestly, to stand up for the absent person, to refuse to do something that is wrong. He may push us to the edge of our fears but promises us we will not fall. I am reminded of the poem by Apollinaire, which says,
"Come to the edge. We can't. We are afraid"
"Come to the edge. We can't. We will fall."
"Come to the edge." And they came.
And he pushed them and they flew.
And to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory. Amen.
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