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There are a variety of times when things are just a bit better when shaken.
James Bond likes his drinks shaken not stirred
Taylor Swift would tell us to shake off people’s bad actions
Balsamic vinegar dressing needs to be shaken and eaten quickly in order to get the full affect of the flavors together
The Beatles might even tell us that the best way to dance is to shake it up - followed immediately by a twist and a shout
But there are also times when things that are shaken have a greater impact - but the shaking process can be painful, revealing, and an opportunity for growth.
As we continue our study in the Gospel of John this week, we are going to consider this type of shaking as we consider the Shake Up at the Temple in John 2."
Let’s consider a bit of context briefly.
Last week, discussed Jesus turning the water to wine - an event that took place about three days after the previous events that John considered.
Today, we find Jesus in Jerusalem for the Passover.
John doesn’t give us any clues as to the timeline, except Passover, which is in the spring, close to when we celebrate Easter.
But as Jesus goes to the temple, he finds some things that need to be shaken up.
In these first few verses, we can glean that -
Jesus shakes up our religious conventions (John 2:13-17)
Imagine what it would have been like for you to walk into the sanctuary today and have a lot of commotion.
Greeters yelling - “Get your bulletin - 25cents for a bulletin.”
Ushers calling out - “Reserve your pew.
-$5 per week”
Deacons asking “Can you help the poor?
Alms for the poor?
Any amount will help!
- $5, $10, $100.”
It wouldn’t feel much like a worshipful setting.
Well, that’s the scene that we get to see Jesus walk into.
The challenge was that all of the things he saw were intended to help people worship.
there was a “temple tax” that people would pay - and you had to use the temple coin for it, which required an exchange of funds.
There were sacrifices - so people who either did not own animals or land had to purchase them.
So in some ways, it was a service to the congregants to make those available.
The problem was that all of this was happening within the temple court.
This area was supposed to be reverent and worshipful.
Now it felt like a flea market.
Commentators noted that this marketplace used to be just outside the city - but out of convenience, some leaders decided to move it inside.
They were simply pragmatic about their worship practices.
So the place of worship became a market of mayhem.
Bruce Milne noted:
Instead of solemn dignity in the murmur of prayer there is the bellowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep.
Instead of brokenness and contrition, holy adoration and prolonged petition, there is noisy commerce.
So Jesus enters the place of worship an is appalled.
He fashions a whip and begins to shake things up - turning over tables, driving out the animals.
He does this out of “zeal” and passion for God.
He is mindful that worship of God is to be reverent and even solemn.
That’s not to say it can’t be fun and enjoyable.
But so often, we can get lulled into habits and patterns that we think might be helpful, when in the end they may miss the point.
We can allow certain things to creep in that ultimately distract us from the true object of our worship - the Triune God - our risen savior!
It’s important to note that when we think of religious activity or religion - it’s a misnomer.
Religion is what we do or what we devise to try to appease God.
It becomes a performance based obligation or compulsion, rather than a joyous celebration.
In some ways, the two people can do the exact same activity at the same time - one will be a religious act, the other will be an act of genuine worship.
So as we think about our times of worship - what would Jesus shake up?
Are there habits or patterns that he’d turn over?
Are there conveniences that he would cause us to remove?
Are here places where we are being pragmatic rather than fully biblical?
Let’s think through a couple of things briefly:
The Live Stream - is that hindering or helping our worship?
Has it introduced a convenience that is cheapening the value of the assembly of God’s people?
I don’t know the answers to this, but I do wrestle with it.
It can be a great way to reach people who are not part of the church.
At the same time, it can give a sense of religious box checking for those who may not want to go to the hassle of preparing to assemble.
I would love to say that I totally understand how difficult it can be to get kids ready in the morning - but realistically, I can’t.
For most of my time in ministry, Danielle and I have not been able to come to church together.
I would go early to get things ready, she would come later with the kids.
For those without kids, I do recognize that life is getting more and more busy and a little rest is needed.
My hope is that our times together will be refreshing and life giving - challenging, but encouraging as well.
But doing this together is part of the point of what it means to be a church - after all the Greek word for church is assembly.
Masks - these seem to go hand in hand with the Live Stream.
Some of us despise wearing masks.
For some it becomes a hindrance for breathing and singing becomes muffled.
Masks fog up glasses and they prevent genuine interaction.
I get it.
But I wonder if tuning into the live stream in order to avoid wearing a mask might be a bit like going to the temple in hopes that they will have an affordable animal for you to meet your religious obligations?
Membership - this is something that the we’ve been discussing as elders for nearly a year as we’ve been evaluating our membership class and process.
Is it biblical?
Is it meaningful?
If yes to both, are we treating it as such?
Again, I have opinions.
I believe it is biblical.
I believe it should be meaningful - but again, I wonder if we have cheapened it.
Are we doing all that we can to allow all of us to put our God-given gifts and talents to use as acts of worship to Him and in service to one another?
What are you and I doing together to reach out to those who’ve not assembled with us in a while?
Do they sense the value?
I must admit, I have dropped the ball here.
In scripture, we get to see several pictures of the church -
a body - 1 Cor.
12:12-30
a house - Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5
a temple - 1 Cor.
3:16
Each of these imply interdependence and community.
There are visible and hidden elements - but they all have value.
We could go on.
In fact, I’d love to hear your thoughts on things that we may be doing as a church that might cause Jesus to shake us up.
So, in this passage, we’ve seen how Jesus shakes up our religious conventions, but as we continue, we also get to see how...
Jesus shakes up our spiritual focus (John 2:18-22)
In response to the shake up that Jesus introduced in the temple, John shares this exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders:
There is a point a which we can see that the Jewish leaders were completely justified in their response.
They were the ones who were leading the cultic practices.
They were the ones appointed to facilitate worship.
What’s more, they did not believe all of the hype about Jesus.
So they demanded a response.
Jesus responds to them in an “enigmatic” (Milne) way.
He’s a bit vague.
There is a sense in which he is replacing the temple with himself.
He is replacing worship at a place to worship of a Person - Himself.
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