Homily for November 9, 2008
Homily November 9, 2008
I'm wearing white today, and we had the different readings because we celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of the church of St. John Lateran in Rome. Why would we want to celebrate that?
Well, it's the first church in Christianity, and for many years it was the Vatican; it was the church of the Pope. What it really was, was a palace that the Emperor Constantine gave the church, and we moved up out of the catacombs and marched into the palace and became all grand and triumphant in the way we began to celebrate. There's a lot of history there that we can't judge or go into now, but anyway, that's why we celebrate that feast throughout the world.
The readings, the Gospel, gives us the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. And I think to frame that for you, I want to give you a significant piece of information. The temple was 40 acres of land. So we're not talking about a little church our size filled with money changers and sheep and oxen. We're talking about all of that activity being spread out over 40 acres, and it was all in service of the work of the temple.
People came to the temple to offer sacrifice, so of course, those who sold the oxen and the doves and the sheep were doing them a favor. And of course, you wouldn't want Roman coins going into the temple, so the money changers were doing you a favor. It was all in service of the temple worship. None of it was sacrilegious. But what is represented is somehow the judgment of God on the temple.
The other piece of information I think you need to have is when this Gospel was written, the temple had already been destroyed, and it was a major event in the life of the people. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke what Jesus did in cleansing the temple, that was the immediate cause of his being put to death because of the fear that a riot would breakout.
Now, what might all of that mean to us? And if I had a long period of time I would go into this at great length, but mercifully for you I won't. In the sixth century BC, the year 587, the people of Jerusalem were surround by the armies of Babylon, and the false prophets said, "God's temple is here, and it will never be destroyed because God is in our midst. Don't listen to these prophets like Jeremiah who warn that it will be destroyed."
So the people had a false sense of security, and the temple was destroyed. In the day of Jesus people would have said, "Look at this magnificent temple. It's the sign of God being present in our midst. It will stand forever." Well the Romans came and destroyed it all.
Over the years, as I have studied this, the way it has spoken to me, I grew up in grade school here with the phrase, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." And I thought the church is going to last forever because Jesus founded it. Well, when I read this, I say, well, you know, they thought that too, but because they were not faithful to God, at least as the Scriptures portray it, it was all destroyed.
So it makes me ask the frightening question, could we lose it all? What do you think? If you want to say no, well, they lost it all. It's a sobering thought, and it's a challenge to ever renew ourself and dedicate ourself to the work that we should be all about.
We have our stewardship intention Sunday today. Let me ask a sobering question. Is it unthinkable that Holy Cross church would close? Not at all. I don't see that on the immediate horizon, but it's very possible, if we don't keep it open ourselves. Nobody's going to pay for it for us, and I think, given all the reality, we have no right to expect anybody else to pay for it for us. It's ours to build, to maintain, and to grow. And anyway, that's, I think, a very sobering message of those readings today.
But we do that primarily and this is where in my mind it's a happy thing that we have a baptism today, because it's important to realize, why do we do all this? For the children who will come after us, for the children in our midst, for the work of passing on our faith, for the work of spreading the good news of God's love and sharing it and bringing people in to communion with that love of God's.
So I'm going to invite you to stand and turn toward the back of church.
I'm wearing white today, and we had the different readings because we celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of the church of St. John Lateran in Rome. Why would we want to celebrate that?
Well, it's the first church in Christianity, and for many years it was the Vatican; it was the church of the Pope. What it really was, was a palace that the Emperor Constantine gave the church, and we moved up out of the catacombs and marched into the palace and became all grand and triumphant in the way we began to celebrate. There's a lot of history there that we can't judge or go into now, but anyway, that's why we celebrate that feast throughout the world.
The readings, the Gospel, gives us the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. And I think to frame that for you, I want to give you a significant piece of information. The temple was 40 acres of land. So we're not talking about a little church our size filled with money changers and sheep and oxen. We're talking about all of that activity being spread out over 40 acres, and it was all in service of the work of the temple.
People came to the temple to offer sacrifice, so of course, those who sold the oxen and the doves and the sheep were doing them a favor. And of course, you wouldn't want Roman coins going into the temple, so the money changers were doing you a favor. It was all in service of the temple worship. None of it was sacrilegious. But what is represented is somehow the judgment of God on the temple.
The other piece of information I think you need to have is when this Gospel was written, the temple had already been destroyed, and it was a major event in the life of the people. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke what Jesus did in cleansing the temple, that was the immediate cause of his being put to death because of the fear that a riot would breakout.
Now, what might all of that mean to us? And if I had a long period of time I would go into this at great length, but mercifully for you I won't. In the sixth century BC, the year 587, the people of Jerusalem were surround by the armies of Babylon, and the false prophets said, "God's temple is here, and it will never be destroyed because God is in our midst. Don't listen to these prophets like Jeremiah who warn that it will be destroyed."
So the people had a false sense of security, and the temple was destroyed. In the day of Jesus people would have said, "Look at this magnificent temple. It's the sign of God being present in our midst. It will stand forever." Well the Romans came and destroyed it all.
Over the years, as I have studied this, the way it has spoken to me, I grew up in grade school here with the phrase, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." And I thought the church is going to last forever because Jesus founded it. Well, when I read this, I say, well, you know, they thought that too, but because they were not faithful to God, at least as the Scriptures portray it, it was all destroyed.
So it makes me ask the frightening question, could we lose it all? What do you think? If you want to say no, well, they lost it all. It's a sobering thought, and it's a challenge to ever renew ourself and dedicate ourself to the work that we should be all about.
We have our stewardship intention Sunday today. Let me ask a sobering question. Is it unthinkable that Holy Cross church would close? Not at all. I don't see that on the immediate horizon, but it's very possible, if we don't keep it open ourselves. Nobody's going to pay for it for us, and I think, given all the reality, we have no right to expect anybody else to pay for it for us. It's ours to build, to maintain, and to grow. And anyway, that's, I think, a very sobering message of those readings today.
But we do that primarily and this is where in my mind it's a happy thing that we have a baptism today, because it's important to realize, why do we do all this? For the children who will come after us, for the children in our midst, for the work of passing on our faith, for the work of spreading the good news of God's love and sharing it and bringing people in to communion with that love of God's.
So I'm going to invite you to stand and turn toward the back of church.
Labels: Homilies
posted by Fr. Larry Voelker at
10:04 AM
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