When Jesus was a newborn baby - sweet, little baby Jesus - his parents took him to the temple in Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. This is according to the gospel of Luke. And there they offered a sacrifice in keeping with what’s stated in the Law of the Lord: A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Actually, what the law stated was that cattle or sheep should be offered, but if a person could not afford cattle or sheep - if they were too poor - then doves or pigeons could be offered.
Mary and Joseph were not rich. Joseph was a carpenter, part of the artisan class, which (I’m told) is even lower than a peasant. They could not afford cattle or sheep. So they offered the doves.
Mary and Joseph also did not live in Jerusalem. Their home was in Nazareth. It would be quite inconvenient to bring cattle or sheep - or even doves - all the way from Nazareth to Jerusalem.
Fortunately for them, and for all the other travelers to Jerusalem, there was a marketplace, within the temple courtyard, where they could purchase what they needed for their offering.
However, because the marketplace was inside the temple walls, only Jewish coins could be used in the temple. So, in addition to the sellers selling animals for sacrificial offerings, there were also moneychangers.
Travelers like Joseph and Mary could come to the temple, exchange their Roman money for temple currency, purchase an animal for the offering, and then make an offering to the Lord.
None of this was bad. It was a service provided to help travelers coming to the temple in Jerusalem.
But somewhere along the line, at some point, the animal sellers said, “Dude! These people are desperate! They’ll pay anything! We can jack up the prices and make a fortune.”
So they did. And they got rich. They got rich off of people like Mary and Joseph. They got rich off of all the poor travelers coming to the temple, wanting to honor God by making a proper offering.
And the moneychangers got in on it too. They set the exchange rates so that they could also make a killing off of these poor travelers.
This means that inside the temple walls - within the holy temple; within the house of God - an economic system had developed which was rigged in favor of the wealthy. It was an economic system in which the poor were taken advantage of. It was an economic system that exploited the lower classes.
Jesus was just a baby at the time. Sweet little baby Jesus. He was far too young to understand what was going on.
But years later, he returned to the temple as an adult. And he saw all the injustice that was taking place. He saw the sellers taking advantage of the poor; he saw the moneychangers taking the poor for a ride, fleecing them to make themselves rich. He saw the economic system at work, that basically stole from the poor in order to make the rich, richer.
And he was furious.
It’s worth noting that nearly every time Jesus got mad, nearly every time he condemned someone, it was because they were making it hard for people to connect with God. They were adding burdens to those who were already burdened. They were adding guilt to those who already felt remorse. They were oppressing those who were already oppressed. They were making the poor poorer.
Just like the prophets before him, Jesus could not stand to see the poor taken advantage of. Every time economic systems were skewed to favor the wealthy over the poor, the prophets spoke out. That was, in fact, the primary focus of those ancient prophets. When the rulers passed laws and created economic systems in which the poor got poorer and the rich got richer, God called prophets to speak out against this injustice.
But in those times when the poor were taken care of… God didn’t call any prophets. There are no prophetic writings from those periods.
Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. His heart was fully attuned to the will of God. So every time he saw the poor being taken advantage of, he spoke out. And when he saw the poor being taken advantage of right there in God’s holy temple…
“He made a whip from ropes and chased them all 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!’”
We tend to underestimate just how significant this moment was. People didn’t just go into the temple and start throwing things around, and chasing people out with a whip.
But Jesus did it, because it was offensive to him, and offensive to God, that the poor should be taken advantage of. This is offensive anywhere and anytime, but even more so inside the temple courtyard.
And it makes me wonder what Jesus thinks of our society today. It makes me wonder what God thinks of our society today. Our economic system. The way we care for our poor. The way we provide health care. The way we provide tax breaks to big corporations and to millionaires, and then find medicare and medicaid and social security threatened because there isn’t enough money.
And it makes me think that if Jesus were around today… he be overturning some tables. He’d be flipping them over. He’d be throwing to the floor everyone’s laptops at the stock exchange. He’d be walking around the U.S. Capitol with a whip in his hands, ready to chase out of Washington all those representatives and senators who pass policies favoring the rich and penalizing the poor.
And when I think about what’s going on today, and what Jesus did in the temple all those years ago, I think it’s about time that we who call ourselves followers of Jesus start flipping some tables.
Flipping tables is a holy act.
Flipping tables is an act of resistance.
Flipping tables is prophetic street theater that draws attention to injustice being perpetrated against the poor.
Flipping tables is what God is calling the church to do today: flipping tables for Jesus!
Can you think of some people who are out there, flipping tables for Jesus?
Have you ever seen anyone flip tables for Jesus?
A few weeks ago, I led a workshop and helped put together a worship service at a weekend retreat called UNITE. UNITE was attended by about one hundred youth and young adults from across the Pacific Southwest Region. There were even some from Arizona who heard about it, and wanted to come. And there were a few from other denominations who heard about it, and wanted to come.
They wanted to come, because UNITE is an event that flips tables.
UNITE is designed specifically to help bridge the gaps and overcome the divisions that exist in society and in the church among people of various racial and ethnic identities. Participants at UNITE attended workshops and worship services that intentionally broke down the walls that divide.
This is not easy work. In fact, a number of youth and churches who used to participate in FebCamp at Loch Leven refused to participate in UNITE. UNITE wasn’t what they wanted. They felt that UNITE was no longer their camp. UNITE had become something for “those people,” not “us.”
It was different. It was new. It forced participants to go outside their comfort zone.
BUT, one hundred participants did come, a remarkable number. UNITE was revolutionary. The city of Redondo Beach wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The first evening - it wasn’t that late, only around 6 or 7 - a drum team was practicing in the parking lot before worship, and neighbors called the police. They heard the noise, looked out their windows, saw a bunch of teenagers with various skin colors, and they called the police.
On a more positive note, I heard from BJ Barlow, our associate regional minister for youth and young adult ministries, that another neighbor (who was at least 60 years of age) reacted very differently. She thanked the organizers for UNITE, and when asked to explain, she said:
“I was just walking by the church on Sunday night and heard the music from the street. A really nice lady was standing outside the church and I asked what the powerful sound was all about. She began to share a little about the program and invited me to worship this morning.”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she continued, “I am so glad I got up this morning and came to your service. Seeing those young people sharing their faith and talking about unity just made my day. It really did. I have needed that in my life. To see young people step up and take leadership in that way was inspiring! Thank you so much for giving the space for young people to worship like that.”
Through UNITE, our church is flipping the tables of racism and prejudice. Through UNITE, we are building bridges and breaking down barriers. Not everyone is ready to go there, not even in the church, but we are making an impact.
And this is made possible because of BJ, because of the many who planned UNITE and who volunteer at events like this, because of the participants who DID go, because of our region and our general church which is committed to flipping tables and tearing down walls, and because of you.
Yes, you. You support OUR young people going to camp & conferences like UNITE.
The tables in the temple courtyard represented the barriers that kept people from encountering God; barriers that kept them from knowing God and God’s grace and love. They represented the barriers that kept people from being full participants in society...barriers that relegated them to a second class status.
But God affirms those who have barriers placed before them. God lifts them up. God removes the barriers, God tears down the walls… and God flips the tables.
Actually, what the law stated was that cattle or sheep should be offered, but if a person could not afford cattle or sheep - if they were too poor - then doves or pigeons could be offered.
Mary and Joseph were not rich. Joseph was a carpenter, part of the artisan class, which (I’m told) is even lower than a peasant. They could not afford cattle or sheep. So they offered the doves.
Mary and Joseph also did not live in Jerusalem. Their home was in Nazareth. It would be quite inconvenient to bring cattle or sheep - or even doves - all the way from Nazareth to Jerusalem.
Fortunately for them, and for all the other travelers to Jerusalem, there was a marketplace, within the temple courtyard, where they could purchase what they needed for their offering.
However, because the marketplace was inside the temple walls, only Jewish coins could be used in the temple. So, in addition to the sellers selling animals for sacrificial offerings, there were also moneychangers.
Travelers like Joseph and Mary could come to the temple, exchange their Roman money for temple currency, purchase an animal for the offering, and then make an offering to the Lord.
None of this was bad. It was a service provided to help travelers coming to the temple in Jerusalem.
But somewhere along the line, at some point, the animal sellers said, “Dude! These people are desperate! They’ll pay anything! We can jack up the prices and make a fortune.”
So they did. And they got rich. They got rich off of people like Mary and Joseph. They got rich off of all the poor travelers coming to the temple, wanting to honor God by making a proper offering.
And the moneychangers got in on it too. They set the exchange rates so that they could also make a killing off of these poor travelers.
This means that inside the temple walls - within the holy temple; within the house of God - an economic system had developed which was rigged in favor of the wealthy. It was an economic system in which the poor were taken advantage of. It was an economic system that exploited the lower classes.
Jesus was just a baby at the time. Sweet little baby Jesus. He was far too young to understand what was going on.
But years later, he returned to the temple as an adult. And he saw all the injustice that was taking place. He saw the sellers taking advantage of the poor; he saw the moneychangers taking the poor for a ride, fleecing them to make themselves rich. He saw the economic system at work, that basically stole from the poor in order to make the rich, richer.
And he was furious.
It’s worth noting that nearly every time Jesus got mad, nearly every time he condemned someone, it was because they were making it hard for people to connect with God. They were adding burdens to those who were already burdened. They were adding guilt to those who already felt remorse. They were oppressing those who were already oppressed. They were making the poor poorer.
Just like the prophets before him, Jesus could not stand to see the poor taken advantage of. Every time economic systems were skewed to favor the wealthy over the poor, the prophets spoke out. That was, in fact, the primary focus of those ancient prophets. When the rulers passed laws and created economic systems in which the poor got poorer and the rich got richer, God called prophets to speak out against this injustice.
But in those times when the poor were taken care of… God didn’t call any prophets. There are no prophetic writings from those periods.
Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. His heart was fully attuned to the will of God. So every time he saw the poor being taken advantage of, he spoke out. And when he saw the poor being taken advantage of right there in God’s holy temple…
“He made a whip from ropes and chased them all 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!’”
We tend to underestimate just how significant this moment was. People didn’t just go into the temple and start throwing things around, and chasing people out with a whip.
But Jesus did it, because it was offensive to him, and offensive to God, that the poor should be taken advantage of. This is offensive anywhere and anytime, but even more so inside the temple courtyard.
And it makes me wonder what Jesus thinks of our society today. It makes me wonder what God thinks of our society today. Our economic system. The way we care for our poor. The way we provide health care. The way we provide tax breaks to big corporations and to millionaires, and then find medicare and medicaid and social security threatened because there isn’t enough money.
And it makes me think that if Jesus were around today… he be overturning some tables. He’d be flipping them over. He’d be throwing to the floor everyone’s laptops at the stock exchange. He’d be walking around the U.S. Capitol with a whip in his hands, ready to chase out of Washington all those representatives and senators who pass policies favoring the rich and penalizing the poor.
And when I think about what’s going on today, and what Jesus did in the temple all those years ago, I think it’s about time that we who call ourselves followers of Jesus start flipping some tables.
Flipping tables is a holy act.
Flipping tables is an act of resistance.
Flipping tables is prophetic street theater that draws attention to injustice being perpetrated against the poor.
Flipping tables is what God is calling the church to do today: flipping tables for Jesus!
Can you think of some people who are out there, flipping tables for Jesus?
Have you ever seen anyone flip tables for Jesus?
A few weeks ago, I led a workshop and helped put together a worship service at a weekend retreat called UNITE. UNITE was attended by about one hundred youth and young adults from across the Pacific Southwest Region. There were even some from Arizona who heard about it, and wanted to come. And there were a few from other denominations who heard about it, and wanted to come.
They wanted to come, because UNITE is an event that flips tables.
UNITE is designed specifically to help bridge the gaps and overcome the divisions that exist in society and in the church among people of various racial and ethnic identities. Participants at UNITE attended workshops and worship services that intentionally broke down the walls that divide.
This is not easy work. In fact, a number of youth and churches who used to participate in FebCamp at Loch Leven refused to participate in UNITE. UNITE wasn’t what they wanted. They felt that UNITE was no longer their camp. UNITE had become something for “those people,” not “us.”
It was different. It was new. It forced participants to go outside their comfort zone.
BUT, one hundred participants did come, a remarkable number. UNITE was revolutionary. The city of Redondo Beach wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The first evening - it wasn’t that late, only around 6 or 7 - a drum team was practicing in the parking lot before worship, and neighbors called the police. They heard the noise, looked out their windows, saw a bunch of teenagers with various skin colors, and they called the police.
On a more positive note, I heard from BJ Barlow, our associate regional minister for youth and young adult ministries, that another neighbor (who was at least 60 years of age) reacted very differently. She thanked the organizers for UNITE, and when asked to explain, she said:
“I was just walking by the church on Sunday night and heard the music from the street. A really nice lady was standing outside the church and I asked what the powerful sound was all about. She began to share a little about the program and invited me to worship this morning.”
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she continued, “I am so glad I got up this morning and came to your service. Seeing those young people sharing their faith and talking about unity just made my day. It really did. I have needed that in my life. To see young people step up and take leadership in that way was inspiring! Thank you so much for giving the space for young people to worship like that.”
Through UNITE, our church is flipping the tables of racism and prejudice. Through UNITE, we are building bridges and breaking down barriers. Not everyone is ready to go there, not even in the church, but we are making an impact.
And this is made possible because of BJ, because of the many who planned UNITE and who volunteer at events like this, because of the participants who DID go, because of our region and our general church which is committed to flipping tables and tearing down walls, and because of you.
Yes, you. You support OUR young people going to camp & conferences like UNITE.
The tables in the temple courtyard represented the barriers that kept people from encountering God; barriers that kept them from knowing God and God’s grace and love. They represented the barriers that kept people from being full participants in society...barriers that relegated them to a second class status.
But God affirms those who have barriers placed before them. God lifts them up. God removes the barriers, God tears down the walls… and God flips the tables.
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