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2024 Sun March 3
Newsletter, March, 2024
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“Letting Go” – Diocese of Atlanta, Week 3
Jesus saw the gap between God’s word and what was being practiced in the Temple. For Jesus, the Temple was a “house of prayer,” for some others it was a “marketplace.” Jesus felt so strongly about that gap that he made a whip and drove animals and people out of the Temple. He also dumped coins on the floor, flipped over tables and shouted.
I’m sure those displaced merchants would defend themselves using words and phrases like tradition, practical and convenient. And, I’ll bet we would use some of those same words today to explain the gap between how we practice religion when we get together and what Jesus desires. The church/religion or if you prefer the term spirituality, are only most fully the gifts God intended when they boldly and clearly point to God.
Church are the people who follow Jesus wherever they find themselves showing forth in their living a living God. And, when we do get together in buildings, where Jesus’ name, likeness and Cross are venerated and commended, our calling is “not to conform to the patterns of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.” We followers of Jesus have to let go of some of the ways we practice church so we can recapture Jesus’ vision for the organization that bears his name.
Sacred Ground meeting, Feb. 29, 2024
The meeting started with a Collect on the right use of God’s gifts
Meeting with Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Indians
In 1998, the Rappahannock Indians elected the first woman Chief, G. Anne Richardson, to lead a Tribe in Virginia since the 1700s as a fourth generation chief in her family. Also in 1998, the Tribe purchased 119.5 acres to establish a land trust, retreat center, and housing development.
Catherine met with her on Feb. 29, 2024. She found her amazingly wise, charismatic but humble. Issues discussed:
The Creeds Class, Part 2, Feb. 28, 2024
What the Creeds have to say about God and how that understanding influences our own relationships with God. There were 7 participants.
The session started with Psalm 134
A song of ascents.
1 Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
The catechism was reviewed (beginning on Page 845), Book of Common Prayer. It has 5 questions
Q. What do we learn about God as creator from the
revelation to Israel?
A. We learn that there is one God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and
unseen.
Q. What does this mean?
A. This means that the universe is good, that it is the work of
a single loving God who creates, sustains, and directs it.
Q. What does this mean about our place in the universe?
A. It means that the world belongs to its creator; and that
we are called to enjoy it and to care for it in accordance
with God’s purposes.
Q. What does this mean about human life?
A. It means that all people are worthy of respect and
honor, because all are created in the image of God, and
all can respond to the love of God.
Q. How was this revelation handed down to us?
A. This revelation was handed down to us through a community created by a covenant with God.
The Nicene Creed presents a more complete picture than the Apostles Creed:
“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. (Nicene Creed) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. “
Let’s break it down:
The Sermons in February
Feb. 25 – Lent 2- “Suffering” – Rev. Catherine Hicks
The sermon was about suffering. Three types of suffering – those due to natural causes, sin, redemptive were included.
“God does not ask us to suffer needlessly. But God does hope that we will accept redemptive suffering if our suffering can contribute to the growth of goodness and justice in the world around us, and if our suffering and self-denial could possibly lead to the redemption and healing of even one other person by letting God’s grace work through us.”
Exploring the Temple Incident
John 2:13-22 -Exploring the Temple Incident
We explore this verse in John’s Gospel:
“Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them 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!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. “
1. The Setting
The story takes place within the 3rd temple (1st Solomon’s, 2nd one returning from Babylonia). Herod’s temple did take a generation to build. He ruled 36 years and the temple took 46 years to construct – and it was huge! The Temple area had been enlarged to a size of about thirty-five acres. Today the Western Wall, the so-called Wailing Wall, is all that remains of the ancient walls of Herod’s Temple
More specifically, the events took place outside in the Court of Gentiles. There was a market there selling sacrificial animals and birds outside the place where the priests worked. There was also a money exchange, since the Temple dues had to be paid in Tyrian coinage, and most people had Jerusalem coinage only. This meant that the atmosphere in the Court of the Gentiles was like an oriental bazaar where merchants haggled with Jewish pilgrims – like souvenir shops clustered round modern-day cathedrals
The market did provide a valuable service. Those selling animals were providing a service to those who needing an animal to sacrifice during Feast time. Obviously this had been approved by the Jewish leaders in the temple. This was a great convenience to Jews traveling great distances, since they did not have to have livestock in tow. They could buy the necessary sacrificial animals right at the temple.
The money changers were providing a valuable service. A tax was collected from every Israelite who was twenty years old. This was due during the month preceding the Passover and was either sent in by those who lived at a distance or paid in person by those who attended the festival. They had to pay in Jewish money and not by a foreign coin and nbsp;work, to enjoy working, and to experience thenbsp;work, to enjoy working, and to experience thethus the need to have their money exchanged