This is the sermon for Trinity Church of the Nazarene, delivered March 15, 2009-- Christy Gunter Leppert.
* * * *
On March 11, 2008, in a town in India, a little baby girl was born with two faces.
Yes. Two faces.
She has a rare condition where a single head has two faces. She has two noses, two lips, and four eyes. She can drink from both of her mouths and opens and shuts all her eyes at the same time, like we would with our two eyes.
Her names is Lali.
According to the news, this little girl was “swarmed by villagers” in a poor little town in India to be worshipped.
Yes, I said worshipped. They are even building a temple for her.
When was the last time, in America, you saw anyone worshipped as a god?
Never.
That stuff does not happen in America.
We do not build temples to children born differently.
We do not worship people in America.
We do not make people idols in America (except in singing TV shows)
We are good church people who do not worship idols!
In Exodus, chapter 20—we find a covenant of God for the people of Israel.
We often call it “the ten commandments.”
Verses 1-3 reads as follows: “Then God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. You must not have any other gods except me.”
Well, no problem- right?
We are good Christians who don’t do that sort of thing!
We do not have any idols before God.
Those people in India need those verses—but I don’t have an idol and I certainly don’t plan on having an idol.
When cultures around the world idolize a small baby girl because they think she is a goddess, they make her an idol.
But what does this have to do with us?We don’t go around idolizing small baby girls.
We do not need this scripture passage telling us not to have idols, to not have any other gods before Yahweh God.
She has a rare condition where a single head has two faces. She has two noses, two lips, and four eyes. She can drink from both of her mouths and opens and shuts all her eyes at the same time, like we would with our two eyes.
Her names is Lali.
According to the news, this little girl was “swarmed by villagers” in a poor little town in India to be worshipped.
Yes, I said worshipped. They are even building a temple for her.
When was the last time, in America, you saw anyone worshipped as a god?
Never.
That stuff does not happen in America.
We do not build temples to children born differently.
We do not worship people in America.
We do not make people idols in America (except in singing TV shows)
We are good church people who do not worship idols!
In Exodus, chapter 20—we find a covenant of God for the people of Israel.
We often call it “the ten commandments.”
Verses 1-3 reads as follows: “Then God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. You must not have any other gods except me.”
Well, no problem- right?
We are good Christians who don’t do that sort of thing!
We do not have any idols before God.
Those people in India need those verses—but I don’t have an idol and I certainly don’t plan on having an idol.
When cultures around the world idolize a small baby girl because they think she is a goddess, they make her an idol.
But what does this have to do with us?We don’t go around idolizing small baby girls.
We do not need this scripture passage telling us not to have idols, to not have any other gods before Yahweh God.
We do not need this passage.
We are good Christian people, the good sheep, who don’t make other people idols.
OR DO WE?
Our scripture passage for this week comes from John chapter 2. Jesus is at a wedding in Cana where the wine runs out; what a tragedy.
And so the mother says to Jesus “we have no more wine!”
And Jesus takes these jars (or pots) used for purification and fills them with water and turns it into wine.
And then we come to our passage for today; John 2:13-16
Basically we have Jesus cleansing the temple.
We’ve all heard this story.
Every passion play and TV movie shows Jesus swinging around a whip, turning over cages, and chasing out greedy people from the temple.
We love it. There’s something so human about seeing Jesus angry.
But sometimes we miss what is going on here because we’re so excited about Jesus.
We miss that Jesus is cleaning the temple and shouting out with his actions—“this system of religion will not do.”
This system of religion will not do!
Jesus just turned the water into wine in the purification jars or pots.
PURIFICATION POTS.
Purification.
The temple is supposed to be the place that is pure and holy…
Do you see the huge irony?
Do you feel the massive amount of play on words here?
Jesus is becoming the purification pot for the temple.
The temple is supposed to be clean.
The pots are supposed to cleanse.
But the temple has space that is not clean.
This system of religion will not do anymore.
The kingdom they built and the system they’ve created there in the temple—will not do.
And Jesus came to cleanse it; to purify it.
To wipe away the idolatry… even in the temple.
To purify the tendency towards idolatry—towards the people in the temple building their own systems—their own kingdoms… putting themselves before God.
Ahh… so perhaps there are a whole lot of tendencies towards idolatry… even in America.
All too often, I’m afraid.
When we try to make our own systems and kingdoms within God’s church—This is idolatry.
We are good Christian people, the good sheep, who don’t make other people idols.
OR DO WE?
Our scripture passage for this week comes from John chapter 2. Jesus is at a wedding in Cana where the wine runs out; what a tragedy.
And so the mother says to Jesus “we have no more wine!”
And Jesus takes these jars (or pots) used for purification and fills them with water and turns it into wine.
And then we come to our passage for today; John 2:13-16
Basically we have Jesus cleansing the temple.
We’ve all heard this story.
Every passion play and TV movie shows Jesus swinging around a whip, turning over cages, and chasing out greedy people from the temple.
We love it. There’s something so human about seeing Jesus angry.
But sometimes we miss what is going on here because we’re so excited about Jesus.
We miss that Jesus is cleaning the temple and shouting out with his actions—“this system of religion will not do.”
This system of religion will not do!
Jesus just turned the water into wine in the purification jars or pots.
PURIFICATION POTS.
Purification.
The temple is supposed to be the place that is pure and holy…
Do you see the huge irony?
Do you feel the massive amount of play on words here?
Jesus is becoming the purification pot for the temple.
The temple is supposed to be clean.
The pots are supposed to cleanse.
But the temple has space that is not clean.
This system of religion will not do anymore.
The kingdom they built and the system they’ve created there in the temple—will not do.
And Jesus came to cleanse it; to purify it.
To wipe away the idolatry… even in the temple.
To purify the tendency towards idolatry—towards the people in the temple building their own systems—their own kingdoms… putting themselves before God.
Ahh… so perhaps there are a whole lot of tendencies towards idolatry… even in America.
All too often, I’m afraid.
When we try to make our own systems and kingdoms within God’s church—This is idolatry.
If you want an example on what I mean… since the church and the temple are obviously good and holy places...
Take for example donuts.
Donuts are great. Donuts are awesome actually.
I love donuts.
Who does not love donuts?
Take for example donuts.
Donuts are great. Donuts are awesome actually.
I love donuts.
Who does not love donuts?
Safely, I think we can establish donuts are not bad.
However, if I clothe myself in glaze, try to roll around like a donut, and try to BE a donut, then that is bad. I’ve made the donut an idol by trying to BE the donut and REFLECT the donut.
This is idolatry.
However, if I clothe myself in glaze, try to roll around like a donut, and try to BE a donut, then that is bad. I’ve made the donut an idol by trying to BE the donut and REFLECT the donut.
This is idolatry.
It is same for the Church of Jesus Christ.
If we try to clothe ourselves like we want, try to REFLECT ourselves and our own little kingdoms, and try to BE our own system… then we become an idol that merely reflects ourselves.
Jesus, in the temple that day, saw the dirty, rotten reflection of men and women using God’s house to raise themselves up.
The temple was supposed to be the one place where the nature of God was reflected to the people.
All the things of the temple were pure; the sacrifices were unblemished.
Everything inside the temple should reflect the holiness and purity of God.
But instead, Jesus found people trying to reflect themselves; people who created a system within the temple that did anything but reflect the beauty of God.
Jesus saw sin reflected in the Father’s house.
He saw the reflection of people’s selfishness.
The problem was not just money. The problem was not just buying and selling.
If we try to clothe ourselves like we want, try to REFLECT ourselves and our own little kingdoms, and try to BE our own system… then we become an idol that merely reflects ourselves.
Jesus, in the temple that day, saw the dirty, rotten reflection of men and women using God’s house to raise themselves up.
The temple was supposed to be the one place where the nature of God was reflected to the people.
All the things of the temple were pure; the sacrifices were unblemished.
Everything inside the temple should reflect the holiness and purity of God.
But instead, Jesus found people trying to reflect themselves; people who created a system within the temple that did anything but reflect the beauty of God.
Jesus saw sin reflected in the Father’s house.
He saw the reflection of people’s selfishness.
The problem was not just money. The problem was not just buying and selling.
The problem was that the people were set up there in the place where God was—to further themselves and their own interest.
They were lifting themselves up next to God and putting their desire and interests before those of the one, true God.
They became an idol that merely reflects itself- like a mirror.
And we do the same thing, today in the Church of Jesus Christ.
So… if we don’t want to be an idol
By being a mere REFLECTION of ourselves in the Church—a reflection of what we want over what God wants….
Then what do we want to be?
What do we want to be if we do not want to be idols?
We want to be like icons.
What is an icon?
An icon is something that points beyond itself, to something that cannot be mastered.
I know this is really hard to understand so let me show you an icon (see the picture above).
They were lifting themselves up next to God and putting their desire and interests before those of the one, true God.
They became an idol that merely reflects itself- like a mirror.
And we do the same thing, today in the Church of Jesus Christ.
So… if we don’t want to be an idol
By being a mere REFLECTION of ourselves in the Church—a reflection of what we want over what God wants….
Then what do we want to be?
What do we want to be if we do not want to be idols?
We want to be like icons.
What is an icon?
An icon is something that points beyond itself, to something that cannot be mastered.
I know this is really hard to understand so let me show you an icon (see the picture above).
Jonathan, our missionary, showed us a whole lot of icons from Romania last week.
In this icon:
I do not see anything about what I wish I was in someone or something on earth.
I do not see anything about myself reflected in this icon (like a mirror of what I see great about myself).
What I see in this icon…
Is it points beyond itself to God, something I can’t master or tell you what it is.
When I look at this icon
I see the nimbus around Jesus’ head (this circle thing) that points beyond itself as a symbol of his divinity.
I see Jesus’ fingers put together to separate them in a 2 and 3 pattern to point beyond itself and symbolize the trinity (the 3, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and the two natures of Christ (divine and human).
I see colors that point to something beyond itself in royalty. The gold symbolizes the holiness and purity of God.
This whole picture icon here, points beyond itself to something that cannot be mastered.
I do not see anything about what I wish I was in someone or something on earth.
I do not see anything about myself reflected in this icon (like a mirror of what I see great about myself).
What I see in this icon…
Is it points beyond itself to God, something I can’t master or tell you what it is.
When I look at this icon
I see the nimbus around Jesus’ head (this circle thing) that points beyond itself as a symbol of his divinity.
I see Jesus’ fingers put together to separate them in a 2 and 3 pattern to point beyond itself and symbolize the trinity (the 3, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and the two natures of Christ (divine and human).
I see colors that point to something beyond itself in royalty. The gold symbolizes the holiness and purity of God.
This whole picture icon here, points beyond itself to something that cannot be mastered.
It does not reflect me as a mirror would; it reflects the Creator God.
Jesus, himself, was the perfect Icon.
Jesus, himself, was the perfect Icon.
Jesus was a reflection of the Father in his very life.
He did not reflect himself as if in a mirror but He reflected his Creator God (pointing to something beyond himself), as an icon attempts to do.
Jesus knew the will of the Father
And was ready to lay down his life (or what He wanted) for what God wanted.
Jesus was the perfect Icon.
REVIEW:
We are often quick to point out other cultures around the world who take part in idolatry. It’s so obvious they are making others idols.
He did not reflect himself as if in a mirror but He reflected his Creator God (pointing to something beyond himself), as an icon attempts to do.
Jesus knew the will of the Father
And was ready to lay down his life (or what He wanted) for what God wanted.
Jesus was the perfect Icon.
REVIEW:
We are often quick to point out other cultures around the world who take part in idolatry. It’s so obvious they are making others idols.
We often skip over the fact we also have idols. We build our own kingdoms and systems in the Church—reflecting ourselves and what we want over God’s Kingdom and what God wants.
An idol is something that
a) Reflects what we wish we were
b) Reflects what we see of ourselves that we want to make great—what we want others to see about ourselves
a) Reflects what we wish we were
b) Reflects what we see of ourselves that we want to make great—what we want others to see about ourselves
When we participate in this type of idolatry we look a whole lot like an idol ourselves.
Idolatry is wrong. Exodus tells us, “have no other gods before me.”
Idolatry is wrong. Exodus tells us, “have no other gods before me.”
We want to strive to be an Icon. An Icon does not reflect what we wish we were or reflect what we see of ourselves.
Jesus was the perfect Icon. His reflection was not of himself but of the Creator God. We know this because He was ready to give up what he wanted for what God wanted… even to the point of death.
Therefore:
We should not reflect ourselves. We don’t want to simply be mirrors.
We should strive to be like the perfect Icon, Jesus. We should try to live iconically. We should follow the example of Jesus and continue to give up what we want for what God wants… even to the point of death.
We need to be like the picture of an icon- where we point to something beyond ourselves in our daily lives, wherever we go, whomever we talk to… we point to our Creator God, whom we cannot master.
So let’s go from this place today, being icons of the Divine Creator God.
Let’s pray:
Dear Lord,
Forgive us for the times we become idols or make others idols.
When we build our own kingdoms, create our own systems, and chose what we want.
Forgive us for the times we participate in idolatry.
Change us.
Help us to become Icons for you, like Jesus.
Help us to not merely reflect ourselves or what we wish we were.
But help us to reflect you only, our Creator God; every day.
Thank you Lord.
Amen.
Therefore:
We should not reflect ourselves. We don’t want to simply be mirrors.
We should strive to be like the perfect Icon, Jesus. We should try to live iconically. We should follow the example of Jesus and continue to give up what we want for what God wants… even to the point of death.
We need to be like the picture of an icon- where we point to something beyond ourselves in our daily lives, wherever we go, whomever we talk to… we point to our Creator God, whom we cannot master.
So let’s go from this place today, being icons of the Divine Creator God.
Let’s pray:
Dear Lord,
Forgive us for the times we become idols or make others idols.
When we build our own kingdoms, create our own systems, and chose what we want.
Forgive us for the times we participate in idolatry.
Change us.
Help us to become Icons for you, like Jesus.
Help us to not merely reflect ourselves or what we wish we were.
But help us to reflect you only, our Creator God; every day.
Thank you Lord.
Amen.
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