Sermon - Lent 3

John 2:13-22

"Zeal" for The Lord

I asked Donna to include the color version of this piece of artwork in Wednesday’s e-news. Did many of you have a chance to see it, then? I had asked you to look at it, reflect on it, and come prepared to consider what the artist is communicating.

Let’s review a bit of background, most of which was included in the e-news notice.
Who is the artist? Lucas Cranach.
Why is Cranach important? He depicted in pictures much of what Luther was saying his books. Which one (might you think) had the greatest impact on a culture in which very few could read? Cranach.

Now, back to the image. What is the artist telling us? Notice that you have Luther all by himself on one side. He is preaching, that is obvious. On the other side you have what we would assume to be the congregation. Notice the gap between them. A stark, empty gap. The only thing which is between the preacher and the members of the congregation is the crucified Christ. And notice too that the preacher is pointing at Christ.

Now, the most common and popular interpretation of this piece of art is its insistence that the preacher’s task is to simply point to Christ. That all preaching, that all teaching, serves the purpose of making Christ known. Absent in this painting are any items which would suggest an important role for the things of the Church. There are no symbols of the theology; no reminders of the role of priests; and no reminders of the work of the saints. There is but one image in the work and that is the crucified Christ.

I saw this piece of art (the real piece of art) while on a study tour with Dr. Timothy Lull, President of the ELCA Seminary in Berkeley, CA. It is part of the altar piece in the Town Church in Wittenberg. (When our group gathers next Sunday morning for worship, we will be able to look at it as we listen to the preacher.) On that first visit, Dr. Lull allowed us to look at the painting for a few minutes, and then he returned to the theme of our particular study tour of Luther sites. He told us that this piece was from the latter years of Luther’s life (evidenced by how much weight he has gained.) And Dr. Lull shared with us that by the end of his life, Luther was not the entertaining house guest he had once been. In fact, he had become rather bitter, and dissatisfied. His latter sermons were filled with critique and condemnation.

Luther had been so convinced that once the people in the pews were exposed to a God who loved them even when they were yet sinners, that they would be overwhelmed and respond accordingly. Luther thought that as soon as he set before them the liberties which come to those who cling to Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and Scripture Alone, that they would become fully devoted to proclaiming the Good News. But this isn’t what happened. In Luther’s eyes, they remained as intellectually lazy and as spiritually complacent as they had been when under the thumb of the Pope’s oppression.

Have you ever read the introduction to the Large Catechism? Listen to what Luther has to say about the pastors who had risked their necks (literally – they could have been condemned as heretics and executed for following Luther.)
We have no slight reasons for treating the Catechism so constantly [in sermons] and for both desiring and beseeching others to teach it, since we see to our sorrow that many pastors and preachers are very negligent in this, and slight both their office and this teaching; some from great and high art (giving their mind, as they imagine, to much higher matters], but others from sheer laziness and care for their paunches, assuming no other relation to this business than if they were pastors and preachers, for their bellies' sake, and had nothing to do but, to [spend and] consume their emoluments as long as they live, as they have been accustomed to do under the Papacy.

Lull suggested to us that Cranach may have been saying as much about how the Reformation was going as he was about the differences between Papist and Evangelish preaching. While many had flocked to hear Luther and had rallied around his condemnations of the oppression of Rome, they did not satisfy Martin in their devotion to the message Luther was called to proclaim.

The devotion of the members of the Church ever fully meets the expectations of the preached Word.

It didn’t for Martin Luther. And it didn’t for Jesus.

That is what today’s Gospel reminds us. It describes the inconsistencies between why God had given them the Temple and the way in which it is being used. Jesus comes and sees this, and his anger boils over. He fashions a whip, turns over their tables and drives out their livestock. He knew what the Temple could mean; what it ought to mean. But that wasn’t what he saw, when he entered.

Let’s make sure you know something about the difference between John (from whom we are reading today) and the other three Gospel accounts. The first three are referred to as a group. And this group has a title. We refer to them as “The Synoptic Gospels.” Synoptic means “same.” Their story is similar; John’s is not. Here is the difference, pertinent to today’s appointed lesson. Where is this story recorded, in the Gospel of John? The second chapter. Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple is in the others, but guess where it is? Near the end. In the Synoptic Gospels this encounter is a part of the events of Holy Week.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus is nearing the end of his ministry. He has preached and healed and taught and encouraged. And yet, when he enters the Temple, he sees what little difference all this has made. There is a wide divide between the expectations of the preacher and the response of the congregation. Jesus felt this, when he entered the Temple. Luther lived this, as his sermons moved from “You are justified by grace,” to “Here are the marks of a sanctified life.” And I wonder about it in our own day. Not that I am any more dissatisfied in you than I am in myself. It seems that all of us (none of us) are as fully committed to this stuff as would be appropriate.

I shouldn’t sit down before I apologize. I was about to hit the “print” button on this sermon yesterday morning when I received an email from a pastor friend who shared that on Monday his mother-in-law will be transferred from the hospital (where she has been admitted twice in the last week) to a long-term care facility. Her dementia has progressed to the point where such a move is necessary. And I thought, “How would I feel if that family was in the pews tomorrow morning, looking for comfort in the midst of their painful decisions?” I was tempted to scrap the whole thing and start over. I do apologize, to those here this morning looking for comfort. I regret this depiction of a wide gap between the proclaimed Word and the place where we live our lives. But there is a comforting word here. A word which assures us that if we place our trust in anything else, we will eventually be disappointed. A word which instructs us that it is only when we fully and deeply embrace the Good News that this News can change and transform our lives. This is the Word which calms our fears and gives us courage to meet the challenges of life.

It is a tremendous promise; it is a comforting assurance. It is ours. But it is sort of like being physically fit – there are clear advantages, known advantages, but too few of us have the dedication or the discipline to get there.

The forty days of Lent are slipping by. These days are set aside so that we might deepen our understanding and strengthen our devotion. It is the opportunity we need to learn to point to the crucified Christ and only to the crucified Christ.

Amen.