A Long List of Ordinary People
Third Sunday of Lent
By Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle
March 7, 2021
It is written: “If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it.”
Sounds like something Jesus would have said if he were talking about chasing the money-changers out of the temple.
But it wasn’t Jesus.
It was John Lewis.
It is also written: “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give themselves up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”
Sounds like something that one of Jesus’ early disciples would have said on the way to being martyred.
But it wasn’t one of them.
It was a young German woman, Sophie Scholl, executed for treason in 1943 because she handed out pamphlets advocating nonviolent resistance to the Nazis.
And it should be US, and every other person who stands in line as a follower of Jesus.
Paul, in the second reading, tells the Corinthians that “we proclaim Christ crucified” because Jesus’ execution was the direct result of the way he lived, the principles he preached - those principles of love and justice.
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The gospel story of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple is told by all four evangelists, each for his own purpose.
John uses it as a prediction of the resurrection.
But it’s more than that.
It’s a memory of Jesus’ criticism of the religious leaders of his time for their corrupt ways, for their cheating people with their oppressive actions and their burdensome rules.
When the big Jewish feasts came around, people were expected to find their way to Jerusalem to make an animal sacrifice, and the only acceptable coin for the purchase was the Tyrian half-shekel.
The money-changers overcharged the pilgrims for exchanging the coins, the merchants overcharged for the animals they bought with those coins, and the temple officials allowed the profiteering on their doorstep because they got a kickback.
We know firsthand how that works because, every once in a while, it gets exposed, like the mess with First Energy, Davis Besse, and Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.
Like the daily revelations and lawsuits surrounding the former President’s tax returns. Like covering up clergy sex abuse and moving church assets to protect them from lawsuits.
Whatever the position, whether it’s in the government or a business or the church or a family, it carries the possibility of abuse by the one who holds the power.
None of us is immune.
We are all vulnerable to the worship of false gods.
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Jesus saw it in his own time, and he took action.
He took action even though he knew there would be serious consequences.
Just like we know how corruption works and how it gets exposed, we also know firsthand what it looks like to speak truth and take action for justice.
We see it everywhere we look, all around the community, like Dialogue-to-Change at the YWCA, the coalition to save Lake Erie, the Bluff Street Village Tiny Houses, Pax Christi’s manna bags.
And we see it here at Holy Spirit, like Laurie’s work with immigrants and migrants, Liz and Tom putting together grab-and-go meals, Clancy working with prison re-entry, Anne lobbying for health care for all, and all of you who are writing letters to the editor or posting on Facebook to tell the world what needs to be done for truth and justice and peace.
It’s a very long list of ordinary people taking action to help other people - the John Lewises and the Sophie Scholls of our time…the Jesus who walks the earth in YOU.
Amen!