In our scripture readings for this second Sunday after Epiphany, Jesus rampages through the temple, driving out the salesmen. He chastises Nicodemus and explains his own role in salvation. And John the Baptist exhibits the correct response to the plan of salvation – Jesus must increase, and I must decrease....
Do you remember in the golden past, when being a member of the church came with earthly perks? Employers would see “serves on church council” on your resume, and you would instantly have a leg up on the other candidates, not because of the valuable skills you develop serving on church council, just for being attached to the church. Coffee time after service was networking time, as all the influential businessmen and leaders were there, chatting about their upcoming projects. There was a prestige around town – as a church member, you were assumed trustworthy and of good intent, until proven otherwise. And your voice had more than its fair share of clout in local politics. The problem of a church with perks, however, is that people join it in order to increase themselves, rather than receive Jesus, so maybe it's for the best that these perks have dried up. Except for the valuable skills you develop serving on church council, just saying....
The money-changers and the livestock salesmen in the temple had it good. Thanks to the law of Moses and its schedule of festivals, where people were expected to bring sacrificial animals and temple shekels, the merchants had a captive market. Who is going to drag their own cow thirty or forty miles on foot to Jerusalem, when you can purchase one at the temple? And if it is two or three or five times the going rate, who is going to refuse to pay it, when the festival is the only reason people are in Jerusalem in the first place. The temple merchants were thoroughly enjoying the earthly perks of their religion – until Jesus showed up.
Nicodemus had it good. As a Pharisee and teacher and leader of his people, he had an immense amount of prestige. He was so famous, the only way he could visit Jesus without attracting attention, was at night. And he was so powerful, he could build up or tear down anyone in the synagogue, interpret any law, be the last word on any subject. Nicodemus was thoroughly enjoying the earthly perks of his religion – until Jesus showed up.
What earthly perks do we want MOST from our religion? Are we hoping that our religion will deliver us material wealth, either from direct divine intervention or the exercise of worldly power? Are we hoping that our religion will bring us self-improvement, so that we have fewer destructive habits and additional productive habits? Are we hoping that our religion will enable us to FEEL better about ourselves, increase our self-worth and tackle mental health issues for us? Are we hoping that our religion will give US the position of saviour for our friends and family, the marginalized groups around us, our community, our nation, our Western civilization, or our planet? Are we hoping that through our religion, WE will increase?....
The metaphor Jesus uses in his discussion with Nicodemus was well known by Nicodemus, the serpent in the wilderness, maybe less well known by us. In the book of Numbers, chapter 21, God's people complain, as usual, and God has had enough. He sends poisonous serpents among the people and many of them die. The people repent, but instead of removing the serpents from the people, God instructs Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a tall pole, and then when someone is bitten by a serpent, they can look up at the bronze serpent, and live. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son to be lifted on the cross, so that everyone who trusts in him may not perish but may have eternal life. The initiative belongs to God – and the people respond with trust.
And John the Baptist gets it. “I am not the Messiah,” he says, “I am the friend of the bridegroom, the bride is not mine. I am just happy to be at the wedding. Jesus must increase, but I must decrease.” My religion is not about what I am doing for him, but what he has already done for me.
In our baptism in the death and resurrection of Christ, we are reborn from above, reborn of water and Spirit. The ME of the flesh is minimized, and the Christ of the Spirit is maximized. In the same way, as a church, our goal should be that Christ increase, that in every ministry and in every activity, Christ is made known and people are drawn to put their trust in him.
Will our religion improve our lives here on earth? Yes! Good guess, if we live in obedience to the Son, we will minimize bad consequences from our own bad decisions, and our earthly life will go smoother. If we live in obedience to the Son, we will not be dominated by fear, or guilt, or regret, or lack of purpose. If we live in obedience to the Son, we will not be preoccupied with peer pressure, or likes, or self-image. If we live in obedience to the Son, we will develop the gifts you have given us, and excel in the fields you place us. But of primary importance, we will rejoice that God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. And we will look up to the cross, and live.
Gracious God, we thank you for sending your Son Jesus, our saviour. Help us to make him known, and help us to decrease, in Jesus' name, amen.