As people of faith, again and again we are shown the way; a way which overturns tables; a way which brings down walls; a way which creates community and connection between us all. As people of faith, again and again we are shown the way; a way which this world calls foolish; a way which defies our understanding; a way which is sometimes disruptive and uncomfortable.
March 23, 2025
Again & Again: A Lenten Refrain
“We Are Shown the Way”
John 2: 13-22
1 Corinthians 1: 18-25
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
John 2: 13-22
It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those who were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as those involved in exchanging currency sitting there. He made a whip from ropes and chased them all out of the temple, including the cattle and the sheep. He scattered the coins and overturned the tables of those who exchanged currency. He said to the dove sellers, “Get these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place of business.”
His disciples remembered that it is written, Passion for your house consumes me. Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? What miraculous sign will you show us?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple and in three days I’ll raise it up.” The Jewish leaders replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?” But the temple Jesus was talking about was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered what he had said, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
1 Corinthians 1: 18-25
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent. Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today’s debaters? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
We Are Shown the Way 1Cor 1:18-25
It seems ironic that on the Sunday in which we talk about how again and again we are shown the way, the way being our call to follow Jesus, the way being reflecting God’s love and grace in all we do and say, it seems ironic that on the Sunday in which we talk about the fact that as people of faith, again and again, we are shown the way, we lift up two uncomfortable and dare I say…atypical texts. Because nowhere in these texts is grace mentioned. Nowhere is love mentioned. Nowhere is peace mentioned. Nowhere is justice mentioned. Nowhere are the values which we have come to associate so strongly with Jesus and his ministry, values which we associate with the fulfillment of God’s Beloved Community here on Earth.
Rather instead, we lift up two texts-one of which talks of the foolishness of the cross, a text which flat out tells us that the wisdom of this world does not line up with the wisdom of God. And the other text…well, instead being shown a peaceful, good shepherd image of Jesus, on this Sunday in which we talk about how again and again we are shown the way, instead we are shown an angry Jesus, a frustrated Jesus, a Jesus who overturns the tables, a Jesus who chases people and animals out of the Temple with a whip of cords. On the Sunday in which we talk about how again and again we are shown the way, we are shown a Jesus who defies our expectations, a Jesus who shatters our understanding of who Jeus is and what his ministry was all about for us as his disciples.
And as I have lived with these atypical and uncomfortable texts, I have wondered why that is. Why is it on the very Sunday in which we talk about how again and again, we are shown the way, we lift up two texts which defy our expectations, which disregard our understanding of who Jesus is. Why is it that on the very Sunday in which we talk about how again and again, we are shown the way, we lift up two texts which pardon the pun…overturn our understanding of the Gospel message?
Now the easy answer and my go to excuse would be I didn’t choose these texts, that they were lectionary but that would not be completely true. Yes, these texts were a part of the series, but I could have easily chosen something different. And if I am being completely honest with myself, there is something really compelling about this image of Jesus. It is not one we usually gravitate to as people of faith. It is not one we usually name in worship. It is not one that immediately comes to mind when we actually proclaim who Jesus is for us as our Lord and Savior.
There is something compelling about it. And yet at the same time, there is also something off putting about this image of Jesus. This image of an angry Jesus makes us comfortable which means as people of faith, we cannot ignore it. In fact, it won’t let us. Instead, it confronts us. It challenges us. It makes us sit up and pay attention. Which is exactly why we need this image of an angry Jesus as his followers. As we explore what it means that again and again, we are shown the way, this image of an angry Jesus compels us to pay attention to what is happening around us. It compels us to pay attention to where God is at work. It compels us to pay attention to the ways the systems of this world continue to oppress and destroy. This image of an angry Jesus compels us to pay attention to the many, many ways we have tried to tame the Gospel message, preventing it from upending the value systems and norms of this world, values and systems which are completely opposite in every way from the Beloved Community of God.
This image of an angry Jesus invites us to hear these words again. “Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation….But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
You see, it has never been just about this image of an angry Jesus making us uncomfortable. It is about how more often than not, as people of faith, we choose the safe way, the easy way. We choose the gentle Jesus. We choose the kind Jesus. We choose the nice guy who gathered people around him, preaching and teaching. We choose the Jesus we can control, the Jesus we have created in our image. We choose the Jesus which fits into our narrative, who plays by our rules. We choose the Jesus who does not cause any problems, who brings about the Beloved Community in an orderly manner on our time schedules and in places of our own choosing. And yet, again and again, as people of faith, we are shown the way. We are shown again and again that the Gospel message does not play by our rules.
The second scripture brings this point home. It reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways. God does not ask our permission before showing grace and love. God does not ask us who is worthy or not. In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells them that this world cannot even comprehend the absurdity of the fact that God did not choose the way of power and might to bring about God’s Beloved Community here on Earth. The world sees God’s plan as foolishness. I mean come on…who would choose to come as a baby lying in a manager, born to poor parents? Who would choose to break bread with the sinners and tax collectors over dining with Emperors? Who would choose to die as a common criminal rather than take over the world with armies? Paul reminds the Corinthians back then and reminds us now that God did. God chose love. God chose grace. God chose another way, a way grounded in community, a way grounded in connection, a way of deep authentic relationships, a way of which overturns everything we thought we knew, a way which dismantles the narrative of power and might and choses the way of love and light.
As people of faith, again and again, we are shown the way, a way which overturns tables, a way which brings down walls, a way which creates community and connection between us all. As people of faith, again and again we are shown the way, a way which this world calls foolish, a way which defies our understanding, a way which is sometimes disruptive and uncomfortable. And yet, it is the way, the way which reminds us thankfully over and over again, to give thanks that God is God, and we are not, the way which reminds us that Jesus is the Word Made Flesh, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Again and again, as people of faith, we are shown the way, the way which strengthens us, which challenges us, which emboldens us to proclaim that this world will not have the last word. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, March 23, 2025 – We Are Shown the Way 1Cor 1:18-25.
Additional sermons are available in the Sermon Library.
Listen to the podcast.
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.