By Dominique Burgunder-Johnson, director of marketing
Scripture: John 2:13-22 (NRSV)
I’m struck by the relationship between anger and caution in today’s passage. The anger coming from someone calling for the urgent need for drastic change to the way things are and have been, and the cautious, even, skeptical response, “But we’ve invested in this institution for nearly five decades — and now you’re saying that if we make swift and drastic changes, you can offer us something even better?…Are you sure?”
It’s likely that many of us, if not all of us, have been on both ends of this equation. We have been the angry individual or collective calling for swift and drastic change. We’ve been frustrated by the slow response we’ve received. It has seemed impossible to understand why our calls for change aren’t being addressed with the same level of urgency that we feel they should. Yet, we’ve also been on the receiving end of individuals or groups who are angrily calling for rapid change. In those moments, we struggle to understand their urgency. We tell ourselves that they’re oversimplifying the issue, that they’re being overly-emotional, that addressing the issue in the swift and drastic ways in which they’re demanding is unrealistic, unreasonable or unwise.
As with so much of life, I believe the truth in these matters is on all sides. There are times when urgent and drastic action is the needed response, and there are times when caution and careful calculation are wisest. We see this modeled in the Bible’s telling of God’s response to people over the course of centuries — there are times when people were given much time and latitude, and times where God said, “okay, that’s enough — it’s time to seriously shake things up right away.” May we learn from ourselves, from one another and the Spirit to know and act upon the response that is most needed in each situation.
Scripture: John 2:13-22 (NRSV)
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.