12-01-2011, 10:09 AM
THE INTRINSIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORSHIP AND LIFE; FAITH AND JUSTICE
Friday, 18 November, 2011, 33rd Ordinary Week, Cycle 1
THE INTRINSIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORSHIP AND LIFE; FAITH AND JUSTICE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1MACC4:36-37, 52-59; LK 19:45-48
The common theme of today’s scripture readings is obviously the purification of the temple. In the first reading from the book of Maccabees, we read of Judas and the Maccabean brothers going up to Jerusalem to purify the Temple and dedicate a new altar to God, having ousted and defeated the pagan King, Antiochus Epiphanes, so that true worship could be offered once again. There was great rejoicing and celebration. Ironically, about two hundred years later, Jesus had to purify the Temple once again. Only this time, the defilement of the temple was not the work of outsiders or pagans but their own people, and worse still, by their own religious leaders. So Luke narrates how Jesus went into the Temple and drove out those who were conducting business there. From the other gospels, we are told that He drove out the moneychangers and those selling animals in the Temple courts so that true worship could be restored.
In order to understand the apparent violent action of Jesus, it is important to know the context of temple worship. It must be clear from the outset that in themselves, the moneychangers and the sellers had their functions in the Temple worship. Their services were needed and almost indispensable.
Firstly, moneychangers were needed because of the different types of currencies in circulation in Palestine, be it Greek, Roman, Syrian or Egyptian and all were legal tender. Pilgrims who came to Jerusalem normally would take the occasion to pay the annual Temple tax, which is half a shekel and it had to be paid in exact half shekels of the sanctuary. Hence, the moneychangers were needed to facilitate the exchange. Secondly, the sellers of animals were also needed in the temple as every visit to the Temple involved some kind of sacrifice commanded by Moses in the Old Covenant, be it burnt offering, guilt offering, sin offering or fellowship offering. As the victim to be offered had to be without spot or blemish, that is, free from defects, it was safer to buy the animals from the booths within the Temple ground so that it could easily be accepted by the priests for the offering of the sacrifices, as animals sold outside the Temple did not have the Temple inspectors to approve them for worship.
But this is where the temptation to cheat arose. The moneychangers often charged exorbitant exchange rates. Instead of helping the pilgrims, they fleeced them and made great profits for themselves. Similarly, the animal sellers within the courtyard, who were the official agents appointed by the priests, would sell the animals at many times more than the price of those sold outside the temple. Furthermore, these Temple shops were known to be monopolized by the families of the priests and they made huge profits from these two trades.
Within this context, we can understand why Jesus cited the text from Third Isaiah and from Jeremiah to illustrate the situation of the Temple. Instead of the house of God being a house of prayer, as prophesied by Isaiah, it had become a den of thieves. So if Jesus was angry and incensed, it was not simply because the buying and selling compromised the dignity and sacredness of the Temple but because the very House of God had been used as a place to make money from the poor through exploitation. It was this hypocrisy and lack of social justice that provoked Jesus to act. What, then, are the implications that we can draw from today’s scripture readings?
Firstly, in that prophetic act of Jesus purifying the Temple and demanding that the Temple be a house of prayer, we see that there is necessarily an intrinsic relationship between worship and life. True worship entails that the element of prayer, of dialogue, be always included. In any proper worship, the external ambience, reverence, gestures, signs and ceremonies are important to help worshippers to be engaged with God in prayer. This explains why the Jews took great pains, as we read in the first reading, to restore the temple and dedicate a new altar in place of the one that was defiled. “They ornamented the front of the Temple with crowns and bosses of gold, repaired the gates and the storerooms and fitted them with doors.” All these external signs of honour given to God are well and good. Certainly, we must pay attention to the cleanliness of the Church, the structure and architecture of our Churches, the quality and dignity of our vestments and sacred vessels, since everything must be done in such a way that God is known to be our Lord and sovereign king and that we spare nothing to give praise to Him. As the psalmist declares, “Yours, O Lord, is the sovereignty; you are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor are from you. You have dominion over all. In your hand are power and might; it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.” Whilst we must not take too lightly the ceremonies of worship, they remain only as means to an end, which is an encounter with God. The purification of the Temple is more than just beautifying the externals of the Temple.
Consequently, authentic worship requires that we must have the right intention as well. In other words, how we worship must be truly expressive of the lives we live. This is done through symbols, ceremonies and sacrificial offerings. The latter, in particular for the Jewish people, were important, as the sacrifice of unblemished animals symbolized their total giving to God. At the same time, they acted as substitutes for their sins, for which, technically speaking, they deserved to die. But by laying their hands on the animal victims to be sacrificed, they symbolically transferred their sins to them and were thus forgiven and cleansed by God. Similarly, it is important for us to participate actively and understand the signs, symbols and rites of worship so that they become truly expressive of our being, feelings and intentions. Only then can it be said that we offer true worship, since this worship is expressive of our lives.
Secondly, in reproving the sellers from turning the house of God into a robbers’ den, Jesus was highlighting the intrinsic relationship between faith and justice. True faith in God is not simply a vertical relationship but implies a horizontal dimension as well. One cannot claim to have faith in God when we practise injustices towards our fellow human beings. If faith is to be justifying for us, then justification requires a right relationship with God and with others. Precisely, the sacrifices that we offer to God are in reparation for our sins and the expression of our sorrow for the lack of justice in our lives. Thus, if we are worshipping God but cheating and exploiting others, such worship would not be acceptable to God, as it becomes a self-contradiction.
Conversely, if we live a life of justice, then to a great extent the vision of Isaiah of a house of God as a house of prayer is fulfilled. For in the understanding of Isaiah, he foresaw not only people of all races, languages and religions coming to worship the true God but also that they would live in peace, love and harmony with each. By so doing, God would be known by all, since all live by His justice, mercy and love. This is the true restoration of the temple.
Yes, if there is a dichotomy between worship and life; faith and justice, then worship is reduced to rituals and superstitions; faith is reduced to magic. On one hand, worship becomes simply a means to appease God so that one would not be harmed by evil. What is superstitious about this kind of worship is the belief that just by performing the right rituals and prayers, our petitions would be answered. On the other hand, faith then is not so much a living faith that issues from a life lived in harmony with God’s commandments but simply magic and autosuggestion so that God could be manipulated to perform miracles for us, for our self-interests and not so much as a way to grow in love for God and our fellow human beings.
Consequently, the gospel today urges us to hang on to the words of Jesus. Only by listening to Jesus and following Him, can we purify, first and foremost, our own temple, that is ourselves, so that whichever Temple we worship in, we will make that temple and ourselves truly a house of prayer. We must avoid falling into the same mistake of the chief priests and the scribes who tried to do away with Jesus because He was a threat to their status quo. By so doing, they could not offer true worship and became a den of thieves. So the choice is ours. If we are concerned about making ourselves into a house of God, that is a person filled with love and goodness, then we need to make ourselves into a house of prayer, which is to build a real relationship with God. If we are filled with greed, selfishness and materialism, then we are truly a robbers’ den, since we do not have a right relationship with God, neither with our fellowmen.
Friday, 18 November, 2011, 33rd Ordinary Week, Cycle 1
THE INTRINSIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORSHIP AND LIFE; FAITH AND JUSTICE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1MACC4:36-37, 52-59; LK 19:45-48
The common theme of today’s scripture readings is obviously the purification of the temple. In the first reading from the book of Maccabees, we read of Judas and the Maccabean brothers going up to Jerusalem to purify the Temple and dedicate a new altar to God, having ousted and defeated the pagan King, Antiochus Epiphanes, so that true worship could be offered once again. There was great rejoicing and celebration. Ironically, about two hundred years later, Jesus had to purify the Temple once again. Only this time, the defilement of the temple was not the work of outsiders or pagans but their own people, and worse still, by their own religious leaders. So Luke narrates how Jesus went into the Temple and drove out those who were conducting business there. From the other gospels, we are told that He drove out the moneychangers and those selling animals in the Temple courts so that true worship could be restored.
In order to understand the apparent violent action of Jesus, it is important to know the context of temple worship. It must be clear from the outset that in themselves, the moneychangers and the sellers had their functions in the Temple worship. Their services were needed and almost indispensable.
Firstly, moneychangers were needed because of the different types of currencies in circulation in Palestine, be it Greek, Roman, Syrian or Egyptian and all were legal tender. Pilgrims who came to Jerusalem normally would take the occasion to pay the annual Temple tax, which is half a shekel and it had to be paid in exact half shekels of the sanctuary. Hence, the moneychangers were needed to facilitate the exchange. Secondly, the sellers of animals were also needed in the temple as every visit to the Temple involved some kind of sacrifice commanded by Moses in the Old Covenant, be it burnt offering, guilt offering, sin offering or fellowship offering. As the victim to be offered had to be without spot or blemish, that is, free from defects, it was safer to buy the animals from the booths within the Temple ground so that it could easily be accepted by the priests for the offering of the sacrifices, as animals sold outside the Temple did not have the Temple inspectors to approve them for worship.
But this is where the temptation to cheat arose. The moneychangers often charged exorbitant exchange rates. Instead of helping the pilgrims, they fleeced them and made great profits for themselves. Similarly, the animal sellers within the courtyard, who were the official agents appointed by the priests, would sell the animals at many times more than the price of those sold outside the temple. Furthermore, these Temple shops were known to be monopolized by the families of the priests and they made huge profits from these two trades.
Within this context, we can understand why Jesus cited the text from Third Isaiah and from Jeremiah to illustrate the situation of the Temple. Instead of the house of God being a house of prayer, as prophesied by Isaiah, it had become a den of thieves. So if Jesus was angry and incensed, it was not simply because the buying and selling compromised the dignity and sacredness of the Temple but because the very House of God had been used as a place to make money from the poor through exploitation. It was this hypocrisy and lack of social justice that provoked Jesus to act. What, then, are the implications that we can draw from today’s scripture readings?
Firstly, in that prophetic act of Jesus purifying the Temple and demanding that the Temple be a house of prayer, we see that there is necessarily an intrinsic relationship between worship and life. True worship entails that the element of prayer, of dialogue, be always included. In any proper worship, the external ambience, reverence, gestures, signs and ceremonies are important to help worshippers to be engaged with God in prayer. This explains why the Jews took great pains, as we read in the first reading, to restore the temple and dedicate a new altar in place of the one that was defiled. “They ornamented the front of the Temple with crowns and bosses of gold, repaired the gates and the storerooms and fitted them with doors.” All these external signs of honour given to God are well and good. Certainly, we must pay attention to the cleanliness of the Church, the structure and architecture of our Churches, the quality and dignity of our vestments and sacred vessels, since everything must be done in such a way that God is known to be our Lord and sovereign king and that we spare nothing to give praise to Him. As the psalmist declares, “Yours, O Lord, is the sovereignty; you are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor are from you. You have dominion over all. In your hand are power and might; it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.” Whilst we must not take too lightly the ceremonies of worship, they remain only as means to an end, which is an encounter with God. The purification of the Temple is more than just beautifying the externals of the Temple.
Consequently, authentic worship requires that we must have the right intention as well. In other words, how we worship must be truly expressive of the lives we live. This is done through symbols, ceremonies and sacrificial offerings. The latter, in particular for the Jewish people, were important, as the sacrifice of unblemished animals symbolized their total giving to God. At the same time, they acted as substitutes for their sins, for which, technically speaking, they deserved to die. But by laying their hands on the animal victims to be sacrificed, they symbolically transferred their sins to them and were thus forgiven and cleansed by God. Similarly, it is important for us to participate actively and understand the signs, symbols and rites of worship so that they become truly expressive of our being, feelings and intentions. Only then can it be said that we offer true worship, since this worship is expressive of our lives.
Secondly, in reproving the sellers from turning the house of God into a robbers’ den, Jesus was highlighting the intrinsic relationship between faith and justice. True faith in God is not simply a vertical relationship but implies a horizontal dimension as well. One cannot claim to have faith in God when we practise injustices towards our fellow human beings. If faith is to be justifying for us, then justification requires a right relationship with God and with others. Precisely, the sacrifices that we offer to God are in reparation for our sins and the expression of our sorrow for the lack of justice in our lives. Thus, if we are worshipping God but cheating and exploiting others, such worship would not be acceptable to God, as it becomes a self-contradiction.
Conversely, if we live a life of justice, then to a great extent the vision of Isaiah of a house of God as a house of prayer is fulfilled. For in the understanding of Isaiah, he foresaw not only people of all races, languages and religions coming to worship the true God but also that they would live in peace, love and harmony with each. By so doing, God would be known by all, since all live by His justice, mercy and love. This is the true restoration of the temple.
Yes, if there is a dichotomy between worship and life; faith and justice, then worship is reduced to rituals and superstitions; faith is reduced to magic. On one hand, worship becomes simply a means to appease God so that one would not be harmed by evil. What is superstitious about this kind of worship is the belief that just by performing the right rituals and prayers, our petitions would be answered. On the other hand, faith then is not so much a living faith that issues from a life lived in harmony with God’s commandments but simply magic and autosuggestion so that God could be manipulated to perform miracles for us, for our self-interests and not so much as a way to grow in love for God and our fellow human beings.
Consequently, the gospel today urges us to hang on to the words of Jesus. Only by listening to Jesus and following Him, can we purify, first and foremost, our own temple, that is ourselves, so that whichever Temple we worship in, we will make that temple and ourselves truly a house of prayer. We must avoid falling into the same mistake of the chief priests and the scribes who tried to do away with Jesus because He was a threat to their status quo. By so doing, they could not offer true worship and became a den of thieves. So the choice is ours. If we are concerned about making ourselves into a house of God, that is a person filled with love and goodness, then we need to make ourselves into a house of prayer, which is to build a real relationship with God. If we are filled with greed, selfishness and materialism, then we are truly a robbers’ den, since we do not have a right relationship with God, neither with our fellowmen.