Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . .”
But he was speaking of the temple of his body." — John 2: 19-21
Up to something good this week? A good question to remind us all of our journey of faith with action in the season of Lent this year. As Marcia McFee and her team at Worship Design Studio move us along the path of this worship series, we are asked to consider the institutions and systems of our culture that are intended for good but have a way of not doing so well for all persons. In this week's section of the Guided Journal provided by McFee and team, she states:
Civilizations have raised up institutions and they almost always turn out to do some good; and unfortunately some not-so-good. Jesus’ anger at the sellers in the temple was directed at the way the institution had become unjust and unfair for the most vulnerable. The need for the resurrection of just systems of care for the “least of these” has never left us.
Churches can become institutionalized. Pastors and lay persons of those churches can also lose focus on the words of Jesus and how they are intended to call us to a better way. A better way of treating vulnerable persons has been a point of prayer for me this week. Thinking in terms of resurrection, I wonder what needs to be raised up in my own thinking and in my own way of being with others? May the words of Jesus we find in John's gospel be a call to all of us to be alert to what Christ is raising up among us.
How is it with you, friends? Up to something good, for Christ? I hope to see you either in church on Sunday or somewhere Along the Way this week.
Grace and Peace
Pastor Paul
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