As I was on my way to Mexico last Monday, an article on the front page of USA Today caught my attention.  Under the banner of American Religion, the headline read. “Almost all denominations losing ground, survey finds”.  The article told how the numbers of those claiming to be members of various religious denominations had changed since the last survey was done in 1990.

I’m glad to report that the declining number of those claiming to be Roman Catholics was one of the smallest, a drop of 1.1%, and Catholics remain the largest Christian denomination in the U.S. at 25.1% of those surveyed.  A more alarming part of the survey stated that those who identify themselves as being of no religion at all, has now jumped to 15% of those surveyed, almost double the 8% reported in 1990.  The “non-religious” group is now the third largest group in the U.S., behind Catholics and Baptists.  The researcher concluded from the 1990 data that many saw God as “a personal hobby”.  Even more unsettling than that, from the 2008 data he concluded that “religion has become more like a fashion statement, not a personal commitment for many.”

A researcher from Trinity College looked at the data and saw the emergence of what he called “the emergence of a soft evangelicalism – E-lite – that owes a lot to evangelical styles of worship and approach to church.  But E-lite is more a matter of aesthetic and style, and a considerable softening of the edges in doctrine, politics and social values.”  I think that means that people like the community aspect of their gatherings, but they aren’t really too concerned or committed to the tenants of the faith that they belong to.

In an op-ed piece in that same U.S.A. Today, columnist Rod Dreher writes, “We middle class Americans have become so accustomed to a therapeutic approach to religion that we’ve lost touch with the reality of sin and the need for a strong ethical guide to life.  We need commandments, not suggestions.”  And so with that in mind, we come to today’s readings.

I think it is a fact of our humanity that we do not like rules, per se, and we like someone telling us what to do even less.  However, as much as we don’t like rules, I think we all know that we need them.  Parents know the importance of setting boundaries for children at an early age, and I think most would agree that children are more secure when they know what those boundaries are.  And where God is concerned, we are never far away from being the children that we once were.

God gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites because they needed them.  The Ten Commandments were a clarifying filter through which the Israelites could look at their behavior and judge their own faithfulness to the covenant.  They didn’t need suggestions, they needed commandments.

Now not only did they need the commandments, they needed to have someone split hairs for them to tell them exactly how to apply each of the commandments to their daily lives.  Jewish scholars agree that there are 613 commandments, or “mitzvah”, in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.  These 613 commandments give directions concerning every aspect of life from grooming, to diet, to whom to marry, to how to harvest a vineyard.  Now, perhaps our observant Jewish brothers and sisters should be applauded, for the way they tried to use these rules to bring God into every aspect of their lives.  But the sheer number of rules can make them more “rule” centered than “God” centered.

Now Jesus was a devout Jew, but his view of commandments was very different.  Jesus’ wisdom about the commandments is probably best summed up in the Gospel when he is challenged by the Pharisees to tell which is the greatest commandment.  And I think we all remember what he said.  “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind and your whole strength.”  And the second is this:  “You are to love your neighbors as yourself.”  Jesus had a great sense of economy of words in what he said.  He knew, he knew that if we just kept these two commandments, absolutely and faithfully, we would not break any of the other commandments of the 613 in the Torah.  So, in a sense, Jesus gave us a simpler template to work from, not an easier life, not easier to follow, but just a simpler template.

And what of this image that we see of Jesus in today’s Gospel?  This image can be very unpleasant and unsettling on its face.  Jesus, the God-Man, the example of love and forgiveness, with a whip in his hand is paradoxical and is not very appealing.  In fact, the whip only shows up in the Gospel of John.  In all the other Gospel’s there is a cleansing of the temple scene but only in John does the whip come out.  Well, we associate a whip with anger and violence, today’s reading instead refers to an Old Testament verse, “Zeal for your house will consume me”.

The zeal that Jesus exhibits in today’s Gospel is akin to what we witness when people pour their hearts and souls into a singular endeavor such as Olympic athletics or scientific breakthroughs.  With that zeal, Jesus was trying to remove those from the temple who were there for their own profit, and not for the glory of God.  This zeal is intense and motivating.

But to be a Christian, to live a genuinely Christ centered life, requires even more.  I read in one commentary, “it requires that we give ourselves over, with Christ, to “death” so we may be raised to new life”.  That level of commitment demands that we never view God a “personal hobby” or a “fashion statement”, as the survey concluded.  It calls us to be in communion with God, in a deep personal relationship with Him.  This requires regular prayer, personal sacrifice and action.

St. Augustine said that the driving out of the self interested profit seekers from the temple was symbolic.  The temple symbolizes the body of Christ, and just as in the Gospel reading, there are some in the body of Christ who are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus.  In the new covenant, those who choose self interest will not destroy the Church, but will be driven out like the money changers.  I think all of us can confess that there are times when we do put our self interest ahead of the interests of Jesus.

So, what does all of this say to each this Sunday?  I think we are called repeatedly throughout our lives, but especially during the Lenten season, to take a look at where we are in our relationship with God.  Are we setting aside time to deepen our relationship with Him, to listen prayerfully, rather than enumerating our wants and needs?  Are we aware of the needs of our brothers and sisters?  Do we look a to see the face of Jesus in the homeless, in the hungry and the outcasts?  And if we do what do we about it?  Are we self interested or Christ centered?  Do we sometimes allow God to become our personal hobby, or our fashion statement?  As we continue our Lenten journey, let us pray together that we come to the Easter celebration with a renewed commitment to Christ that is filled with the kind of zeal that Jesus exemplified for us in today’s Gospel.  Let our zeal for the body of Christ consume us!

 

 

 

 

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