Ever since coming into Jerusalem, entering the temple, and profoundly stopping up the trafficking of money there, Jesus has been under attack by the religious leadership in Jerusalem. Using their authority, they’ve questioned his authority. Using their knowledge of the Scriptures, they’ve questioned his understanding of the Scriptures. Using their connections to the Roman Empire, they’ve questioned his subservience to Caesar. Using their reputation as the keepers of the Mosaic covenant, they’ve questioned his adherence to the law. Time and time again they’ve found reason to call Jesus out, hoping to trap him into saying something that would be actionable before the courts, or at least something that would dampen the people’s support of Jesus – which was the primary reason why they were reluctant to act even more forcefully against him. And now, Jesus answers in a scathing, blistering response.

Sometimes, it just feels right to look your enemies in the eye and let ‘em have it. Sometimes it feels right to quit letting others set the agenda and to name things the way that you feel they ought to be named. Sometimes it seems that you need to quit being diplomatic, quit being on the defensive, and to say what you’ve been wanting to say how you’ve been wanting to say it for so long. And that is what we are reading today for our Scripture reading. From Matthew’s 23^rd chapter.

[Read Matthew 23:1-22]

Oohh, that felt good, didn’t it? There’s nothing like a good rant, a ‘ream-and-a-half’ to get rid of that pent up anger. In some ways, ranting our anger seems to be the ‘rhetoric du jour’ of our society. But, I want to suggest that people don’t come to ranting easily. There is often a history of pain and frustration behind a rant, and there is certainly more than just ‘venting pent up anger’ in these hard words from Jesus. In fact, as we listen closely to Jesus’ words, we will detect a deep-seated disappointment in how a blessed and meaningful movement had lost its way over time. We can probably hear that disappointment best by listening to what Jesus has to say about money.

Amid all of the criticism about hypocrisy, training people to be children of the devil, and Jerusalem’s reputation for killing God’s prophets, there is this critique: “You say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Somehow, over time, the meaning of the temple and its altar had been lost. The temple once was a place that was holy by its very nature, because it was the place where God’s presence was recognized and glorified. It was sacred and, as such, to swear by the temple was to bind one’s word by that which was more valuable than anything else in all of creation. But, no longer. Now, it was not God’s presence, but the gold inside of the temple that was considered valuable. Likewise, the altar once was a place that marked the performance that remembered God’s redemptive activity among God’s people. As such, it was a place where one could swear, because it was the place on which one’s life and salvation depended. But, no longer. Now, it was not on God’s redemptive activity, but on the gifts that people placed on the altar that their lives depended.

Do you see how disheartened Jesus is in speaking these words? The whole purpose and meaning of their assembling as a people of God had been lost; reduced to nothing more than a high regard for the money that they had managed to collect along the way.  Why that money was collected – because God was more valuable to them than even gold; why the gift was put on the altar –because people longed for a way to express their gratitude for God’s redemptive activity – was forgotten. In its place was nothing more than rank commercialism, promenading as something fine and holy.

Behind this rant is a deep sense of disappointment that something that was once filled with life-enhancing wonder had been reduced to a spreadsheet along the way. The glory of God in the temple was not measured by the amount of gold in the chamber. The story of God’s redeeming love that was acted out on the altar was not only valuable insofar as there were gifts on that altar. Without a doubt, this is our human tendency. We assign value in ways that we can measure. It is ‘how we roll,’ so to speak. But, our measuring tools can’t account for things like grace, like glory, like the kind of love with which God embraces us. When we become accountants of the reign of God, the glory has departed.

Today, we are welcoming some new members and we are receiving pledge forms for 2012. It’s funny how we love the first act and kind of dread the second. When we welcome new members, we get to sing our beloved song, we get a chance to enjoy the vitality of new growth, and – most importantly – our lives together become richer by the new folks who become a part of us. It’s wonderful. When we receive pledge forms, the tone is quite different. Behind the scenes we fret about the cost of maintaining our church, paying our staff, operating our programs, and continuing to make mission and service a true part of our life together – all of those nitty-gritty details that every church in the world has to think about. When we announce the occasion, it almost sounds like there is a small group of us whose job is to convince the rest of us to give joyfully and liberally, so that all of us can do what God has called us to do. The temptation is for our stewardship drive to become the occasion where the glory of the temple is replaced by the measurable value of the temple. But, there is a better way.

The better way begins with this: God has called each one of us as beloved children, created to live lovely and purpose-filled lives of joy and service. God has enriched each of us with life, health, and meaning. God has called each of us to be part of the church universal, the living, loving Body of Christ in the world. When we join this church – a small, local expression of the universal Body of Christ, we hear the question, “Do you commit yourself to the worship and work of this church at this time and place,” and each one of us had answered that question with a strong “Yes.”

So, for us, every day is a time to respond to God’s grace. When we study in school, we do it as a response to God’s grace. When we work our vocations, we do it as a response to God’s grace. When we make large and small financial decisions, each one is a response to God’s grace. When we join the movement, or attend the meeting, or cast a vote, or discipline a child, we do it as a response to God’s grace. There is no quarter of our lives that is not immersed in God’s grace; therefore, there is no part of our lives that is not our response to God’s grace.

And yet, we are not just recipients of God’s grace in its most general expression. God has called each of us to be part of this church. And each of us made a commitment to the work and worship of this church. So, we have a Church School program to train our children to live toward the vision of the Reign of God. And, it is a work in which each of us has a full investment – whether we have children in this congregation or not. We strive to have worship together that is musically fitting to the joy that God has given us. So, our worship is a work in which each of us has a full investment, by attending and participating and supporting. You see, the role of the Stewardship Committee can never be to exist as a small group whose job is to convince the rest of us to do what all of us are called to do. When did that become the means of responding to God’s grace? No, our Stewardship Committee has only one role, and that is to offer accountability of the resources, to help make decisions about allocating the resources. The abundance of the resources – now, that’s another issue altogether. That cannot come from some of us trying to convince the rest of us to do what all of us are called to do. The abundance of our giving can only be our faithful response to the abundance of God’s grace.

In the end, all that matters is the glory of God that has visited each of our lives. May every moment of our lives be a way of responding to God’s grace. Amen.