Disturbing the peace

Short homily based upon John 2.13-22

In the gospel reading we see Jesus the Prince of Peace as Jesus the disturber of the peace; he’s the radical, the subversive, the disrupter. 

The deal between the temple and these small businesses started out of necessity; pilgrims came from all over to visit the temple and wished to offer a sacrifice when they got there, so the animal sellers were providing a useful service. Only temple coins could be used to buy the animals, so the money-changers were needed.

The problem came when they got greedy- escalating the prices for their own gain, within God’s House. Jesus’ disruption brings attention, which he must have known would happen.

I’m sure we can all think of other examples from history where those seeing or suffering injustice have become disrupters to get their cause noticed and effect change; anti-slavery campaigners, Suffragettes, The Civil Rights movement, The Stonewall Riots. The pattern of Jesus’ behaviour is a familiar one.

It’s a reminder that we have a God who was fully human in every way, not just the serene peacenik we sometimes paint him as. And it’s a reminder that we’re still called to disrupt the peace when we see injustice. 

In recent years we’ve seen huge marches, peaceful but in their own way disruptive, to focus attention on the future of the NHS, for women’s rights, to demand we don’t ignore the Syrian crisis. We’ve seen protest within our own diocese against the spikes placed outside city centre buildings to prevent the homeless sheltering, an action which led to the spikes being removed. 

Now I’m not trying to incite the congregation to riot, but we have a pattern of Christian living set for us by Jesus and that includes challenging injustice, and where necessary a little disruption.

Injustice and marginalisation of certain groups are still part of our society, and as long as they remain so it’s our duty as Jesus-followers to shine a spotlight on it. If injustice makes you angry how can that anger be challenged and used for good?

I get angry when I see people unable to work though illness or disability forced to fight for the basics to live upon, I get angry when the bible is used to oppress and control people, I get angry when gender or sexuality still cause people to be treated as less. 

We each need to ask ourselves what injustice makes us angry? Could it be that God is stirring something within us? How can we channel and use that sense of injustice? 

Our religion may bring us comfort but it’s not a comfortable religion. Jesus was a man who challenged systems. He overturned cultural norms, challenged the authorities, undermined the establishment, and generally shook everything up. This is all part of our inheritance. Christianity never has been, and never will be, about maintaining the status quo.