Year B Lent III Exodus 20:1-17 John 2:13-22

Have you ever noticed that when you decide to not do something, that’s when you feel constantly tempted to do it? We make promises to ourselves during Lent – things we won’t do, things we will give up, and it doesn’t take long before we fully understand what is meant by, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”.

How are we supposed to keep a holy Lent when trying to do better often leads us to, well, doing worse, because now, along with not improving, we’re breaking Lenten promises? We get so caught up in the “rules” we’ve set for ourselves, we forget the call to love more and love better – to increase the flow of the Spirit within us. We find ourselves struggling with what one writer, Jeffrey Burton Russell, referred to as “Prophecy and Order” – a balance in us that brings both harmony and holiness.

This struggle is reflected in our society. A few years ago, the abbreviation “SBNR” started showing up in church and cultural circles. The initials stand for a phenomenon that has begun showing up in countless national surveys. SBNR stands for Spiritual, But Not Religious. People who fit this description, SBNRs, are present in every group surveyed, but there are more and more of them in every new generation. Many church folk feel anxiety rise as they look at their beloved buildings, programs, and budgets in light of this turn away from organized religion.

But have you ever heard of someone who is religious, but not spiritual? “RBNS”? For those of us in the church world, it is easy to assume that if someone goes through the motions — attending church, serving on committees, making an annual pledge – that surely, they must also be spiritual. What is the difference anyway between being religious and being spiritual? Have you ever thought about it?

Many folks would suggest that being religious has more to do with external things like institutional affiliation and assent to a set of beliefs, such as our Apostles Creed. What Russell called “order”. Spirituality (what Russell refers to as “prophecy”), on the other hand, is about experiences of self-transcendence, belonging, and connection: spirituality is about relationship.

Among all of our Church seasons, Lent may be the most focused on personal experiences. We work to clear away debris that blocks a loving connection with Jesus and one another and open ourselves to God through prayer and Scripture. Lenten “disciplines,” despite their stern-sounding name, are more about spirituality than religion. Self-examination and repentance (or “changing our hearts and minds” as the Common English Bible translates it); prayer, fasting, and self-denial; reading and meditating on God’s Word—all of these are ways to help us build a relationship with the liberating, loving, and life-giving God and friendships with others who struggle along the same path as we.

But here, in our First Reading, in the middle of this 40-day spiritual pilgrimage, we are asked to wrestle with something that may conjure up images of religion at its worst: The Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not. . .”. We all know how a negative command can affect people, offering, to those who wish to misuse the commandments, something to rebel against or use to judge others.

Of course, that’s not what God intends for them to do. The Ten Teachings, or the “Ten Words” as rabbinic tradition refers to them, lay a foundation for spirituality to blossom out of religion, for encounter to emerge from rules, for transcendence to arise from tradition. Today’s Reading from Exodus presents us with an invitation—an invitation to reclaim the Ten Commandments not as a tool for judgment and shame but instead as a set of teachings that guide us into a life-giving spirituality

The very first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before Me.” But those words have a preface: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This preface isn’t optional; it is a necessary prologue that frames the intention of all that follows.

The Lord who longs for us to abide by the Teachings is the same One who heard our cry in Egypt and is committed to liberating us from every kind of captivity. The Lord is the One who provides for us, even when we resist that generosity, Who made water spring from a rock, Who provided manna and quail in the wilderness.

That is the One before whom we should have no other gods. The Lord is eager to encounter us and to shed Light on our finitude and weakness so that we may better understand them in the Light of His eternal and liberating Love.

The second through fifth Teachings, about not making or worshipping Gods other than the Lord, revering God’s name and not using it in vain or in attempts to control God, resting with our creaturely and human neighbors on the Sabbath, just like God did after creating us, and honoring our parents, so that our days may be long in the land, are all about connection. These help us understand and accomplish God’s good purposes for our lives.

The final five teachings are all about belonging. Wouldn’t it be impossible to feel a sense of belonging if you were always worried about staying physically safe, or someone stealing your cattle, or your car, or your social security number; seducing your spouse; lying about you; or viewing all your property with an acquisitive eye? Trust is the foundation for any sense of belonging.

It is a shame that when we read or hear the Ten Commandments the tendency is to put the emphasis on the Thou shalt not, using it either to suppress our own feelings or judge the actions of others, because all the Commandments are about relationship, about love.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple He found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, He drove all of them out of the temple…

Our Gospel today tells the familiar story of Jesus overturning the tables of the money lenders, and the tables and stalls of the sellers of animals to be used for sacrifice in the temple. All these merchants were operating within the law, breaking no rules, and making an honest wage. They no doubt supported their families through these endeavors. But Jesus is infuriated! What leads Him to His violent reaction?

Jesus recognizes that “the rules” governing the actions of the sellers do not acknowledge the Spirit, do not respect the holiness of that which is sacred. As it is possible to turn the Ten Commandments into negative “rules” to rebel against or to use to judge others, so the merchants inside the temple walls turned the “rules” into that which suited their financial gain and ignored the sacred space in which they functioned. It is so tempting to twist the Truth to satisfy our own ends.

Have we, this Lent, made rules to follow, or are we putting all our effort and energy into giving ourselves to Jesus that we may, as the song says in Godspell, see Him more clearly, Love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly – day by day? When we open ourselves up to His Love, we cannot help but love others as we are commanded to do, and when we love we free ourselves from sin. That is what Lent is about, being sorry that we so often fail to love, and being open to loving more and more.

Lent can be a bitter pill – if and when we misunderstand its purpose, if we get tangled up in negative “rules” failing to find their spiritual core, we have wasted these forty days, a time to grow in the Spirit and in Love.

Psalm 19 today speaks of the Law: the law of the Lord is more to be desired than much fine gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. We are called to live in love, commanded to do so, both by the Ten Commandments and by Jesus. Who does not want to taste that sweetness?

Let us pray with the Psalmist (Psalm 51):

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

In Jesus Name, Amen.