Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Lent 3B

  • A Messy Temple

    In all of the order of the Temple, we struggle to see the mess underneath; why things need to change; and even what to do about it.

  • What Jesus is up to in the Temple is distracting. But not nearly as much as our attempts to avoid dealing with his critiques of the Temple.

  • What is behind Jesus’s outrage at the Temple? And what does it means for us? It begins with how we see our part in the system.

  • The move to Jesus’s actions known as the “cleansing” of the Temple offer us different ways to see our conflict and his purpose.

  • We’re tempted to see the clearing of the Temple as something other than disruption. We’re afraid of what it reveals about Jesus. When the Shepherd clears the TempleLent 3B | John 2:13-22 Jesus walks into the Temple, makes a whip, and drives the animals, tax collectors, and dove sellers out and then flips tables. Objectively,…

  • In overturning the tables in the temple and reimagining Sabbath law, Jesus invites us into a new relationship to our work. Not as adherents and citizens, but as artists and co-creators. Jesus invites us to be artists collaborating in a global masterpiece Lent 3B  | John 2:13-22 This church may have a lot of doors…