Brief synopsis of the readings: Our first reading gives us the 10 Commandments from Exodus. Shortly after their liberation from Egypt Moses was summoned to meet with God on the top of Mt. Sinai. There God gave Moses the laws to govern the new community and in today’s reading Moses read them to the people. John’s Gospel describes Jesus in the temple area shortly before Passover. Jesus observed the market outside of the temple where money is changed from Roman coins to Temple coins. There were also stalls set up for people to purchase oxen, sheep and doves for sacrifice. Jesus grew enraged and began tip over the tables and chase the people away; he also drove out the animals. He told them: “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” When they asked him why he did this he answered that he could destroy “this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Shocked, they replied that the temple had been under construction for 46 years. John then explains that Jesus was talking about the temple of his body. After his resurrection Jesus’ disciples would recall this incident and recognizing that Jesus would rise from the dead.”

The Catholic Lectionary was set up to connect the first reading and the Gospel and most of my sermons include both readings (last week being the exception). Given that, I get a bit of a chuckle at these readings. Our first reading lays out the basic laws that govern the community but in today’s Gospel Jesus goes after people who did nothing contrary to the law.

Longtime readers of my sermons well know my frustration with the politicization of the 10 Commandments. It’s not how Moses’ audience viewed them, but what we’ve done with them since. We need to understand that these people had, until a few chapters before, been slaves. We all agree that slaves live terrible lives but all they need is obedience. They don’t need to (can’t) plan ahead or think about what might happen in the future. All they can do is obey.

And so God gives them 10 simple rules that they must follow. They are strangers in a strange land headed to an uncertain future and they need to be able to depend on each other. These rules give them the starting point of how they are to relate to God and treat each other. In fairness their response to these commandments was mixed at best. But the point remains sound: this was a first step in our roles as disciples.

But if that’s true, why was Jesus so angry in the Gospel? None of those whose tables were turned over violated any commandments. Well, I suggest that while they followed the letter of the law they strayed away from the spirit of the law. The scene doesn’t take place in the Temple itself but the courtyard that surrounds it. They needed moneychangers because they normally used Roman currency with the head of Caesar on it (much as our coins today bear the likenesses of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc.). But the 1st Commandment prohibits carving idols, including Roman coins; therefore the moneychangers converted the Roman coins to Temple coins (that the Romans didn’t recognize). Additionally, people who traveled to the Temple to sacrifice an animal found it inconvenient to carry oxen, sheep or doves with them. Seeing an opportunity some people set up businesses where they could purchase an animal for sacrifice.

Jesus’ anger wasn’t about the animals or the coins but how their business had gotten so much a part of their observance that they overshadowed the reason they were there. This isn’t something we think about because Jesus’ sacrifice made animal sacrifice obsolete but the point of sacrifice back then was to remind us that all we have comes from God and giving back recognizes that.

And all these centuries later I’d like to think we’ve understood that. We haven’t, at least not completely. We recognize Lent because it reminds us that our life comes from God and our eternal life comes also from God through the resurrection of Jesus. We we can easily fall into the trap of following the rules and thinking we’re done. We remember to pack the egg salad sandwich for lunch and have dinner at Red Lobster on Fridays in Lent. Or we give up alcohol for Lent and spend six weeks looking at the bottle of single malt scotch in our liquor cabinet. And we think we’re done.

But does that keep our attention on how we relate to God and treat each other? If we look at discipleship as nothing more than additional burdens God places on us I think we miss the point. We need to go beyond just following the 10 Commandments because they are the first words on what God wants, not the last words. God dreams much bigger than that for us and it invites/calls us to also dream bigger for ourselves. In his excellent book When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough Rabbi Harold Kusher tells of a medieval Spanish monk who wrote: “I am confident that, after my death, I will go to heaven because I have never made a decision on my own. I have always followed the orders of superiors, and if ever I erred, the sin is theirs, not mine.” Rabbi Kusher and I find this sad because this monk will know the joy of living the life God has given us.

In addition from fasting from meat on Fridays can we fast from hurtful words and say kind words? This, by the way, is part of a larger document from Pope Francis and you can easily find it by googling Pope Francis and fasting. If we’ve decided to abstain from alcohol this Lent can we also pray for all those who suffer from the disease of alcoholism? If part of our morning routine includes stopping for coffee can we tell the barista how much we look forward to that cup every day? If we look at charitable giving as our modern version of animal sacrifice can we look anew at where and how much we give?

At the end of the day I’m not suggesting that we ignore the 10 Commandments. We can live this way if we want. But we God wants more for us and I hope we do too. But also keep the Commandments.