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The Citizen, 2018-03-15, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018. PAGE 17. From the Minister's Study Leave the temple, deepen your relationship Hillary MacDonald Blyth and Brussels United Churches In John 2:13-22, we find Jesus in an action of angry protest over something precious that was endangered — true worship. We know this story as "Jesus cleansing the temple". Only John's gospel puts the incident of Jesus cleansing the temple at the beginning of his ministry, as a way to begin his ministry for the people of God. This incident follows the story of the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, his first miracle in the Gospel of John. We were always told in seminary, "You don't make a lot of changes your first couple of years of ministry. Don't start shaking the boat too much your first year. You don't have the people's trust yet" I don't think Jesus got that memo. His first acts of ministry start shaking things up right away. His first acts of ministry create some really big ripples. His first acts of ministry literally turn the tables on the establishment. Jesus jumps right in and starts shaking things up and turning the tables on the people of God. And that is the point for the author of John. He wants his readers to understand that there is something different about Jesus. That through Jesus, a new order has come about for the people of God. John wants his readers to understand that the arrival of Jesus in the world establishes a new relationship with God. And that new relationship, that new order, that new understanding of who Jesus really is as the Son of God is going to turn the tables on the way things are done in our world. Jesus' ministry, Jesus' purpose is to show the people of God that we have gotten too caught up in the way things are always done, that we have gotten trapped in our religious practices, that we have become so invested in the "business" of the church, that we are unable to recognize the new life, the new beginning, the new revelations of God in our lives. And we have forgotten why we do the things we do in the first place. We have forgotten that all of our practices, that all of our missions, that all of our traditions are ways to deepen our relationship with God, not motions to simply go through as people of faith. For John, the story of Jesus cleansing the temple forces us as people of faith to ask ourselves the question of why we do the practices and traditions that we do in church? Do we do them to be in relationship with God and to live out our faith? Or do we do them simply because we have always done them and we honestly don't know why we do them? #1 And We DE' ► Still Try Harder! Recent circulation figures show The Citizen has the highest circulation in the northern part of Huron County, #3 in the entire county. The Citizen Proudly Community - Owned Since 1985 For John, this story becomes a way for Jesus to literally turn the tables on us and set us free, free to see the new beginnings, the new order, the new relationship found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. John sets this story during the time of the Passover, one of the most sacred times for people of the Jewish faith. People from all over would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast and make their way to the temple to make offerings to God. The officials set up a one-stop shopping centre: a place where you could purchase your "pure" animal to give as a sacrifice and a place to exchange your money. The officials set up a way to run the "business of church". And that is what Jesus objects to when he drives them out of the temple. Jesus is angry that the practices of the church have become a business and the church has become a ministry of trade. Jesus is angry that the House of God has become a marketplace; a place where people were simply going through the motions and failed to understand the meaning behind their practices. God had come to them - The Word made Flesh - and they didn't see it. God had come to them, in human form, and they couldn't see the presence of God among them. God had come to them, The Word made Flesh, and the people of God were so trapped in the traditions and practices of the church that they missed the new beginning, the new order, the new relationship found in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants them to open their eyes to the new beginning that is among them, open their hearts to the presence of God once more. Jesus wants the people of God to recognize that God is doing new things in their midst. And so John asks his readers and us today the hard question of why we do the BRUSSELS United Church Welcome to Sunday morning worship & Sunday School at 11:00 am Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386 Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com Everyone welcome The Regional Ministry of Hope Everyone Welcome! Trinity Anglican Church St. John's Anglican Church BLYTH BRUSSELS 9:15 am 11:15am MINISTRY OFFICE 519-357-4883 Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector ® email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The Regional Ministry of Hope COME WORSHIP WITH US! HURON CHAPEL EVERY SUNDAY IN AUBURN @ 9AM & 11AM HURONCHAPEL.COMV1 Blyth United Church Est. 1875 Sunday, March 18 Lent: A Season of Renewal Lent 5 Worship at 9:30 a.m. Hillary MacDonald OFFICE: 519-523-4224 things we do in church: Do we do them because they deepen our relationship with God or do we do them because we are so caught up in the "business of running the church" that we fail to see the presence of God among us, moving among us, calling us to a new beginning? The author of John wants us, as people of faith, to realize that "God is known and visible, that God is met and experienced, not in the rituals and practices of the Temple but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus." Today, the author of John is driving us out of the temple and into enrilear7o SUNDAYS Morning Service Evening Service the world, where we will experience the presence of God in our brothers and sisters of faith. We are driven out of the temple and into our community, where we are called to share the Light of God and drive away the darkness and into the world, where we can experience the presence of God who has claimed us as God's own. Today, we are being driven out of the temple to go out into the world and experience the presence of God, stirring us to deepen our relationship with God and with all of God's creation. May we open our eyes and our heart to new beginnings, to the new life that is all around us. Amen. ?Ls ytt 1I its tiv 10:00 am 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH p•� Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen L C! Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, MARCH 18 We invite you to join our church family in: Worship & Sunday School - 11 am Coffee & Snacks following the service Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Nursery care available 519-887-6687 Sunday, March 18 at 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Winaham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph's Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N.