Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Jesus Enraged: Overturning Purveyors of Injustice

Jesus Enraged: Overturning Purveyors of Injustice

Last updated on: March 20, 2014 at 9:56 pm by Jeff Hood

Jesus Enraged: Overturning Purveyors of Injustice 2014-03-20T21:56:00-06:00 Jeff Hood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Emily Jean Hood

For many of us, our lives are filled with the mundane and monotonous. It is as if we live for those moments when we might become something different…when we might become all that we were created to be…when we might have the opportunity to touch greatness or even the very face of God. This evening we are going to talk about one of those moments in the life of Jesus, where Jesus is undeniably God in action. The scene unfolded at the temple.

People or moneychangers set up tables selling access to worship throughout the temple. There were obstacles of class and status that people had to overcome in order to participate in the life of the temple. Jesus became enraged at the injustice of it all and made a whip to drive out those who were doing the selling and creating obstacles to the worship of God. Jesus sealed his death by standing up for others in the narrative. For Jesus the time to stand with the oppressed was always now.

What temples must we storm? Who are the moneychangers? Where are our whips?

Our immigration policies create a society of obstacles for our brothers and sisters who we live and work with everyday.

Our economic policies oppress people all over the world…creating situations where billions of people have little access to the economic resources they need to survive.

The policies of our justice system consistently create a world in which we would rather imprison the poor than educate them.

There are innumerable systematic oppressions and injustices that we give assent to by remaining silent everyday.

If we are to be followers of the way of Jesus…then where are our whips?

It would be nice if I could point you to our churches to help you in your task of driving out the moneychangers. But, the truth is that the moneychangers and the obstacle creators far too often are operating out of these spaces.

I can think of no greater challenge facing the church in the United States than the rise of the prosperity gospel. Jesus did not call you to get rich and healthy. Jesus called you to come and die. I pray that we will drive out the moneychangers who are keeping us from talking about injustice and oppression by filling our pulpits with bullshit about accumulating health and wealth.

People in the church ask us to go slow on issues of justice. To them I declare here and now…we are not going fast enough. How many more young people will have to die before we wake up to the second-class status church policies and teachings are thrusting upon the queer community? How many more people are going to have to suffer spiritual abuse from our pastors before we wake up to the knowledge that God loves everyone? It is not enough to do this love-the-sinner shit. It is not enough to paternalistically affirm someone. We will either love all of God’s children now or we will cease to be the church.

Where are our whips? What are we waiting on?

The most treacherous temple to storm is our own. We fail to realize the effects of growing up in a culture permeated with oppression and injustice at every step. I have come to terms with the fact that I will always be a recovering racist, homophobe, sexist, classist and a whole host of other ists. I have to storm my temple daily to get all the shit out. If we are willing to be honest with our selves, we all have to. We all have to root out daily the oppressive and evil attitudes and injustices that take root in our lives. Though we will never be perfect, we need to get more people in recovery.

Where are our whips? Why are we not down on our knees?

Are we willing to step into those moments where we are called to be something tremendously greater than what we are? Are we willing to fashion the whips and drive out the moneychangers that inhabit our lives and the world around us?

It is not enough to hide and live our lives quietly. We must give our lives for other others. The greatest response to a world gone mad is to refuse to stop storming the temple.

For Jesus the time to stand with the oppressed is always now.

Our time is now.

Amen.

Prism Denton 3/16

Previous Post

March 19, 2014

Double Homicide Tonight: Racism Reigns in Texas

Next Post

March 23, 2014 Why We Can't Wait: A Sunday Letter from a Baptist Pastor to my Methodist Colleagues

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Danny & Jeff fresh writings latest poetics north texas fellowship of reconciliation Sermon theology from death row Thoughts Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who denied knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crowed?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James Judas Andrew Peter