Third Lent

John 2: 15 – 17

Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning God’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

If they had to sit through one more staff meeting with the accounting team leader insisting that what the company needed was a little more love, they were going to jump out of their skins. Jesus made whips out of cords to cleanse the temple; no doubt the pulls on the blinds would do for them. No one had anything against love, but the small company was in deep financial straits – in large part because people like the accounting team leader thought of the place as a charity operation rather than a business.

No one was ever held accountable for their work – you’d have to kill someone to be fired – and promotions were based on the hang-around-long-enough-and-they’ll-give-you-a-title principle.

Rightful authority and appropriate relationships and behaviours is what this week’s gospel is all about. Jesus had nothing against commerce. The temple just wasn’t the proper place for changing money and selling doves.

Business is the same way. The message of this week’s gospel applied to work is to be respectful of your workplace, take pride in the work that you do, and focus on the task at hand. And, yes, we could all use a little more love, too.