"The Wall Street Syndrome" - John 2:13-22 - March 19, 2006

Did you ever notice the information at the bottom of your television screen? All the news channels post the status of the stock market that is updated constantly. At any given moment during the day you know whether or not the DOW is up or down. Your local evening news includes that information too, a recap for the day. You can find stock information on the Internet. Or, just check your cell phone for the latest figures. If you need more explanation you can read about why the market went up or down in detail in the business section of the newspaper.

We live, in what I like to call, "The Wall Street Syndrome." Some channels even include the daily change of the price of gas. If you notice the price of crude oil has increased you might want to head to the nearest gasoline station before they hike the price. Just about anything can affect the DOW: politics, weather, economic reports, productivity, legal settlements or lawsuits, etc. It seems to be we are being conditioned to measure the pulse of society based on the "condition" of Wall Street.

In our society we live with a market place mentality. It is all about consumerism. We are bombarded with advertisements and saturated with information about sales and products. The success of our nation depends on our ability to buy stuff. Perhaps life hasn’t really changed all that much since we find Jesus confronting the people of his day with their "marketplace" attitudes. "Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!" he said.

In that day the temple was at the center of the community. Since everyone came to the temple, the temple courtyard became the marketplace, in other words, the local shopping mall. Even in Jesus’ day, the "Wall Street syndrome" took precedence over the faith of people. You had to visit your local stock broker and your personal banker before you could enter the temple.

Jesus did more than lecture to the folks in the temple courtyard that day. He "drove the moneychangers away with a whip, turned over their tables and emptied their coins on the ground." He was outraged. He was saying, "Enough is enough. This "Wall Street" attitude is interfering with the sacredness of God’s temple."

In his ministry, Jesus never advocated the building of structures, nor was he concerned with the preservation of sacred spaces. His concern was about the condition of the hearts of people. I believe he was concerned that people were placing a higher priority on buying and selling then they were on worship. He was also concerned that those who could not afford to pay the temple tax were excluded. Also, he was angry at those who were taking advantage of others by exploiting the faith.

Faith in God is not something you can buy. Faith in God does not exclude people who are poor. Faith is about worship, trusting in God for our needs and making sacrifices for others. Faith is about making God the center of our lives.

John D. Rockefeller is known for his amazing business success, but he had a greater reputation among those who knew him as being a man who was understanding. He had a sincere appreciation for other people and was willing to accept failure if an honest attempt had been made at success. When one of his partners, Edward T. Bedford, failed in a business venture which cost Rockefeller’s company a million dollars, Rockefeller responded with a statement that has become a classic in business lore. He didn’t criticize Bedford because he knew he had done his best. Rockefeller thought it was honorable that Bedford was able to salvage sixty percent of the money he invested in a South American venture. He said "That’s not bad, we don’t always do that well upstairs." (from God’s Little Devotional Book for Men, Honor Books, 1996)

Jesus wanted his audience to know that people come first. It’s not the condition of our wallets that matters, it’s the condition of our hearts. Even today, we in the church focus more on maintaining our building than we do maintaining the lives of people. Our own church budget for the maintenance of the building is four times larger than what we give to missions. The budget for worship is even less.

Unfortunately the church, like everything else, has patterned itself after corporate America. You can’t even be a boy scout or girl scout in our society unless you sell popcorn and cookies. We teach our children at an early age that they must be in the marketplace in order to be involved in something worthwhile.

One time a man flew into Dallas to see a client. He was in a hurry and he needed a taxi. A spotless cab pulled up in front of the terminal. The driver rushed out and opened the door for him and made sure he was comfortably seated. The driver placed a copy of the Wall Street Journal by his passenger’s side for his reading pleasure. He showed him several music CD’s and asked the passenger to pick his favorite. The passenger remarked, "Obviously you take great pride in your work. You must have a story to tell."

The driver replied, "I used to be in corporate America. But, I got tired of thinking my best was never good enough, fast enough or appreciated enough. I decided to find my niche in life where I could be proud of my work and enjoy it too. I liked cars, being of service and most importantly, feeling like I had done a full day’s work. I decided to be a professional cab driver. I wanted to be great in business and exceed my customer’s expectations."

His passenger gave him a huge tip. {from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work)

The taxi cab driver had undergone a complete transformation. His success had to do with service and job satisfaction. When Jesus was asked to give a sign after his demonstration he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He was talking about himself, his personal integrity and ultimately his soul. He wanted his listeners to understand that our own personal integrity is truly an act of worship. Anytime we take advantage of others we take advantage of God. Anytime we are putting our habits of consumerism above our allegiance to God, we are putting our trust in the marketplace instead of the Almighty.

Anthony Demello sums it up best in his story, "How Much Is Enough?" A rich industrialist from the North was horrified to find the southern fisherman lying lazily beside his boat, smoking a pipe. "Why aren’t you out fishing?" he asked. "Because I have caught enough fish for the day," the fisherman replied. "Why don’t you catch some more?" "What would I do with them?" "You could earn more money. Then you could have a motor fixed on your boat and go into deeper waters and catch more fish. That would make you enough to buy some nylon nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to own two boats, maybe even a fleet. Then you would be a rich man like me." "What would I do then?" asked the fisherman." The industrialist replied, "Then you could really enjoy life." The fisherman then replied, "What do you think I am doing now?" (from The Song of the Bird, Anthony DeMello, Doubleday, 1982)

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio