The purpose of the Church, then … the purpose of Calvary in Memphis … is to be the kind of community in which people begin to see themselves as desired by God. A place where we see ourselves as occasions for divine joy.
Where does God live?
If the Church is somehow still of use to lives like yours and like mine, surely it must be as a place where whatever we’re afraid of doesn’t send us away from each other or set us at odds but breaks us open to the God-given humanity we all share.
The Jesus who turned over the tables of the money-changers in the temple is the same Jesus who healed and hugged lepers. His anger propels us to challenge injustices in ways that orient all of us toward loving and serving others, especially those we see as hardest to love.