April 24

Cleansing the Temple

             The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John 2:13-18

             One of the things that provokes God to anger the quickest is when His children are hindered from coming to Him and worshiping Him.  I get it.  If I were coming home from work and upon entering the house heard the kids marauding down the hall yelling, “Daddy,” I would be excited.  If someone stopped them half way and told them to change their clothes and then go get gifts and then try different gifts because these are not acceptable and then tell them they have to buy their gifts because theirs are no good and then say that their money is not the right kind of money to buy gifts so they have to exchange it for the right kind of money and then once they have done all that the closest that they could get is fifteen feet away where they can wave to their Father without bothering the people who have the proper credentials…I would be angry too.  I would be furious.  All a parent wants is to be with their child and they will tear through the systems and hindrances that get in the way of that.

            That was what Jesus was doing.  The temple had been built to be a place where God’s children could come to be made right with Him.  It was for all people, even those who were not Jewish.  There was a Court of the Gentiles where foreigners could come to worship…or at least they could if it had not been turned into a marketplace.  There were sacrifice dealers who would sell doves and sheep and all manner of livestock that you could offer for your sins.  There were money exchangers who would translate your currency into Temple Coin.  If there were souvenir shops in Ye Ancient Days, this is where they would have been.  A market is not where you want to come to confess your sins, throw yourself on God’s mercy and experience the cleansing of grace…but it was what the Gentiles had available if they wanted a chance to worship the One True God.

            Jesus had seen the Court of the Gentiles several times over the years, but He could not abide it anymore.  He fashioned a whip, stormed the court and drove away everyone who was keeping God’s children away.  This is not a flash of anger.  This is long-term, systemic injustice-induced, righteous, slow-burning anger that was dramatic in its revelation.

            As the Church, we need to be aware of what keeps people from coming to worship their Heavenly Father.  Specifically, we need to be aware of what we do that drives people away.  I’m not talking about whether we have our church service scheduled at the same time as the big game; I am talking more about systemic issues. 

• ·         Is our church out of town so only people with cars can get there?
• ·         Do our demographics scream, “Go away” to people who are different because of their age or ethnicity or political views?
• ·         Are our buildings accessible to people with disabilities or do our facilities testify that we would rather that they not attended our church?
• ·         Are our facilities friendly to families with children or are mothers and toddlers not allowed to participate in worship because they are too noisy and distracting?

Just as our homes testify to what our families value and invest money into, our church buildings and organization testify to who we want to have sitting in the pews.    

A moment to reflect:

Look at your church with new eyes.  Does it welcome or hinder new people who want to worship?  Would it be welcoming for a new IDD family?