WHEN JESUS TURNED THE TABLES
SCRIPTURE
For we are the temple of the living God.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16b
When I was six or seven years old, my father pastored a small church. There was no money for janitorial services. On Saturday nights our family cleaned the church. While I didn't always enjoy it, there was something special about getting the building ready for Sunday. It was a feeling I've never forgotten. One of the lessons I learned was that it was always worth getting ready for God to do his work.
What did Jesus see when he walked into the temple and turned over the tables of the money changers? Did he see entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on religious needs? Did he see selfish greed masked as ministry? Something was wrong, and Jesus was having none of it. Jesus called for his Father's place of worship to stop peddling religion and make every square inch a place where people and God could connect easily, intimately, and with transformation.
Today we must remember that we are God's temple. We are the living stones that God wants to use to raise a people who share God's light in our dark world. Sometimes we need a few tables turned over in our hearts. We know we carry too much unnecessarily. We crowd out the work Jesus wants to do in our temple hearts.
The temple-cleansing story is not only about the people who misuse God's house. The story also reminds us that Jesus wants to clean our hearts from unnecessary work and worries that will not grow or produce God's fruit. We must welcome his work to edit our thoughts, perspectives, and priorities. How would Jesus respond if we let him?
I don't think Jesus left the temple angry that day. I believe he left broken-hearted. Did anyone understand his message? Did anyone change? Probably not the money changers, who likely took their broken tables home to repair them for another day. Let's not be like them--more upset about how Jesus messes with our plans than we are about realizing we have failed to learn and do what he wants. Let's determine to accept any table-turning that Jesus asks us to do.
BURNING QUESTIONS
1. What table does Jesus want to overturn in your heart to get more of your attention?
2. How can you be a worshiper who makes God's house a house of prayer?
AFFIRMATION
I am God's temple, and Jesus has my permission to clean it.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Freeing Lord, my heart is an over-crowded closet. Help me reduce the clutter.
SCRIPTURE
For we are the temple of the living God.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16b
When I was six or seven years old, my father pastored a small church. There was no money for janitorial services. On Saturday nights our family cleaned the church. While I didn't always enjoy it, there was something special about getting the building ready for Sunday. It was a feeling I've never forgotten. One of the lessons I learned was that it was always worth getting ready for God to do his work.
What did Jesus see when he walked into the temple and turned over the tables of the money changers? Did he see entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on religious needs? Did he see selfish greed masked as ministry? Something was wrong, and Jesus was having none of it. Jesus called for his Father's place of worship to stop peddling religion and make every square inch a place where people and God could connect easily, intimately, and with transformation.
Today we must remember that we are God's temple. We are the living stones that God wants to use to raise a people who share God's light in our dark world. Sometimes we need a few tables turned over in our hearts. We know we carry too much unnecessarily. We crowd out the work Jesus wants to do in our temple hearts.
The temple-cleansing story is not only about the people who misuse God's house. The story also reminds us that Jesus wants to clean our hearts from unnecessary work and worries that will not grow or produce God's fruit. We must welcome his work to edit our thoughts, perspectives, and priorities. How would Jesus respond if we let him?
I don't think Jesus left the temple angry that day. I believe he left broken-hearted. Did anyone understand his message? Did anyone change? Probably not the money changers, who likely took their broken tables home to repair them for another day. Let's not be like them--more upset about how Jesus messes with our plans than we are about realizing we have failed to learn and do what he wants. Let's determine to accept any table-turning that Jesus asks us to do.
BURNING QUESTIONS
1. What table does Jesus want to overturn in your heart to get more of your attention?
2. How can you be a worshiper who makes God's house a house of prayer?
AFFIRMATION
I am God's temple, and Jesus has my permission to clean it.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Freeing Lord, my heart is an over-crowded closet. Help me reduce the clutter.
Posted in Lent