Take these things away!

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

“And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." (John 2:15-17)

When Jesus came to the temple to set it on the right path, He did not add something to it. There was no added thing to do, form of worship, new way of reading the scripture or new devotional group that He brought to the church to revive it and kindle devotion. Rather, the first thing He did when he came was to remove the things that were barriers to true worship.

Rather than add to the church, He began to strip away what did not belong. What He took was what got in the way of genuine worship. He quoted Isaiah 56:7, “For My house will be called a house of prayer...” in another reference of this same verse from Mathew 21:12-14.

Prayer here is the same word that is used when Jesus prayed in the garden before He went to the cross. It is also used in Ephesians 6:18, “Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God’s consecrated people).”

Another example of this word from the Old Testament is Daniel 9:3, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.”

When He referred to His temple as “a house of prayer,” He was probably not speaking of changing the form or program but rather a diligent and earnest seeking of God.

It sounds more like what Samuel referred to in 1 Samuel 7:3, “If you really want to totally devote yourselves and return to the Eternal One, then get rid of all the foreign gods and goddesses you have gathered. Devote yourselves to the Eternal, serve Him and Him alone, and He will save you from the oppression of the Philistines.

Another scripture that comes to my heart is 2 Chronicles 7:14-15, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.”

Too often, when I think about pressing in spiritually, I look at what I can add rather than strip away that could be a barrier to my or the people around me ability to meet God. I add a bible study, devotional or something that I think is going to grow my faith and build deeper my relationship with God. There is always so much out there that it is hard to decide what to add.

Perhaps rather than fill all my spaces with more spiritual things to do, I should be asking what would God want to stop doing to make more space for Him? What clutter and false gods need to be stripped away?

Brings to my heart a worship song, “I'm coming back to the heart of worship and it's all about You, all about You Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it when it's all about You, all about You Jesus.”

During the time of Samuel, the people thought they needed something more... a king like all the other nations. When they saw that Samuel's sons were not following God and would not rule over them, they came to him and asked him to appoint a king.

Samuel tried to explain to them what a king would do in adding burdens to them, they would not listen. He then eventually did appoint and present a king, but confronted the people that not seeing that God was the one King they needed was sin.

In 1 Samuel 12:24 Samuel told the people as they realized their sin, “Make this your one purpose: to revere Him and serve Him faithfully with complete devotion because He has done great things for you. But if you continue in your evil ways against Him, you and your king will be swept off the face of the earth.”

Another thing I notice is that Jesus did not complete the quote of Isaiah 56:7, “...for all the peoples.” I have heard it taught once that the Rabbi would leave off part of the scripture for emphasis on that part of it. Kind of like using questions that causes one to think or parables. Since the Israelites knew the scriptures well, they would have been able to fill in this part.

The barriers that had been put up to worship were keeping out the poor and those who needed God the most. These were the ones that were left on the outside not being able to afford to buy a sheep because the one they brought was judged to be defective by the priest. It was basically those who were rich and powerful who could buy their offerings from the money changers who were getting in.

When God stripped away these barriers, it brought genuine revival and worship to the temple – to the benefit of the poor and needy. Matthew 21:14 says, “And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.…”

What are the barriers that keep the poor and needy out of the church today?

Recently I found myself weeping and I couldn't stop because I was so grieved about how some can not find a place in the church.   When I used to volunteer at a suicide crisis hotline, I would often encourage people with mental illness to get into a church so they had healing, love, and community support.    From my own experience, I was healed from depression in a church so I longed for this freedom for others who suffer the same way.

However, as some would tell me, they didn't fit in a church.   On occasion a few even kicked out or banned from church because they were a disruption in some way.   This so grieves my heart that people who need God the most just can't belong to a loving church community because they can't fit in.  

It may have on a chord with me as when I was young and in foster care, I struggled with not feeling like I was fitting in to the homes I went to.  I pretended I just didn't care but really, I just didn't know how to do it.    They expected me to fit into their behavior norms of their home but no one explained to me how this looked or how to get there.  Coming from a different background, I thought mine was "normal" in every home and couldn't just understand it.   

I remember how painful this was for me as I went from home to home.  I felt more and more shame and pain and I would cover it up with more addiction and self harming behaviors which then would get me kicked out.

It is hard because it is painful for people when someone doesn't fit into the norms and goes against the grain.  They are a disruption to others.    At the same time, it is painful, humiliating and full of shame when one just can't fit in.   I couldn't stop weeping over this brokenness in all of us. 

Lord, forgive me where I may have cluttered my life with more Christian stuff and really needed to let you strip things away. Please open our eyes to see the barriers to our own walk and especially the barriers to the blind and lame coming to You to receive healing.