A House of Prayer – Matthew 21:12-17

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Lectionary Readings for October 4, 2020
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20   The 10 Commandments
Psalm 19 v1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
Philippians 3:4b-14     v8 … everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Matthew 21:33-46      The Parable of the Evil Farmers

But this week we’re going to focus on Matthew 21:12-17, “Jesus Clears the Temple.”

Peace Quotes

“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”   ~ Abraham Lincoln
As we pursue peace, we must be led not by our own passionate desires, but rather by God through our exploration of our own faith. The key to that exploration brings us to our second quote.

“Prayer is where the action is.”   ~ John Wesley
The best way to pray is from the heart – wherever your heart may be: up or down, quiet or loud, for yourself or others, or from need or thanks. Neither style nor subject matters. Prayer is what makes our connection relational with God and with others. And is what opens our minds, hearts, and souls to God’s leading.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me.           God loves me.            God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Today verses quickly paint a mental image of Jesus out of control, a man unleashing His pent-up anger on unsuspecting folks just trying to make a living. Someone in our Bible Study said it sounded like Jesus pitched a royal temper tantrum (Dennis R.). That’s the image countless painters have conveyed over the centuries, and it’s the image most people have ingrained in their heads.

But I don’t think that’s accurate – or helpful. Why? Because Jesus never tried to hurt or intimidate anyone. That was not His style nor the style of leadership He taught His disciples. I don’t doubt that Jesus flipped tables and disrupted the business transactions that He found so offensive because they were antithetical to Kingdom of God principles. But I cannot fathom Jesus intentionally hurting (whipping) people in the process.

Keep in mind that today’s story occurs around the annual Passover celebration in Jerusalem – a time when historians tell us there would have been roughly 400,000 Jews descending on Jerusalem so that they could worship at the great and newly restored temple. Try to imagine the infrastructure needed to house and feed 400,000 people.

In a land operating under the tight oversight of Roman occupation, there was a tense peace in the city, a peace kept by laying low and doing what everyone expected you to do. Blending in was your best option. Keep that in mind.

To better understand today’s scene, we need to realize that Jesus flipping tables is the second part of a rapid-fire three-part sequence that occurs in Matthew 21:1-17.

The first part happened in the verses immediately before today’s reading – Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, and in doing so, made an incredibly political statement about social justice. Jesus’ entrance contrasted the humble servant-leadership of God’s Kingdom versus the abusive leadership of Roman rule. We normally read that text on Palm Sunday, a week before Easter.

The second part is the first half of today’s story (verses 12-13) – Jesus “cleansing” the temple, and turning the place into chaos in the process. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all agree that this public outburst undeniably placed Jesus on a direct path to crucifixion. Today was Jesus’ point of no return.

The third part is the second half of today’s reading (verses 14-17) – Jesus healing the blind and lame while children yelled, “Please save us Son of David!”

Our Tuesday evening Bible Study group had a field day with this text. They had so many great insights that I couldn’t keep up trying to take notes. Here are a few highlights before we get into today’s text.

  • Jesus models strong, faith-based leadership.

  • Jesus breaks down barriers to make it clear that everyone has full access to God.

  • Jesus shows us that God’s community of faith (i.e. the Kingdom of God) should be based on healing people of their physical and social burdens, NOT a system that enriches the elite at the expense of the poor and helpless.

  • Jesus shows us that prayers (communication) are more important to our relationship with God than ritual sacrifice.

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts to today’s reading.

Read Matthew 21:12-17.

Today’s story is like a great piece of lasagna – many layers of meaning, each filled with morsels to savor individually while the sauce of God’s loving presence ties it all together. As I’ve been digesting this text, two morsels keep jumping out at me – verses 13 and 14.

13 Jesus said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’ (Isaiah 56:7); but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Jeremiah 7:11)

The more I thought about that verse – and the two quotes from Isaiah and Jeremiah – the more I had to laugh. Over the centuries, denominational churches have made running a church incredibly complicated: we have sprawling bureaucracies, countless policies and procedures, as well as periodic surveys asking members something to the effect of “What do you like? What should we do to make you happy and keep you coming back?” These structures, policies, and questions are certainly well-intentioned, but can get us terribly off course.

I laugh because Jesus shoves centuries worth of good intentions and hard work to the side and clarifies the most essential essence of what church is and what distinguishes us from other civic social groups.

First and foremost, our gatherings (like today) should be based on and focused on prayer. Prayer can take so many forms: written, spoken, sung, drawn, painted, danced, walked, meditated, etc. All of those forms of expression can be excellent ways of expressing our faith with God and each other.

Yes, Jesus gave us one prayer as a sample, but He never said, “this is the ONLY way or even the BEST way to pray,” although The Lord’s Prayer obviously gives us a wonderful model for both content and intention.

So there’s the first challenge to me and to us today. How can we make Susanville UMC, first and foremost, a house of prayer? Do we already pray? Of course we do! Are our prayers good enough? Of course they are! ANY sincere prayer is a GREAT prayer! Let me repeat that. ANY sincere prayer – regardless of style or content – is a GREAT prayer!

But prayer is a muscle we need to stretch and grow. We all know “prayer warriors,” people you turn to when life gets really tough. I sincerely believe that God calls and equips ALL of us to be “prayer warriors,” each in our own way – some of us louder than others; we need all types. Heads up, in the coming year, I’ll be pushing ALL the members of our next Church Council to grow their prayer muscles so that they, in turn, can lead the rest of us by example. With all of us growing our prayer muscles, I anxiously anticipate the spiritual mountains we’ll be able to move!

Jesus also quotes Jeremiah 7:11 as a criticism about how the temple of his day (and quite frankly, many churches of our day) are run – as a den of thieves. I’m happy to say that I believe our church handles all our financial transactions with the highest degrees of integrity and transparency. Which means Jesus and Jeremiah offer us a more abstract challenge: What might we, today, be robbing people of?

  • In what ways are we denying people the opportunity to participate in church events? Do we need to expand our invitational efforts?

  • In what ways are we denying people the opportunity to serve others?

  • In what ways are we robbing people of the opportunity to give their time, talents, & treasures?

  • In what ways are we robbing people of the opportunity to preach the words God has given them for our own benefit? Several of our congregational members are called and gifted to preach, and I look forward to hearing them do so in the coming months!

Finally, verse 14 lingers with me.
14 The blind and the lame came to Jesus in the temple, and he cured them.

In Jesus’ day, the blind and lame were rejected by society, even more so by Jewish leaders who saw their handicaps as God’s punishment for what must have been their terribly sinful pasts. As rejects, the blind and lame had to literally beg for people’s mercy and generosity just to survive.

  • Who in our community is blind and lame? Who is rejected?

  • Who is begging for mercy and generosity? Who needs healing?

  • Who needs help reintegrating into society?

  • How can we – each of us – be an avenue for God’s healing touch?

  • Might we have to work to find them, and are we willing to do that work?

Connecting these verses, if we focus on prayer, if we build our individual and collective prayer muscles, I am convinced that God will use our greater strengths to accomplish great works of healing in us and through us.

Let Susanville UMC be called a house of prayer! Let the blind and lame come to us! And let God’s mighty Spirit flow through us as we seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community!
Amen? Amen!