On this past Sunday evening, Pastor Sam preached at Butler Memorial United Methodist Church. His sermon focused on a part of the 'triumphal entry' story that is frequently left out: verses 45 and 46 of Luke 19.
And He went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, "It is written, 'My house is the house of prayer': but ye have made it a den of thieves."
The temple of God had been polluted by those who sought financial gain from the act of worship. And our Lord Jesus stepped in to clean house.
Specifically, a portion of the temple court that was intended for prayer had instead become a marketplace for the purchase of "acceptable" sacrifices and the exchange of currency. Gentiles who came to this court to seek the face of God were met with the bleating of sheep and the noises of buying and selling.
Jesus's rebuke, "You have made this house of prayer into a den of thieves", still echoes in the halls of some churches today. In this twenty-first century we are faced with the reality of church used as a cover for creative marketing. We face the reality of prayer marketed as a way to force God to give us what we want. Worship becomes an opportunity to sell CDs and videos. In this maze of fraudulence and gimmickry, the true worshipper is sabotaged and shortchanged. Based on Jesus's reaction, I think we can safely say that God has a problem with that. It's called thievery: stealing property, stealing money, and stealing the opportunity for authentic worship.
If you are part of the den of thieves, I ask you to repent and reform. It's a dangerous thing to be found standing against the plan of God. To paraphrase Pastor Sam's sermon points, our Lord still weeps... and our Lord still whips.
Friends, don't be so foolish as to break God's heart. After God cries, He will judge.
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