PUTTING MY
HOUSE IN ORDER
A couple of years ago, one of our
elderly members wrote a gracious note expressing her gratitude for a special
ministry program God had used in her life.
However, in the note she also mentioned how much better the recent event
was than back when “old so-and-so” was in charge! As we were sharing the note in a staff meeting, someone said, “I
can’t wait until I’m old enough to say exactly what I think too!”
Well, as we move
along in life, we begin to realize that there are some things we’d like to get
straightened out before we die. Often
we refer to those things as “putting our affairs in order” or “putting our
house in order.” It may be to update
your will, or to take that trip you’ve been postponing—or to try to reconcile a
long-lost relationship—or to finally say what has needed saying about something
that you have put up for too long.
THESIS:
Jesus came to the Temple on this last trip to Jerusalem before returning
to His heavenly home to put His house in order by confronting corruption and
restoring spiritual focus in the place of worship.
Jesus Set His House in Order by…
I.
Confronting Religious Corruption
--In the days of Christ, the religious system put in place
and controlled by the chief priests was corrupt beyond imagination, with little
concern for what it meant to worship a holy God, and no concern about the needs
and burdens of the people.
--As He entered the Temple that day, Jesus took action to confront the corruption and re-establish an understanding of the
purposes of God that had been buried under the deep mound of ungodly
practices heaped upon Israel by their leaders.
--Two types of offerings were required in order to fulfill
the obligations of this annual worship ritual.
1. Sacrifices—The Law required that a worthy sacrifice be offered, one
approved by the priests.
2. Temple
Offerings—The Law also
required that a half-shekel contribution be paid by every Israelite over twenty
years of age.
Ex. 30:14-15
“Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old
and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD. 15 “The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall
not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the LORD
to make atonement for yourselves.
--The catch seized upon by the shrewd merchants and
moneychangers with both of these requirements was that the priests controlled
the administration of these laws and could be bribed to allow them to profit
from the Law.
Sacrifices brought by an individual could be ruled unacceptable in the
judgment of the priest in charge and forced to purchase one from an “approved”
temple-franchised livestock salesman—at whatever price they demanded since no
other alternatives were available (often charging ten times more than normal).
Temple
Offerings had to be made with
the “shekel of the sanctuary” (Exodus 30:13) so moneychangers had a lock on the
rates they could charge to change money from foreign currencies into
temple-approved half shekels.
--These practices exposed several aspects of the corruption
that had come to dominate the religious experiences of God’s people and had
worked against God’s purpose of calling out a people to be true worshipers.
A. Greed: Collusion between
Priests and Merchants
--When it was discovered that a partnership was possible
between business and religion that would allow both parties to profit, hearts
of greed took over.
--As we have seen, the relaxing a ethical and moral
restraints normally associated with godliness on the part of the religious
leaders and the willingness to share the profits on the part of the business
leaders produced a climate of corruption that fed the greediness of both.
When the church backs down in the face of
questionable business practices by its chief contributors so as not to offend
them, when it is willing to look the other way when major donors live in sin,
when it allows profit to be a determining factor in offering ministry services,
it sells its soul to corruption and holds a viper—greed—to its throat.
Does this mean that we are corrupt if we provide
resources for ministry, sell books and tapes and charge for conferences and
concerts? Not at all—but if we choose not to offer such ministry resources
because they are not profitable enough,
and we enjoy no personal gain, then we give in to greed!
From the business side, if we find ourselves holding
back in our giving because we cannot get tax breaks or an inside track on
having a say in how things are run in the church, then we give in to greed!
B. Heartlessness: Conspiracy
of Domination and Exploitation
--Neither the priests or the merchants had much concern for
the impact their practices had on the poor—they gouged them just as heartlessly
as everyone else.
The Robin Hood stories owe their popularity to this
very theme—the sheriff of Nottingham being the equivalent of the chief priests
and merchants robbing the poor through excessive taxes and exploiting their
position over them to dominate them without conscience. The hero restores things, puts the house
back in order so to speak, by championing the cause of the poor—unfortunately
by doing wrong himself in committing robbery as well!
For as many radical, activist groups as there are
out there crying out against oppressive practices in overseas companies, sweat
shops and the like, what concerns do we have for patronizing proven offenders?
Unless something changes soon, we may choose not to
advertise in the yellow pages next year because the company refuses to sell
space to the Pregnancy Life Care Center with its message of counsel for
post-abortion syndrome. They do not
want to stir up any opposition from pro-abortion activists and they know from
track record that Christians seldom do anything but talk. Can we stand up against that kind of thing,
or do we have to “play nice” so we can remain in business with those who are
willing parties to the exploitation of others—in that case the victims of
abortion practices.
C. Manipulation: Control of
Access and Acceptance
--In a sinister way, the merchants and the priests knew they
could manipulate the people to do what they wanted because they controlled the
access to their worship—they were the gatekeepers and decided who could worship
and who could not.
--By controlling access to the temple, by determining whose
offerings and sacrifices could be acceptable, they could demand just about
anything they wanted from those who simply wanted to worship the Lord according
to His Word!
What Jesus did in the temple that day, Martin Luther did on October 31, 1517 when he issued his infamous
95 Theses from his role as priest of the church and professor theology in
Wittenberg, Germany to protest the sale of pardons, preying upon and
manipulating the insecurities of those who did not understand the free gift of
eternal life through the grace of Jesus Christ:
“50. Christians are
to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he
would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be
built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
51.
Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his
duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers
of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be
sold.
53.
They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be
altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in
others.
54.
Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer
time is spent on pardons than on this Word.”
--Whenever we manipulate someone to get them to do what we
want, often appealing to their sense of guilt instead of simply directing them
to the truth, we become guilty ourselves.
--Whether it is an attempt to exact a larger contribution to
the building fund, or to recruit a worker for the nursery, or to motivate
someone to share the faith—if we play on their fears or offer them unwarranted
promises, we become manipulators rather than ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
D. Spiritual Deadness:
Contempt for God’s Holiness and Glory
--The primary issue facing Israel and their religious system
is that it had worked out a way to leave God out of religion, to ignore Him
while using His name to pad their pockets and pursue positions of power.
--In all the references in the gospels to the religious
leaders of Israel, there appears to be little interest in what God wants—or for
that matter in who God is, forsaking the God of holiness and glory while
devoting their energies to running a successful religious enterprise.
--While their business was plowing along quite profitably,
their desire for God had been shut down and buried for dead.
To set His house in order, Jesus now comes to Jerusalem to
confront this institutional religious corruption.
No one appears to have challenged Jesus as He drove out the buyers and
sellers, overturned the tables and created chaos among the Temple crowds that
day. His authority had been called into
question the first time He did this, His first Passover after the beginning of
His public ministry:
The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do you show us as your authority
for doing these things?” (John 2:18)
Whether it was His powerful presence or the fear of the large crowds
cheering Him on (everyone hated the moneychangers as much as the
tax-collectors), Jesus took control that day.
What we need to understand is why…To set His Father’s house back in
order! …by confronting religious corruption…and
then restoring
spiritual focus!
II. RESTORING
SPIRITUAL FOCUS
--Setting the house in order means more than just cleaning
out the corruption—it involves putting things in their proper place and order.
--When Jesus shook everyone up with His dramatic actions
that day in the Temple’s Courtyard of the Gentiles, He served notice that the
Lord God would not tolerate either corruption or a lack of spiritual focus.
--In our remaining time, I want to address four specific ways Jesus went about
restoring a spiritual focus for those who seek to come into His presence, those
who say with King David, “I was glad when
they said to me ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1)
--These will also serve as a model for restoring our focus
when we drift away and lose our sense of God’s calling, presence and power in
our lives.
A. EXPOSING
THE POISON OF RELIGIOUS PRIDE
--If you love the Lord and care about His people, you find
great joy in what He is doing, even if you were not the one who was directly
involved.
--Not so with the chief priests and the scribes—“they saw
the wonderful things…they became indignant.”
--Poisoned by their self-righteousness and the poison of
religious pride, they could not tolerate God doing anything that was not
filtered through them.
Leon Morris wrote, “They had no criticism of the unholy traders who
defiled the holy place, but they objected to the praises of children.”
Matthew 21:15
But when the chief priests and the scribes saw
the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were crying out in
the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the
Son of David,” they became indignant,
--Then to make matters worse for them, Jesus responds by
saying something that for them was extremely insulting and inflammatory because
it struck a blow at their proud hearts:
Matthew 21:16 …And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have
you never read, ‘Out of the mouth
of infants and nursing babes Thou hast prepared praise for Thyself’?”
--Although they had no intention of letting their learning
interfere with their corrupt hearts and godless religion, they prided
themselves on having read and understood everything in the Word of God…how
insulting to be asked such a question by the untrained upstart they believed
Jesus to be.
How much more could God do in hearts if we were not
so full of pride? By picking and
choosing which portions of the Scriptures we want to believe and practice, we
act as if we alone have the right to determine where God will be allowed to
work in our lives. When we ignore all
that He says about caring for the poor and needy, when we neglect His command
to go and tell others about Him, when we indulge our desires (in our purchases,
our leisure, our sexuality, our choices of food and drink) without considering
or weighing our decisions in the light of His word—we act foolishly, arrogantly
and proudly as those who practically defy God to speak of such things to us!
There is poison in religious pride
because we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are right—not even realizing
that to do so makes it necessary for God to be wrong!
B. Embrace a
Purpose FOR WORSHIPFUL PrayING
--The second way Jesus sets His house in order is to restore
our spiritual focus on prayer.
Matthew 21:13 “…It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making
it a robbers’ den.”
--God has set up the place and purpose of worship for His
people to be a “house of prayer,” a design that often gets lost with all the
external trappings of our rituals and routines.
--In essence, Jesus reminds everyone that nothing of eternal
significance happens at a house of worship that is not rooted in and
undergirded by prayer.
--Beautiful songs and eloquent sermons mean nothing if we
have not lift them up to the Lord in prayer and listened for His voice to speak
through prayer when we gather in His place designated for worship.
--Jesus quotes Isaiah’s words about the intent of His Father
regarding effective gatherings for worship:
Is. 56:6-7 “Also
the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, and to love
the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning
the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain,
and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house
of prayer for all the peoples.”
--Sacrifices, songs, service, sermons—all have no value if
our worship neglects the prominent place God has reserved for prayer!
--To restore our spiritual focus, we must embrace His
purpose for us in worshipful praying.
C. Establish
a Place of GENUINE Healing
Matthew 21:14
And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
--Once Jesus had confronted the corruption in the Temple, He
turned His attention to a ministry of compassion and caring as He healed the
blind and the lame.
--Sometimes the source of our disability is not as obvious
as blindness and lameness, but just as painful and debilitating.
--When people come together for worship, Jesus shows us that
we cannot ignore the needy and the hurting who so not necessarily arrive with
their wounds showing but who need healing nonetheless.
--Often Jesus physically touched the individual He healed
and the power of God showed up…but He also healed on many occasions by the
sheer power of His Words—He spoke and they were healed!
--There is a healing power in the Word of God and when we
come together to worship, we can always expect that someone in someway will be
healed because of what God does with His spoken Word.
--Therefore, as the people of God gather for worship, Jesus
wants to restore our hope, restore our expectations, and revitalize our faith
in His ability to speak and bring healing to wounded lives.
D. Encourage
a Priority for SPONTANEOUS Praise
--Just as the crowds had cried out “Hosanna” for His
entrance into the city, now the children cry out the same thing as an
expression of spontaneous praise for Jesus Christ.
--As we noted last week, not all the cries of the multitude
were motivated by a pure desire to give unconditional praise to a praiseworthy
Savior.
--But here in the voices of the children, God ordains praise
for His name through the praise here offered.
Matthew 21:16
and said to Him, “Do You hear what these
are saying?” And Jesus said to them,
“Yes; have you never read, ‘Out
of the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast prepared praise for
Thyself’?”
--True worship and a true spiritual focus in life never
deviates far from the practice of spontaneous and joyful praise and adoration.
Which of these four areas would be the starting point if Jesus were to begin restoring His spiritual focus in your life?
Putting His
house in order must begin in each one of us as we invite Him to confront our
corruption and restore our spiritual focus.
We want to become the kind of worshipers the Father is seeking. That can only happen when we give Jesus free
rein to turn over every table, drive out every offender, heal every wound and
welcome every word of praise from our lips as authentic.
Why does Jesus
take such a drastic course of action in the Temple? The issue is not the sale of merchandise on the premises, but the
corrupt hearts and spiritual deadness that made such things an offense. People needed animals to sacrifice and coins
to give—but not to be gouged in the process by thieves masquerading as agents
of God!
Our
spiritual re-focus begins with hearts devoted to speaking and listening to God—to
prayer and to becoming a house of prayer among a people of prayer. When we do that, our mouths and hearts will
produce praise worthy of Christ and we ourselves will become His own “house of
prayer” built of living stones for His eternal glory!
Providence Baptist Church
© David Horner 2004
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