On Monday
of this week many people read Matthew 21:12-13 which shares the story of Jesus running the
money changers out of the temple. Jesus, having entered Jerusalem on Sunday,
went to the temple and found people profiteering off of others desire to
worship. They were holding God’s house of worship hostage with their practices…so
Jesus kicked them out. This is one of Jesus’ more memorable prophetic acts.
We read it as
a family on Monday and after just a short explanation our kids decided that it
wasn’t fair. Now, you should understand that being PKs (preacher’s kids) our
kids are not always found of church. Church services in Tanzania are long and
in the US they often have to sit through more than one service on a Sunday
morning before getting drug to a lunch meeting. But the idea that a people were
getting extorted just to be able to worship God was a raw deal, even to them.
Jesus, in
kicking out the money changers, was removing the economic barrier to worship.
For your
reflection:
Are there
any economic barriers to worshipping in your church? Do people have to be
wearing a certain fashion to truly be accepted? Do people have to have a
certain income to feel comfortable? Is there a minimum amount of offering that
gets you a visit from the pastor? Is there a minimum amount of offering in
order to get a blessing from the pastor’s prayer?
Prayer:
Jesus, may we be as forceful as you were in the temple to remove any barriers
to your people worshipping you. Help us to recognize when we, or our church,
are contributing to keeping people away from you and be zealous to open up your
way to others.
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