Scripture
12Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Matthew 21:12-13
Observation
The ministry of Jesus is bookended by the cleansing of the Temple. The Gospel of John tells us that immediately after His first miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana Jesus turned the tables over in the Temple. The religious leaders had turned the Father’s House into a fortune house by charging exorbitant prices for sacrificial animals. Many people would walk away guilty because they couldn’t afford to be made clean before a Holy God. Jesus got in the faces of those running the market place and said, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” (John 2:16). He started and ended His earthy ministry with a restoration of purpose for the place of worship. This return to the heart of The Father required some upheaval, some turning over of traditional practices, some misinterpretation of Jesus’ actions, some hurt feelings, some anger toward’s what felt like an unwarranted response. Jesus assumed authority over the Temple in the same way my sons would assume authority over our house if a thief was trying to steal, defame, or pervert what belonged to me. Look what happens when the Father's House is restored to its original purpose of being a house of prayer and healing: 14The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. 15The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.” From the youngest to the oldest, the generations are united in Jesus. Spontaneous worship is ignited and can’t be stopped by the religious spirit. See how there is no ceremony or ritual is required? All the religious hoops people were jumping through were removed and now they were jumping for joy! When Jesus is in the house everyone has immediate access to the miraculous presence of God. This spiritual spring cleaning preceded the new singing and healing! Jesus was taking back His house then and right now He is doing it again… in our houses.
Application
Spring cleaning takes on a whole new meaning for a world locked down in quarantine. This is the typical time of year that we take a look at our garages, basements, closets, and attics and begin to declutter. This year, as we are all at home, we have all had to come face to face with our accumulation of worthless things. We need more room for family and at-home offices and so the old stuff has to go to make room for the new. God is giving us a crash course in decluttering our souls as well. In order for God to move in a new way in our homes we have to good rid of the old habits we’ve accumulated over the years. God is doing some spring cleaning and if we don’t respond in this season we won’t be ready for the next one. As we address our coping mechanisms, as we clean out the skeletons in our closets, as we scrub clean through repentance the places of repetitive sin we begin to see God bringing our homes back to their original purpose. Every house is called to be a house of prayer and healing. Jesus wants The Fathers House in every house. He is inviting each of us to bring our living rooms into His throne room through replacing the sinful habits with holy habits. As a family, we have been journaling together in our Life Journals every morning instead of just turning on the TV. As a family, we have been cleaning out our closets both physically and spiritually and finding ourselves with more space to spend time with God and with each other. We are learning to stop saving valuables and to start speaking value. We are learning to stop just reading the Bible and instead are letting the Bible read us. We have all been forced to stop going to church so we can be reminded we are The Church! God is restoring the priesthood of the saints so that our spiritual growth isn’t dependent upon a person or a place but on The Person of Christ and our place in Him! The “Queen of Clean”, the “Tidy Titan” of the world is wrapped in the cute little package of a Japanese woman named Marie Kondo. She invented the method of removing clutter from the house through a systematic approach called Kon Mari and has a three-month waiting list of clients needing help to unclutter their lives. She says to her clients, “But when we really delve into the reasons for why we can’t let something go, there are only two: an attachment to the past or a fear for the future.” Jesus puts it this way, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” (Mt. 10:39). The only thing I truly control is how quickly I'll surrender my cares to the one God who cares and is truly in control. What do I need to let go of so I can go with God?
Prayer
Lord, You are doing some spring cleaning in our homes, but it really starts in my heart. In the middle of this massive change of location and occupation, You have revealed some insecurities and fears I didn’t know were there. You are also inviting me to revisit Your original purpose for Your Church. You’ve called us to be a house of prayer. You’ve called us to remove every barrier keeping people from finding healing and wholeness in Jesus. You’ve called the generations to be united in worship and Word. I’ve never been more uncomfortable and I’ve never been more excited at what the fruit of this season is going to bear in the next one. If we, as Your Church, as Your people, will truly repent, truly lay it all down again, we will be reminded that this was never our house- This is The Fathers House. We will begin to walk in the authority we have abdicated for too long to busyness, religious tradition, people-pleasing, and pride. I repent for my attachment to the past and my fear of the future and I choose to cling to nothing but You! What a clean and free place to be!
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