Jeremiah 7:1-11
Matthew 21:12-22
“Instead of Playing it Safe”
By: Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN eastridgeumc.org
Do you notice any similarities between what Jeremiah had to say about the Temple and what was going on there, and what Jesus had to say some 600 or so years later?
It’s pretty similar, is it not?
For in both cases, the Temple was not being used for the reasons God had intended.
Also, Jeremiah’s speech at the “gate of the Lord’s house,” was a dangerous and courageous one.
Jeremiah would later be arrested for making this speech.
And it wasn’t long after Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers that He too was arrested!!!
So, what was going on to cause both Jeremiah and then Jesus to risk it all?
It must have been some pretty serious stuff!
Jeremiah’s sermon is an open and scathing attack on the idea that God can be… ‘paid off’ … in a sense by any sort of Temple worship or ritual sacrifice…
…and thus, that the Temple can be some safe place to “hide out” until the coast is clear.
As you have probably noticed, both Jeremiah and Jesus use the phrase “a den of robbers.”
And back in those days a “robbers den” was usually a cave to hide out in.
Kind of like a “Crack House” or a “Meth. House” of today.
Notice what Jeremiah accuses the Temple worshippers of doing: “oppressing the alien, the fatherless or the widow, shedding innocent blood, worshipping other gods, stealing, murder, adultery…”
My goodness, they are breaking 5 of the Ten Commandments right there!
“and then,” says God through Jeremiah to the people, “[you] come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say ‘We are safe—safe to do all these detestable things?
Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”
You see, the people weren’t necessarily performing these misdeeds inside the Temple; it’s more likely that they would go outside the Temple walls to kill, steal, and destroy…
…and then go to the Temple as if the mere fact of their presence there would cancel out any recompense for their behavior.
“Well, that isn’t going to work,” says the Lord.
They must “reform their ways and…actions.”
They must be transformed from within!
This outward, hypocritical religious mumbo jumbo isn’t going to cut it.
And that is the same sort of thing Jesus is getting at in Matthew Chapter 21.
Jesus’ brother James tells us in James Chapter 1, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
For he says, “What good is it…if a [person] claims to have faith but has no deeds?
Can such a faith save [that person]?”
Jeremiah, Jesus and James are all on the same page!
Again, the “den of robbers” refers not to the place where the thieves do the plundering but to the hideout to which they take their booty and where they feel safe.
So Jesus’ indictment is not so much about dishonest business practices in the Temple as it is charging the people with using the Temple as a robber’s hideout!
The Temple is to be a “house of prayer,” and thus of transformation and worship rather than some place where people go so that they can “seem” or “feel” religious.
Is the Church ever used this way today?
Does our behavior “outside” of these four walls match our behavior “within”?
Do we take the way we are serving one another inside the building—outside as well?
Is our faith transforming us, or are we trying to transform our faith—and thus trying to make it fit our needs…
…using it as a security blanket…
…or a magic rabbit’s foot?
Do we turn to God only when it is convenient for us, or do we worship God in everything we do?
How real is our faith?
I would imagine that many of us struggle with questions such as these.
I’ll tell you though I have been pretty impressed as to how this Church steps up to the plate when you are invited to put your faith into action.
A good example of this is this past week’s housing of the homeless.
The Interfaith Homeless Network is a fantastic organization, helping folks get back on their feet…
…women and children, that is…
…sort of like widows and orphans…
…very much like that.
Sadly, there are not enough churches involved in this ministry to operate more than one or two IHN programs at a time.
And IHN only houses about 2 families at a time—when there are hundreds and thousands in need.
When Jesus pronounces that the Temple Worshippers and the Religious Leaders are making His “house” a “den of robbers,” the word for robber can also mean “a revolutionary.”
In other words, they were wanting to take the “kingdom of heaven by force.”
This is what Jesus was referring to back in Matthew Chapter 11:12 when He said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”
The revolutionaries were “the violent ones.”
They expected and wanted the Messiah to bring in God’s reign with terrible and bloody violence against Israel’s enemies.
But this is not even close to what Jesus is about!
It’s pretty awesome to see that Jesus did with the Temple’s traditions what He did with the money-changer’s tables: He turned them upside down!!!
The Temple, in Jesus’ day was an extremely exclusive place…
…kind of like an expensive country club.
The blind and the lame were not welcome there.
Children were not allowed.
Women could only play a very marginal role.
And yet the Temple was the only place where God and humanity were able to meet and connect.
So, we can’t help but get the point in Matthew 21:14, where the “insiders” who see the Temple as a safe refuge instead of a house of prayer are replaced by the “blind and the lame” who come to Jesus “at the temple” and are healed by Jesus there!!!
For a brief amount of time, Jesus stopped the corrupt system, and thus the Temple’s reason for existence was called into question.
This is also the reason for Jesus’ otherwise strange reaction to the fig tree.
He came looking for fruit, but when He found none He solemnly declared that the tree would “never bear fruit again.”
And that’s exactly what Jesus is doing with the Temple!!!
Very soon, Jesus would take His place as the Sacrificial Lamb and as the Temple itself!!!
Thus, the Temple becomes obsolete!!!
Because Jesus builds a Church—a community—not a building—in which the reality of God’s Presence is made known through people.
And we see just a glimpse of what is to come with the children shouting in the Temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David”!!!!
The religious rulers are absolutely infuriated and they ask Jesus, Who seems to be delighted with the whole scene, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
To which Jesus replies, “Yes, have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”
And that is who we are!!!
We are children and infants of the KING!!!
Could there be anything better?
We are to praise Jesus with our lips and with our actions!
We are to be conduits through which God’s Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven, but we are not to do this by any dishonest means.
We are not to do any arm-twisting.
We are called instead, to love people into the Kingdom.
We are to be a community that welcomes those who have been neglected and excluded…
…the homeless, the lost, the widows, the orphans, the children, the lonely, the hungry and it goes on and on and on!!!
This is the work of Jesus Christ, and this is the work of His Church.
If we are not involved in these sorts of things, then are we really the Church at all?
It is often a temptation for the Church to turn into something like an exclusive country club or a clique.
And when this happens, the Church tends to become so much like the unforgiving and unwelcoming world that it is hard to tell the difference.
Recently, I was speaking with a colleague who told me that East Ridge has a fast growing homeless community.
He told me this is partially because the “tent cities” are being bulldozed in downtown Chattanooga.
We also have many homeless families and children living in the hotels and motels just down the street from this church.
Some of us on the Servant Evangelism Team have been brainstorming and praying about what God would have East Ridge United Methodist Church do about this problem.
The idea of having a weekly free Wednesday evening meal, along with Bible study and activities for children has been knocked around.
Others of us would like to see us have a weekly free Saturday morning breakfast for the community, allowing folks to use our shower facilities and washer and dryer machines.
What ideas and possible ministries is God weighing on your heart?
How can we better be Christ in this community?
Jesus condemns the old Temple as a “den of thieves,” and yet by His Presence it becomes a place where the blind see again and the lame recover their full strength!!!
The Temple, had become a closed system, a means for people to fulfill their own needs without a thought of others--then Jesus showed up.
And just as Jesus’ Presence changed everything in the Temple…
…Jesus’ Presence in the hearts and lives of people changes everything as well!!!
Instead of “playing it safe” may we be open to God’s breaking down of any and all barriers which might get in the way of this Organism, this Body, this Church being a house of prayer for all people.
We are privileged; we’ve been placed in this particular community at this particular time for a reason!!!
May we be used for the purposes God intends for us.
In Jesus’ name and for His sake.
Amen.
