TITLE: HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK WHEN WE COME BACK IN
SCRIPTURE: ST. JOHN 2:13-17
Our nation is now into almost a month and some places longer where the local church building has gone somewhat dark and we find ourselves as Pastors, preaching to empty pews every Sunday because of this CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. I am, however convinced this coronavirus outbreak is possibly the greatest outreach opportunity for the church worldwide.
• The coronavirus has covered the globe and, thus, brought missions to our own turf
• The church needs to respond to the current situation sensibly and centered around the gospel
Our God is not surprised by a viral outbreak. He is not disinterested in our fears. He Is Our Rock, Our Light, And Our Salvation. This might be a good time to Look Toward Our Psalter Instead Of Our News Feed For Support. As American Christians we are accustomed to Power and Security. Suddenly as the possibility for reversal becomes greater, it is how we respond in times when we feel powerless and vulnerable that may offer the opportunity for growth for us and to witness to other’s we say we long for.
• Jesus told us to let our light shine in a dark world
• And our response in a time like this may be such a time to shine
Just as Jesus was found in our text cleansing the temple and driving out all that was wrong, I believe in one mighty breath of God, He has once again began the process of cleansing the temple by closing down our Churches, our places of Worship. Just as Jesus drove out the moneychangers and overthrew the tables, after He cleaned out the Temple, they did return, and I imagine when they returned they were better. As the Lord is once again cleansing His House, my question for us this morning is – HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK WHEN WE COME BACK IN?
I don’t think this narrative found in our text is simply about Jesus getting angry. Jesus got angry - i get angry - it’s ok to get angry. That misses the point. There’s more to this narrative than that. And I don’t think it’s about the animals or the moneychangers being in the temple. Jesus surely had to have known they were there. He grew up as a faithful Jew going to the temple. He didn’t show up this day and say, “Wow! There are animals and moneychangers here. I didn’t know this. This is wrong.”
• The animals and moneychangers had always been there
• That’s how the system worked
• It was business as usual for them to be there
I think Jesus went to the temple that day for one purpose -
• To throw out and overturn business as usual
• There are times when we need the tables of our life overturned and the animals thrown out
• It’s just so easy to fall into the trap of business as usual
There are thousands of reasons and ways in which we fall into business as usual. There’s one thing, however, that I keep coming back to. FORGETFULNESS.
• Business as usual is born of forgetfulness
• We forget that we really are the temple of God’s presence
• We forget that all of creation is the residence of God
• We forget that in whatever direction we might turn, there is the face of God gazing upon us
• And as soon as we forget those things about ourselves, each other, or the world, life becomes business as usual
• And our attendance at Church each week becomes nothing more than business as usual
This text this morning takes place at the Jewish temple which was roughly fifteen stories above the KIDRON VALLEY.
• This place was huge, nearly 500 yards long and 400 yards wide
• The outer court of the Temple was nearly the size of 48 College basketball courts
The temple had become a veritable shopping mall. Pens of Sheep - Goats - Doves - and other animals for sacrifice were everywhere. moneychangers operated several of the tables. And in one sense, these merchants provided a needed service. Worshippers had come from great distances and they were expected to offer animal sacrifices and financial gifts at the Temple.
• And these pilgrims found it -- convenient
• Instead of bringing their sacrifice with them they could just purchase it from someone else for a price
What had started out as a convenience turned into a very profitable money making scheme. The priests and local politicians maintained strict control over franchises in the temple area, and they often demanded a kickback. Once merchants had a corner on the market, they felt free to do as they pleased. Moneychangers would charge high fees to exchange shekels for pagan coins and those who sold sacrificial animals would mark up their prices too. And just in case, someone got the wise idea to set up a competing market elsewhere and undercut the temple sellers, the priests had that covered too.
• Before an animal could be sacrificed it had to pass a temple inspection
• And the priests would simply reject any animal that didn’t come from their licensed merchants
++++the modern church in all its extravagance and need for relevance has done the same thing, it looks for ways to assist God and push its own agenda and views of scriptures. We will get back to that in a few more minutes.
The Gospel Writer John in our text begins by telling us the reason Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He did so because this celebration of Passover was a time when God’s power and protection of the Hebrews in Egypt was commemorated.
• He did so because God commanded the Passover celebration
• He did so because this was an opportunity to worship God
This is the first Passover Jesus would attend after his public ministry started. He would attend two more, the third being at His own crucifixion. The point Jesus makes at this, the first Passover, is His passion or zeal for pure worship. I think we can imagine the anticipation the worshipper had during these days of the Passover celebration.
• Passover was one of the pilgrimage celebrations
• This means that worshippers would make their way to Jerusalem to the Temple to make the sacrificial offering and worship God
• Along the way often the Psalms were sung also commemorating God’s deliverance during the Passover
It’s very interesting the lamb of God would come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
• Jesus did this every year
• Luke records one of the trips Jesus made with His family when He was young
• Now, it’s different
• He comes as an adult worshipper
What did Jesus find when the trek to the Temple was complete? Perhaps the same thing he would find if he visited many of our churches today.
• He didn’t find worshippers but a market setting, which included BUYING – SELLING - BARTERING - AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR
• He saw the glory of His Father’s house turned into a place where those who had set up trade within the Temple grounds cheated the poor worshippers
• He saw selling and bartering - not worship
• He saw great profit - not great praise
• Jesus’ blood began to boil
• His holy anger was stirred up
• His zeal for His Father’s worship consumed Him
The Temple was to be the place where people joined together to worship God, to pray, and where the Bible was to be read and preached. No one could hear the sermon for the bidding wars outside. Oh, lest I forget, there was the temple tax that had to be paid at Passover. Here, even though you brought money with you, your own currency wasn’t good enough. The Temple Tax had to be paid in pure tyrian coins of sound weight.
• Of course, the moneychangers also charged a fee to exchange your currency for the Temple currency
• Jesus was sick and tired of witnessing these swindlers taking advantage of the people
• He was sick and tired of the worship of God being defamed by crooks
• So, He makes a whip and goes to work
Can you imagine the commotion and the dust storm rising from the Temple courts that day.
• Lambs were running loose
• Coins were rolling all over the courtyard
• Those engaged in profiting from the poor worshippers were running for their lives
• It wasn’t and army or a gathering of the local magistrates but one man, with a passion for His Father, with a whip
My brothers and sisters I believe we are at that same point in history again. No, Jesus has not returned with a Whip to Clean out the Church. This time with a mighty breath of God, he has turned out our lights and closed the doors to the church, the place of worship.
• I wonder if the Church is going to respond accordingly
• Do we hear the voice of God in this Pandemic?
• HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK WHEN WE COME BACK IN?
Jesus literally shut the Temple down. He shut down the Temple that day, throwing everything into chaos. He occupied the Temple, had his disciples shut the gates, and as LUKE remembers, gave further “teaching.” This was no small feat — because on that day, it is believed there were between 300,000-400,000 people -- Pilgrims - Priests - Men - Women - Gentiles - Merchants - And The Like.
• Jesus occupied the Temple because the people in charge had lost the script and were perpetuating injustice
• Jesus was not only speaking truth to power, he was demonstrating it powerfully
• Confrontationally
• Directly
I believe this season we are in, God has done the same thing again. We have too many Ministers young and old picking and choosing what God intends for this church age.
• They have taken what God has established and flipped it for the purpose of Popularity and Notoriety
• They want to be different and sell themselves as the “THIS AIN’T YOUR GRANDPARENTS CHURCH”
• In an attempt to be different, they have sacrificed what matters most
• In the pulpits we want to look like the world
o In our Muscle Shirts
o In our Sports Jerseys
o Preaching with Baseball Caps on our heads
o Preaching in our Ripped up Jeans
o Preaching in Tight Jeans
o Praise Team in the Pulpit – Pastor and Preachers now in the Pews
o II CORINTHIANS 6:17 “WHEREFORE COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEPARATE, SAITH THE LORD…”
o ROMANS 12:2 “AND BE NOT CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD: BUT BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND..”
The Bible has everything we need to know, if God didn’t intend for us to follow this book to the letter, He would have left it out or placed an expiration date on it.
• God’s stance on sin has never changed
• God’s ways are still the same
• He said, “FOR I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT”
• Jesus said - I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE: NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME - that has not changed
Churches today are giving their congregations half of God’s Promises.
• Pentecost was never supposed to cease
• They tell their congregations that was for another time and people
• You don’t go to a restaurant and get a full menu only to be told you can only order from the first page because the other pages are just reminders of what people used to get
• Nor would you find a fully stocked Wal-Mart with a small designated area of items they feel you need while the rest of the store is meant to be a collection of things they once sold
• Yet this is how the Word is given to people today
• Like church is some kind of Burger King
• People today are treating God’s Word like soured milk and throwing it, because to them it has expired and served its time
Churches may --
• Change their names
• The building may be more modern
• They may change their style of worship
• Praise teams may replace the choir
• Phones and tablets may have the digital Word replacing the printed Word
• The pulpit may change
• The way we connect to people may change
• But one thing that can never change is the Anointing
• It is the only thing that can break the yokes of bondage
We may have to change the packaging, but you don’t sacrifice the formula. In the 80’s and 90’s Coke and Pepsi messed with the formula by introducing New Coke and Crystal Pepsi and both were rejected.
• You can’t replace and beat the original formula
What Jesus saw at the Temple then is what He is seeing in the church today; we have the DOVE; SYMBOLIC OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, CAGED UP AND UNABLE TO BE FREE AND MOVE FREELY. When the church cages up the Holy Spirit, we lose control. Without the Holy Spirit, people can live any way they want to and never feel conviction about their sins.
• We have large Churches today that don’t preach about Sin
• Talk about people don’t come to Church to hear that
• We peddle our Books and CD’s, DVD’s in the pulpit before we preach the Gospel -- I use the word ‘Preach’ lightly
• We sell our Clothes – Jewelry – Hats – Ties at Conventions and no interest in the Word or Learning
• We no longer have Prayer Service at our Churches
• We have Bible Study one day out of the month
• We have 15 minute Prayer Service each week
• Most Bible Studies are mini-Worship Service and not Bible Study at all
• We have Pastors with congregation of 6, 7, 8 people
• You are not a Pastor, you are the President of a Club
• Young Preachers who don’t want to learn anything and sit under a seasoned Pastor and learn, go out and start a Church on their own -- Whole lot of noise and no substance
• We have 35-40 minutes of Praise and Worship and 10 minutes of the Preached Word
In the modern day church, it seems we have a lot of tools and resources, but still suffer from power outages. Many are clouds without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING THE POWER THEREOF --
• We constantly hear about how the church needs to take advantage of all the technology of the 21st century and I agree
• We need to be on TV and the internet and use everything we can to get the Gospel’s message to this world
• But the anointing of the Holy Spirit is what makes us most effective for the kingdom
• Don’t get me wrong, I like dramas, dance teams, and Praise Teams
• I like good singing and preaching, but without the anointing of the Holy Spirit, all of that will not change one life
The church can’t set the world free until we are set free. We can’t give the world something we don’t possess ourselves. There are people who have been crippled by sin, and they need a church that believes in operating in the liberty of the Holy Spirit.
• The world isn’t looking for a church or its people that are lifeless
• Or on the opposite side – full of Entertainment
• It is looking for those that have been set afire by the Holy Spirit
• It is looking for a church where there is liberty to worship
• A church where the wind of God is blowing and the fire of God is burning
• When the Holy Spirit has liberty, we will see the gifts of the Spirit in operation on a regular basis
• HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK WHEN WE COME BACK IN?
God has overturned the tables and not only put out the Money Changers, but He has turned the lights out completely. Pastors now broadcasting on Social Media with 10 or less in the congregation, others broadcasting from their living rooms or home office, finally Preaching and Teaching the Word of God.
• No Praise Teams
• No Flag Teams
• No Stomp Teams
• No Mime Ministry
• No Praise Dancers
• No Organs and Keyboards
The focus of our Worship has been placed back on the Lord God Almighty. You ever think this happened right around the time of our Holy Week – Good Friday – Seven Last Words – Resurrection Sunday – Simultaneous Revivals? The Lord God Almighty shut it all down! HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK WHEN WE COME BACK IN? Worshipping God accurately and purely is of the utmost importance. This text meets the need we have to see how precious it is to worship God. I pray this text through the eyes of this pandemic shows us again how important true worship is. I pray also we see the need to always be refining and reforming our worship practices to be more in line with the Scriptures.
When the pure worship of God is demeaned, He does not receive the glory and honor due his name. When people add things to the worship of God, whether it be setting up bartering tables in the Temple or some man-centered culturally driven act of worship they are defaming God’s name. I pray that as we see through the Bible, the passion Jesus had for pure worship that we too would be passionate for true and pure worship as well.
--So, the first thing to remember is true worship is not what you think worship is - but what God thinks
--It’s not what you desire to do - but what God desires
--I know many Christian groups go outside of what God desires worship to be
--I’ve heard terms like “FREEDOM OF WORSHIP” and by this they mean pretty much anything goes
--I’ve heard of mislead ideas such as, WHY DO WE NEED PREACHING, LET’S JUST SING PRAISE SONGS THROUGHOUT THE SERVICE – devote 10-12 minutes to preaching the Word
--We must be careful to formulate our worship - - it must be conformed to God’s standards not men’s standards
--God with a Mighty Breath has Shut down the Church Buildings for our Reflection and Correction
--I wonder this morning, are we listening
--HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK WHEN WE COME BACK IN
