For quite a while Jesus had created quite a stir in Israel and the Israelites were hoping for a new beginning, an over-throw of Roman occupation, a time of revolution, and Jesus suspected that he was riding to face his execution.
Where did Jesus first go, once he was in Jerusalem, but to the Temple. And wow! Was he angry! Clearing out the money changers, knocking down tables selling animals being purchased to use for sacrifices before Passover started. In John 2 he even dared to grab a whip and lash it around. “In the Scriptures God said, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it a hideout for thieves!” Matthew 21
The Temple had been defiled by opportunity and greed, and in Jesus’ eyes all that heretical and self-serving “business” had to go! Right then, and it mostly did, as the merchants fled the Temple.
Where is the Temple of God now? Where might the Divine want to receive our devotion? In some brick and mortar place? Most of us certainly think so, when we consider the money we pour into our places of worship… the building funds, the renovations, and the protections we give the buildings to protect their beauty or value… using locked doors to bar just anybody from entering at any time for shelter, sanctuary, and refuge. Do we really believe that it is in these places WE created that God wants our worship? Yes, we do.
But what if we had a temple that was created by the Divine, wouldn’t that be more appropriate? Like maybe, considering the world… that was the creation of God? A beautiful House of Prayer.
No brick and mortar place, but the whole world? And in the WWJD movement, what would Jesus do if he came to see how we have polluted the earth for opportunity and greed? Maybe grab a whip again?
On this Palm Sunday, may we who claim to be Christians start reversing “the norm” of using our planet as a resource of convenience, or for a nation’s interests, or as an avenue for our own selfishness or gluttony… but instead make the world a place of worship… of adoration… of praise.
Let’s clean it up… together. Let’s protect it… together. Let’s create with the Creator a House of Prayer for all of us worldwide… together.
-Kathleen
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