Daily Bread 2010 - Luke 19
Daily Bread 2010 – Luke 19
Jesus at the Temple
45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46"It is written," he said to them," 'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers"
47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
As I was reflecting on the passages in Luke 19, I was thinking this passage would be the least likely I would like to comment on. I felt like I really couldn’t relate because I would never think of making God’s house a place of “buying and selling”. I felt pretty judgmental of those who would do it.
But the more I thought about it, I wonder if there are subtle ways we turn God’s house into a “consumeristic enterprise”. As a pastor, of course I am hoping that people “get a lot out of the service”. Sometimes pastor’s fall into the trap of making church a show, so that people will come back if it was good enough. I wonder if this is a subtle sellout.
Or, sometimes we might focus on many other things in the service except for prayer. Maybe the best question we might ask someone coming out of worship would be, “Did you meet with God in a meaningful way today.” That could result from a time of silence, or someone sharing what God is doing in their life, or a beautiful song or sermon.
I guess we might conclude that any time worship becomes more about us and what we get out of it, than truly worshipping God for who He is, we might be in danger of what was happening in the temple in Luke 19. I hope you have a “house of prayer” that you can go to each week. I pray that as I lead my church it might be also called a “house of prayer”.
God we thank you for the freedom to worship in our country. As we worship, may we not fall into the trap of making worship all about entertainment, or something else that is more geared to us than you. Send Your Holy Spirit into our houses of worship so that they may be places of transformation, as we encounter a living God through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Jesus at the Temple
45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46"It is written," he said to them," 'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers"
47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
As I was reflecting on the passages in Luke 19, I was thinking this passage would be the least likely I would like to comment on. I felt like I really couldn’t relate because I would never think of making God’s house a place of “buying and selling”. I felt pretty judgmental of those who would do it.
But the more I thought about it, I wonder if there are subtle ways we turn God’s house into a “consumeristic enterprise”. As a pastor, of course I am hoping that people “get a lot out of the service”. Sometimes pastor’s fall into the trap of making church a show, so that people will come back if it was good enough. I wonder if this is a subtle sellout.
Or, sometimes we might focus on many other things in the service except for prayer. Maybe the best question we might ask someone coming out of worship would be, “Did you meet with God in a meaningful way today.” That could result from a time of silence, or someone sharing what God is doing in their life, or a beautiful song or sermon.
I guess we might conclude that any time worship becomes more about us and what we get out of it, than truly worshipping God for who He is, we might be in danger of what was happening in the temple in Luke 19. I hope you have a “house of prayer” that you can go to each week. I pray that as I lead my church it might be also called a “house of prayer”.
God we thank you for the freedom to worship in our country. As we worship, may we not fall into the trap of making worship all about entertainment, or something else that is more geared to us than you. Send Your Holy Spirit into our houses of worship so that they may be places of transformation, as we encounter a living God through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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