A House of Prayer

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”Matthew 21:12-13

In the life of every parish and every religious institution, there are times when folks get very anxious about money, usually with good reason. The past few years have been very hard on many churches and cut backs and limited program seems to be the norm in many places. Others talk about doing more with less and others have become the experts at fund raising. None of those things are troublesome in themselves. The problem comes when the money and income (or lack thereof) becomes the primary focus. People and their real spiritual needs are lost. How many places have wonderful buildings left by previous generations of financially shrew investors to have no community of faith and support in their midst? God wants us to be good stewards of our resources, yet we often forget our primary resources is our relationship with God.

Jesus entered the temple during the normal bazaar hours which were a daily thing. He realized that people were buying and selling sacrifices, rather than concentrating on their love of God and care of their neighbor. It is very easy to get distracted from the commandments of God.

Today, I want to live my life remembering why this church is here and who it is to serve. I pray that my life and my service might be a relationship and not a transaction. May today I trust God for the needs of this community and use my gifts and skills for the care of the people.