Den of Thieves...the Wayfarer 1/12/13

Den of Thieves
1/12/13

“And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED OF ALL NATIONS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER? But ye have made it a DEN OF THIEVES”

(Mark 11:17)

Today we look to Mark chapter 11 for our message, as has become my habit of late, I will backtrack to the beginning before getting to the title verse, let’s start at verse one and move forward form there:

“And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye loosing the colt?

 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees and strewed them in the way,

 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple:  and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.”

(Mark 11:1-11)

Here, we find Jesus preparing to enter, and entering Jerusalem for the final time before his crucifixion and resurrection.

This occurs on what we have come to accept as Palm Sunday, so named because of the tree branches that were strewn in the path to make it smoother for Jesus.

 It is significant that the colt chosen for Jesus to ride had never before been ridden, as it was a fulfillment of the law that an animal used for a sacred purpose must not be put to common use.

 The crowd that went before and followed were shouting words from Psalm 118: 25 &26 showing that they recognized Jesus as Lord. This is in fulfillment of prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9, and was not understood at that time by the rabbis.  It is a triumphal entry that Jesus makes into the center of religion and government of the time

.

How appropriate that the common people understood the importance of this arrival, though the priests and lawyers did not!

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of them that sold doves;

And would not suffer any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED OF ALL NATIONS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER? but ye have made it a DEN OF THIEVES.”

(Mark 11:12-17)

Jesus cursed the fig tree as an object lesson to his disciples; they will remember this later, as he clarifies it for them.

 He then goes to the temple, and in the only act of violent behavior recorded to have been done by him, removes those who were defiling the temple with their sales, usury, and greed.

 He also refused to allow those using the temple as a short cut to continue to do so! He quotes from the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah where the prophets had foretold of these very things!

 How would he feel about today’s churches that often are little more than a place of entertainment?

I recently attended a large church in a city not far from here. I could not help but be impressed by the beauty of the building, its location on a street in town with a large paved parking area. The Stained glass windows were a sight to behold.

 I was greeted at the door with a program for the morning’s service, and the people were all very friendly toward the visitor, and asked me to fill out a visitor’s card. This card included information about whether the visitor could be of benefit to the church.

 In addition to the visitor’s card, there were offering envelopes located in the pews that held new hymnals for the congregation which, as it turned out was large by the standards of this poor country preacher.

The program included a prayer list, the message to be delivered that day, when the offerings (plural) would be collected, and items of interest for the congregants concerning the plans for the upcoming Christmas season.

 There was no room in the service for open prayer requests from the congregation.

Emphasis was placed on the decorations, to include an addition of statuary placed on the windowsill of angels. Lighting was also prominent.  Quite a bit of time was spent in reminding those gathered that the tree was to be lighted that night.

The sound system included wireless mikes and there was a screen for the slide show behind the pulpit.

All in all it seemed to be a most singularly wealthy place of worship.

What I did not find was an opening prayer prior to the “Show”. I did not find any mention of the homeless that pervade that city, of which one in three is a veteran who gave everything to provide them with the opportunity to worship there.

 I did not find the dedication to the first works spoken of by Jesus in Revelation.

Despite the splendor, the expensive dress of the congregants, and the program followed to the letter, I did not find the Holy Spirit among the gathered “worshipers”.   The brightest spot of the service was a singular little girl who performed on a flute like instrument, after telling those gathered that she thought that the gifts to be exchanged should be given instead to the orphans.

My thoughts drifted to a ministry that I wholly support that is in need of bibles, food for orphans and widows in a far off country that barely tolerates Christianity.

I could not help but think of how much rice could be provided to feed the hungry in his congregation, just by cutting back the use of electricity for the lighting and decorations. I could not help but wonder how many bibles could be provided for a people with none by simply cutting the cost of printing the programs, and the slide show screen.

I thought of  what was then my own little church, located on a narrow back country road full of potholes partially paved and partially graveled, and the meagerness compared to the affluence of this house of worship, nor could I help but compare the paid staff of this larger church with the unpaid assistance received only from time to time of my own congregants.

There, there was no slide show. Prayer was the opening for all services. The few hymns sung were accompanied only by the poor attempts of this preacher to provide a background for the songs offered in worship on an often poorly played guitar with my arthritic wrists and fingers. There was no waiting for applause, none expected and none wanted, because it was offered not for entertainment, but for worship

.

Every dime that went into our offering basket, placed at the rear of the church, was used for the expenses of running the church (heat and lights and the necessary repairs to keep the building intact),  used for the ministry, not the minister.

We were much harder to find, and had no intent of entertaining. We offered only worship and fellowship. I found myself most content with the placement given me by my Lord, despite the accoutrements of wealthier churches. I was, and will always be content to follow the demand of Great commission, knowing that any wages were paid long ago by Jesus himself.

I FIND NOTHING IN THE SCRIPTURES THAT INDICATES WE SHOULD IGNORE THE NEEDS OF OUR BRETHERN FOR OUR OWN ENTERTAINMENT.

As the temple was to be the house of prayer for all nations, so should the churches be sacred to believers.

 Sales, special events have their places in life, that place should not be in the sacred confines of God’s house which is intended for prayer and worship!

 Even some preachers get into the entertainment business, instead of the Jesus “business”.

One young man, in bragging about how great a preacher his grandfather was, told of him walking the benches. This is a feat accomplished by balancing ones’ self on the back of two pews and walking from front to back and back to front, impressive, but distracting from the purpose of preaching which is to preach the gospel and teach the teachings of Christ Jesus. There was no thought given by him to the importance of the souls to be reached, nor of those that had failed to be reached because of priority never placed on the eternity faced by those souls.

 A preacher’s job is to preach, not entertain!

 Jesus didn’t tell us to go into all nations entertaining, he told us to TEACH, and to baptize believers.

 If we stray from this we are no longer fit to be called his disciples, which is what all Christians are supposed to be.

If the word is to be heard, it must be preached, and should be done so with the same serious demeanor and with the same concern for those preached to that Jesus himself had, and with the joy of being able to share the love shown by Christ's sacrifice for all men. 

Jesus preached with love for all that he preached to even when warning them of their failings! This is because the immortal soul is far more important than the needs of this physical body, in all its various guises.

“And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his doctrine.

And when even was come, he went out of the city.

And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree thou cursedst is withered away.

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

(Mark 11:18-26)

Because Jesus demanded the purification of the temple, the scribes and priests wanted to kill him, after all they had allowed the sellers and usurers to be there in the first place. They were getting paid tithes after all!

Their concept of righteousness only extended as to the perceptions of those around them, and how much gain they could receive from them, not what they could provide the destitute and poor.

The fig tree had died and withered overnight!  This was something that struck Peter as miraculous. Jesus tells him to have faith in God.

 He goes on to tell him that anything asked by them in his name and truly believed would come to pass. This is a lesson we need to remember.  

When we rely on God, not man, we may expect more positive answers to our prayers.

Prayer is powerless without the faith that God hears, and it is only through faith will He supply what we are praying for

.

 If we pray without faith, then that prayer is merely wasted words.

 This is all the more reason to pray that what we pray is God’s will and not ours.

We must pray believing that the prayer is effectual!!

 Jesus finishes up this object lesson with the admonition that before we pray, we need to forgive. He again stresses that our forgiveness by the Father is contingent on our forgiving others first!

The 27^th through the 33d verses describe the attempts of the religious leaders to entrap Jesus by questioning his authority, and Jesus’ response to them.

 Jesus could not be trapped by their wiles, and continued teaching.

 This questioning of authority continues even today.

The ultimate authority is that of God Himself, so before questioning the authority of one attempting to preach the true word of God, perhaps we should ask ourselves why we are questioning it.

 The authority given to do so is the very scriptures used to do so.

 If it is of the scriptures, it is to be trusted, if not, then not.

I conclude here with the sincere prayer that all who hear the word of God accept Christ Jesus as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sin, and accept him as Savior and Intercessor to the Father for them.

I pray that HIS message be heard and heeded by all.

 I salute you once more with the love of God given this poor sinner saved by grace in the name of our Savior Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen
the Wayfarer