Devotion - Tuesday, February 19

It is really easy to read stories of Jesus' displeasure with the religious practices of his day and think, "How could they have been so naive?"  Or, "Why would they have thought that was what God wanted them to spend their time doing?"

Today's reading is from John 2.  It is the story of Jesus driving the money changers out of the Temple.  We hear of those there to sell pigeons or convert Roman coins to Jewish currency and we find it easy to understand why Jesus drove them out.

Rather than give us reason to be self-congratulatory, such stories could challenge us to ask how pleased Jesus would be with our use of God's house. 

I do not mean to cast doubt on the sincerity of the prayers offered at 113 Sloan Street.  But the story in John 2 encourages us to ask whether those prayers align themselves with the humble petitions of the tax collector; rather than come off sounding like the words of the self-righteous Pharisee.

The prayers we offer on Sunday morning are part of a whole week of interaction with God.  The prayers we lift before God are to be consistent with the actions we do on Monday, the way we speak of our neighbors on Tuesday, and so forth.  When we gather, in God's house, a proper use of that gathering space is to reflect together on what God has given us and the use we are making of those gifts.

A proper use of God's house surely means using that place to be honest with ourselves, honest about our actions, honest about how eager we are to serve others, honest as to what we consider most important.  We don't come there to be inoculated against an eternity in Hell, so much as we come to be coached on how to live as Jesus lived.

Read John 2:13-22 for yourself.  Consider the use you see being made of God's house.  What, if anything, do you think needs to be driven out?  And in the empty space which results, what would you put in place?