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A Holy Disruption: Clearing Out Drift · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey, y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to another episode
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  on the pod. Before I go right into reading
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  the scripture that we're going to be in today, I do want to say
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  that there are some passages in scripture that feel maybe more
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  gentle and straightforward. This is one that kind of feels
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  like a mic drop and you're like, OK, what just happened?
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  And I believe it can serve as a holy interruption.
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  This is one of those. And Matthew chapter 21, verses
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  12 through 17 is where we're going to be today.
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  It is about Jesus clearing the temple.
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  And it shows that Jesus is so intentional about worship.
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  He is not passive. He's not indifferent to it.
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  He steps into this temple, as you'll see, and confronts
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  anything that is distorting its purpose.
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  So the longer that I sat with this passage, because it did
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  take me some extra time to really understand it more fully,
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  it's very deep, the more I realized that it's not just
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  about what happened in the physical building.
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  It's about what can quietly happen within us and in our
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  hearts if drift goes unchecked. So with that being said, we're
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  going to dive right in to verse 12.
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  Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were
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  buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the
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  money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
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  It is written, He said to them, My house will be called a House
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  of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.
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  The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed
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  them. But when the chief priests and
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  the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did, and the
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  children shouting in the temple courts hosanna to the Son of
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  David, they were indignant. Do you hear what these children
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  are saying? They asked him.
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  Yes, replied Jesus, have you never read from the lips of
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  children and infants? You, Lord, have called forth
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  your praise. And he left them and went out of
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  the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
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  OK, per Yuge, I'm going to give you all the context and
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  background. This is the second time, as
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  we've seen the title, that Jesus is clearing out the temple.
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  And yet again, He is fulfilling prophecy upon prophecy with such
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  accuracy and precision. These are words spoken long
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  before through Isaiah and Jeremiah and many Psalms.
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  And here they are unfolding exactly as promised.
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  So here's what's happening. I'm going to lay it out for
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  y'all try to paint the picture. We have merchants.
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  They are completely taking over the temple courts and these
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  courts can be referred to as the court of the Gentiles AKA non
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  Jews. And this is the only place that
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  they could come worship. It was being crowded out by all
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  of the buying and selling that was happening.
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  We also have sacrificial animals that these merchants have jacked
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  up the prices on and are just completely being not honest.
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  They are not selling with integrity.
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  And we even see that the temple currency that was accepted was
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  currency that the travelers, these gentiles coming from all
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  over, they were unfamiliar with these exchange rates.
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  So they were probably being very exploited.
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  What was meant to help people worship God?
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  This temple, it had become a system that was driven by
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  convenience, profit, money and self-interest.
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  And Jesus names it plainly that worship had been distracted,
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  this sacred space, it was being misused.
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  Now, I don't think that this originally began as rebellion.
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  I think it began as a drift. There were small compromises,
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  practical decisions, and subtle shifts that turned this temple
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  into what it was not meant to be.
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  Because over time, people lost sight of why they were coming
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  and who they were coming for. Worship quietly shifted from God
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  to self. And that, I believe, is the
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  warning for us. So I'm going to take it from two
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  different approaches. We see the temple here as a
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  place, as a building. So for us, the temple is the
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  church building. I also believe that there's a
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  time and place for structure and planning.
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  I'm a very structured person, so it's easier for me to see it
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  from this point of view. But Jesus reminds us that
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  gathering as believers must remain centered on prayer and
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  reverence, humility. So I want to go into a few
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  distractions today that might interfere with us entering our
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  church building. Maybe packed schedules.
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  We might be traveling, and we could be exhausted from that
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  competing priorities and commitments.
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  Maybe even attending church simply to feel good about
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  ourselves, reassured or productive.
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  And if we're not careful, these can slowly crowd out genuine
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  worship. Now, I know sometimes we cannot
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  control our travel schedules and prior commitments, things like
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  that. But it's really important to be
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  aware of these distractions. And so now from the other angle,
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  we know from Scripture that as believers we are the temple of
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  the Holy Spirit where he resides.
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  So that means that this passage is not only about the physical
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  building, it's now about our hearts and some distractions for
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  that aspect, they might look different.
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  We might have justified idols ambition that is disguised as
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  calling, spiritual apathy, self-centered motivation and
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  ultimately y'all. This is a call to wake up.
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  Like I said earlier, it is a holy interruption.
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  We cannot just go through the motions, we cannot just worship
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  out of habit. We have to pay attention to what
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  is shaping our desires. And from a personal perspective,
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  I've had seasons where I've filled my calendar with a lot,
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  where I was the yes man and on paper it was every quote UN
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  quote good Christian thing. But I had to come to terms with
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  my schedule and I was worshiping the busyness and the
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  productivity instead of the Lord's presence.
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  So good things, they can still become misplaced things if we're
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  not super careful. So now I want to bring y'all to
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  a Psalm, Psalm 1611. This is one that y'all may have
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  heard before. It says in your presence there's
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  fullness of joy. So I want to ask y'all, as I'm
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  reflecting on them myself, a few questions.
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  Number one, is there anything watering that joy down, the joy
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  that's found in the Lord's presence?
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  Is there anything stealing your surrender?
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  Is there anything competing for affection that's meant for God?
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  Because the bottom line is if it interferes with intimacy with
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  Jesus, it must be addressed. So another thing that I want to
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  harp on is the church is for everyone.
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  Y'all, after Jesus clears the temple, look who comes in next.
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  We see the blind and the lame and all of the children.
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  We see in Mark 2 verse 17, Jesus says He did not come for the
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  healthy, He came for the sick. So that means that the church is
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  for the outcast. It's for the overlooked and the
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  weary. And we need to remember with
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  humility, y'all, we were once that too.
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  Every single one of us who is now a believer was lost and now
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  we're found. But we were all in need of
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  grace. So there is no room for pride or
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  feeling superior to the person beside us, or acting better than
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  we are not here to protect our holiness like it's some private
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  club and other people cannot enter it.
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  We're here to recruit people into the Kingdom of heaven.
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  That's why we exist. So that means asking God for
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  eyes to notice. Maybe you have a lonely Co
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  worker who you can love on, or a struggling friend who's really
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  going through a hard season who you can pray over and send
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  encouragement to. Or possibly the person that no
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  one else sees. Sometimes it just takes 5
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  minutes to remind someone that they are known, that they're
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  valued and deeply loved by their Creator and Father in heaven.
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  And I believe God can do more than more with your obedience
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  than we even realize. So as we consider these things,
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  just reflect on these questions. I'm going to read over you all
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  before I move into prayer. Where might I be drifting from
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  God centered worship? Is there anything Jesus needs to
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  remove from the temple of my heart?
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  Who is God inviting me to notice and love today and this week?
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  So, Father God, we're here before you and we just ask that
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  you would keep us from drifting. Would you protect and guard our
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  hearts from idols that compete with you and for your attention?
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  Mold and shape our worship so that it flows from a place of
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  gratitude? Not routine, not habits.
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  Would you keep our motives pure in our hearts, humble and rooted
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  in You? Jesus, teach us to live as
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  people who would reflect Your holiness and who extend Your
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  grace unto others. Lord, we want lives that
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  directly point to You. It's not about us, it's all
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  about you. God, we pray this all in your
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  name. Amen.
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  OK, well hope that y'all can learn something from this
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  episode today and praying that y'all have a great rest of your
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  day and week. I'll see y'all in the next one.