Day 6- Welcome to the Father's House!

The business of religion.  Making money off religion.  That's what I think of when I read this account in Matthew 21:12-17 where Jesus drives out the money changers and those selling doves for sacrifice in the temple.  Some resourceful people had discovered a way to make money from the Jewish pilgrims visiting Jerusalem and the temple for Passover.  They would need the right currency, so they provided it- for a fee.  They would need animals to sacrifice so those were also for sale. I get the feeling it was a carnival like atmosphere with all this buying and selling taking place.

So Jesus said, "Enough!"  In his righteous anger Jesus was calling the people back to God and back to the purpose of the temple, worshiping God.  Things had gotten so far out of whack that Jesus had to do something drastic to make people see the error of their ways.

I find it especially interesting that it is the children in the lesson that get worship right.  They are the ones that continue to cry out, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"  They didn't care what others thought, they just lifted their voices in praise.  They fulfilled the words of Psalm 8:2, "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise."

I consistently hear more comments about the children's message than any other part of our service.  I think that's because the kids are so open and innocent.  They say what they think, often in quite profound ways.  As a leader of worship, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking about what is coming next, rather than staying in the moment and focusing on God.  I, too, have a lot to learn from the children.  I need to come with child-like faith, anticipating how God will speak to me during worship.  I need to ask God to take away the many distractions that interfere with worship.  I need to worry less about performing worship, and concentrate more on actually worshiping.  The words of the contemporary song "Heart of Worship" come to mind in this lesson.  "I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it ,When it's all about You , It's all about You Jesus."   May it be so.