"Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of thieves.'" Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them" (Matthew 21:12-14).
What do you expect to find when you walk into church? I like to hear joyful music coming from the organ or from a congregation singing together. I like to hear warm testimonies of how Jesus has touched your life or answered your prayers. I like to kneel in the quiet of the sanctuary and open my heart to Him. But most of all, I like to hear God speak to me through His holy Word.
Church is a place where I meet with God and see for myself what He's like. When I enter the sanctuary, it's like entering the gates of heaven. I sense God's presence here more than any other place. And sometimes I say with Jacob, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" (Genesis 28:17) I really believe that's the way God wants it to be. He's established His church to be a model of what it will be like when we enter the Holy City and spend eternity together.
On that day, "One pulse of harmony and gladness [will beat] through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness through the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love" (The Great Controversy, pg. 678).
I can't wait for that day! But even now, as we worship in God's house, we can catch the words of praise and thanksgiving coming from the angels around God's throne. And as we join with them, our voices mingling together as one grand choir, we'll be drawn closer to heaven. For heaven's communion begins here.
That's why Jesus was so incensed by the chaos He saw in the temple. He'd come there to worship and commune with the Father. But how could anyone talk to God or hear the still voice of His Spirit when there was so much noise going on? All Christ could hear were angry voices mingled with the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, and the clinking of coins as men bought and sold in the sacred house of God. Is it any wonder that Jesus cried out, "My house," He said, "shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves"?
Jesus saw how man's greed had robbed His Father of His glory. The priests of the temple stood in God's place. They were His representatives to the congregation! These men claimed to be spokesmen for the Lord and guardians of the holy faith. But they showed no sympathy for the poor or the sick who came to the temple. "Some were brought on beds. Many came who were too poor to purchase the humblest offering for the Lord, too poor to even buy food to satisfy their own hunger" (Desire of Ages, pg. 156). But their hopelessness awoke no sympathy in the hearts of the priests. They were blind to the very needs of God's people.
But Jesus saw it clearly when He entered the courtyard. He saw how they'd perverted the worship of God and concealed His Father's love. "Spiritual worship was fast disappearing. No link bound the priests and rulers to their God. Christ's work was to establish an altogether different worship" (ibid, pg. 157). So He "drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves" (Matthew 21:12).
God's temple was built for the presence of God. He said, "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I might dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). He gave His people an object lesson of what He wanted His church to be. It wasn't about a building. It was about a people. From the very beginning, God created us to be His temple, where He might live in us and we might live in Him. But sin disrupted God's plan and we became the noisy courtyard in Jerusalem--filled with selfishness, greed and unholy thoughts. Before we can ever be what God intended, we first must be cleansed of all unrighteousness.
This is what church is for. It's to open our hearts to Jesus and allow Him to come in. As we listen to His Word week after week, His Spirit will tap us on the shoulder, asking, "Are you ready to live with Me? May I make you clean and white?" God has so much He wants to give us! And the greatest gift is Himself! But until we open the door, there's nothing He can do. We must be cleansed before we can be filled.
After Jesus cleansed the temple, a beautiful thing happened inside the courtyard. When the priests and the money-changers fled in panic, the poor stayed behind. They stayed with Jesus. They had nothing to be afraid of! They saw such love and sympathy in Christ's face that they couldn't leave! Who would want to?
"With tears in His eyes, [Jesus] said to the trembling ones around Him: Fear not; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. For this cause came I into the world. The people pressed into Christ’s presence with urgent, pitiful appeals: Master, bless me. His ear heard every cry. With pity, exceeding that of a tender mother, He bent over the suffering little ones. All received attention. Everyone was healed of whatever disease he had. The dumb opened their lips in praise; the blind beheld the face of their Restorer. The hearts of the sufferers were made glad" (ibid, pg. 163, italic supplied).
This one paragraph says it all for me. This is exactly what church is about! It's a healing place, a sanctuary for the poor and the needy, where we can all be touched by Jesus with love and sympathy. In God's Healing Place, everyone has experienced God's mercy and love. So the "church" is alive with His praise because Jesus has healed them of "whatever disease they had."
This is what church is about. It's a Healing Place where those who fall can find cleansing and where those who suffer can find healing. God has called us into His church to be His healing hands.
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| The Body of the Wounded Healer |
You and I may be poor. You may be broken. You may be struggling in a hand-to-hand combat with sin. You can be hurt but we will be here. We are all here together in God's healing place to find relief from the Wounded Healer.
Church is a place to hold hands together, to lift someone up, and to come to Jesus. It's a place to praise Him for all He's done and everything that He's about to do. It's a home where you can be safe and secure in the love of a Christian family and in the love of God.
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