When Religion Exploits
- davidwperk
- Dec 5, 2023
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, December 5, 2023
The week of the first Sunday of Advent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:
12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a den of robbers.’ 14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 937)
AM Psalm 5, 6; PM Psalm 10, 11
Amos 3:1-11; 2 Pet. 1:12-21; Matt. 21:12-22
Today we celebrate the Feast of Clement of Alexandria. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple gets romanticized and misread. Some take this as an impulsive, angry action and see some sort of emotional outburst involved. But, I would take this as a deliberate, prophetic action with spiritual and political messages. The outer court area, a region nonJews could enter, also was the site of animal sales for use in the worship of the Temple. In addition, foreign currencies were exchanged there for a fee so that pilgrims could pay the Temple tax in local coinage, free of the image of the Roman ruler.
Jesus regarded these practices as exploitive of the people. He cited from Isaiah 56 and from Jeremiah's condemnation of abuses of Temple worship in Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah's "Temple Sermon." The lines from Isaiah and Jeremiah are in verse 13, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers." The Court of the Gentiles was a huge area, impossible for one man to empty by himself; Jesus probably cleared a portion of that area as a symbolic action.
Blind and lame people were not allowed into the inner areas of the Temple. Jesus' curing them would accent his concern about the corruption of the Temple expressed in the cleansing.
Our practices of worship and liturgy must be consonant with the nature of the God being worshipped. NonJews were being treated with contempt by the misuse of the only area of the Temple where they had access.. And, worshippers were being exploited by unjust practices.
Temptations to exploitation do lurk and can twist our motivations in sneaky ways. Are we inviting people to worship with us because we care about their well being or because we want more bodies? Are we challenging people to give themselves and their time and money in ways that benefit and stimulate their growth or are we being self serving because we need staff, buildings, and programs? Is our intent to witness and serve or is it to grow the congregation? Can we trust God to add to our numbers while witnessing, worshipping and serving with dis-interest in the well being of the institution?
Do we show contempt or insensitivity toward some in our worship? What about those who do not understand the liturgy? What about the hearing impaired and the illiterate? Worship must be continually on guard to identify barriers that prevent or hinder anyone from freely approaching God.
If Jesus rejected the Temple cult in the spirit of the prophets, how does he respond to evangelism and service for the good of the institution rather than for the good of those outside it? How does he respond to worship that feels impenetrable to outsiders? How does he respond to our targeting young adults and children to keep the church going into the next generation? We could reframe institutional decline as a judgment of our having followed the example of the Temple leaders rather than the unabashed hospitality and care for others Jesus embodies.
Would that Jesus can say to us, "You are making my house a house of prayer for all people.” May it never be said of us, "You have made this place of worship a place of exploitation."
Collect of the Day, First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 211)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Clement of Alexandria, teacher and apologist (died ca 211-215 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Clement of Alexandria
O God of unsearchable wisdom, you gave your servant Clement grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, the source of all truth: Grant to your church the same grace to discern your Word wherever truth is found; through Jesus Christ our unfailing light, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Peace
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
Of the Reign of Christ
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together
under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 254)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Gospel, Matthew 21:12-22
12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a den of robbers.’ 14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they became angry 16and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself”?’ 17He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
18 In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. 20When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ 21Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” it will be done. 22Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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