Misusing Religion

On Monday of Holy Week, Jesus cleansed the Temple. He drove out the sacrificial animals for sale and turned over the tables of the money changers, who exchanged Roman coins for Jewish coins. 

Jesus declared that his Father's house should be a "house of prayer," but these people had turned it into a "den of robbers." 

It looks like the Passover Feast was prime time for cashing in on the religious faithful. People were using religion for unfair personal gain. Jesus did not like that.

He still doesn't like it. We can all point to some of "those people" who take advantage of religion as a way to line their pockets. But there are other ways to misuse religion. And it's not just those people.

Some use faith as a weapon to manipulate others.

Some hide from real life and stay too busy with church activities. 

Some let their politics rule their faith.

Some pay for ministers and missionaries to do faith for them. Then they don't have to feel guilty when their own faith is empty.

There are so many ways to misuse religion. Jesus comes to rescue us from our own hypocrisy. We all need some temple cleansing.

Palm Sunday

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday on the Christian calendar. It commemorates Jesus's entry in the city of Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Every year it was a big deal, and Jews from all over the world would come for the occasion. In fact, Jesus and his family regularly came to celebrate when he was growing up.

This time the energy was building for a big celebration. The Jewish people felt like this feast helped them maintain their cultural identity, in spite of the heavy hand of the Roman occupiers. It was the perfect time for Israel to announce its independence with a new, powerful leader. Jesus seemed to be rising to the occasion. He had spent some weeks ahead of Passover, canvassing the towns of Galilee, winning popular support.

There was so much anticipation that the crowds cheered wildly for the new Messiah as he rode into town on a donkey. Some even cut palm branches, waving them in excitement or laying them out on the road ahead of the Lord. Yes, it was all about to go down.

No wonder people were so excited. 

But in true Jesus fashion, Jesus had some serious twists in store.

I'm working to trust Jesus as he allows the twists in my life. It's not easy to trust him when things catch me so off guard.

Zacchaeus

Just before Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus reaches out to a most unlikely observer. You probably have heard of Zacchaeus the tax collector. We know of him as the "wee little man." He had a lot of strikes against him. As a tax collector he was viewed as a collaborator with the enemy, Rome. Not only was he working with the enemy and selling out his own people, he was getting rich in the process. He had to look pretty selfish to his fellow Jews.

We don't know what led him to a career in tax collecting, but he may have had a struggle with rejection in his life. Perhaps he was rejected because of his stature or unfortunate family connections. Maybe he was just abrasive. If he was going to be rejected anyway, he might as well get rich. He certainly did not have any friends who would clear the way for him to see the visiting celebrity. 

So he climbed a tree to get a better look. He probably wanted to blend into the scenery. But Jesus took special notice of him. He called to Zacchaeus in front of the whole crowd and asked to be Zacchaeus's guest.

Just before the last week of Jesus's earthly life he took time to reach out to a reject. 

To Jesus, no one is a reject.

Do you see it?

In Luke 13 Jesus expresses sadness over Jerusalem because the people don't recognize prophets, and they never have. 

As he enters Jerusalem (Luke 19), Jesus openly weeps for the city. "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes."

Do you know what will bring you peace? So often we do not. We think we know, and we pursue those things, and so often end up disappointed. 

The truth is often hidden from our eyes. This is why we need our eyes to be opened. 

Where do your eyes need opening?

• a relationship
• a job
• an attitude
• a decision
• a regret
• a promise
• a challenge
• faith
• trust

Let's ask God to open our eyes. There is so much we need to see!

Why so sad?

Jesus had set his sights for Jerusalem just before his death. He declared that he would encounter opposition, be arrested, be tried and executed, and rise on the third day. Huh? His disciples could not get his meaning, especially about the dying part.

On his way to the Passover showdown in Jerusalem, Jesus expressed his sorrow for the city (Luke 13:34f). He lamented the state of the city: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 

Jesus is frustrated that the people of Jerusalem were so blind and deceived. He is sad that his people would not listen to him, and that they did not recognize him. He offered them such hope and redemption, but they rejected him. 

The religious establishment of Jerusalem had a long track record of missing the message of prophets. This day would be no different. The authorities rejected and even persecuted those who spoke truth. And even Jesus's closest disciples weren't tracking. 

No wonder Jesus was sad. Their rejection would mean pain for Jesus and hardship for his people. Nobody likes rejection, but Jesus knew that it was the only way for redemption. He walked intentionally into this hardship, so that he could take on the powers of evil in all their intensity. And he knew he would overcome for us.

Losses

Life is full of losses. You can lose your keys, your shirt, or your life savings. You can lose your health, lose a relationship, lose a loved one. Some losses can be recouped. Some are permanent.

There is no way to live without losses. We work to minimize losses, of course. There are good strategies for avoiding loss in every sphere. 

Because loss is inevitable, we do well to learn ways to cope with loss. Here are some suggestions.

• Anticipate loss. Don't be surprised when it happens.
• Have a plan in place for the event of loss. You might call it a Plan B, or contingency, but what would you do if you lost your health or your spouse or your savings?
• Decide now that you will be OK, even in loss. If you learn to trust in God now, you will be better off when you have to trust him in hardship.
• Build relationships now, so that in loss you will not be alone.
• Hold onto things lightly. When you lose your looks or your health, which is almost inevitable, you can still find meaning in life.

A Better You

Some famous football coach described his job as leading his players to do what they don't want to do, so they can achieve what they want to achieve. 

Seems like this applies to life. There are lots of things we really want to do, all the time. But you can't do what you want to do all the time. You can't drive through a red light just because you want to. You can't take items from a store without paying for them. The immediate consequences might not be pleasant, and most people consider the risks to be greater than the possible benefits.

Doing hard things can lead to good things. It's a truism that nothing worthwhile is easy. Some will hear an outstanding piano performance and say, "I'd give anything to play piano like that!" No they wouldn't. They are not giving music the attention and energy required. The pianist has surely given so much to achieve that level of proficiency: time, study, practice, money, effort. 

That's what spiritual disciplines are all about. They are are an outlay of effort toward the end of spiritual development. Some disciplines may be enjoyable for some people. The discipline of fellowship can be most enjoyable, and so can the discipline of solitude. I guess there are those who enjoy fasting and scripture memory. But whether you like them or not, spiritual disciplines are effort aimed at greater goal.

Another truism is that everybody wants to be better, but nobody wants to change.

We can change our habits so that, over time, we can become a better version of ourselves. We can do what we don't want to do, to achieve what we want to achieve.