August 28 - Lesson: Matthew 21.12-17

Sermon Title: Cleaning House

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INTRODUCTION:

Language (1)

A friend of mine was having a bit of marital-tension in his household and was trying to figure-out just what to do about it.

In the course of our conversation, I happened to mention to him that: "You know, quite often God speaks to us through our wives."

My friend looked at me kind-a funny and said, "Wow! I didn't know God used that kind of language!"

Perfect Spouse (2)

A young lady visited a computer dating service and requested, "I'm looking for a spouse. Can you please help me to find a suitable one?"

The matchmaker said, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Well, let me see. Needs to be good looking, polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good at singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour if I don't go out. Be able to tell me interesting stories when I need a companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest."

The matchmaker entered the information into the computer and, in a matter of moments, handed the results to the woman.

The results read, "Buy a television."

  1. This makes about as much sense as the commercial that I see for Lysol Sanitizing Wipes.

    1. A woman takes a quarter of a chicken and begins to wipe down the kitchen counter and the refrigerator.

    2. If you don't use Lysol Sanitizing Wipes, it is not clean and germ-free.

    3. We have become obsessed with germs and cleanliness.

  2. Jesus is also concerned with cleanliness.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. This is the second time that he has sought to help people understand the nature and purpose of the temple.

    1. The first time he stood with a whip of cords.

      1. He did not need to use it.

      2. His dignity and authority were clearly seen and understood.

    2. There are some who were there the first time.

      1. They do not hesitate to get out of the temple court.

      2. When they flee, others flee with them.

    3. These are the sellers of animals, cereal, salt, doves, and everything that was necessary for the offering of sacrifices.

      1. The money changers were also there to change the coin of the realm into the coin of the temple so the temple tax could be paid.

      2. There was a necessity for these services.

      3. It was not possible for a pilgrim to bring everything with him.

    4. But the practice had spread into the temple grounds and was a source of confusion and perversion.

    5. It was also a source of profit for the sellers and the priests who had approved the practice.

    6. By making the sacred symbols of the Lamb of God a source of personal profit, the priests were making sacred things common and robbing them of the honor and glory of God.

    7. They were also robbing the Gentile, as well as, the Jewish worshipers the opportunity to know God as he is.

  2. Jesus is determined to once again cleanse the temple, at least of these foreign elements.

    1. It is written my house shall be called a house of prayer (Isaiah 56.7)

    2. You have made it a cave of thieves and robbers (Jeremiah 7.11)

    3. The temple was to be a place of prayer not commerce.

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  1. How does that apply to the church today?

    1. There are those who sincerely believe that the church ought to be a place that is quiet and attentive.

      1. This is not so true of the Congregational Church.

      2. The original concept was of a meeting house.

        1. It was the place for town meetings.

        2. It was the place where political meetings were held.

    2. Yet even today the church is not a building.

      1. The church in the New Testament is called the Ecclesia

        1. Those called out.

        2. It is not a building, but people.

"We Are the Church" R. AVERY / D. MARSH

Chorus
I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.
All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we're the church together.

1.
The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple,
the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.

Chorus
I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.
All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we're the church together.

2.
We're many kinds of people with many kinds of faces,
all colours and all ages too, from all times and places.

Chorus
I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.
All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we're the church together.

3.
And when the people gather, there's singing and there's praying,
there's laughing and there's crying sometimes, all of it saying:

Chorus
I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.
All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we're the church together.

4.
I count if I am ninety, or nine or just a baby;
there's one thing I am sure about and I don't mean maybe.

Chorus
I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together.
All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we're the church together.

    1. If it is people then as Paul said to the people in Athens, God does not live in shrines (temples) made by human hands, (Acts 17.24)

      1. He lives in us.

      2. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God.

        1. Zechariah 6:13 (NASB-U)

"Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices."

  1. 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NASB-U)

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

  1. 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NASB-U)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

  1. 2 Corinthians 6:16 (NASB-U)

Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
    "I will dwell in them and walk among them;
    And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

  1. Ephesians 2:20-22 (NASB-U)

having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, [21] in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, [22] in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

  1. 1 Peter 2:5 (NASB-U)

you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

    1. Do our temples, our minds, need cleaning?

      1. Yes, constantly!

      2. They are filled with dust and cobwebs, strange doctrine and excuses.

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CONCLUSION

  1. To clean them we use replacement therapy.

    1. It takes time and energy.

Bob Pascoe, "A word for the journey," writes about cleaning up the borders of his backyard. (3)

This summer I have set out to clean up the borders of my back yard at our church parsonage. Much of it was overgrown and a mess. I hardly knew where to start, but finally in late August I had collected the tools I needed, along with the will power.

Reluctantly I began with a single small dead tree. As September has gone on I have put in an hour here, a few minutes there. Sunday night I managed to finish one side of the yard--almost. As I looked at my efforts over about 6 weeks, it was good. The trees had been thinned out a bit, dead wood removed, and remaining vegetation trimmed. It is more open and airy and has a new feel to it.

Sometimes it seems that way with our lives. We hear Paul pleading with us to live a life "worthy of God." Yet, when we look at our lives they are so overgrown with other stuff, it seems impossible to get them cleaned out. However, if we just do a little at a time--a new habit here, refocused attitude there--well, our lives do get remade.

It takes a lifetime to lead a life worthy of God, so don't try to do it all this week. Trim a branch here or there. Speak a kind word when it isn't expected. Take a couple of moments to say a prayer. That's how lives and yards come to reflect the glory of God.

    1. Or in the words of A Maine lobster man

"Life's problems are like buckets of dirty water. Until we set the buckets down, and quit stirring them up, the dirt will not settle to the bottom. So, too, clearing up the aftermath of careless habits and attitudes often means slow, steady work. The spiritual debris must simply settle out."

  1. Thank God we have help.

    1. If you can accept it, Jesus stand ready to provide assistance.

    2. Help is available, you must apply it.

1. The Good, Clean Funnies List [gcfl-info@gcfl.net]

2. You Make Me Laugh [You_Make_Me_Laugh@crosswalkmail.com]

3. Bob Pascoe, "A word for the journey," October 2001, Kenmore UMC Youth News Web Site, kenmoreumcyouth.homestead.com.

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