Hello Madison Church. It's so good to be with you today. I am excited to be here and I love hope. So getting to start the Hope Series is it's an honor. I love it. On a brief note, two brief notes before I get into everything. One is if this is your first time here, please don't judge Madison Church by what I have to say. The real people will be back shortly. So that's the first thing I want to get out of the way.

Been amazing prayer partners with me and my husband, as he's been going through quite a lot of medical things, and I just wanted to give you a real brief update. He has been working for literally years to have a surgery that he needed to have and he was able to have that surgery finally a couple weeks ago now Just this week they were able to close him up and hopefully start healing. Thank you for all of your prayers. If I may be so bold as to ask for your continued prayers for his healing, because the next couple of months are really kind of a big deal for him. It's one of those surgeries that you can only have one time and it's life-altering. So if he can heal up and God has got him this far. I think he's going to continue, but I appreciate all of you praying for the long duration of all of this and would really cherish your future prayers. So, now that we got all that good stuff out of the way, we're starting a new series today and, even though it has a little bit of a different focus than the last series, we're kind of continuing on in the Bible, right when we left off.

Um, yeah, last week I was going to say yesterday where, where Stephen left off last week. Um, last week Stephen talked about surrender right, and it was a really powerful message. I listened to it online. If you weren't here, I recommend um going in and watching it. It's it's worth your time. Um, he talked about the tension between the expectations that the disciples and the crowd had. You know, welcoming Jesus, they had this big parade, they're welcoming him as the king versus the reality of purpose and the nature of God's kingdom. The people were rejoicing, but Jesus was weeping because they were missing the point. They were missing the peace that he was offering, the peace that he would be offering through his soon death and resurrection on the cross. Death on the cross and then resurrection. We'll get there. So right after that scenario is where we're going to be starting today.

It's in Luke 19, 45 through 46. And it says this when Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. It is written he said to them my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. Now, oftentimes the gospels, and even more so with what we call the Synoptic Gospels Matthew, mark and Luke we will see the same biblical accounts, the same stories that are told, but they're told through different styles and sometimes they have different details that are emphasized in them. He says this In Mark. He gives us a little bit more information. So I kind of just want to touch there for a moment.

Mark 11, 11 says Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12. So it had been a pretty big day. Right, there was traveling the donkey, the palm waving the parade, big day, right, there was traveling the donkey, the palm waving the parade, all that. And here it says that after all of that happened, jesus went to the temple and he looks around, he sees everything that's going on there and he leaves, and I imagine this is my interpretation. This is not part of the Bible, but this is what I imagine when I read that. I imagine that Jesus is taking a deep breath, he takes a big sigh and, with a heavy heart, he's like I don't have the bandwidth for this right now. I need to go back to Bethany and sleep on this. This situation needs to be handled, but I'm going to need to sleep on it. And then Mark goes on a little bit to give us just a few more details about that encounter in the morning. Mark 11, 15 through 18 says On reaching Jerusalem, jesus entered temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there.

He overturned the tables of money changers and the benches of those selling doves and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said is it not written my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers. So what's even happening here? Right? I mean, why is Jesus flipping tables and chasing people out of the temple? That kind of seems like the opposite of what Jesus should be doing at the temple right and there are a couple of things here that are happening that the writer and the original readers would have understood that 2,000 years later we can miss.

Part of it is the setup of the temple. The temple had different sections, different courts, and the outermost court was the court of the Gentiles. The next is the setup of the temple. The temple had different sections, different courts, and the outermost court was the court of the Gentiles. The next was the court of the women. The following one was the court of Israel, or also called the court of men, and then the innermost court was the court of the priests which, as the name implies, only the priests could enter. So you had to qualify, you know, to be in the different courts and the court of the Gentiles, that outermost court, that is the area of the temple that only non-Jewish people could enter. They couldn't go further. They could only be in that outer court and this is the courtyard that Jesus is in. Be in that outer court and this is the courtyard that Jesus is in.

So, because the area is accessible by Gentiles, by non-Jewish people, it was intended to be a place of evangelism and outreach. The Jewish people could witness to their Gentile neighbors and tell them about God. But instead of this court being used to evangelize the Gentiles, it was being used to exploit them. This court being used to evangelize the Gentiles, it was being used to exploit them. Instead of praying for the Gentiles, the priests were praying on the Gentiles, which is pretty disgusting. There were Jewish money changers in the courtyard who exchanged all kinds of different foreign coins for the Jewish coins that would be accepted in the temple, and they would do this at really crazy high exchange rates. So they're taking advantage.

There were animal vendors. Gentiles would come to the temple, but they might not have an animal to sacrifice. Maybe they traveled a great distance or they didn't know they were supposed to bring one. So the vendors would sell them overpriced animals. And even if they came to the temple with animals, these people would examine them and tell the worshipers their animals were unacceptable. So now, if they wanted to offer a sacrifice, they had no choice but to buy one of their overpriced animals. The Gentiles didn't necessarily know better, so they were perfect victims for this situation.

So if we imagine what this looks like, a person abandons their former ways. They want to worship and they want to honor God. They want to be in relationship with God. So they go to the temple and, being new, they don't necessarily have a solid understanding of those Old Testament sacrificial system rules. They know to bring an animal for sacrifice. Perhaps when they get there, the vendor says, hey, welcome, we're so glad you're here. God really wants a relationship with you. Unfortunately, your animal doesn't cut it. It's not okay. We have laws around here about these things and your standard is lower than ours. If you want to sacrifice an animal, you're going to have to buy one, and today is your lucky day because I have all kinds of super acceptable animals over here at a really awful price. How many would you like?

So when Jesus cleansed the temple, he was not only angry at the temple being abused and misused, he was also showing concern for these new people getting ripped off. He was also showing concern for these new people getting ripped off, and let's not forget that at this time when Jesus was there, it was right before Passover Passover's in a few days so this would be one of the busiest times at the temple, kind of like Black Friday. This is the day they make all their money and there's Jesus chasing them out. It's kind of fun, isn't it. The courtyard will be filled with all these people traveling really long distances to be there. And what does everybody need? They need lambs Perfect, unblemished, one-year-old lambs. So it's specific. And guess who has them at super inflated prices? You got it. These people selling in the temple court. This is the kind of this is kind of like those people who bought a bunch, bought up a whole cases and cases of hand sanitizer in early 2020, and then waited for a little bit and then sold them at 20 bucks a bottle. Remember that that was fun, wasn't it? It's kind of like that. They basically there's a demand, there's a low supply and now the price has skyrocketed for no actual reason, and Jesus is angry. He's angry about this.

They are turning what God intended for a relationship, for a real, genuine loving relationship and exchange right. They're taking that and making it a transaction. God doesn't want a transactional relationship with us, and I mean to maybe put it into perspective. You probably have a transactional relationship with your boss, right? You go to work for a set amount of time or for a set amount of tasks and they give you a certain amount of money, and it's transactional. Your boss may or may not be your friend outside of work. Some people are lucky enough to have bosses that they're also friends with, but most of the time it's just a transactional relationship. God doesn't want that. He doesn't want that at all. He's not saying, hey, come in and pay your money, come in and buy your lamb, come in and do your sacrifice, come in and follow all the rules. He's saying I want a relationship.

So again, verses 45 and 46 in Luke 19,. A place to learn about God, a place to worship him, a place to have relationship with him. The temple represented the very presence of God, and Jesus said they have made it a den of robbers. A den of robbers, a place where thieves go after committing crimes. A hideout that allowed them to feel safe and secure. Robbers thought they would avoid punishment because of the den that they were hiding in, just like the leaders and vendors thought they would avoid punishment because of the temple that they were hiding in. You know, when Stephen first asked me to talk about these verses, I was like heck, yes, who doesn't want to talk about that one time? That Jesus had a holy temple, tantrum and flip tables and chase people out, that's so much fun. That pumps me up, that gets me excited, but then I realized the not so fun part of these verses, and that's the part where we realize what this means for us today. Not as fun, so bear with me as we go through that.

Okay, the temple, the place that represented God, place that represented his presence, was meant to be a house of prayer. House of worship, house of genuine relationship and commitment to God. And people had made it a place where they were doing personal business for personal gain, personal financial gain, it's probably some social gain, made it transactional, a place where, instead of introducing and teaching people who didn't know about God, about his love and how to have that relationship with him, they were not only taking advantage of them, but they were making it about tasks and rituals. They were missing the point that God doesn't just want blind obedience. God doesn't just want strict sacrifice for the sake of following the rules. God wants relationship with his people.

Maybe you're in this room and you've made coming to church a ritual. You've come out of habit. Maybe you read your Bible, maybe every day at 3 or 4. But it's out of duty. It's what good Christians do. This isn't the relationship that God wants with us. Jesus didn't have to be tortured to death for rituals. We could have done that without his death and resurrection. God wants relationship and sometimes we need to check our motivations. Are we here to deepen our relationship with God? Are we praying wrote prayer for the sake of prayer, or are we having an honest heart-to-heart talk with him on the regular? And this can be an adjustment. But it's not too difficult to adjust that right. It's kind of just a make it aware right. We become aware. You know what? I haven't been in that prayer, I haven't been listening. While I've been reading my Bible I've been coming to church and forgetting the point. It's kind of just a mind shift can fix that. But I think the tougher part is this one In 2 Corinthians it says that we are the temple of the living God.

We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit ourselves. He lives in us. The veil was torn, he breathes his last on the cross and the Spirit was released and filled believers in the starting of Acts. This is the reality that we live in. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Looking in these verses, I think that the Holy Spirit would ask that you spend some time asking him. Holy Spirit, is there anything you want to drive out of this temple, holy Spirit? Is there anything you want to drive out of this temple, holy Spirit? Is there anything you want to drive out of this temple so that it can be filled with your glory, filled with your love, filled with your purpose? And if you do find that there's something that needs cleansing, you don't have to feel guilty. There's no shame. God is not disappointed in you.

Just confess it. This is not like some kind of formal scheduled meeting with a spiritual leader and authority figure right. James 5, 16 says therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful. So just go to someone you trust and tell them. Tell them that you're struggling with whatever this is, and ask them to pray with you about it. Right, it's easy.

So just confess and then we need to repent, because repentance is not just change your mind about something, but it literally means to do an about face, an abrupt turn to face, the opposite direction. So you were going to go right, but then you changed three lanes in traffic and went left. You were going to get chocolate ice cream, but instead you got vanilla fro-yo. You keep confessing. If you keep confessing the same thing but you don't repent, you don't change. You're going to keep going in the same direction. You're not cleansing the temple, and that's a lot harder, isn't it? You struggle to stop doing what you know you shouldn't do, but you're not alone in this. This is nothing new.

Paul wrote in the book of Romans. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. That was Paul, and even science backs this up. I mean, anybody ever hear of Newton's law of motion? Right, it says an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Well, you guys, we need an unbalanced force If we're going to change direction. We need an unbalanced force.

This is where the next step comes in embracing the strength of the Holy Spirit. This is where the next step comes in embracing the strength of the Holy Spirit. So, confess, repent and then embrace the strength of the Holy Spirit. As you're walking this out. You don't have to try to do this alone.

And this, this is where hope rises, this is where change happens. This is where relationship thrives. This is where we get to move from brokenness to breakthrough. He is with you and will help you live in that commitment. Whatever it is that he asks you to drive out, invite him in to fill that space with his presence. When Jesus entered the temple, when Jesus entered the temple, it was his overarching interest. It was love, a love for God and his presence. A love for the temple where God would be truly heard, seen, glorified and worshipped. A love for his people, so that we can know and understand the truth, so that we have hope, so that we can move from that brokenness to breakthrough and so that we can have a genuine relationship with him, not just a transactional one. Let's go ahead and pray.