“Cleansing of the Heart”

Scripture: Mark 11:12-25

For the past 3 weeks, we’ve been taking a closer look at the issue of Salvation in Jesus Christ.
First, we considered the faith of the man who had been born blind, but who seemed to know Jesus far better than the Pharisees did.
Then we took a closer look at him after he had been ejected from the temple, and how he still had a wonderful and over powering faith.
Last week, we considered the renewing of the dry bones that Ezekiel witnessed in that huge valley, and what they had to say about our salvation.
And for those who were able to attend the evening Lenten service at Nichols last week, we considered the call to new life - the call to salvation - in the context of the raising of Lazarus.
Today, we consider the need for Jesus’ cleansing power in our lives, and how our claim on His saving Grace can only come from that - how our salvation must come from that.

We’re going to take our reading for today in a different order – but it will make more sense in a few minutes.

Read Mark 11:15-19

I have read this passage first because these verses are the basis for the others.

Jesus throws the money changers and the sellers of sacrificial animals out of the temple. Now many see this as the cleansing act, but actually, this commercial effort was a necessary part of temple worship. The coinage that was to be offered in temple must be Hebrew, and since many people came from other areas of the world to give their offerings, they needed to obtain the proper type of money. Each region had its own coinage, and the pagan money, which contained the images of pagan deity, was not an acceptable gift to God. As for the livestock, that too, would be offered as a sacrifice and for many, bringing their own birds or lambs from home was not a good option for them. So the marketing effort was a necessity for worship, and Jesus would have understood this.
But His indignation arises from the fact that the money changers were making an obscenely great profit from the exchange, and the livestock that was being sold were not only extremely expensive, but they were far from perfect – broken wings, sickly lambs – all were in the very condition that the Lord had cautioned the people against using as a gift to Him.

The second issue is revealed in verse 17, as He quotes Isaiah 56:6-7.
Key words and thoughts –
“foreigners”, or Gentiles,
who bind themselves to God,
who would worship Him,
who will not desecrate their worship
– these will be welcomed in the Lord’s place of prayer.
In our reading from Mark, Jesus is telling Israel that
this outer court, the place where the travesty of commercialism is occurring, this place that is known as the Court of the Gentiles, the place where any non-Jew could come to worship Jehovah God, is also His “house of worship and prayer”.
He is placing the same level of honor on the non Jews who will worship him, as he does the people of Israel who will give Him that honor, and their place of worship was being desecrated and demeaned.
Sacrilege is sacrilege, regardless of where it occurs and who commits it.

And the third point that we must consider in Mark is this – Jesus is claiming authority over all worship in the temple – not over just that from those who would claim that they are righteous, but from those who would seek His righteousness.

So, when we put these points all together, we discover that
Jesus, and Jesus alone, determines what is acceptable in His sight, and what is not.
Jesus, and Jesus alone, defines what is righteousness and what a righteous life is all about, and He alone defines what is not.
The people have no say in defining what is truly honoring to God, and what is not – we can only act in response to what Jesus has taught!

Read Mark 11:12-14

Was Jesus really angry at the tree for not producing fruit when He wanted it? That’s what some folks would take from this, but the truth is that it is a prophesy against the temple, and in our case, against the church.
The temple of the 1st century was not producing fruit, and the people were actually desecrating the place of worship by not taking the call to sacrifice seriously, by not taking their call to righteousness seriously, by deciding to make their own way in the world instead of following the Lord’s way.
And He proclaims that same judgment on the church of the 21st century. Are we being “fruitless” by allowing worldly interpretations of the scriptures into our worship and lives? By attempting to define our path to salvation in ways that please us, that simplify our expression of faith, that conform to secular ways, expectations and demands?
Jesus didn’t hate the tree – it was simply offered as a symbol of His disdain of the direction that the temple, and now the church, was headed in. Even though the tree was obviously living, it was fruitless.
The temple was still in existence, performing all of its ritual, but it was faithless and fruitless.
The church is still in existence, but we must also ask this question of ourselves –
is the Church Universal - is the United Methodist church - is our church, more actively involved in issues of faith, than it is in simply keeping the doors open? Is it faithful in worship – both in formal and informal ways and times – and is it producing spiritual fruit? Is it bringing souls to Christ, and not just through the doors and to the offering plate? Is it truly honoring our Lord Jesus Christ in ways that He has prescribed, and not simply in a worldly sense?

Read Mark 11:20-25

We are called to live a complete and Godly life, not one of our own making! The fig tree was cursed, and it withered. The temple life was cursed by its own hand, and it withered. And in the context of today, we can’t become so complacent in our Christian lives that we are cursed, too – we need to become fruitful once again – we need to allow Christ’s cleansing to rid us of the worldly influences that are always sneaking in and dragging us down.

So how do we do this?
First, Jesus tells us that we must have faith in God – not a superficial faith, not a shallow faith, not a limited faith, not a self defined faith –but one that is in and of Him. Are we being influenced and controlled
by the lies of society? By personal addictions? By worldly friends and family? By other faith practices? By false teachings? Has idol worship become a way of life for us – the idols of career, of having fun at the expense of faith, of secular pleasures, of putting family and friends ahead of God, of striving to accumulate more “stuff” - money, positions, and prestigious possessions – the “stuff” of earth? In our efforts to be welcoming of others, have we also become welcoming of the things they believe and the things they do? In our outreach to the unchurched, do we try to entice them with the “niceties” of the church, of the “fun” part of faith - the dinners, the fellowship, the warmth of the people?
or do we tell them about our missions and ministries and worship and
the opportunities that we all have for spiritual growth in our lives? And the most important issue that is before us is this – have we claimed the cleansing power and the saving grace of Jesus Christ?
Do we claim His crucifixion and resurrection, and the blood that He shed, as the only hope that we have for eternity? Have we made a personal and faithful commitment to claim Him as our salvation and eternal life? Do we claim His teaching as the one true means of worship?

Palm Sunday is a day of the Lord’s jubilant entry into the city of Jerusalem – the day when He began His arduous journey to Calvary and beyond, solely for our sake. And today is also the day when you have the opportunity to jubilantly welcome Jesus into your life and claim the salvation that He has already won for you, and at such a great a cost to Him.

As we sing our last hymn – “Where He leads Me, I Will Follow”, will you consider putting yourself fully in His hands and truly following Him? Will you come to Christ today, and give your all to Him?