Advent's Effect on Relgion - a podcast by David K Payne

The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.

– Matthew

Matthew 21:12-13 New Living Translation (NLT) Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

Most every religion wants to feel that they have insight into truth and God that other religions don't possess. Even those who don't impose their beliefs and practices on others, the very nature of religion itself breeds an exclusivity that is understandable on a human level. Why else would you practice something you don't really believe in? The impact of Advent on religion did in Jesus's day and does still today run adverse to religion.

We spoke earlier in these devotions about how Jesus came to bring humanity a relationship with God. Still, let’s look a little deeper into the conflict that Jesus had and has with religious practices. Rightfully so, our spiritual practices are a reflection of who we are, our culture, and the influences of family. From the earliest records of man's interaction with God, it is recorded that God instructs one generation to teach the next about him. This, of course, changed with Christ. However, still, we see the similarities within contemporary religions and religions of the past when it comes to exclusivity.

In our focus scripture, we see where Jesus entered the temple. The temple would have been a place where Jesus was taught would have worshiped in the traditions of the Hebrew people. On this day, we see the effect that Advent had on Jesus's own religious traditions. The practices of the religious leaders and those who sought to profit off of the devotion of others angered Jesus. His actions and the environment of the temple are a picture of how Advent can cleanse away the spiritual clutter that naturally occurs in regions settings.

You would think that the Son of God, the fulfillment of years of prophecy, would have honored and reverenced the institution that God used to foretell his coming and purpose. But, instead, we see Jesus regularly at odds and in conflict with the leaders of the Jewish religious institution of His day. It wasn't that Jesus viewed the leaders as his enemy, but rather the institution had grown so that it was blinded to its real intent. Jesus declared the temple should be a house of prayer for all people but had drifted off course.

This is why they and we need Advent. Our religious institutions need the Spirit of Advent to cleanse our excess and personal agendas and help us see the real intent of those institutions in the first place again. Though I am sure that any religious leader who might be reading this would argue that other religions need cleansing. But I would say that all our religious institutions and practices need cleansing.

For today's devotion, seriously consider where you worship. Be open to God about what excess might be a part of your traditions. When our programs, services, social gathering, and study groups become more important than the people entering to worship, we need the cleansing of Advent. I will be the first to admit that I have some real angst with the church. In part, this sorry is due to what the church did to me. But on a deeper level, I pastored for thirty years, knowing that the institution of the church interfered with the mission of the church. If we would dare to allow God to wash away the disorder of our practices of worship, we too could see those who need help, find it.

David

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