Hardhearted Worship (Mark 11:15-19)

For me it was a sacred hour. I awoke before dawn. I had a large picture window where I had placed my chair so that I had a clear view of the eastern sky. I sat there wrapped in a warm blanket, sipping my coffee. While watching the sunrise I thought about the words from Isaiah, “The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living the shadow of death, light has dawned.” BANG! BANG! BANG! Suddenly, the quiet was broken by the sound of a hammer!

I found out later to my horror that my neighbor had bought the small triangle directly behind my house so that he could build a shop--a shop that would completely block my view of the sunrise. To make matters worse, not only did my neighbor not recognize the sacred hour of sunrise, but since he didn’t go to church, Sunday became the loudest day of the week with the sounds of hammering and power tools. As the building grew higher and higher my rage grew hotter and hotter. What had been for me a sacred hour now became an ungodly hour as I peered out my window not at the sunrise but at my noisy neighbor!

One morning as I sat with my Bible on my lap glaring out my picture window I heard a voice that spoke to my soul. “Sarah, which is more important, your view or your neighbor?” I answered honestly, “My view!” However, after having exposed my heart I went on to hear, “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). I realize that I didn’t really care about my neighbor, I just wanted to enjoy the light for myself. I was convicted.

Israel had been chosen by God to be a light to the nations. One of the ways this was to be accomplished was that the courtyard of the Temple was a place where those who were not Jewish could come and pray. It was the only place they were allowed. When Jesus came to the temple complex, what He found was that it had become a marketplace. Not only was God’s temple no longer a house of prayer for all nations, but Jesus declared it a den of thieves.

Jesus’ anger and zeal at what He found caused the chief priests and scribes to look for a way to destroy Him. The Hebrew word for worship is to bow down. But I have seen in my own life that it is possible to worship worship. When this happens the heart becomes cold and compassion dies. The light that God gives to His followers is not only to illuminate their way but to cause them to become lights to the world around them.