Hello! Im Elder Sung Chul Kim. Im a sinner who has turned what should be a house of prayer into a den of robbers, and Im here to share with you how Jesus has taught me and brought me to this point in my life. Were going to reflect together on how each of us is a temple, and what we can do to make ourselves and where we are a temple of prayer.
First, I need to cast out the robber in me.
The Lord says that my house is a house of prayer, but I have made it a den of robbers. When the people came to the temple to observe the Passover, there were those who would take advantage of the process of paying the temple tax and sell the sacrificial pigeons for many times their value. The Lord rebuked them and drove them out, saying that they were not worshipping people, but merchants. He says that to come to the house of the Lord for my benefit and blessing while concealing ones self-interest is the step of a robber, and to encourage ones family to be workers of money and success instead of workers for the Lord is to build a den of robbers.
I wanted my wife to study finance so she could make money, take care of our childrens education, and fulfill my unfulfilled dream of being a college professor so I could quit my tedious practice and travel freely. But as I rose through the ranks as a practitioner, her anorexia, alcoholism, and infidelity culminated in a divorce, so I came to church with the intention of divorcing her. This was my first den of robbers. But in the first service, the pastor said, 'No addict has a better mother than his own mother, and if you abandon her because shes sick, whats the difference between a dog and a pig?' and I stopped divorcing her, but then I started using the church to heal her, which led to my second robbery. All of my arguments were the logic and arguments of a businessman who was frustrated that he couldnt build a den of robbers, so it was the robbers in me that needed to be kicked out.
Second, we should listen to His teachings day by day.
Jesus entered the temple, which had become a den of robbers, and personally drove out the corruption and taught in the temple every day. Throughout His public ministry, He used all of His healings, miracles, and signs to spread the gospel, and He continued His teaching and never stopped praying right up until the moment of His death on the cross. Yet the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people constantly plotted to capture and kill Him at any cost, because they felt that the exposure of their wickedness by Jesus was offensive and took away their vested interests.
Filled with the idea that I, too, was a victim, I refused to listen and, like the leaders who plotted to kill Jesus, I made ridiculous demands, further persecuted my wife, mocked and criticized the church and the community, and rearmed myself for robbery. Then came the day after I played golf on that green meadow, shouting good shot, I had emergency surgery for a ruptured disc in my back. I later learned that this was an answer to my wife and the community praying together for my salvation. The community prayed as one, listening to the Word and praying, so that when the time came for the disc incident, I could no longer find a way to stop Jesus from entering our home.
Third, it should have authority from heaven.
Jesus teaching is the good news, the gospel. The gospel opens the way to eternal life and an unblocked relationship with God, and the chief priests, scribes, and elders, united in their corruption, question Jesus credentials, reasoning that any authority not recognized by the Sanhedrin is unacceptable, and that authority is ultimately theirs. Authority and power are different power is a selfish tool granted by humans, while spiritual authority is subject to the will of God. Spiritual authority is crucifixion authority,
Fourth, when we answer through the consultation of the Holy Spirit, we hear a 'thou shalt' response.
The Lord asks the qualifiers, 'Is Johns baptism from heaven or from men?' If they say from heaven, they believe in the divine authority of Jesus as proclaimed by John, and if they say from men, they hedge their bets by saying, 'I dont know,' for fear of being stoned by those who recognize John as a prophet. The counsel of the Holy Spirit is the counsel that saves and builds up for salvation, and their counsel, not knowing Jesus and unaided by the Holy Spirit, is to accuse Jesus of blasphemy, but they end up falling into the snare of their own blasphemy. When the Word is not heard, there is much to be right and wrong every day, and much to be stumbled over.
The last community confession is that of Elder Sung Chul Kim, who turned his home into a den of robbers with family idols and worldly ideas that made him feel right. I wrote threatening emails to my wife before she came to the church, but after she came to the church, I found and reread the emails from every shepherd, village keeper, and meadow keeper in preparation for this sermon. It was a time when I was constantly angry that my wife, who was supposed to die because she came to our church, was not under my control to make our home the way I wanted it to be. The emails were numbered and included demands to put down all departments, to report to me first if there was anything that needed to be done at church on Sunday, to turn down church offers and toss them to me, to only have one Sunday service, and so on. When my wife said she couldnt do it anymore, our son, who was in middle school at the time, said, 'If youre the one who benefited from what you said today, youre the one who should be the one to accept Dad. Always apologize first and say youre sorry.' When I heard this later, I thought he was a hundred times better than me, and I was so grateful for our community for raising him that way.
For me and the place where I am to be a temple of prayer is to cast out the robber in me, to listen daily to the word of instruction, and to hear the 'yes' when I answer with authority from heaven and through the counsel of the Holy Spirit. May we who are constantly making mistakes, setting our minds on things that will pass away, and looking in vain, see Jesus who upholds us even today, and may every place where the saints are present be a temple of prayer.
