Your Idols Need to Go
Luke 19:41-48
August 4, 2024 anno Domini
Who was the Biblical King, whose servants paved the road with their garments, to welcome when He came to destroy their enemies? I know. It’s a tough question, so I’ll give you a hint. The first two letters of his name are J and E. With all that information I’m sure you remember Jehu, King of Israel, anointed by Elisha. As he headed out to destroy the temple of Baal and kill Queen Jezebel, his servants laid their garments down for him to walk on.
Or perhaps you were going for the easy answer – Jesus. Before the text in Luke 19, Jesus, like Jehu, is coming as King into Jerusalem. He’s coming to destroy His people’s enemies, to destroy your enemies, but there’s a problem. It was a problem in Israel, a problem in Jerusalem, and it’s a problem in St. Cloud. Jesus weeps because you like your enemies. You even enjoy their company, so you’re not happy when Jesus destroys them, and you fail to see His love.
The problem in the days of Jehu was that Baal worship was fun. It was downright exciting. Baal had numerous temples, so worship was convenient. Who doesn’t like a convenient god? Baal was portrayed as a massive bull. Who doesn’t want a god who is strong and powerful? Baal aimed at the pleasure of his worshippers. Convenient, strong, and a god who is all about your pleasure. What’s not to like?
That’s exactly the sort of god the Devil invents to draw you away from the true God. The Devil is an expert at crafting idols. He knows what your sinful heart desires and he cranks out those idols in abundance so that when the true God comes along and knocks down your idols, you get sad and mad and you don’t want to trust Him.
As it was in the days of Jehu so also it was when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because He loved her, but she loved something else. The Temple had become her idol.
You need a little history to understand the significance of the Temple. The Temple was God’s location, His place for His people. Inside the Temple was the Most Holy Place and inside the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant. Above that Ark God promised to be present, to receive the sacrifices, to make atonement for their sins, and to hear their prayers. The Temple was in an outward sense the wedding ring between the Lord and His bride, His promise to her – I will be your God and you will be my people. But it was more than that – it was also God’s house, the place where they came together. Where God dwelt on earth to forgive His bride, to have holy conversation with her, to be with her and love her.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem because she was content and comfortable with the Temple alone. She liked the ring, but not the marriage. The outward sign was fine, but her heart was elsewhere.
The Jews were content with the Temple. Throughout the Old Testament God wanted to give His people more. But whenever He sent His delivery boys, the prophets, to give them more, they killed the prophets and stoned those God sent. When God addressed their sins or sought to show His love by fulfilling His promises, the Jews founds God’s Word and His men troublers of Israel. They were content to bring their sacrifices and then go on with life as they wanted it. When Jesus came along declaring Himself to be God’s Temple, when He claimed He was God in the flesh, when He gave them more Law than Moses and more forgiveness than they thought they needed they tried to kill Him.
The Temple was comfortable. And it had been so for quite a while. Jesus quotes from the Prophet Jeremiah when He says, “My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” In the days of Jeremiah, the Temple was simply a place of transaction. The Israelites would steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer sacrifices to Baal, and then make a trip to the Temple, offer a sacrifice, and think they were good – to go on doing what they loved. To rewrite Saint Paul they asked, “Can we go on sinning because we made our sacrifices?” And their answer was yes.
God did not intend His temple to be a bank where you paid for your sin and then gladly went out and incurred more debt. It was intended to be a house of prayer, where the Lord conversed with His bride and she with her bridegroom. To continue that wedding analogy, it would be like a husband looking down at his wedding ring and saying, “I can do whatever I want, because she said she will love me and never leave me.” Don’t count on it.
The question this morning is “What is your idol?” In what outward sign of God have you placed your hope, but neglected His Word? Some congregations worship their church building – it’s convenient, it’s comfortable, you won’t have to make any sacrifices. If there was a church nearby that needed help, would you be willing to form a two-point parish? Would you be willing to change the time of service? What would God’s Word have you do for someone in need, especially in the household of faith? Some congregations idolize their pastor. If anything happens to him we’re sunk. There too, contentment and comfort are at play. Some people imagine that belonging to a church, even if you never go, pleases God. Would you call it a marriage if you wore a ring, but never talked to your husband, or listened to Him, or loved Him? Perhaps our greatest idol is that we all wear the outward label Christian, but we don’t know His Word very well. Does His Word affect you? Before you begin to love something or someone do you ask, “Is this God-pleasing?”
Jesus cleared the Temple to make room for His Word. For the week leading up to His death there were no animals being bought or sold in the Temple courts. Sacrifices were at a standstill. Jerusalem was on edge. And Jesus was teaching daily in the temple.
If you have idols Jesus is going to clean them out. It won’t be fun. It won’t be comfortable. You’re going to hate Jesus. But the best thing that can happen to your idols is what happened to the Temple 40 years after Jesus spoke these Words. Your idols need to fall, no stone left upon another, because there is only One who makes for peace. While He visits you through all of His good gifts, there is only One place He visits you for true peace.
A lot of American and Evangelical Christians who would disagree with me, but the Temple in Jerusalem does not need to be rebuilt for God to bring about His Kingdom. It was destroyed for two reasons. The Jews idolized it, and the Son of God became flesh. The New Testament describes the incarnation of the Son of God as God “pitching His tent” in our midst. The new Temple where God dwells for you is in Jesus of Nazareth. It is there that God loves you, speaks to you, forgives you, hears you, answers you, and vows to be your God. There’s no need to go back to animal sacrifices or blood being scattered on the altar or the priesthood of Aaron. Don’t you remember what happened when Jesus died on the cross? when the blood and water poured from His side? The Temple curtain was torn in two, the Most Holy Place was open for all to see. The blood of God atoned for the sin of the whole world and heaven is open for you. The final Word from God has been spoken in Jesus. He makes for peace between you and God. Now you can speak to your Father through His Son Jesus. By virtue of your baptism and through faith in Christ St. Paul says that you yourself “are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you.” That’s not merely outward, that’s an inner change of life. If you hang on to your idols, you will fall with them. If you hang on the Word of God, you’ll rise and stand alive forever. In the name of Jesus. Amen.