For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a
jealous God.
Deuteronomy 4:24
Then he entered the temple and began to drive out
those who were selling things there; and he said, ‘It is written, “My house
shall be a house of prayer”; but you have made it a den of robbers.’
Luke
19:45-46
Recently
I spent three months on sabbatical visiting the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan.
On
one occasion I was enjoying traditional street food at an indoor market with
one of my friends from Taiwan, a pastor in the Presbyterian Church. Before we
ate, as was usual, he paused to say grace for us. However I noticed that he
spoke much more quietly and much more briefly than he did at home. After the
short prayer I asked him about the change in style and he simply said that this
was a public market place, suggesting that loud obtrusive prayers in a public
place may not be appropriate.
I
couldn't resist teasing him with a parody of Jesus words in the temple,
commenting, 'it is said this is a market place, but you have made it a house of
prayer'!
Teasing
aside, my reflection on this passage and my recent Taiwanese experience asks
some interesting questions. Far from this passage simply being used to deter
church people from housing the Christmas Fair in the sanctuary space, it has
become a reminder to not shy away from bringing our faith into the public
sphere.
Do
we say grace at home, but not in a restaurant?
Do
we ever read the Bible in public?
Have
you even been as angry as Jesus in the temple and said/done something in public
about it?
There
are perhaps several good reasons why the answer to these and similar questions
is no, but if the real reason is simply embarrassment, maybe we all need to
think again about how we can be people of faith in public and not just in
private.
Mike Walsh
The United
Reformed Church
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