On this Sunday morning I think of the young man whose mother went into his room to remind him that it was time to get out of bed and get ready for church. He said, “I’m not going to church this morning.” Following a rather long exchange he said, “I’ll give you three reasons I’m not going. First, no one there likes me. Second, they talk about me behind my back and third, somebody pushed ahead of me at the water fountain last Sunday.”

His mother said, “I’ll give you three reasons you are going to church. First of all, I’m your mother and I said you’re going to church this morning. Second, your father and I brought you up to go to church. And third, you have to go because you’re the pastor!”

The Psalmist said, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1)  The House of the Lord was the temple at Jerusalem. In our day it is the place where  God’s people meet for worship, prayer, Biblical instruction, encouragement and fellowship.

In Jesus’ day the House of the Lord had become a din of thieves, in Jesus’ words. The House of the Lord is not to be a show house, a house of entertainment, a place for a carnival, circus or side show. Nor is it to be a club for saints but rather a hospital for sinners. The House of the Lord is to be a house of prayer, for all people according to our Savior.

King Hezekiah of Judah asked the prophet, Jeremiah, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jeremiah 37:17)  A word from the Lord should be what folks hear when they come to God’s house and we ought to be glad that someone loves us enough to ask us to go into the House of the Lord.