November 21, 2025, Luke 19:45-48

In today’s reading, Jesus entered the temple area and started driving out people who were selling things. He said, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”  Here Jesus is fighting corruption, quoting previous precedent to remind people of their traditional values, as we must do now in our own time to counter the mean-spirited divisiveness and abuse that is taking over public discourse.

“A house of prayer” can be understood on multiple levels. First, quite literally Jesus is talking about the temple, the house of God, which is meant to be a house of prayer, not commerce.  Second, we can each regard our own body as a “house of prayer,” a sacred space for welcoming God’s presence in our lives. Third, our home can be a house of prayer, where peace reigns and protects us, as Jesus was protected by the people following him.  Fourth, making our body and our house a place of prayer then extends this peace and protection out into society in concentric ripples, a gentle force to combat corruption and conflict.

It starts small and it grows. Start at home. “It starts with me,” is a good motto. Start with prayer to overcome all obstacles. This is a radical idea perhaps, but radical ideas are what we need now. Seek the peace of the Lord. Amen.