Overturned

  “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.” 1 Cor 6:19-20

 

  “He (Jesus) knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” Mat 21:12

 

  Today’s painting was done without photo reference. Google contained no images of a woman turning over a table. So, even though I am not overly pleased with the final product, it’s a global first! 

  I feel like knocking over some tables of my own. The unbelievably deep and smoldering rage seething through my heart is begging for an outlet.

  How I imagine venting this anger is not very Christian of me.

  My church is doing a series on Peace Making.

  Go figure.

  Just when I am ready to explode in a violent outburst, God says, “Make peace.”

  The good thing about Sunday’s teaching is I now understand that peace making is not the same as peace keeping.

  Peace keeping is maintaining the status quo by all means necessary. From a military standpoint, they use guns. From a personal standpoint, I used compliancy and submission.

  Peace keeping’s sole purpose is to keep tables from being turned upside down.

  Some tables need to be.

  Is there a wood named evil used to build huge conference tables where the corrupted gather? Is this where they meet to share unimaginably twisted schemes? Is the evil-wood conference table a gathering place for people who built their corporation out of filth? Does its gleaming surface reflect the dark and murky shadows of things done in darkness?

  Sometimes this evil-wood table is much, much smaller. It makes it less obvious.

  I have reluctantly sat at such a table far too often, forced to eat the rancid feast being generously passed around by the others sitting around it. The food was seasoned with hate, cruelty, lust, alcohol, prejudice and conspiracies of secrecy.

  Jesus pulled my chair back so I could leave. Nobody stood up when I left. They just carried on feasting on their own poison.

  It takes a long time to get poison out of your system, especially the kinds that are absorbed through the skin.

  God has me here, at my solid, tiny, and pretty kitchen table surrounded by safety and trust. The words He gives me are offered in the hope that they are helping others like you, dear reader, pull away from a table you no longer need to sit at. I will even put out my arm to steady you in case your legs are stiff from being in one place for so long.

  This is peace making.

  It’s writing, speaking, sharing the hard truth that sets a match to burn evil-wood tables from the face of the planet. It is giving the board members a chance to escape the flames even though I would give anything to see them consumed by fire.

  There are no such things as coincidences. I must give thanks to another artist for a series of paintings entitled The Footwashing Series. They spoke to my heart in ways that exceed words, in ways that help me step away from wanting vengeance. www.saltandgoldstore.com 

 

  Jesus didn’t throw people around, just the table, spilling their corrupt and stolen earnings onto the ground.

  He set the innocent and flawless doves free; the ones no longer needed to pay for another’s sins.

  I finally understand why a dove is a symbol of peace.

 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:7