It was a place of safety. The Edson Home was a refuge for children ages ten to 16 who had been removed from their homes due to abuse and/or neglect issues.
It was a place of security. Locked, alarmed doors, check-in and check-out procedures carefully and completely followed, and lists of approved (and specifically unapproved) visitors followed very carefully.
It was a place of healing. Attitudes of calm, caring, respect and positive life direction were priorities in all aspects of life at The Edson Home. Protecting and healing these young lives was the paramount purpose for its very existence.
One of the activities offered twice each week was a time of Bible study and simple worship. So it was that five young people gathered on a Wednesday afternoon in the “common area” to read and talk about the Scripture that told of Jesus “cleansing the Temple” (John 2:12-22).
“Man, I can just see Jesus cleaning MY old house that way! Whoa baby, animals in MY house looked a lot different from those cows and stuff.”
Thirteen-year-old Addy had been rescued from a home where she was locked in and sold repeatedly to fund her step dad’s drug habits.
“Yeah, I get that one, for sure. But you know what? The day the cops came and raided my old house? They were just like that, only they had guns instead of a big old whip. Never thought I’d be glad to see a bunch of guys with guns.”
Nate, just 11 years old, was found under a bed when police raided the drug house his mom and three big brothers ran.
“I get all that. I got stuck with my four little brothers and sisters when mom left and didn’t come back. I love them and everything, but being a mom to four kids under eight? Seriously? By myself? They found mom last week down by the railroad tracks. Yeah, well, she’s never coming home now. You know what I wish? I wish Jesus could come down here and rebuild MY life in three days like He was going to fix His!”
BJ, the oldest in the group at 16, soon to be 17, was truly amazing simply for the fact that she survived her life – and kept her younger siblings safe – in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city.
We went on to talk about what kind of “temples” our lives were supposed to be, adding the following Scripture to our conversation — “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1Cor 6:19)
Nate suddenly got excited, which rarely happened. “I got it! Jesus was telling them they needed to get a major remodel job. You know, like they’re doing at our Morris Cottage – that ‘renovation-thing,’ making it all new and everything.”
That led to some life changing and healing discussions over the next weeks. We spent over a month just applying this Scripture to the healing process and future lives of these special young people.
These are the two questions that made all the difference:
How would Jesus “clean” the “Temple” of your life? What needs to be driven out? Not your family’s, not anyone else’s, but yours.
What needs to be rebuilt (renovated) in you so that you are whole and your life is indeed a “temple of the Holy Spirit?”
Jesus wasn’t about destruction that day in the Temple. He was about renovation, about driving out all that kept the Temple from being all that it was made to be. He drove out all that was about worldly profit in order to restore that which pointed to and glorified God.
Did you catch Jesus’ words? “Destroy THIS Temple and ... ”
You destroy this Temple, which you have made into a worldly-profit making enterprise, and it will be rebuilt (for God-focused purpose and profit) in three days. Hmm.
The disciples remembered this scenario when Jesus was crucified and resurrected three days later. They thought they destroyed him when they crucified His human body, but three days later — holy renovation!
If we allow Him to, He will clean and renovate our lives, too.