In perhaps one of the most famous scenes from the Gospel, Jesus is seen turning tables and whipping vendors. What provokes this aggressive, violent behavior? Turning his Father’s house into a marketplace.
This is not a condemnation of salespersons or business owners, who day after day put themselves out there, entrusting themselves to God’s providence. We can see in it, however, a warning against making our relationship with God transactional. If I do this, then I get that. God’s love is not for sale. Rather, it is freely given, and we are invited to receive it, to live from it, to live in it. Through Jesus, the Father has opened his house to us all. He has made his home among us, and we can have him dwell in us and we in him.