07 Oct 08 — Some thoughts about God's Sanctuary

I underestimated how long it was going to take to recover from strep, so my apologies for my silence last week. I hope to be back on a regular schedule resuming today. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Let’s ponder that other 3:16 for a few moments — the one we find in I Corinthians — a verse which is arguably just as important as the more well known verse in John. “Don’t you know that you are God’s Sanctuary and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” OK, what does this sanctuary look like? Scripture provides us several answers, from the Tabernacle / Tent of Meeting that was crafted during Moses’ time to the magnificence of the Second Temple in Jesus’ time. What ever example you choose to contemplate, we’re not dealing with a mud hut or a cookie cutter pre-fab (no offense intended to anyone living in an apartment or a double-wide). We’re dealing with a space and presence of awesome beauty and profound craftsmanship.

But as important as what it looks like — of the extraordinary beauty this text claims lives within us, there are also those things which the Temple contains which have moved in to our bodies as well. Consider what was in the Holy of Holies. First there is the very Ark itself with the tablets of the X Commandments in it. That means the moral center of the Universe lies within you — available anytime you want to visit. Consider that on top of the ark between the Cherubim is where God’s Mercy Seat rests. That is the source of your compassion and mercy. Think about the showbread, that represented the manna of the desert wanderings: God’s Sustenance and Provisioning is already within you. Think about the High Priest’s clothing — yes, they are a part of the Tabernacle / Temple / Sanctuary as well. The High Priest’s breastplate with its 12 precious stones was the breastplate of judgment. But that judgment no longer resides in an external authority but within us. We might consider that to be our conscience.

On the other hand we should be careful. When Jesus was crucified, the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple / Sanctuary was torn in two and the World was invited in. If we do not invite people into our hearts; if we do not give mercy and feel compassion, then we are stitching that veil back together again. And consider the “lamp stand” (or candle holder) that is beside the Ark. Remember what Jesus told one of the congregations in Revelation (2:1-7) which was in danger because they were suffering from love fatigue? The threat was that Jesus would remove their lamp stand. But that lamp stand is within you now.

A final thought. Our church sanctuaries run the gamut from the extraordinarily artistic to the bland. But all of us have at one time or another, in person or through photographs, seen sanctuaries of great beauty. If you are feeling blue or down, I would just ask you to remember that beauty and to know and understand that it is within you — because that is where God has chosen to live.