Sacred Space
Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, *
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
One day tells its tale to another, *
and one night imparts knowledge to another.
3 Although they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not heard,
4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, *
and their message to the ends of the world
Thus begins Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. Though they have no words or language, their sound has gone out into all the lands…
What a lovely image. The sky, the heavens, show us God’s handiwork. What does the sky and nature say to you?
We are told that God is all around us. And we know that we can look to nature and see God in creation. What does creation say to you? When was the last time you spent gazing at the sky and letting God speak to you?
If you ever have, which I am sure you have, you may been aware of a quietness that overcame you- you may have become aware of the sacredness of the sky and maybe felt like something bigger than you was around. Glancing at the sky can remind us of our smallness and help us to put ourselves in the place of things. Not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. (Romans 12:3)
God speaks to us through creation and quietness, and for many of us that is where we meet God. For others of us, the sacredness of this parish; this altar are places that we meet God. I think I met God this week on our lawn as a few of us did the Stations of the Cross. God shows up to us in sacred spaces. Spaces that are set apart, and God shows up in nature. God is all around us. It may just require us to be still enough to be aware.
I have been thinking a lot about sacred spaces recently. My friend, Rod Gordon’s parish burned to the ground on December 19th; St. Peter’s in Oak Grove. I met with some members of the congregation last Saturday for a listening session to help them process the loss of their sanctuary and to help them to formulate what things may be important to them as they begin to move forward. They have been meeting at Ingleside Winery on Sundays as a member of their congregation owns the winery and has graciously opened up the space for them on Sunday mornings. But it is no parish, and while they have seen an increase in attendance since they began to worship at the winery on Sundays - they miss their space. They miss their altar, and the sacredness of the candlesticks, and walking in the front doors of the sanctuary to prepare themselves for worship.
We have recently had some training for our lay Eucharistic ministers and I have attempted to stress to them the sacredness of the altar and communicate that the altar is set apart for a reason - we are communicating the sacredness of Christ and the holiness - the set-apartness - of this time and space where God meets man and we receive the Body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We take our liturgy and our altar space seriously. We wear robes and light candles to show dignity and respect for our Lord Christ. We have a space set apart. And we have objects that we set apart. There is meaning behind all of it.
This morning in John, Jesus goes into the Temple, makes a whip, and drives the money changers out.
The temple in Jerusalem is the quintessential sacred place. In ancient Israel it was thought to be the place where the special presence of God dwelled on earth. It’s name was the “House of Yahweh”. In the Old Testament there was the tabernacle, where the Spirit of God dwelled, and they moved the tabernacle from place to place, but now they had built a temple under the leadership of Solomon. Solomon said, “he built God a dwelling place, a home where God will live forever.”
The temple was the center of Israeli life, and because of its sacredness, the public only had access to its outer courts. The priests only had access to parts of it, and the innermost part - the holy of holies - was off limits to all but the chief priest and to him only one day a year. (You may remember this was where John the Baptist’s father was when he was struck mute and Zechariah was told Elizabeth would have a son and that they would call him John).
At festival times, pilgrims would come to Jerusalem to the temple to come close to the dwelling place of God and bring offerings, and hope to receive blessings.
In Jesus’ day, the temple was ripe for conflict. Many thought the entire temple establishment was corrupt. In the courts of the temple, people were making a living by selling animals for sacrifice. People would come from all over and then would need an animal to offer for sacrifice so they had taken to selling them there. You could also exchange your Roman coins or other coins for Jewish coins to pay the temple taxes.
Jesus makes a whip of cords and drives the animals out - he overturns the moneychanger’s tables. He says, “stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” This event is referred to as the ‘cleansing of the Temple’, for Jesus upsets what was happening in the Temple and makes it known that the things that had been happening were not okay.
But Jesus is doing something more than simply cleansing the temple. He is replacing it.
Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The authorities say, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ‘But Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body.’ (John 2:21) Jesus is saying that from now on, the dwelling place of God is to be found in his person.
The temple would be replaced. What the temple had been and represented in Israelite life, Christ himself would now be for the Christian community. By his death and resurrection he was going to become the focal point of God’s presence on earth. God’s presence would no longer be identified with an object or a place, but with a person.
Jesus Christ becomes the place where heaven and earth will meet. The cross will come to represent the place where the people can communicate with God; it is through the cross that we will be drawn nearer to God; in and through the Person of Christ, no longer in a building.
So it changes how we view sacred spaces. Jesus doesn’t regulate who has access to his holiness. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Everyone is invited into his holy presence. There are no places that are off limits with Jesus. It transforms how we know and experience the holy presence of God.
But we do try to honor and recognize the presence of Christ in our lives, and we set things apart to recognize this holiness - so things don’t just become everyday, that we don’t become lackadaisical and disrespectful. We stand to read the Gospel, for it is the Gospel of the Lord. We bow to the cross recognizing in the depths of our being what Christ did for us on the cross. We have specific ways we handle the body and blood of Christ each week in the Eucharist.
We recognize that the while God has opened up the sacred spaces - sacred spaces still remain. Places that are set apart and should be treated differently. Doesn’t mean that we believe the presence of God dwells only there; but we recognize and set apart some spaces for God to meet us. We enter these space quietly and with reverence to God.
Temples and sacred places still remain, but our bodies also have become the Temples of God as after Jesus death and resurrection, the Spirit was sent down and dwelt among us, embodying us. Our bodies have become the Temple of God.
I pray for St. Peter’s as they begin the arduous task of rebuilding their parish and the sacred space where they will worship. I pray for us as we continue to care for and support our sacred space. I pray for us as we embrace and acknowledge that each of our bodies has become the dwelling place of God.
And for all of us oh Lord, “let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight…,” Psalm 19:14.
Amen.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, *
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
One day tells its tale to another, *
and one night imparts knowledge to another.
3 Although they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not heard,
4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, *
and their message to the ends of the world
Thus begins Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. Though they have no words or language, their sound has gone out into all the lands…
What a lovely image. The sky, the heavens, show us God’s handiwork. What does the sky and nature say to you?
We are told that God is all around us. And we know that we can look to nature and see God in creation. What does creation say to you? When was the last time you spent gazing at the sky and letting God speak to you?
If you ever have, which I am sure you have, you may been aware of a quietness that overcame you- you may have become aware of the sacredness of the sky and maybe felt like something bigger than you was around. Glancing at the sky can remind us of our smallness and help us to put ourselves in the place of things. Not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. (Romans 12:3)
God speaks to us through creation and quietness, and for many of us that is where we meet God. For others of us, the sacredness of this parish; this altar are places that we meet God. I think I met God this week on our lawn as a few of us did the Stations of the Cross. God shows up to us in sacred spaces. Spaces that are set apart, and God shows up in nature. God is all around us. It may just require us to be still enough to be aware.
I have been thinking a lot about sacred spaces recently. My friend, Rod Gordon’s parish burned to the ground on December 19th; St. Peter’s in Oak Grove. I met with some members of the congregation last Saturday for a listening session to help them process the loss of their sanctuary and to help them to formulate what things may be important to them as they begin to move forward. They have been meeting at Ingleside Winery on Sundays as a member of their congregation owns the winery and has graciously opened up the space for them on Sunday mornings. But it is no parish, and while they have seen an increase in attendance since they began to worship at the winery on Sundays - they miss their space. They miss their altar, and the sacredness of the candlesticks, and walking in the front doors of the sanctuary to prepare themselves for worship.
We have recently had some training for our lay Eucharistic ministers and I have attempted to stress to them the sacredness of the altar and communicate that the altar is set apart for a reason - we are communicating the sacredness of Christ and the holiness - the set-apartness - of this time and space where God meets man and we receive the Body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We take our liturgy and our altar space seriously. We wear robes and light candles to show dignity and respect for our Lord Christ. We have a space set apart. And we have objects that we set apart. There is meaning behind all of it.
This morning in John, Jesus goes into the Temple, makes a whip, and drives the money changers out.
The temple in Jerusalem is the quintessential sacred place. In ancient Israel it was thought to be the place where the special presence of God dwelled on earth. It’s name was the “House of Yahweh”. In the Old Testament there was the tabernacle, where the Spirit of God dwelled, and they moved the tabernacle from place to place, but now they had built a temple under the leadership of Solomon. Solomon said, “he built God a dwelling place, a home where God will live forever.”
The temple was the center of Israeli life, and because of its sacredness, the public only had access to its outer courts. The priests only had access to parts of it, and the innermost part - the holy of holies - was off limits to all but the chief priest and to him only one day a year. (You may remember this was where John the Baptist’s father was when he was struck mute and Zechariah was told Elizabeth would have a son and that they would call him John).
At festival times, pilgrims would come to Jerusalem to the temple to come close to the dwelling place of God and bring offerings, and hope to receive blessings.
In Jesus’ day, the temple was ripe for conflict. Many thought the entire temple establishment was corrupt. In the courts of the temple, people were making a living by selling animals for sacrifice. People would come from all over and then would need an animal to offer for sacrifice so they had taken to selling them there. You could also exchange your Roman coins or other coins for Jewish coins to pay the temple taxes.
Jesus makes a whip of cords and drives the animals out - he overturns the moneychanger’s tables. He says, “stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” This event is referred to as the ‘cleansing of the Temple’, for Jesus upsets what was happening in the Temple and makes it known that the things that had been happening were not okay.
But Jesus is doing something more than simply cleansing the temple. He is replacing it.
Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The authorities say, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ‘But Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body.’ (John 2:21) Jesus is saying that from now on, the dwelling place of God is to be found in his person.
The temple would be replaced. What the temple had been and represented in Israelite life, Christ himself would now be for the Christian community. By his death and resurrection he was going to become the focal point of God’s presence on earth. God’s presence would no longer be identified with an object or a place, but with a person.
Jesus Christ becomes the place where heaven and earth will meet. The cross will come to represent the place where the people can communicate with God; it is through the cross that we will be drawn nearer to God; in and through the Person of Christ, no longer in a building.
So it changes how we view sacred spaces. Jesus doesn’t regulate who has access to his holiness. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Everyone is invited into his holy presence. There are no places that are off limits with Jesus. It transforms how we know and experience the holy presence of God.
But we do try to honor and recognize the presence of Christ in our lives, and we set things apart to recognize this holiness - so things don’t just become everyday, that we don’t become lackadaisical and disrespectful. We stand to read the Gospel, for it is the Gospel of the Lord. We bow to the cross recognizing in the depths of our being what Christ did for us on the cross. We have specific ways we handle the body and blood of Christ each week in the Eucharist.
We recognize that the while God has opened up the sacred spaces - sacred spaces still remain. Places that are set apart and should be treated differently. Doesn’t mean that we believe the presence of God dwells only there; but we recognize and set apart some spaces for God to meet us. We enter these space quietly and with reverence to God.
Temples and sacred places still remain, but our bodies also have become the Temples of God as after Jesus death and resurrection, the Spirit was sent down and dwelt among us, embodying us. Our bodies have become the Temple of God.
I pray for St. Peter’s as they begin the arduous task of rebuilding their parish and the sacred space where they will worship. I pray for us as we continue to care for and support our sacred space. I pray for us as we embrace and acknowledge that each of our bodies has become the dwelling place of God.
And for all of us oh Lord, “let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight…,” Psalm 19:14.
Amen.