Sacred

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Introduction

Introduction

Live long enough and do the same kinds of things and you start to notice patterns emerge in your life. One of those for me: every church I served as an associate staff member took on a building project. One renovation and 3 additions.
Pretty exciting to go through the process: vision, architect, decision making, fund raising, ground breaking, digging, foundation, building, inhabiting.
Vision
Architect drawings
TODAY: Story of building a church but not in the way we
think of it today.

Background

READ 1 CORINTHIANS 3:10-17
The church in Corinth, as it had in other places, started off meeting in the synagogue. Synagogues had a number of rabbi’s or teachers and traveling teachers were allowed to join in.
Hard line Jews seemed to always be around to stoke the opposition when Paul's missions became vibrant, successful.
They made him leave the synagogue. He went to the house of Justus, right next door, and this apparently became his new preaching base.
They were made up of primarily pagan worshipers; people who were dissatisfied with it finding themselves attracted to Judaism's morality and monotheism but repelled by its nationalism and ritual practices. They found Christianity a faith that satisfied.
All over the map socioeconomically.
Paul is writing to a church in the busy, proud, intellectual city of Corinth as usual, about a problem they have.
All over the map socioeconomically.
Hard line Jews seemed to always be around to stoke the opposition when Paul's missions became vibrant, successful.
They made him leave the synagogue. He went to the house of Justus, right next door, and this apparently became his new preaching base.
Master builder - director/commissioner of works
Pagan gods worship was the substance of their society
People made allegiances to their favorite
Similar to Today’s christian celebrity culture but worse
They couldn’t make a total break from this and the Church was in the world, as it had to be, but the substance of the world was in the Church.
In Corinth he lodged with Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who had been expelled from Rome by a decree of the Emperor Claudius (which most date in ad 49).
The Church was in the world, as it had to be, but the substance of the world was in the Church.
All over the map socioeconomically.
The
Paul was troubled by the ‘tendency on the part of some members to make the break with pagan society as indefinite as possible … The Church was in the world, as it had to be, but the substance of the world was in the Church.
Parties had been formed attaching themselves to the names of Paul, Apollos and Peter, and even that of Christ. Paul spent a lot of time dealing with this and clearly he regarded it as very serious.
A case of incest, but the church had not censured the offender. ‘They found it hard to hate the sensuality which in their earlier days they had regarded as divine.’
There was a quarrelsome spirit. Members had taken one another to court.
First and foremost 1 Corinthians is a letter directed at the reformation of conduct.
Not only does Paul deal with problems which have a way of recurring in other ages and regions; he gives us the principles on which to act. He deals with everyday problems ‘from a central point of view, and places everyday troubles in the light of eternity’.
HAD TO STOP.
What is great about Paul: He deals with everyday problems ‘from a central point of view, and places everyday troubles in the light of eternity’.

We’re Building

Radcliffe basement remodel
Every church building project had a point person: foreman, etc.
Here, metaphor not for a building, but a people.
Paul calls himself the Master builder
Architect
Supervisor of the work of building
One who laid the foundation for someone else to carry on the work of building
Build up/upon; builds - a work that he calls “grace” from the Lord.
Paul's work at Corinth is described as the grace God has given.

A Sacred Temple

Here, metaphor not for a building, but a people.

OT Temple

Temple - also means sanctuary.

Greek

There are two Greek words for ‘temple’, hieron, which includes all the temple precincts, and naos (used here) which denotes the shrine proper, the sanctuary. It points to the very presence of God. God's spirit lives in the Corinth believers.

A People, Not a Building

emple is singular, but you is plural; the reference is to the church
We are building you, the temple of God - Disciples
- body is temple of the Spirit within you...you have from God. Therefore, we are not our own.
Build the church and you will rarely get disciples. Build disciples and you will always get the church.
- body is temple of the Spirit within you...you have from God. Therefore, we are not our own.
Where God’s presence dwells
- body is temple of the Spirit within you...you have from God. Therefore, we are not our own.
1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
God has made his dwelling among us to be our God and us his people. As his temple, distinct, can't agree with worship of anything else (idols).
Where God’s presence
Because it is God’s temple anyone who fails to react rightly towards it is guilty of no light sin.
The seriousness of the divisions at Corinth is seen in the light of this understanding of the church.
God has made his dwelling among us to be our God and us his people. As his temple, WE ARE SACRE
We can’t agree with allegiance to or worship of anything or anyone else.
To engage in making divisions is to destroy the divine society.
- God has made his dwelling among us to be our God and us his people. As his temple, distinct, can't agree with worship of anything else (idols).

Foundation

The foundation of what Paul is building up in them
- the lives and faith of disciples and the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
Ephesians 2:20 ESV
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
Ephesians 2:20 ESV
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Cornerstone

- Christ is the cornerstone - the stone put in place at the outer corner of two intersecting walls and the apostles and prophets are the foundation.
Ephesians 2:20–21 ESV
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
What Paul says about laying the foundation and building on it - foundation and cornerstone are in place. We build (make more able) disciples who are being joined together, growing together into a holy temple.

OT Temple

- as we come to Jesus the living stone; rejected by men but chosen and precious; like that living stone, we are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offer ourselves to serve the Lord in ways that please him through Christ.

Partnership

We get to do this together!
We are partners in growing/building faith.
Each one has a part to play: Foundation laying (Jesus), building on the foundation, etc

Where His Presence Dwells

Humanity where God's spirit dwells is sacred; a temple.

Build Well

Protected

Build Well

Building a structure is a metaphor for creating a community of believers and to disciple.
The foundation has been laid, others have built on it -why we are here -

Graced to Build

The foundation has been laid - CHRIST and there can be no other
Others have been graced/empowered to built on it in building up disciples resulting in the church -why we are here.
AND SO ARE WE.
AND:
If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church you will rarely get disciples.
Mike Breen

Mike Breen
Others have been graced/empowered to built on it in building up disciples resulting in the church -why we are here.
AND SO ARE WE.
Grace gave Paul the power to lay the foundation and others the power to build disciples and therefore the church.

Quality Matters

Take care. Focus, comprehend.
3 critical components to quality discipleship and disciplemaking.

Training

Scottish discus thrower in the 19th c. He didn’t know the disc’s were made of wood with an iron outer rim. Made his own out of solid metal weighing 3-4x as much as those used by his competitors. He marked out the distance of the current record on a field and trained relentlessly to be able to match it. Trained for almost a year under the self-imposed burden of the extra weight. He became very good and could throw the iron discus farther than the record.
At his first competition he was given the official wooden discus and set a new record so far beyond that of his competitors that no one could touch him - for years.
Train under a great burden and you will be so far beyond the ret of the world you will be untouchable.
John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance
The quality of disciplemaking is in the training.

Materials

Gold, silver, marble…use the very best and costly materials.
Paul seems concerned simply with two kinds of material: the valuable, typified by gold, silver, costly stones, and the worthless, the wood, hay or straw. The workman may try to make the building as worthy of the foundation as possible. Or, in slovenly fashion, he may be content to put into it that which costs him little or nothing. Costly stones may be ‘precious stones’ used for ornamentation, or costly building materials, like marble.
What are they? YOU. Gems- precious stones that can be cut and polished.

The Workers

As the temple of the Spirit, we are co-laborers by grace with Christ in building up disciples as a community of believers on the foundation of the Kingdom's gospel previously laid by apostles and prophets.
Each one (hekastos) points to individual responsibility
It is true of every believer that he is building on the one foundation.
Takes skill, care, each person with various skills, roles
It is true of every believer that he is building on the one foundation.

The Test

Building inspections. Practice runs. Looking for something.

Fire

The test of the quality of the church that has been built has no practice run other than the small trials, fires we experience.
There will come a time of testing for all we build on the day when Christ returns.
Fire as judgment of our work in building up disciples
Reward for our work
Testing of our work
There will come a time of testing for all we build. The Day is not further defined, but clearly it is the day when Christ returns...
The picture is that of fire sweeping through a building. It consumes what is combustible, but leaves metal and stone. The quality of the work will be shown, for the Day will bring it to light, ‘show it in its true character’, ‘reveal it for what it is’. ‘the Day reveals itself (or, is revealed) in fire’ (cf. ); the present tense perhaps gives a greater sense of certainty.
If our work is useless, we will still be saved but only through fire.
The test in fire will determine whether or not a man will receive a ‘wage’ (misthos, see on v. 8; here it is the wage of the building worker whose work is approved; cf. ; ). All those considered here are saved, for they have built on the one foundation, Jesus Christ.
Even of the one whose work is burnt up it is said that he himself will be saved. The distinction is not between the lost and the saved, but among the saved between those who have built well and those who have built poorly. He will suffer loss means he will lose his wage, a workman fined for poor workmanship.
If what we (the community of believers have built on the foundation of Christ has survived and thrived, there will be a reward. If not, we will still be saved.
- God laid the foundation of Christ who was tested.

How to Thrive: Living Sacred

Paul brings out the sacredness of the community of believers by likening the building to a temple in which God dwells.
See ourselves as sacred?
There is an intimacy to sacredness (I will dwell within you). It calls to us through our heart, whispers to us, invites us in our relationships, reaches out to us through the touch of loved ones. This intimacy is is present in times of suffering. We cannot hear God’s voice if we have lost touch with our heart.
John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance

Filled with the Spirit

- Jesus promised
As Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure from earth, he reassured them with the promise that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to be with them and within them ().
Through the Spirit’s indwelling, the Father and the Son would also “make our home within them” ().
The greatest gift Christ could offer was not just the promise of spiritual gifts or spiritual fruit but the promise of the very person of the Spirit within them.
This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost (), when the Spirit publicly fell upon God’s people and supernaturally endowed the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.
God’s people no longer need to visit the temple in order to encounter his presence or stand in the sacred realm of the Spirit. Rather, we have become God’s holy dwelling place where he has come near, shares in our lives AND INVITES US TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COMMUNITY LIFE THAT IS GOD: FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT - a sacred place.
You have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Expect no less.
Jon Sterns
The Holy Spirit is not a performance-enhancing drug for Olympic Christians. He is essential to any real Christianity.
We are being built and are to build.
Ray Ortlund
The Holy Spirit in the church is the sign of Christ's present power and glory.
If we’re not careful we can spend our lives justifying why God’s power is not seen in our lives.
Frances Chan

Protected

Anyone tries to destroy you, they will be destroyed.
Because self is no longer our God, safety is no longer our concern.
David Platt
NO FEAR. Get into the game

Holy

- And each one of us are like living stones being built up as a spiritual house, holy priesthood, to serve God.
We lack understanding that the community as a temple is continually being built and that we are all participants as builders.
THIS IS HOLINESS: To be built up and to build up disciples.
The church is only as good as her disciples and to say we are disciples of Jesus means we are disciple makers.
Matt Carter
Discipleship is what happens to us so that others can be alerted to the fact that our God reigns.
Michael Frost
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