Holy Place, Holy People

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You always climb up to holy places.

The sacred places in time would be reduced to one sacred place: the sanctuary. . And this tent will have a permanent place when the get to the promised land. There they will worship. Deu. 16:2, 5-6, 16.

So eventually, the temple was build. King David’s son, Solomon, would build it. The temple became the one sacred place where God’s people were to worship. Suddenly, priests and prophets cried out. “Tear down your altars in high places. God is here among us. Not there.

But the temple would disappear. Razed to the ground by the Roman army in 70 AD. All that remains is the wailing wall in Jerusalem. The temple has been gone for over 2000 years. Yet its legacy of reverence for sacred place remains. So much so that we call this place sanctuary.

2. Sacred Heart

But our passion for sacred place can go overboard. The absence of the sanctuary and the temple forces us to re-think what sacred place is. Sacred place is something physical. A place. This is sacred place. Therefore, reverence this place. No eating in this place. No breathing in this place. No little read wagons in this place. No laughing in this place.

But what is this place?

Sacred place is no longer primarily a physical place. Sacred place is primarily a spiritual place. And that place is your heart. . The believer’s heart is the place of worship. What happens in this place is far more important than what happens here. In the imperfections, mistakes, awkwardness of our worship service. Come to think of it, the special music could have been sung out of tune. The sermon could have been a flop. A total bore. If in your deepest of hearts you have found your sacred place, what does it matter? Perhaps this is why the Lord praised Andrew who in the quietness of his spirit, oblivious to the world around him, worshiped God in spirit and in truth under a fig tree. .

In your passion for sacred place, worship God, not the place. Worship God, not the worship service. Worship God, not yourself. Your preference. Your ideas. Your fears. Your comfort zone. Then you are worshiping God in spirit and in truth.

3. Sacred People

Who else but the Lord Jesus himself would cause you to rethink your thinking about sacred place! And he goes further. Sacred place is not a building. It is a person. . Paul would later pick up on Jesus’ lead and extend this idea further. Sacred place is not just a person. Sacred place is a people. . This is revolutionary! For here, Paul tells you that God has a new dwelling place. Sacred place. It is not a physical place. Your individual heart is a sacred place, yes. But your heart is not the only sacred place. So is his heart. And his. And hers. God’s people!

When we come together in the name of Jesus Christ, there he is among us. And where he is, that place is sacred. It is the presence of God’s people in this building that makes this building sacred. Because it you that is holy. It is you God is interested in. Not this building. Not even our worship service. Without you, this place we call sanctuary is just a building.

Anyone ready to worship?