Hey Alexa, Where is the Word? Community

Hey Alexa, Where is Zeus?

Just a few weeks ago, archaeologists in Egypt announced that they had discovered an ancient temple. That an ancient temple was found in Egypt wasn’t so surprising. After all, Egypt is one of the oldest cultures in the world. What was surprising was that the temple was dedicated to Zeus, the Greek god of the sky. It’s not often one finds a temple for a Greek god so far away from Greece. Zeus, apparently had fans far and wide. Zeus, of course, was the biggest god of them all in greek mythology, and in Bible times there were hundreds of temples to Zeus all over Greece. Most temples were built to be the home for a statue of Zeus, the most famous one at a temple in Olympia, Greece. The statue itself was an object of worship. It was supposed to have the power to bring order to life, especially through the weather and good harvest. Over time, the temples were destroyed either in war, fire, or earthquake. And the statue was destroyed with the building. The worship of Zeus died out, for the most part. No temple, no Zeus.

The Tabernacle

Israel’s temple had no statue. It’s God was present in a pillar cloud of fire. Heaven itself covered the earthly tabernacle and then temple. In the Old Testament, the temple was God’s house. God lived among his people visibly. You could see God residing in the temple from miles around.. the glory-cloud, which was his presence, was always over and inside the temple. We read the story in Exodus.. as God gives instructions to build the tabernacle, he says that the tabernacle’s purpose is so he can dwell among his people.

Exodus 29:42-46 “This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you. I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. And they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”

God isn’t a God who plans to be aloof. God doesn’t just wind up events like a top and just let it spin. God is personal. God is involved. He doesn’t exist in some unseen chamber away from his people. He says “I will meet with you.” Twice. And then twice says “I will dwell among” my people. That’s not a God who is unapproachable. That’s not a God who is inaccessible. He is having a tabernacle built so that he can live with his people.

He follows through on that promise.

Jesus, the Temple

This God lived among his people, alive, and speaking to them. Hundreds of years later, Jesus shows up. He is called Emmanuel, because God is with us, among us. Pretty soon a building is not needed. The presence of God on earth is no longer a pillar cloud in a temple, but he makes his home in a body. Jesus himself is the presence of God on earth. And just as Jesus is called the temple of God, so too his people.

Jesus’ people, the Temple

This passage in Ephesians is talking about God’s people as a temple. God’s church, is where Jesus resides.

We just finished reading a snapshot of The Table of Los Fresnos. Paul is saying a lot here. we’re only going to focus on one thing.

Ephesians 2:19-22 “So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”

Three phrases are used for the assembly that is gathering in Ephesus:

God’s Household

Holy Temple

God’s Dwelling

All three highlight God’s residence. Three different ways to talk about where God has decided to live. God’s house. Where God makes a home and dwells with his family. God’s temple, where He is visibly present among his people. God’s dwelling, where God can be found living with his people, residing with his people, as he promised he would. All three are part of God’s promise to come and live among his people.

As Pastor Nathan mentioned, this is Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church. Jesus came to reside among his people. Those people that are baptized that day become:

God’s Household

Holy Temple

God’s Dwelling

God makes good on his promise to dwell among his people. The tabernacle and temple of the Old Testament is a shadow of that Promise. It’s no longer a temple made with hands, but a living and breathing organism we call church.

What happens in the “Temple”?

It raises the question, though. What is it that His people are doing when He is among them?

That answer is found at Pentecost. The very first gathering of the church.

Four things that characterized this new gathering. We read it earlier:

Acts 2:41-42 “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”

Here are the four things that this new church, this new temple, is doing as they gathered together:

the apostles’ teaching

the fellowship

the breaking of bread

prayer

The very first characteristic is devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching. They focused on the Bible. The Bible is how they get to know the Jesus who lives among them.

The second characteristic is that they devoted themselves to the fellowship. They gathered. They didn’t isolate themselves. This passage later describes them meeting together every day of the week. Eating together. Doing life together. Sharing what they had with each other. “All the believers were together” this passage says. This is a new community coming together with a new identity and a new focus. They not only hear and study and teach the Bible together, they serve others together… sharing and caring for those who had needs.

The third characteristic is that they observed communion together… they were devoted to the “breaking of bread”, which is how the early Christians talked of the Lord’s Table or the Lord’s Supper. To get together to focus on the Word and to be with one another in a community was to feast at the Lord’s Table. To be at the Table was to belong to the community.

The fourth characteristic is prayer. This new community that gathered around the Word spent time talking to the very One in whom they had placed their faith. Prayer is simply talking to God, talking to Jesus about all of life… our concerns, our hurts, our blessings, all the good things that happen, our requests, our desires, letting Jesus know. And doing it together. As a gathering.

These four things became the mark of the community, the household of God, God’s dwelling place, the temple of God. Where Jesus is there will be a gathering, there will be the Word, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.

Jesus resides with us

This is the model and pattern for everything we do at the Table.

Jesus will be here. We know this because this is the temple where Jesus has promised to dwell among his people.

You want to know where Jesus is? Where Jesus will be, week in and week out? Right here.

Jesus is always with you. But he has also promised to be among his people in a special way when we gather together.

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.””

That’s a promise from Jesus to us. When we gather to provide forgiveness, which is the context of that verse, Jesus is here. He promised. He makes good on that promise week in and week out among his people.

When we are connected to Jesus, Jesus places us in a community, a community in which we continue to tell our story through the Word and through communion. In this community, we encourage each other and talk to God together through prayer. It is in this community we get to know Jesus better, a place where we find continually find grace and life and forgiveness of sins. A place of hope and rest.

Community is important. When life goes bad, it’s not good to be by yourself. We’ve been reminded quite often in the past couple of years how unsafe the world is. What do you think it means for Jesus to be Emmanuel, God with us? Jesus has the same skin you and I have. He is God, but he is also human. He knows, he cares, he lives here. Jesus resides here, in Word and Sacrament. As the Word is preached and as the Sacrament is received. But he says, “you gather, I’m there.” That means when we gather for Word and Sacrament, Jesus is already here. In a unique and different way than he is with you throughout the week.

This Table is to be an oasis. We talk a lot about mission. And we will talk more next week. But the world is a scary place. We come here to be reassured. To be welcomed. To be receive refreshment and nourishment from Jesus himself, because the world is a scary place. So Jesus shows up in the smiles, the coffee, the hugs, the encouraging words. We talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus for Los Fresnos. We’re also the hands and feet of Jesus for each other. It’s why I think the coffee and the donuts and the McDonalds are important. Do you know how much “community building” happens in the set up and tear down every week? Jesus shows up for us in so many ways when we are here on Sundays.

I don’t know what you think “church” is. I often say, “church” is not a building. The “church” is a community of people who come together to do these things… listen to and learn from the Bible, received life and forgiveness in communion, prayer with each other and serve others together. It’s all here. If we, as The Table are going to be what Jesus designed us to be, we will be teaching and preaching and learning the Word and receiving communion, and praying and serving… doing all of this together. As a community. And as we do this, Jesus is among us. Jesus is here. This is his home. His dwelling. Hey Alexa, where is Jesus? Jesus is right here, where his people gather in community.

Let’s Pray.

Jesus has promised to be with us and among us right here at this Table. Jesus came to live among us. Jesus came to die for his community. The Temple is where sacrifices were made. When Jesus came, he was the Temple’s last sacrifice. His body became the temple.. God’s presence for us on earth that mediates salvation for us. Right here in his broken body and shed blood, Jesus meets us to give us his life and salvation and remind us that he is here for us.