Human Temples

I am the pastor of a church with a building. It's a nice building -- not as grand as its predecessor downtown, but still a solid building. Buildings require maintenance and upkeep. They have to be heated and cooled. They can easily become an idol in and of themselves -- the focus of our attention.

We are studying the book of Acts, a document that has strong missional implications. Yesterday we looked at Acts 7, which is the account of Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin. Stephen is accused of blaspheming both the Law and the Temple -- the two signs of God's rule. In his "defense," Stephen certainly adds fuel to the fire, especially when he gets to the Temple, a building he seems to suggest wasn't exactly in God's design. Why, because God doesn't live in humanly built Temples. To buttress his position he turns to Isaiah 66:1-2.

Thus says the Lord:
Heaven is my throne
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is my resting-place?
All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things are mine, says the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look,
to the humble and contrite in spirit,
who trembles at my word. (Is. 66:1-2, NRSV)

The passage goes on to suggest that not only doesn't God dwell in human temples, God takes no delight in sacrificial offerings either.

When Acts is written the Jerusalem Temple lies in ruins -- its judgment seemingly complete. When Isaiah 66 is written, the people have only just come out of exile. Solomon's Temple has long been destroyed by the Babylonians -- and they either are beginning or are contemplating a replacement.

As I listen to these texts, I'm not sure about the application. I don't believe that on Sunday I should stand up in the pulpit and tell my congregation that as part of our stewardship campaign we should sell our property, put up a tent and become itinerants -- resident aliens if you please. But at the very minimum, this stands as a reminder that God is bigger than our buildings and that the ministry we are called to engage in requires that we think beyond the walls. The building itself may serve a purpose, but it is not an end in and of itself.

Ours is not a cathedral -- glass or otherwise. But it can easily become an idol rather than a means of doing ministry. It is that temptation that Stephen most surely warns us against.

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