Las Lajas Cathedral in Ipiales, Colombia
H/T to Jungle Boy on Flickr
It's a beautiful day as I sit here in my office on N. Wintzell. The past three days have been good, as well as productive. Today I've been taking care of a few tasks around the office. The pictures are finally hung, so I guess I'm official. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend time visiting with a number of our folks, and I have to say that it's a great blessing to get to enjoy the company of God's people and to share their encouragement.
Saturday was a fun day for Suzanne and I, as I finally took the time to hang pictures around our house. Hanging pictures is not one of my favorite activities. Unfortunately, Suzanne and I have different views on how to hang pictures. Suzanne wants them to be hung correctly, while I just want them to be hung. Fortunately, I was conscientious of her desire, and I took the time to do the job properly. At the end of the day, I was amazed at the difference that a few pictures made in beautifying our home. Saturday, the pastorium at FBC Bayou La Batre underwent an amazing transformation, as it went from being our house to being our home. As I walk through the halls and I see pictures of my family, I know in my heart that this place is our home.
I'm proud of my wife. She's put a lot of work in over the past few weeks to setup our home the way that she wants it. She's done it without a lot of help from me. We take pride in our homes, don't we? The same thing is true of our spiritual homes. I'm blessed by the folks that I watch each week as they serve the Lord by taking care of the buildings and grounds of our church. The grass is mowed, the bushes are trimmed, the floors are vacuumed, and it's all thanks to folks who care about the beauty of our physical plant.
Over the past few weeks, and continuing through the next three weeks, we've been taking a look at what it means to be the church. We've found that the church is not a brick and mortar structure, but that it's the collection of God's people joined together for worship, community, and service. Last week, we looked at the words of Paul to the Ephesians in 2:19-22
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
I love the metaphor that Paul uses to describe the church when he says that we "grow into a holy temple in the Lord". What is the church like? It's like a building set aside for the presence of the Lord. From everything that we know about the temple in Jerusalem from Solomon's building through the efforts at restoration carried on by others, it was a beautiful building. We have meeting houses and auditoriums, but the temple was God's house.
If we had a building with no other purpose than to glorify God and to bring people nearer His presence, wouldn't we want it to be a beautiful place? Paul says that we are that building, "a dwelling place for God by the Spirit". How can the church be beautiful, not just in its physical structure, but in the activities of its people? My suspicion is that we are most beautiful when we best fulfill our purpose of glorifying God and bringing others into contact with Him. I believe that the church is beautiful when loving hands comfort a crying child in a nursery. I believe that the church is beautiful when a believer shares in the compassion of Christ by meeting the physical needs of his neighbor. I believe that the church is beautiful when a teenager finds out that there is an adult that will listen and doesn't brush aside their hurts and anguish. I believe that the church is beautiful when brothers and sisters in Christ gather and say, "We'll see you again soon" to a friend who is saying goodbye to this life. The church is beautiful when a Sunday School teacher tells children about God's unfailing love towards His people through the stories of men and women like Joseph, Daniel, Rahab, and Nehemiah. The church is beautiful when one of its members tells a coworker about the hope that he has in Christ. The church is beautiful when we celebrate the birth of a new little one that we will nourish and raise in the knowledge of the Lord. The church is beautiful when we celebrate new life in Christ as we watch a believer unite with us through the waters of baptism. The church is beautiful when a man and woman unite their lives in holy matrimony. The church is beautiful when we sit down together with the bread and the cup and we "do this, in remembrance of me".
There are so many ways that God's temple displays a beauty that will point to its true source. What about you, church? Is God's beauty on display in you? What part do you play as a part of His temple, the dwelling place for His spirit? That's the question I'm asking myself today.
And that's my view from N. Wintzell,
Blessings,
Clint
Well said Clint
ReplyDeleteJarra