The Glory of the Temple | A Sermon on 1 Kings 6

Introduction
Last week, we learned about the Tabernacle—the place the ancient Hebrews worshiped God.  Since the Hebrew slaves who left Egypt lived in tents as they wandered through the wilderness, God chose to live in a tent too.  He Instructed the Israelites to build the Tabernacle Tent.  The Israelites worshipped God in the Tabernacle for 480 years.

However, after the Israelites established their kingdom in Israel and were all living in homes, God instructed King Solomon to build a house of worship, the Temple, in Jerusalem.  Today, I hope to express to you the glory of Solomon’s Temple, not to exalt the Temple, but to show how the glory of the Temple exalts the glory and holiness of God.  I want us to remember that the God we worship is the same holy and glorious God.  And I want us to reflect on how we honor God in our own worship space here at Pleasant Grove.

Have you ever had construction work done in your home or where you work?  A few years ago, we had a waterline break in our kitchen while we were out of town for Thanksgiving weekend.  We returned to a home in need of serious repair.  Our homeowner's insurance covered most of the cost.  However, it took several months to renovate all the damage.  In the meantime, our normally quite home was inundated with the sounds of dehumidifiers, hammers, drills, and all kinds of construction.  It was a very noisy affair.

You might imagine the construction of God’s Temple in Jerusalem was a noisy affair too.  But the Israelites revered God so much they even took care to build His Temple in a holy manner.  1 Kings 6:7 says, “The stones used in the construction of the Temple were finished at the quarry, so there was no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool at the building site.”  This gives us a sense of how sacred the ancient Israelites treated the building of God’s Temple.

The Temple
Based on 1 Kings 6:1-10. it took 7 years for Solomon to build the Temple for the Lord.  The inner proportions were 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high—about the size of a modern basketball court and as tall as a 9 story building.  It featured an entry room across the front, narrow recessed windows, and a three-story complex of rooms along the sides and rear.  The structure was built with finished stones and cedar beams and planks were used for the ceiling.

1 Kings 6:11-13
¹¹ Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: ¹² “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David.  ¹³ I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.”

The Interior
Based on 1 Kings 6:14-38, the interior of Solomon's Temple was a magnificent testament to divine glory and unparalleled expense, akin to a multi-billion-dollar construction today.  23 tons of gold were used in the Temple, (a cube of solid gold 4.5’x4.5’x4.5’), worth about $63 million.  The Temple was entirely paneled with the finest cedar wood, symbolizing life and vitality, while the floors were made of high-quality cypress, equivalent to using premium hardwood flooring throughout.  The Most Holy Place, a perfect cube 30 feet in each dimension, was overlaid with solid gold—comparable to millions of dollars in gold leaf—emphasizing the pure holiness of God’s presence.  The walls were adorned with intricate carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, all gilded with gold, evoking the lush imagery of the Garden of Eden, where God’s presence first dwelled in harmony with creation.  Inside the sanctuary, massive cherubim, each 15 feet tall with wings spanning 15 feet across, were covered in gold, reminiscent of the cherubim guarding Eden.  The lavish use of gold and symbols from the Garden of Eden underscored not only the Temple’s sacredness but also its role as a new Eden, a place where heaven and earth converged in divine splendor.  And of course, the Ark of the Covenant, gilded in gold and symbolizing the throne of God on earth, now resided in the Holy of Holies in the inner Temple.

The Holiness of God
The extravagance and detailed craftsmanship of the Temple furnishings reflect the holiness and majesty of God, who is worthy of the highest honor and reverence.  This is beautifully echoed in 1 Chronicles 29:11, where King David declares, "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours."  The gold, precious stones, and intricate designs of the Temple were not merely for show; they were physical expressions of worship, meant to honor a God who is infinitely glorious.  Just as the Temple was adorned with the finest materials, so too are we called to offer our best—whether in our actions, our worship, or our devotion—recognizing that God is deserving of all we can give and more.  Is the way you worship God really your best? 

Dedication and Worship
The effort and resources dedicated to building and adorning the Temple demonstrate the importance of worshiping God with our best, symbolizing our deep respect and adoration for Him.  This principle is reflected in Malachi 1:8, where God reproves the Israelites for offering blemished sacrifices, asking, "When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong?  When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?  Try offering them to your governor!  Would he be pleased with you?  Would he accept you?"  Just as the Israelites were called to offer their best to God in their sacrifices, the lavish care and resources poured into the Temple’s construction highlight that worship should be marked by excellence and reverence.  Our offerings to God—whether in time, resources, or devotion—should reflect the highest honor, as they symbolize our profound respect and love for Him.  Are you really giving God your best?

Christian Believers Are Now God's Temple
Transitioning to the New Testament, passages like 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 1 Peter 2:4-5 emphasize that believers are now the temple of God, housing His Spirit and called to live holy lives.  In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul writes, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple."  Similarly, 1 Peter 2:4-5 calls believers "living stones" being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  These passages reveal the profound truth that, as the New Testament Temple, our lives must reflect the holiness and purity worthy of God's indwelling presence, with our actions and character being offerings of worship to Him.  Is the way you live for God really your best?

Worshipping God with a Shoestring Budget
The extravagant way the ancient Israelites built their Temple and then worshipped God convicts me, because I don’t feel like we honor God that way today.  We don’t really give God our best.
This is something that’s really convicted me lately. 
Today, we worship God on shoestring budget.

Let me tell you something about the way I grew up and how it molded my personality.  I grew up poor.  We didn’t have much and had to make do with what we had.  After my father left my mom alone to raise 4 kids on her own, things got even tighter.  There was a time my mom sent me into our backyard with an ax to chop up old furniture to use for firewood to heat our home, because that’s all the heat we had that winter.  And if something broke—like my bicycle—I would scrabble together parts from other old bikes that were laying around just to fix mine.  I knew my mom couldn’t but me a new bike or even buy parts to fix my broken bike.  So, all my upbringing, I learned to make do with what I had.  I learned to do things as cheap as possible and operate on a shoestring budget and to do all the work myself.

And that has served me well as a pastor in our world, because churches in our modern world always struggle to be fully and properly funded.  Churches don’t have what they really need.  So, for example, when the TV display unit hanging high up on our sanctuary wall stopped working back in 2017, we didn’t pay someone to come install a new one.  No, instead, I rented a scissor lift, and I borrowed a trailer from Tom Sosebee to go pick it up.  Then I enlisted my 18-year-old son, Gavin, to help me install a new TV.  By doing it all ourselves, we probably saved a few hundred bucks.  But I’ll be honest, it scared the crap out of me.  After finishing the job, TW said, “Chris, why didn’t you just pay someone to do it?”  To be honest, the thought never even crossed my mind.  This is the church.  We don’t have money to just “pay someone” to do stuff.  We always have to figure out what’s the absolute cheapest way we can do something.  At least that’s the way I’ve always thought about it.  And I suspect that’s the way most people in the church think about it.  And it effects everything about the way we do ministry.

When it comes to the staff of our church, we always say, “We can’t pay our staff what they’re worth, only what we can afford.”  That's just the reality of our situation with the budget we have.  And so we ask our staff to work for less than what they deserve to be paid.  And I’ve come to believe it’s a sin what we are doing.  Because it’s a lie.  We can afford to pay our staff a proper wage, but it would require everyone in our church to change and be fully committed to worship God with our very best, give God our very best, and live for God with our very best.

A Call to Honor God with Our Very Best
Brothers and sisters, we've walked through the history of the Temple, understanding the immense effort, resources, and reverence that went into its construction.  The ancient Israelites spared no expense, offering their very best to God because they understood that God is worthy of nothing less.  The Temple wasn't just a building; it was a symbol of their deep devotion, a reflection of their understanding that worshiping God required the utmost excellence and reverence.

But here’s the question we need to ask ourselves: Are we offering our very best to God today?

It’s easy to fall into the mindset that we must operate on a shoestring budget, that we must scrimp and save and do things as cheaply as possible.  But when we do that, we risk losing sight of something crucial: that our God is not a God of the leftovers.  He is a God of glory, majesty, and holiness, deserving of the highest honor.

In Malachi 1:8, God challenges the Israelites, saying, "When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong?  When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?”  This scripture hits home for us today.  Are we giving God the blind and the lame of our resources, our time, and our talents, or are we giving Him our very best?

Our church, this house of worship, is not just a building.  It’s the place where we come together as a community to honor God, to worship Him, to be in His presence.  It’s a reflection of our devotion, our love, and our respect for Him.  And if we truly believe that God is as holy and glorious as we say He is, then our actions, our service, and our giving should reflect that belief.

So, I challenge you to change today:  Let’s change our attitude about how we support the work of the church.  Let’s stop thinking of it in terms of what we can afford or what’s the cheapest way to get by.  Instead, let’s start thinking about what honors God the most.  Let’s commit to offering our very best in every aspect of our lives—our time, our talents, our resources.

Imagine what could happen if each of us gave God our best.  Imagine how our church could thrive, how our ministry could expand, how we could reach more people for Christ if we all committed to worshiping God with excellence.  It’s not just about money; it’s about the attitude of our hearts.  It’s about recognizing that everything we have comes from God and that He is worthy of our best.  Let’s honor God the way the ancient Israelites did—with reverence, with excellence, and with our very best.

Invitation
As we move toward rededicating our church as Holy Ground on August 25th, let this be a time of personal rededication as well.  Reflect on how you can give God your best—whether it's through your service, your giving, or your devotion.  If you’ve been holding back, now is the time to fully commit.  If you’ve been giving out of convenience rather than sacrifice, now is the time to change that.  Let’s pray together, asking God to help us honor Him with all that we are and all that we have.  And if you feel led to take a step of faith—whether it’s committing your life to Christ, dedicating your talents to His service, or simply choosing to live more fully for Him, I invite you to pray to God about it today and then talk to someone:  a pastor, a spiritual advisor, or a trust Christian friend.

Christians Practice Spiritual Disciplines. Amen!

Introduction
The Bible is the Word of God and contains everything necessary and sufficient for our salvation.  The Bible teaches that Jesus Saves us from sin when we have faith.  The Bible also teaches that faith without good deeds is dead. Today, I want to explain some of the spiritual disciplines the Bible teaches Christians to practice.

1 Timothy 4:7-8
⁷ Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ⁸ “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

Explanation
First of all, this Scripture warns Christians: “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales.”  The Bible is a fascinating book full of intriguing stories.  There are a lot of things that are hard to understand.  There are even many things that have caused people to scratch their head and speculate what the original writers meant.  There are stories about giants and even angels having intercourse with the daughters of the earth.  We wonder:  How did Noah fit all those animals on the Ark? Could Jonah really survive living in the stomach of a giant fish for three days?  These are interesting ideas that capture our imaginations and people love to speculate on them.

However, a quote often attributed to Mark Twain says, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”  It may be “fun” to speculate about the intriguing parts of the Bible, but Paul writes to Timothy (and us), “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales.  Instead, train yourself to be godly.”

Living a godly life takes work.  It’s hard enough work that we don’t need to waste our time on unfruitful speculations.  Paul writes:  “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

We all know the benefits of exercise.  In our comfortable and prosperous world, we eat too much and don’t exercise enough.  This leads to all kinds of health problems.  People who exercise regularly, tend to be healthier, happier, more energetic, and productive.  We know the physical benefits of exercise.

But Paul says, “training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”  No matter how much we exercise, our physical bodies are eventually going to wear out and die.  This Ash Wednesday we remembered how our physical bodies will be buried and return to dust: “Remember, you came from dust and to dust you shall return.  Repent and believe in the Gospel!”  We will be given new and perfect bodies for eternal life.   The gains of physical exercise are for this temporary lifetime, but the gains of spiritual exercise are for eternity.

Spiritual Disciplines
Spiritual disciplines are spiritual exercises found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth and health.  Just as physical exercise develops your body and muscles, spiritual disciplines develop your spirit so you become more like Christ.  Spiritual disciplines nurture the growth God wants to give us. 

It is not enough to know about the spiritual disciplines.  We must actually practice them in order to experience the benefits God wants us to have.  There are many spiritual disciplines, but I want to mention just seven for your today, and challenge you to practice them between now and Easter.

First, there is prayer.  Prayer the most basic element of Christian living.  Prayer is like breathing for the Christian.  Some people say, praying is talking to God, but it is even more basic than that.  Last night, Kelly and I went to see the movie “The Jesus Revolution.” It’s a wonderful movie.  Of course, we didn’t talk during the movie.  That would be rude.  We sat and held hands and watched the movie together.  Even though no words were spoken, we chose to be together.

Prayer can be like that. Prayer is spending time with God.  There are many different ways to pray.  You can ask God for help for yourself or people you care about.  Other times, prayer is just sitting quietly with God on purpose.  Sometimes prayer is listening to God while you read Scripture.  Sometimes prayer is writing a prayer or reading someone else’s prayer or even reciting a prayer you have memorized—like the Lord’s Prayer.  Whatever way you pray, you should pray.  It is the most important Spiritual Exercise for Christians.  Prayer is an essential part of all the other spiritual disciplines.

Another spiritual discipline is fasting.  Fasting is voluntarily giving up food (or something else) for a time as a way to humble yourself before God. Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life. Most often, fasting is associated with going without food.  (Jesus fasted for 40 days before he officially began his earthly ministry.)  Many Christians give up something for Lent—like chocolate or coffee.  Fasting could also be giving up TV or social media or something else for a time.  Anything you give up is meant to help you focus more on God and less on yourself.  Fasting and prayer go together.  Fasting amplifies your prayers.  It turns every fiber of your being into a prayer.  As you long for the thing you are without, your longing becomes an unconscious prayer of longing for God.

Next to prayer, study is one of the most essential ways the Holy Spirit changes us.  Our mind is the center of our thoughts and our thoughts lead to our actions.  When we study the Holy Bible, we allow God to transform our minds.  The Bible is the Living Word of God.  If you want to hear God’s voice—the Voice that gives Life—you must study the Bible.  Study can also include reading other books, attending classes, or other forms of study.  All these can be beneficial.  However, studying the Bible is the most essential form of study.

Human beings were designed to worship.  Worship means to show reverence and adoration for God.  It centers on God, not ourselves or our feelings or our own particular preferences.  When we worship God, we point our spirit toward God in worship, we begin to see, hear, feel, and experience God at a deeper level.  We must worship in spirit (heartfelt, intimate closeness, and submission to God) and in truth (based on right understanding).  Worship works best when we prepare properly.  If you expect to get the most out of Sunday morning worship, be sure to get enough seep the night before and prepare for worship on Sunday morning by praying on Sunday morning before worship for God to make worship meaningful.  Come hungry for the Lord and with the expectation that something important will happen.

Christian meditation is listening for God’s voice so we can obey His Word.  In meditation, we use our imagination to spend time with God in the Scripture.  We look for God to come to us and fill our minds with His feelings, His ideas, and His insights and welcome Him to transform our wills.  We are not so much searching for God as letting Him find us as we watch, listen, and wait patiently.  Often it is helpful to read a passage from the Bible, pray for God to speak to you through it, and then just meditate on the passage for a time, letting God speak to you.

One of my favorite spiritual disciplines is solitude.  To practice solitude is to step away from the world for a little while to focus on interacting only with God.  You silence the inner turmoil of your anxious mind and cease striving to control people and situations by your own force of will.  You learn to trust God to work things out according to His plan and His timing.  For introverts like me, it doesn't take much convincing to get us to seek alone time.  We need it!  But when you are alone, make sure to intentionally focus on God's presence with your.  If you are an extrovert who loves to be with people, being alone can be way out of your comfort zone.  But I encourage you to try it regularly.  It may be even more important for you to get away from people occasionally and to only rely on God's presence to to fill you.

Service is helping others.  Jesus said in Matthew 23:11, “The greatest among you must be a servant.”  Service is a spiritual discipline that is good for both you and for others.  Service is really about recognizing we are servants.  We let go of our right to choose who and how we will serve.  Instead, we learn humility as we shift our focus from ourselves and onto others.   This is the main way Jesus taught his Disciples in the Bible.  Instead of sending them off to Bible college to get trained, Jesus gave them on the job training.  And He wants to do the same for you.  You may not feel qualified to serve.  But Jesus may invite you to serve anyway.  He will teach and equip you to serve as you serve.  You have to trust Him and answer the call when He asks you to serve--even if you don't feel ready.

I Challenge You to Practice Spiritual Disciplines
I’ve been giving you challenges throughout this series.  First, I challenged you to read Genesis and Matthew before Easter arrives.  Then, I said focus on one category of good deeds (see the list here).  Today, I challenge you to practice these 7 spiritual disciplines.  There are 42 days until Easter. Let’s get busy.

Creation: Day 7 - Rest

Introduction
The world we live in is breathtaking and complex. The artistic genius of it points to Something/Someone higher, greater, more wonderful than we can even imagine. How did it all come to be? Was it merely an accident or does nature’s harmony point to a Higher Power? The creation story in Genesis is full of deep spiritual truths that help us understand the character of God and our purpose for being. Today, we learn how important it is to take time to rest and reflect and worship the great Creator.

Genesis 2:1-3

1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

On the Seventh Day, God Rested.

We live in a hectic world that values productivity.  Rise early, work hard all day.  Get off work and go to one or two or even three extra activities before you go to bed too late at night.  Studies show that 60% of Americans don’t get enough sleep.  Lack of sleep increases the risk of being overweight, heart disease, and breast cancer in women. It also leads to more car accidents and medical errors.  Yet we have too much living to do to get more sleep.

It is not just a lack of sleep that plagues us.  There is also a lack of resting—a time when we just refrain from working.  Studies show that 1/3 of Americans don’t take vacation time even when their jobs offer it.  Often this is because they feel pressure not to—either pressure from their bosses or pressure they put on themselves.  When people do take a vacation, they rarely use the time to “rest.”  Instead, they opt to fill the time with numerous activities.  How many of you have gotten home from a vacation and thought, “I need a vacation from my vacation!”?

In our busy world, the idea that God rested and that He made “resting” a Holy commandment may seem alien.  Yet rest is essential to healthy living. 

God did not design us to be machines that work nonstop.  God wants us to take time to “Be still and know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10).  When we pause from our labors and other distractions, we have time to remember who we are and who God is and to just enjoy life.  When we do not rest, we are less human than God wants us to be.

The very first thing God calls “holy” in the Bible is the Sabbath rest.  A weekly day of rest was so essential that it became one of the most important religious laws in the Bible.  It was a day that God ordered teachers and priests and prophets to defend again and again.  We also see that when God’s people did not keep the Sabbath, they suffered or were punished.

Mark 2:27

In Mark 2:27, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”  This is a reminder not to let religious devotion to the Sabbath outweigh common sense or common decency.  However, Jesus’ words also remind us that the Sabbath is an incredible gift God has given us—something we need.  Jesus observed the weekly Sabbath all his life.  The Bible tells us it was his custom to worship God in the synagogue each week.

God created the Sabbath for rest and worship.

Work is important.  But working too much can be a way for us to cover up and hide from things.  People—known as workaholics—use work as an escape the same way alcoholics or drug addicts use substances to escape from reality.  When we rest, we sometimes must confront things we might rather have left uncovered—things that need to be confronted.  So we must rest and worship.

Worship is the adoration of God.  It is when we pause to recognize the wonder of God and His goodness and express our gratitude to Him.  Proper worship humbles us, reminding us of our proper place in Creation.  It also opens us up to the voice of God who reveals where we need to change or grow.  At the same time, worship lifts us up as we recognize we are unconditionally loved by an incredible God.  

We were designed to worship God.  It is such an integral part of our DNA, that we cannot avoid it.  Every society that has existed since the world began has had some notion of God and has sought to worship Him.  This fact testifies to both the reality of God’s existence and the innate desire within humanity to worship God.  How else would so many different kinds of people from so many different backgrounds who never spoke to each other to share ideas, all reach such similar conclusions?

Some people—especially in our modern times when we place more value in science than religious traditions—have chosen not to worship God.  Yet we see that even these people worship some kind of “god.”  Perhaps they worship people they admire or things they can acquire.  They may worship an ideology or even themselves, but they cannot avoid worshiping something.  Because of the way God made us, we must worship just like we must breathe.  The question is not “Will you worship?”  The question is “Who or what will you worship?”

Jesus came to help us worship the One True God.

He shows us what God is really like.  Before Christ, humanity was limited in their understanding of God.   We only knew about God from the religious scriptures or from the stories others told.  God recognized that because of our sin, we were no longer able to recognize His voice and worship Him in His fullness.  So God decided to come to earth to live among us.  God was born as the baby Jesus.  He grew up under the supervision of a mother and father.  He learned how to live, suffered the same temptations and disappointments we face, and was obedient to the very laws He created.  Ultimately, Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins that keep us from worshiping God.  

And so now, through Jesus Christ, we can turn away from our sins of error and sins of willful disobedience and come to worship God.  Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heaven burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Conclusion

Are you weary from carrying heavy burdens?  Are you working yourself to death trying to do too much?  Are you weighed down with the burdens of grief, guilt, worry, stress, loneliness, disappointments, shame, or anxiety?  The grace of God through Jesus Christ calls to you: “Come, and I will give you rest.”  Jesus wants to forgive you, to wash away all your sin sickness, and give you a brand new life.  Jesus wants you to use your time reasonably.  He wants you to work, but Jesus also wants you to take time to rest and worship and enjoy the amazing life God created in you and all around you.  So what’s stopping you?

Singing to God

I get it.  I know how you feel.  Worship online is just not the same as being in a congregation full of people singing praises to God with all their hearts.  Yet, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that's what many need to do in order to be safe and to keep others safe as well.  So, we sit on our couches and look at the computer screens and we watch church.

One of the hardest parts of online worship is the singing.  When you are at church with a group of people, the singing just feels more natural. Your voice blends with the chorus of everyone else.  Together, you are a congregation praising God and it doesn't matter so much how your individual voice sounds.  Unfortunately, when you are staring at a computer screen in your home for online worship, it just feels flat and awkward to sing.  You feel alone and exposed singing all by yourself--even if your family is in the room with you.  That's not easy for most people.

It's ok to feel a little awkward, but I encourage you to sing anyway.

Here's the thing.  You aren't singing alone.  Even if you are not physically present with other people, you are still worshipping with them.  Whether the other people are on the stage at your church leading worship or in the sanctuary congregation singing or even sitting on their own couch in their own home, you are still singing with them.  The act of worship binds our spirits together--even if we aren't in the same location.  This might seem awkward at first, but mainly because we aren't used to it.  

One of the sweetest memories from my early childhood was listening to my Grandma sing and hum church hymns as she cleaned or cooked in the kitchen.  Her voice wasn't exceptional and she wasn't singing for anyone else.  The hymns simply brought joy to her heart as she worked.  She didn't mind singing all by herself.  Why should I?

Many people enjoy singing in the shower or in their car while they are alone.  It's a great stress reliever.  However, when we sing as we worship God, we are not alone.  We are singing along with our brothers and sisters in Christ wherever they are.

The idea that our spirits are united through worship--even if we are not physically present together--has always been the belief of the Christian Church.  For example, when we recite the Apostles' Creed, we affirm, "I believe in... the communion of saints..."  The communion of saints is the fellowship of all Christian believers--both those who are still living in this world and those who have gone on to live with Christ in eternity.  

Hebrews 12:1 famously says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."  That "great cloud of witnesses" is the gathered saints who have gone before us.  As we worship, they are gathered with us.  

I get it.  It still feels awkward to be in your living room by yourself singing to a computer screen in online worship.  But if we try, perhaps we can use our imagination to recognize a great spiritual truth.  You are not singing alone.  You are singing along with everyone else who is worshipping Jesus--regardless of where they are.  Furthermore, you are also singing with the saints in glory standing around the throne of God, lifting up their voices with the angels to the One who made us all.  

You are not singing to an image on a screen or even a minister on a stage.  You are singing to the One who died on a cross and rose from the grave to save you.  Your voice--yes even your voice--makes Him smile.  He loves the beautiful sound of your voice as you worship Him from a sincere heart in song!

So don't hold back.  Don't be ashamed.  Sing like no one is watching.  Sing with all your heart!  If you can sing in the shower or in your car, you can sing your heart out for the One who gave you a voice.  Sing (and even dance) like David as he unashamedly brought the Ark into Jerusalem, for you are singing to the only One who is worthy of our worship and praise.

Ekklesia 3 - Called out of the World

Introduction

I’ve felt like an outsider almost my whole life.  I never had any resentment about it—it was just the reality for our family when I was a kid.  My parents were both born in Georgia but met and married in Maryland.  So, I began my life as an outsider in Maryland, a child of two outsiders from Georgia.  Eventually, we moved away from Maryland back to Georgia.  In Georgia, I felt even more like an outsider.  In Maryland, kids teased me because I had a southern accent.  (I guess I picked it up from my parents.)  When we moved to Georgia, kids at school said I talked like a Yankee.  Some of the kids in my school in Macon had such thick southern accents, I couldn’t understand what they were saying! 

In all, I attended five different elementary schools and, each time, it reinforced the fact that I was an outsider—the new kid on the outside of a circle of friends.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.  It was just the way it was and I didn’t know any better and didn’t resent it.

 

Then, after high school, I moved to Marietta to attend college.  Metro Atlanta was very different from Macon, and again, I felt like an outsider among people who had lived in the Atlanta area their whole lives.  They would talk about the different towns and roads and places assuming everyone knew where they were—and most everyone did (accept me, the outsider).  But that was OK, because by then I knew how to make it as an outsider—a stranger in a foreign land, as they say. 

After college, I worked for a small textile mill in Griffin—a small town where everybody knew everybody and everyone in the mill knew everybody else, and probably had for their whole life.  Except for me, of course; I was the outsider—that new college kid who thought he was smarter than everyone else. (That was their opinion, not mine, by the way.  I deeply respected their vast experience and just wanted to learn from them. I didn’t think I was better than anyone, but some perceived me that way simply because I had a college degree.)

And then I answered the call to ministry as a United Methodist minister.  And guess what?  United Methodist ministers are reappointed to new churches every so many years (the average is about 5 years in each congregation)!  So all together, I’ve lived in twelve different homes in my life and I have attended 10 different churches.

Now, the more I have matured in my Christian faith, the more I see the benefit of my life as an outsider, because one of the great truths is Jesus came to call Christians to be “outsiders” in this world.

John 15:18-19

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.

Called Out of this World

As we think about the purpose of Church, we have to remember that Christians are a “called out” people.  The Greek word for Church in the New Testament is Ekklesia, which literally means “the called out people”.  The Church is not a building.  The Church is a group of people who have been called out of something old into something new--called out of darkness into light, out of shame into nobility, called out of the world into the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps it has been easier for me than for most to accept that Christians are outsiders in this world because I have never felt “at home” in this world.  My faith in Christ has assured me that feeling is OK because this world is not our home. 

Philippians 3:20 says, “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”

You see, being a Christian isn’t a sentence to be an outsider forever.  It only means being an outsider in this world.  But it means being an insider in God’s Kingdom.  Hebrews 13:14 – “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.”

But many Christians struggle with being “outsiders in this world.”  There are too many things we like about this world.  Hank Williams Jr. once sang a song, “If Heaven ain’t a lot like Dixie, I don’t want to go.  If Heaven ain’t a lot like Dixie, I’d just as soon stay home.”  How about you?  If Heaven ain’t a lot like the place you call home, would you still want to go?  Are you more a part of this world or of God’s Kingdom?  These are critical questions to consider.  Remember, all the things of this world will soon melt away, but the Kingdom of God will stand forever (see 2 Peter 3:10-12).

The Purpose of the Church

It’s important to always keep in mind that Christians are not just called out of, but we are also called into.  We are called out of the world, but we are called into God’s Kingdom.  And this reveals one of the essential purposes of the Church.  The Church is the place Christians gather together into a community--a community of faith, God's Kingdom on earth.  Right now, it's just an outpost of God's Kingdom.  One day, it will be God's full Kingdom on earth when Jesus comes to reign in power and might.  Until then, we need a place where the faithful can gather.  The Church is that place.

No one can make it in this world completely alone.  We’re not made that way.  It doesn’t matter how much of a loner you are, you cannot live in complete isolation from other people.  Everyone (and I mean everyone) needs to be part of a group of people.

Christians do not live out our faith alone.  We need each other.  Jesus, the Son of the living God, called together a group of 12 people.  Don’t you think Jesus, God in the flesh, imbued with all the power in the universe, could have saved the world all by himself?  He didn’t need the help of 12 flawed, feeble mortals to do His work.  However, he chose these broken men to be together because being together is essential to the Christian life.

Part of the purpose of Church is for us to be together.  Because if we are called out of the world and we don’t gather together, then we’re just alone; and being alone is a death sentence to your spiritual life.  I want everyone reading this to understand me clearly.  If you are trying to live as a Christian all alone, all bv yourself without a group of other Christians, you will die spiritually.

Now, don’t get me wrong, gathering as a “church” doesn’t have to look like it has traditionally looked in America.  Obviously, we’ve been learning a new way to do “church” through online worship for over two months.  Church could also be a group of men gathering for lunch at a restaurant for encouragement, accountability, and cooperation in the mission of the Church.  Church could also be gathering in your living room or outdoors at a campground.  But it’s not just gathering; it’s not the same as getting together with your family or friends for a cookout.  We gather for some specific reasons.  What are they?

The Church Gathers for Important Reasons

Here are some of essential reasons we must gather.  Now, I’m still praying about this and studying.  I don't know that I have this all worked out and organized.  A lot of this is me just thinking out loud.  But here’s what I think are some of the essential reasons Christians must gather together.

Worship.  Obviously, we can worship privately as individuals.  We can also worship online as we are doing in many churches during the COVID 19 pandemic.  Some people may prefer to worship online as we are today.  For others, being together in one room worship God with other people enhances the worship experience. We feel God presence more compellingly when we are in a group.

Learning and growing.  There is a certain amount of learning and growing that can be accomplished online.  We are learning that we might actually be more effective in some ways when we teach online.  The jury is still out.  If online learning is as effective as onsite learning, then why have we not yet abolished school classrooms and gone completely to online learning for public education as well as college courses.  Right now, these are options, but most students and teachers still believe being physically present in a classroom is essential for proper education.  I mean, do you want to be operated on by a surgeon who only took online classes in medical school?  I believe onsite learning in small groups, Sunday school classes, and Bible studies is essential in the church.  We are learning, however, that the right combination of online and onsite learning may be better than either one alone.

The Sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism.  Jesus commanded the Church to perform two sacred ceremonies—Baptism and Holy Communion.  These can only be celebrated when a community of Christian believers are gathered together in person.  Some are celebrating online/virtual communions and I don't fault them; Christians long to celebrate Holy Communion and this is something many are trying to get by during a global pandemic.  However, I would say it's not really true Communion.  It is a stand in.  True Holy Communion must be celebrated as we gather in person. 

Cooperation for the sake of the mission.  Together, as a church, we are a team.  Christians are more effective when we work together.  We can do more as a group than we can do individually.  I’m good at some things, but not everything.  You are better at some things than I am.  When we get together, I add the things I'm good at your good things and the good things of everyone else in the church and it adds up to great things.  When we all pool together our time, our talents, our perspectives, and our resources for the sake of the Christ’s mission, we can accomplish greater things than we could ever accomplish alone.

Finally, there is fellowship.  And this is huge.  Sometimes, fellowship doesn't get the respect it's due.  Cynics may say a church that focuses on fellowship is just a social club.  That's not fair.  Fellowship is vital to the Christian faith.  People who don’t meet together regularly to fellowship in person will grow apart.  And if a church is going to work together as a team, weathering trials and tribulations, we have to know each other, trust each other, and long for each other.  We have to be one as a family—brothers and sisters in Christ.  I just don’t see how a Church can go to the depths of relationship building, working together on our great mission, and being the community of faith Jesus calls us to be if we don’t get together regularly in person all in the same space.  We can manage it for a time, but eventually we would grow apart.  Over the long term, we have to be together to be one in Christ to do the things the Church is called out of the world and into the Kingdom to God to do.  Fellowship is essential.

Closing

I want everyone reading this to seriously contemplate how you are called to be part of the Church.  Over the next month, we will slowly begin to resume onsite gatherings at my church, Pleasant Grove.  Is God calling you to be here. If you don’t live close enough, is God calling you to be in a church near you?  Please understand, that doesn't necessarily mean you need to worship in a traditional church building.  You could worship online at my church on Facebook on Sunday and then meet with a solid group of Christian friends for coffee on Monday morning and get the "in person" portion of Christian relationships you need.  Is God calling you to do that?

Jesus came to call you out of darkness into light, to call you out of shame into a noble purpose.  He came to call you out of a broken world of sin into God’s glorious Kingdom of eternal life.  Won’t you hear His voice today and start to follow Him?