August 28th
Share your thoughts, comments, reflections and questions on the readings for August the 28th
Job 9:1-10:22,Psalm 104:10-15,Proverbs 21:10-11,1 Corinthians 3:16-4:13
Think back to the readings over the past months on the history of the people of Israel and the importance of the tabernacle and then the temple. This was the place of the manifest presence of God in the midst of his people. The tabernacle was to stand at the very centre, the heart, of the Israelite camp with the tribes arrayed around it. The temple was a dream of David’s and then built by his son Solomon at a cost of millions (if not billions!). And when it was dedicated vast herds were sacrificed to consecrate it and to celebrate God’s presence amongst his people. Over a period of hundreds of years there was a history of the temple being built amongst great celebration and then ransacked reconsecrated and ransacked again then demolished and rebuilt. At the time of Jesus it was once again the centre of the Jewish worship of God having been recently rebuilt and refurbished. Then Jesus comes along and prophecies it’s destruction and at the time of reading/writing this letter it’s final destruction was still to come.
Into that context, with the importance, holiness and sacredness of the temple, Paul writes: “You are God’s temple.” Wow what a thing to write. Paul is associating all the importance, all the holiness, all the sacredness of the Jewish temple with individual Christians. No longer is the manifest presence of God located at a geographic place in Jerusalem. The manifest presence of God is now walking across the earth in hundreds/thousands/millions of directions.
Do you realise that when you walk in to a room the manifest presence walks into that same room, when you walk in the holiness of God walks in, when you walk in the love of God walks in, when you walk in the God of relationship walks in.
You are God’s Temple – where will you take the presence of God today? Will his presence make a difference? One of the speakers this year at New Wine was Bill Johnson. Bill is the leader of a church in California and he leads a church that increasingly experiences the presence and the power of God at work in and through them. As a result of their experience they run a School of Ministry to pass on what they are learning to others. One thing that Bill said stuck in my mind. Each year the people on this course graduate and leave to look for work. In Bethel, where the church is located, there are now some employers who will take on graduates from the course whether or not they have vacancies. The reason is very simple, the employers say that when these graduates come to work for them the ethos and atmosphere of their companies changes, they bring something with them far beyond their natural skills and abilities. They bring with them the presence of God and that makes a real, tangible difference in the workplace of the world.
May we too learn to be those who bring the presence of God into every room that we walk into.