Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from King Solomon’s consecration prayer for the Temple of The Lord, after the Ark of Covenant of the Lord, containing the two tablets of the Law, was placed in the Holy of Holies in the temple building. The presence of the Lord was reflected in the thick cloud that filled the temple, reminding the Israelites of God’s presence in the desert by day in the cloud, and by night in the fiery column. Solomon, in his prayer to the Lord, thanked God for the honour that he as king received building the temple, and bringing the Ark of Covenant up from his father, David’s city, Zion. It was a joyous celebration lasting two weeks, where the people came with thanks-giving, praise and offerings to the Lord, rejoicing in the completion of the beautiful meeting place.
God did not need a beautiful temple to be build for Him, but David had it in his heart that God’s house must be more beautiful than the house of any ruler. He wanted to build a glorious temple for the Lord so that the people would have a place to come together, worship and feel secure in that the building was rooted in a fixed structure, portraying permanence for the people, a sign of a peaceful and settled community. In his final petition, King Solomon asked that God would sustain His servant, His people and His temple so that the temple would be a sign for Israel and for the surrounding nations. “That all the earth’s people may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other,” I Kings 8 verse 60.
Despite having a beautiful temple building, the allure of worshipping other deities still prevailed. The temple site became a source of controversy as various nations contending with Israel in battle would either claim the site for their deities, or destroy the temple, and plunder the beautiful vessels belonging to the Lord. Destruction of places of worship to the Lord grieves the Lord and his people. Christ is the foundation of the Church and the communities coming together in prayer-filled and worshipped-soaked meeting places are strengthened in faith as they enjoy the beauty and the age-old gift of liturgy, prayers, worship and communion with fellow believers, past and present. We have experienced a place in history where we hunger and thirst for the joy of community of the faithful, which we have taken for granted for such a long time. Not being able to gather together, practising the traditions and customs that are dear to us, opened our understanding to the longing of the Israelites as they sang their hymns in a strange land, wondering when they would be able to gather in the House of the Lord again.
Our earthly places of worship are structures of remembrance and honouring God in the history of faith communities. Those who enter know that they are welcome in this house reminding all of the presence Lord. Our lives are transient, nothing is permanent. God tells us that He has built New Jerusalem. We will witness Him face to face, not veiled in the cloud, in the indestructible City of God, there where every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord. “Lord, who will not fear and glorify your Name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed,” Revelation 15 verse 4, NRSVB. The writer, John, tells us that he saw in his vision the City of God. The saints and people singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb; enjoying the presence of God with greater joy and brilliance than was ever experienced on earth in any worship celebration, for “They shall see His face, forever and ever, through the eternities of the eternities,” Revelation 22 verse 5.
Father, we thank you that our worship on earth is a foretaste of the glorious liturgy that we shall enjoy in heaven when we pray and sing: Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb. Amen.