"It sounds rather strange to us," say philosophers to Paul about the teachings of the good news of Jesus Christ.
And it was indeed new in many ways. This Jesus, crucified, dead and risen as the Christ. And yet, the faith and religious practices were still firmly rooted in the people of the Abrahamic faith. The Jews who devoutly followed God, then disobeyed God, then repented and devoutly followed. Jesus and the new Way was a branch of a very ancient path toward God.
And one of the earliest ways people encountered what they perceived as the 'place of God' was in the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, later called temple. Later still, though the concept was somewhat different, the synagogue. The tabernacle of the tent of meeting that was breathed into life by the Lord speaking to Moses, as recorded in the book of Exodus. "You shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting." God orders in the candles (called lampstands), the altar for offerings, the basin of water, the anointing oil, the furniture, all of it, spoken to Moses by God.
So, this week, we discuss candles, incense, altars and that kind of stuff. The stuff of the original tent of meeting that still carries into the synagogues and churches of today. Why is it that God wants candles there? Is it just to be able to see the scrolls? Why the burnt offering altar? Why the anointing oil? The incense?
I caution us though... It is important to remember that these things, though declared by God as holy are not God-like themselves. They might be consecrated by God for the worship space, but they themselves are not idols to be worshiped. It's important to remember that because when memorial gifts are given, sometimes people allow the gift to take on an idol like status. But of course the original intent is to praise God through the gift.
The 'stuff' of the worship space is a part of the whole structure. It is a part of our 'weirdness' that identifies us and makes us different in this place. It is a part of the atmosphere that says this space is set aside for God to be our focus, for us to praise and give thanks to God as a community. We don't anoint our heads with oil in the sub shop. We don't have a child process in with the light of Christ in places that we aren't intending to beckon God's presence to be with us.
Once I preached at a church that had to 'set up' church every week because they met in a school. Now I know week in and week out that would get pretty old, but for me that day, it was a beautiful thing to see an ordinary gymnasium become a church with an altar, and candles, and paraments (the cloths on the altar and pulpit) and a Bible being placed just so.
The weird stuff of church is special to us for a reason. Let's explore some of that this week. If you have comments, email me or comment below.
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