Several years ago, my husband and I went to Ireland for 5 wonderful days. He was running the Dublin Marathon with the Arthritis Foundation and I had the pleasure of wandering the streets of Dublin while he ran.
I spent a great part of the time during the marathon exploring Christ Church in Dublin. (http://www.cccdub.ie/index.html) It is a beautiful church and so full of history. The first church on that spot was a Viking church built around 1030 and the gospel of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed from that spot ever since. I found myself standing in the nave with my eyes drawn toward the high altar and upward to the beautiful windows. As I looked around, I could see bits of the oldest existing Romanesque construction from the chapter house. One of the chapels in the back still has the original floor tiles that were preserved even through the renovation of the Victorian Age.
When I gone home, I wrote the following in the scrapbook:
To walk into Christ Church is to come face to face with another time. It gives me an expanded concept of sanctuary as a haven of worship and contact with God. From centuries past, people have come here to offer prayers for peace, mercy, forgiveness, and joy. The structure itself is a testament to the devotion of those who have been here. From the unnamed stonemasons who cut the blocks to the king buried in the nave to the 13th century tilemakers to the Victorian children who contributed their pennies to replace broken windows to today's mothers who meet in one of the chapels regularly to pray for their children - everywhere are outward signs of inward adoration.
It's hard for American Christians to think of churches as anything but auditoriums for preaching with attached educational space, but medieval churches were not just places for Sunday meetings. They were the life and center of the community. Life happened in the shadow and within sight of the steeple. The presence of God's community was constant. Going to the church was an every day event - not just Christmas and Easter. It was where community happened.
So what does church mean to us? Is it a place we plan to attend for Christmas, Easter, weddings, and funerals? Is it where we go to meet people? Is is a place we only go when necessary? Or is it our connection to the life which we find in God?
For me, my church is the place where I am grounded. It is the place where I am reminded whose I am. I pray and study and worship at home. I certainly worship in song in my car, and I am constantly aware that I am God's child. But church is like my soul coming home. Sanctuary means more to me than the space where we have services on Sunday. It is a safe haven and a protected place. It is the place I go for security. And the more often I am there, the easier it is to stay grounded in the world outside its walls. But really, it's not the building that makes me feel that way, but it is the people - my brothers and sisters in Christ - who are there. The building and spaces are just physical reminders of that deeper truth.
Now permit me please, to take this idea a step further. Jesus made it clear that His Kingdom could not be contained within walls. We, the people, are the His Church. We are the sanctuary for the world. We are to be the emissaries of safety and security that the world finds when it is looking for God.
What kind of church are you? Are you strong and solid? Are you a work of devotion to God? Have you spent the time for maintenance and upkeep? When people are around you, do they feel the shadow of the Almighty?
When Its All Said and Done by Jim Cowan
When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth
Did I live my life for You
When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's Reward
Will stand the test of time
Lord Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our Weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay
Making sinners into saints
I will always sing Your praise
Here on earth and ever after
For You've shown me Heaven's my True home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone
Lord I'll live my life for You
© 1999 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
Recorded by Robin Mark: Revival in Belfast
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1 comment:
We value church buildings because they are places we have come to be able to (usually) count on feeling and knowing God's presence in our lives. As places where much prayer and worship has taken place, they do matter. And then we take that experience of God in worship out of the building and into the streets, stores, schools, hospitals and all the places we go.
As living temples of the Holy Spirit, we take that presence of God within us and serve as Christ's hands and feet for others even as we see Christ working in and through the people we meet.
I'm enjoying visiting Anything But Typical.
peace,
Frank+
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