We all know the phrase, “the church is not the building, the church is the people.” But the building does matter as well! That’s why we at Golden Grove UC spend time and money improving, repairing and renovating our property. It was like this in Biblical times as well. Five chapters in the Bible (1 Kings 5-9) are spent describing and detailing how the temple in Jerusalem was built, and the temple was the centre of daily and religious life in ancient Israel.
There is something special about the place where we meet God face to face. In the Old Testament, the people of God constantly name places where God did something important, building altars and monuments and worshipping there. We do it too! Many of us have stories of a time and place where God spoke to us. We might have favourite spots to pray, or places that remind us of the glory of God. These are like little temples or churches.
In the end, these places are not special because of their own merit, but because of the great God we meet there. In days to come, Revelation 21:22 tells us, there won’t be any need for a place of worship because God and Jesus will be right there with us all the time. God is the true temple, and all the places we meet Him in this life are little appetisers that point forward to what it will be like in the new heaven and earth, after Jesus returns. Let’s cherish them while we wait.
James