I wonder if the Church is like a ticket gate, where there are spaces for people to move in and out, as circumstances dictate. It’s not one-way, but free to move as you wish. Does that mean that God is constrained or not? Where is God today?
In the Hebrew Scripture reading for today (1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30 and 41-43) – which is heavily split up, there is the dedication of the Temple. But as in all news today there is much of it missing. Perhaps it was the news editor short of time, needing to get the weather forecast in as well as all of the sport. What was missed? There’s no description of the Temple insides, about its history and Moses, how the Chest which David kept got into the Temple. This place was holy. There was the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies.
What was the point of it?
It gave them a place where God was to be worshipped. It was a place where the people could be reminded of what God has promised them. A place where the people could come to ask for forgiveness. Is that the same for church today? Where is God today?
Does God dwell within Church?
But even Solomon counters that perspective for God isn’t contained in a box, but is so far beyond any container. It’s like God has turned the concept of Church inside out: where once people looked into the Church to find God, now God is beyond any boundary, God is everywhere. So do we consider our Church to be a holy of holies, a place of sanctuary?
The Iona community have a description of a thin place, where a shroud is placed over the surface of the earth separating heaven and earth: “a thin place where only tissue paper separates the material from the spiritual“. This shroud can, in some places, be so close, within touching distance, for it is a thin place. I don’t believe that these thin places are fixed geographically but are limited by ourselves.
Can we see beyond our walls?
What if we could have Clark Kent vision, beyond 20:20, and see through walls? What might we see on a Sunday morning? Or if our vision was like this every day? Oh wow! The Holy of Holies was everywhere. God wasn’t limited by time and space but we might see the opportunities for God to be seen, felt, experienced wherever we are, whenever it is.
And oh, that last couple of verses, where it talks of the foreigner. What if the foreigner were to be seen as a loved one, welcomed by God: what a transformation in society that would be!
This passage is speaking of a new way of Church. Not of the past traditions, but of allowing us to flourish, in God, with God. Where is God today in this case? Like then with Solomon, it’s not going to be plain sailing but it will bring many more to know of God’s love. Are we up for that?
Cannibalism and being offensive
This feels like a TV series, where we need to recap to get the gist of what is happening. So we have had the feeding of the 5000 – not just men but everyone. Jesus and the disciples have sailed across to Capernaum, their base at the top of the Sea of Galilee, and the crowd who were fed have followed them. The crowd want more of this amazing ‘bread’ – they need to see some more signs and wonders. Then there is an argument about eating flesh and blood – they are taking it literally again. When we read the Bible we can also fall into that trap.
The Jewish way was to write in parables, para-bles like para-llel, things that are thrown down alongside another story. Upon initial listening we might take the point from face value but it just doesn’t sound right. It’s only when we did deeper do we get to the true meaning.
We might try to find logic in all of these parables, but Jewish thought was to grasp the meaning in your stomach – that was the site where true feelings were experienced. Not sure how that goes well when an army marches on its stomach. I know the saying flying by the seat of your pants is about truly flying not by your head but instinctively knowing what the plane needs to do. What of butterflies in your stomach, it’s that deep feeling rather than head knowledge. Anyway the disciples find all of this very confusing? Perhaps we do as well.
Those whom Moses fed with manna died, but those who were fed with the bread of heaven live forever more.
This isn’t about what we consider as life: it’s far far more.
The thought process of the day was that when people died they would descend into Hades or Sheol, a netherworld where God could also inhabit. This could be what was perceived as purgatory. Heaven was perceived as a mystical place, a dome which separated earth and God – but always above us. Jesus didn’t share this perspective. He repeatedly spoke of Heaven as here on earth. So life forever wasn’t about living eternally here but being with God. Upon physical death, our life with God continues, not even a momentary blip with God, a transition. Hence the phrase flesh is useless. The promise of being with God, beyond that thin place isn’t something we can reason but is a given, to you to us all.
The author(s) of John’s Gospel also put great emphasis on the guilt of Judas Iscariot, far more than the other Gospel writers. But in today’s reading those verses are not asked to be read. What is of interest is that Judas and Simon Peter are compared. Simon Peter, the one who disowned Jesus three times, who sank back into the water when he tried walking on the sea, but is deemed to be called faithful one – hence why he was called the Rock, the Greek word for Peter, petros.
Does this offend you?
But there is a difficult question here. In verse 61 it reads “does this offend you?” Jesus’ message in these days sounds so counter cultural, against the norm. We live in a secular society where the vast majority of folk don’t believe in God. So by coming to Church are we religiously comfortable? Can we look at those whom are wealthy and make comments? Do we criticise the likes of Amazon not paying their taxes when governments are quite happy for the tax laws to remain as they are so that the likes of Amazon etc have a base in their country?
We can also come to our Church and be fed each week, and return full. When at that feeding of the 5000 the disciples shared the food around. When our churches are criticised we may feel that it is directed against us when we may want to look outside yet again, to re-find that passion which originally inspired us. That our worship isn’t confined to here but we can minister, all of us, can minister to all those whom we meet. Where is God today?
Being in the Temple, being in the Church, isn’t about achieving lots, but being faithful to God. So wherever we live, we may serve; whomever we meet, we meet them in the love of God; whatever the circumstance, God is there. That’s a transformation in Church, turning it inside out!
What can we takeaway from this?
We stand at an interesting crossroad. I mean this metaphorically not a particular meeting of the roads. Church is changing. The Pandemic has brought us into a hybrid world where the online meets the onsite, where those who are at church may indeed be in their lounge, or on the bus rather than in a building designated as Church. Are we prepared to entertain this new perspective or find this offensive?
Do we struggle of what may be seen as progress breaks into our understanding of what we have grown to love, to be accustomed to. Are we containing God or allowing God to break free, to inhabit what was, is always will be where God is present?
Will we join God there?
We have looked at Where is God today, previously when we looked at this from a pan-religious perspective.
Featured cover image by greg-rakozy on Unsplash
I think that we can move about freely