Dwelling place

After two semesters of Spiritual Formation, one of the habits I formed is that of reading the Sunday lectionary of the United Methodist Church -- a designated collection of passages identified by the powers that be. Many UMC ministers base their sermons each week on one or all of these passages.

Today's lectionary included passages from Acts, Psalms, 1 Peter and the Gospel of John. Although there are several themes or messages to be found in them, the one that resonated with me is that of a dwelling place.

Paul complimented the people of Athens in Acts 17 for being, "very religious in every way" (v. 22). Referring to the many statues of gods and temples that adorned the city, Paul seems to chide the Athenians, telling them, "God does not live in temples built by human hands..." (v. 24).

In other words, we can build all the temples we want for housing our gods, but the God who created the heavens and the Earth and everything in them does not dwell in them.

What might some of these temples be, these structures that house our gods? For some of us, perhaps it is our very residence, which we tear down and build up again, remodeling and redecorating on a regular basis for no other reason than because we can.

Or perhaps our temple where we believe our gods to dwell are our office buildings, our places of employment, those jobs and careers that seem to possess our very soul at times. Oh, how we bow down and worship at the altars we erect in these temples, praying to the gods of corner offices and retirement plans, promotions and titles and year-end bonuses.

Our temples may be our children. Why, think about all the time and energy we invest in building these little structures, hoping they will be smart, talented, polite, obedient, conscientious and hard-working. And why shouldn't they be? We make our gods in our own image! Nothing less will do.

Our temples may be any multitude of material possessions -- that new car, a lake house, a gold watch, a diamond bracelet, the $400 purses that line our closets. Our gods may not dwell in these material temples, but we certainly do.

No, Paul told the Athenians as well as Bible readers today, God does not dwell in temples built by the human hands. God dwells in temples built by God. I say temples with an "s" because the scriptures seem to suggest these temples can be found in two places: in the heart of God and in the heart of people.

"You have allowed us to fall into the net;

You have watched us reap all that we have sown;

we went through fire and through water,

Yet You have brought us through our pain and into your dwelling place.

I enter your Heart surrendered to Love;

I commend my soul into your keeping;

all that my lips uttered, all that my mouth promised when I was in trouble and pain,

I offer up to You;

I abandon myself into your hands."

(Psalm 66:11-15, from Nan Merrill's Psalms for Praying)

Chances are if you read these verses in your favorite Bible translation, they will look different from Merrill's version. However, I find her image of us being transported from our pain into God's dwelling place, God's very heart, to be beautiful and refreshing

Jesus said something similar as recorded in John's gospel. He issues a beautiful promise to his disciples as he prepares them for his impending departure from this world. Listen to (or rather read) what Jesus said:

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.

But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.

Because I live, you also will live.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

(John 14:16-20, New International Version)

Look again at the words of Jesus. The world cannot accept this other Counselor, this Spirit of Truth, because it neither sees him nor knows him. Why? Because the world keeps looking for him in temples built by human hands.

Yet the disciples are assured that they will know this Counselor; heck, they already know him. Jesus says, "he lives with you and will be in you." In us ... a temple built not by human hands, but one built by God. That is where God dwells.

1 Peter 2:15 reminds us, "But in your hearts (you know, that place where God -- the Spirit of Truth ... the Counselor -- dwells?) set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have."

I'm sorry, what did you say? What is the reason for the hope I have? Well, it's all about dwelling places, you see, dwelling places where Jesus can be found in the Father, and I am in Jesus and Jesus is in me. Oh yes, it's a mighty big room, this space set apart in my heart; this dwelling place in the heart of God, where Love lives and flourishes; this God-built temple.