2 Chronicles 3 - 4; Temple of God

Sorry... For some reason this morning's blog didn't save - must have been bogus or I need to quit working on 2 computers at the same time.  That's probably more multi-tasking than I need to be doing :)  Soon and very soon, I will retire the old computer.

Solomon builds the temple and the vessels for use in the temple inside.  As in 1 Kings 6, there is a lot of detail included in the description.  It is hard for me to imagine the immensity and the beauty of this temple.  Every time I read these description, I am trying to calculate, in my head, a cubit as about 1 1/2 feet and a cubit as about 75 pounds. 

As hard as it is to imagine what this temple looked like, it is even harder (impossible) to imagine the magnitute and magnificient of the temple that was raised when Jesus the Christ was raised from the dead.  Just try to imagine this glorious temple - the Body of Christ.  It is beyond the scope of our imaginations.  It is beyond words.

It will be, I am sure, easier to post this successfully!  God's Peace.... Pr. J

2 Kings 12 - Repairing God's House

Finally, a king who does right in the sight of the LORD, who cares about the temple, who cares about taking care of the LORD's house!  The offerings that would normally go to take care of the holy things in the house of the LORD are diverted to pay for laborers to repair the house of the LORD. 

It strikes me that there are many congregations today who follow this pattern to the extreme.  The most important thing is always the upkeep of the house of God and the holy things are extremely neglected.  Word and Sacrament relegated to incidentals compared to the new carpeting and pews that are desired by the members.  I am not sure if this works for God, even if it works for the members.  Of course, the building should not be neglected.  However, the building is not the church.  It is not the temple of God.  "...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5 NIV)  We need a place to gather, to Worship as members of one Body.  We need a place to gather to hear the Word and receive the Sacrament; however, let us always make sure that the building has not become our god. 

Just as Joash cared for the temple, it is a good thing for us to care for the gathering places of God's people.  But, we cannot put the building before the temple of God.  We cannot put the building before the Body of Christ.  Our priority (it seems to me) should be in building up the spiritual house and not neglect the other.