Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. (Ps. 114:2)
WE RUB OUR EYES each Sunday morning and prepare to go to church. Those of us who are pastors look over our sermon notes, or brush up on the news to see whether there is anything we should include in the morning’s prayers. Laypeople think of the service ahead, hoping that certain songs will be sung, wondering what texts will be preached, what nuggets of wisdom might be shared, or whether this is a Communion Sunday. This is the ordinary stuff of Sundays, the joyous rhythm and blessed routine of the people of God.
But we must never forget that the people of God are never just ordinary. The psalmist reminds us that God’s people are his sanctuary and his dominion. In the New Testament, Peter reminded us that we are “being built into a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5), a house where God the Holy Spirit lives. We are his people, those with whom God himself is pleased to dwell. Where we go, God goes. The things we say represent God to a waiting and hopeless world. The things we do represent God to a world in need of his presence.
In a very real sense, we house God and display him to the world. This honor is not to be taken lightly, but to be entered into with reverence, soberness, and deep reflection.
Pray that your local church will be God’s sanctuary for the world.
Michael Jordan is the dean of the chapel at Houghton College (New York), where he also serves as chair of the Department of Biblical Studies, Theology, and Philosophy.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
