There is an ancient, millennial old, question
- Where does God dwell? And there is a newer, but linked question - What is the
Church?
Ezekiel , the first prophet to prophesy
outside of Israel to those in exile, describes in a vision, the new temple
where those with a new heart and a new spirit will worship -
"The angel brought me to the
entrance of the temple and I saw watering flow out" he says.
This new temple is not static, rigid
and inert, rather it flows to renew, sustain and sanctify life
Ezekiel continues to describe the
inclusive scope of the new temple
“every sort of creature will be found
there and on the banks of this river (this flood of grace) every kind of fruit
tree shall grow. Their fruit shall be food (because it will ease hunger) and
their leaves shall be medicine" (because it will ease suffering).
This new temple is not some place to go
to (and passively sit). It is a force of Grace and Blessing that is active
in transforming the world.
St Paul bluntly tells the Corinthians.
- "You are God's building".
In the second reading he describes that
he has laid the foundation of faith, the living temple, not with brick and
mortar, but according to the Grace he has received, which is Jesus Christ.
In his faith Paul laid the groundwork,
which others, in their faith will build upon.
This living church is alive and
evolving, it is not stone but flesh, it is not courtyards but community, it is
not architecture it is the Body of Christ.
This is where the Spirit dwells, this
is where God is present and is where holiness pours forth like some magnificent
river sweeping aside all injustice.
Both Ezekiel and St Paul have a vision
that God's house that is not a building.
It is not someplace, but is every place where
Spirit and Truth abound.
Jesus knew this. In fact, Jesus is the new temple.
In John’s Gospel we hear that the Passover was
at hand and Jesus did what all good Jews should do, he went up to Jerusalem.
Specifically to worship at the temple - his father's house.
He
found, in the courtyard of the temple, a day like any other day, business as
usual.
Money changers changed Roman coin to
temple coin appropriate for offering and sellers of sacrificial animals
advertised their product hoping to turn a decent profit.
Jesus sets this all on its head and he
creates quite a rumpus, by his forceful actions.
This is the house of my Father, he
yells, not a marketplace.
His words echoes Ezekiel’s
own words "there shall no longer be traders and sellers in the house of
the lord"
Jesus is simply reclaiming the house of
God.
And this leads to anger from those who
profit (not just monetarily) from the status quo.
Jesus, whose very existence disrupts unjust
power. He confronted it directly until
it became a life and death struggle with the authorities.
They cry out - what gives You the right
to do what you do? They want to know in whose name is he acting ?
They want proof, some sort of evidence.
"What sign can you give us"
they demand.
Jesus responds, (in spades)
"Destroy this temple and in three
days I will raise it up"
This is insane they think. Here is a
madman. No one has that kind of power.
Of course, they think he is talking
about the temple complex, the concrete and marble place, in which they now
stood - an edifice of power that had become a prison for God and a marketplace
to profit from his imprisonment.
There was no further argument recorded,
but you can imagine the bewilderment and anger that followed that encounter.
Instead, the narrator simply adds (showing us
exactly what kind of power Jesus has) -
"he was speaking of his body"
A body, made holy by a holy life, that
after his resurrection becomes glorified as the Body of Christ - the risen and
ascended Jesus along with all those who believe in him and are baptized, in the
Spirit, into his death and resurrection and who will join him to become one
body.
This is where God dwells in freedom and
truth and where he can never be imprisoned, not even by death.
"Destroy this temple (of flesh and
spirit) and see it rise (in glory) on the third day"
Later the disciples, in the Spirit they
had received, remembered the temple incident and Jesus words and his raising on
the third day - and they believed. They became the Church.
Today, Mother Church has many names,
but pride of place belongs to - the People of God,
who through their individual encounter
with the Lord respond to the Lord's own desire that we have " a loving heart and knowledge of his
ways".
You and I, here and now, as Church,
humbly and generously help each other as we all stubble forward "climbing
the Lord's mountain so that he may instruct us in his ways and we may walk in
his paths."
This is the living Church reaching out
to bring sanctifying light to every dark corner.
And this Church, God’s
house, is always identified with justice and mercy, love and hope not with
power and profit margin.
The living Church is identified as God’s
presence flowing from its members as kindness and generosity, patience and
humility, as loving service to all those in need wither that be within the
family, the parish, or community.
The ecological slogan “think
globally and act locally" takes on an expanded and sanctifying meaning
within the community of believer’s as acts of charity and stewardship.
Ezekiel, Jesus and St Paul, all remind
us that the living temple (where a God dwells) should not be profaned or
lessened by routine and habit. We cannot
reduce our faith to a specific building or a specific time and day. The Lord’s
Day, is every day.
And must remember that the sacramental
life of the Church, is never "old hat", never routine, it is always
new, precious and nourishing and is always God’s grace flowing out as a river.
And we, the People of God, must not let
the Church within us, the Spirit dwelling within, to be dulled, made
indifferent, trivial and cheap by self-centeredness, routine participation and
thoughtless living.
By our selfishness, indifference and
thoughtlessness we become like those on the steps of the temple doing
everything else, but worshiping (and living) in truth and love.
But that is not who we are.
When the world asks us - where is your
Church we can simply say - here!
When the world asks where does God
dwell we can answer by its negative – where doesn’t God
dwell?
But, to show
the world where God dwells is to show them the quality of our love
