Dugongs: more thoughts on the church

Friday Bible readings with Rachel continue, and we are moving through 1 and 2 Kings. Side tangent: I read Red Son, the story of Superman had he landed as a babe in a collective farm in the Ukraine instead of Smallville, KS. It has made reading the Kings a continuance of the graphic novel approach. As there is so much fighting and scheming, I can picture every story framed and with careful uses of color to intensify moments (like say, Jezebel's death). The Bible is awesome!!

Well, today, we decided to hone in on 2 Kings 12. Here we have the story of Joash repairing the temple. He decided to repair it very early in his kingly reign, but neglects to really take care of things until the 23rd year of the reign. Let it reign. Any way.. The point is, it's kind of a boring story in comparison to what surrounds it (seriously, see Jehu).

As we read, I chose to be tangental yet again and have us look back at the descriptions of the Tent of Meeting as well as the temple in Exodus, 1 Kings and Ezra. A few thoughts:

• I never thought about how descriptive God is with the coming together of the place where His presence will rest. I think this is something applicable for today as we very rarely think about how God can in fact be very specific to us with what He wants from us. The tendency is to say, "Well, I know generally as to where He is calling me," without giving credit to the possibility that He might want us to know more specifics. This is important to me, as I have often had a very Nike approach (you know, Just Do It) with my future plans. I should be more cautious. Paul had the Macedonian man, after all.
  
• The story of the building of the temple in Exodus is beautiful. That is all.
• Let's think about the transition of the temple for a minute. First, it is a tent. A very elaborate tent for that matter. A place where God's presence is personalized for the Israelites, and moves as they move. Then comes King David who has a desire for the place to be of more permanence. The responsibility falls to his son Solomon, because David was fighting too much (such is life). Solomon builds this amazing place, more beautiful than anything ever known before. The downfall of the Kings leads to exile, and we pick up on the rebuilding of the temple and Jerusalem in general in Ezra and Nehemiah. Take a second to read Ezra 3:7-13 for me. The temple is changing yet again. It is a restored place, where the younger generation lays a foundation that will pale in comparison to Solomon's precedence. The older generation weeps for the changes taking place. The same older generation, I might add, that had lived lives which caused the need for the exile (like worshiping the high places installed by Jeroboam or following their kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord). Then we get silence. Jesus comes and says something totally radical; he will destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. In case you didn't know, what he is referring to is his death and resurrection. Because Jesus is God. Thus God's presence. The new temple, the new "Way" as is the label given in the book of Acts, is the church--the body of believers who have the presence of God inside of them. Once again, he moves as we (now included in the covenant) move. Or is it the other way around? :P
  
• On the elaborate-ness of the tent: I have always despised gaudy churches. Don't get me wrong, St. Peter's is pretty amazing, but it felt like too much. Now I see the original intention of something so intricate in that it is meant for Someone greater than ourselves, who was just as if not more so intricate when he made this universe. I have to learn to appreciate that careful detail and lots of gold is meant to show off the Creator, not the creation. Basically, it means I have judged too quickly.
  

So we get back to this conversation about the church being a building. It is clear that it is more than that. In fact, what strikes me in reviewing this post is that the church is the place of God's presence. God's presence is manifest by the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Wrapping one's mind about this is tough. Rachel and I spent an hour and a half just thinking about the brilliance (for lack of a better term) of God's handiwork from the beginning of time.

Phew. And I haven't even mentioned how just as the tent/temple was intricate and beautiful, so is the current body of Christ. Oh, I haven't even begun to delve into this "body of Christ" phrase yet either! Another day..