Gods House (its Not What You Think)

November 18, 2012

1 Samuel 1:4-20 Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25 Mark 13:1-8

Every Thanksgiving holiday people all over the country travel to be together. They travel to Mom and Dads house or to the home of some other relative or perhaps even to a restaurant so that their families can be together. Church is a lot like that I suppose. Each week, and especially for Christmas and Easter, we travel to a particular house, Gods house, so that we can be together and so that we can meet God. The first worship service of this congregation was held in 1927 in a schoolhouse on Genoa Road and this building was built in 1948. I am certain that when they built it and when they dedicated it, someone referred to this building as Gods house or the House of God or something along those lines. It probably happened quite often and Im sure that it happened in 1958 when they added the education building and again in 1964 when the tower was added. You can almost be certain that each time someone talked about what was being done to the house of the Lord. But is this Gods house? After all, within a ten mile radius that are more houses of worship than you can shake a stick at, and each one of them has probably been referred to as Gods House. On top of that, there are churches and synagogues and other houses of worship all of the country and around the world and every single one of them probably lays claim to being Gods house. Even worse, there are an awful lot of churches that, over the centuries, have been bombed out, burned down, bulldozed, abandoned, lost and forgotten. Archaeologists all over Israel and Asia are digging up old churches and synagogues that date back hundreds and even thousands of years and that doesnt even consider the buildings that were once churches that are now Islamic mosques. What are they? Are they still the house of God or are they something else? Finally, we should remember the Temple that was built in Jerusalem. That was Gods House; even the ancient writings of the Bible refer to the Temple as the house of the Lord, but which one? The temple that Jesus knew was the third temple, the third House of God, which had been built on that site. It is a puzzle to be sure. So what should we make of all that? Before we get ahead of ourselves, lets go back to the book of 1st Samuel. First Samuel tells a story that begins 1100 years before the birth of Jesus and 3000 years before the construction of this building. In it we meet Elkanah and his wives, Hannah and Peninnah (1 Samuel 1:4-20) There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
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Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannahs womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, Hannah, why

are you weeping? Why dont you eat? Why are you downhearted? Dont I mean more to you than ten sons?
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Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lords house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servants misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.
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As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.
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Not so, my lord, Hannah replied, I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.
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Eli answered, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.

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She said, May your servant find favor in your eyes. Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
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Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, Because I asked the Lord for him. In this story, we remember that the place where the priests were was not yet the temple but it was already called the Lords house. This was the place where the priest sacrificed before the Lord and where the people came to pray and to meet God. We also find that God was present there, he heard the prayers of Hannah, he remembered her, and he arranged it so that Hannah gave birth to her son, a man who would be Gods prophet, Samuel. Samuel oversaw the coronation of King David and saw the construction of Solomons Temple but as I noted, that temple was torn down by the Babylonians (in about 586 B.C.) and rebuilt during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (around 516 B.C.), which in turn, was destroyed by the Roman General, Pompeii during the Maccabean revolt around 63 B.C.) and then rebuilt by king Herod shortly before the time of Jesus. Herod had a reputation as a builder and he rebuilt Gods house bigger and better than it had ever been and it was this Temple that Jesus and the disciples knew and the one being talked about in our scripture reading this morning from Mark 13:1-8 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!
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Do you see all these great buildings? replied Jesus. Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?
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Jesus said to them: Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, I am he, and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. Jesus told the disciples that the great buildings around them would be torn down and at least one of the disciples will live to see it happen. The temple they had walked in and worshipped in was destroyed again by the Romans in 70 A.D. During the years since, the Romans built a temple to Jupiter there, the Crusaders built a church there, and most recently, the Muslims have built a mosque there. So which was Gods house? The answer is found in the book of Hebrews. (Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25) Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
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Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one anotherand all the more as you see the Day approaching. Here we are told that while the High Priest was once the only human being who could enter into the Most Holy Place and the only person who could speak to God on behalf of the people, now, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are all invited into Gods Most Holy Place. Because our sins have been taken away by the blood of Gods perfect lamb, we may now enter into Gods temple where Jesus ministers, night and day, on our behalf. All along, there has only been one true Temple, one true place of worship for God, one true House of God and that has always been the Most Holy Place in heaven itself. All the other places that have been called Gods House have been nothing more than crude copies of the real thing. Human beings have made copies of the Gods temple so that we could honor God and worship him together and because our imperfection, our sin, would not permit us to enter the real thing but now, because Jesus Christ has paid the price for our redemption, the veil that once separated us from heaven has been torn away. Now, we are invited into Gods presence so that we may present our prayers, our petitions, and our thanksgiving to him in person. Because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we no longer need to meet together in Gods House in order to pray because God lives in one particular place. Instead, wherever Gods people are, God is. In Revelation 21:3 God speaks from the throne of heaven saying, Look! Gods dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. 3

In these verses from the book of Hebrews, we are told that we should hold on to the hope that we have in Jesus and spend our time encouraging one another to love and to do good for others. Some people, we are told, have given up meeting together, perhaps because meeting in Gods House is no longer necessary, but that should not be so. The writer of Hebrews teaches that we should continue to meet together, not because we must meet in this place to meet God, but so that we might encourage one another, support one another, and to carry one another through the rough spots of our lives. The house of God isnt the Temple, any temple, in Jerusalem. The house of God isnt some building in a far away place. The house of God isnt a church and it isnt this church. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, a sacrifice made once, for all, the house of God is among the people, not a building. The house of God is, wherever the people of God are together. The house of God is here. The house of God is you.

So if you needed something to be thankful for this week, thats a pretty good thought right there.

You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.