Just in case you haven’t noticed we are adding on to our building here. The block for the north and east walls are nearly all the way up now. Lord willing, this next Friday, the first floor will be poured and sealed. And, on June 8th, which is in just three weeks, (weather permitting) we will have a scripture writing celebration immediately following our morning worship services. All of us can write our favorite verses of scripture on the floor of that new building. Our historian team will get some pictures of us doing it, and even though it will be covered over later, may it serve as a reminder, that we are to be a church founded on the Word of God. And may our feet never to stray from the path of the word that God has spoken to us.
So, mark your calendars for June 8th and be looking through your Bibles for appropriate scriptures to write. Also, for all of our older members who may not wish to get down on the floor and write, we are all invited to write out our passages of scripture on paper and turn them in by next week. These verses will be sealed in a container and placed somewhere near the foundation before the concrete floor is poured.
Remember, this building is paid for by offerings from every member of this church. It is dedicated to the Lord for the purposes of building up the kingdom of God in the lives of all who come here and for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to all God allows us to reach and teach. Psalm 127 says: Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen keep watch in vain. More on that later, but now let’s turn to Luke’s gospel and look at Jesus as he enters what he calls, “My Father’s house.”
Here in Luke 20 Jesus tells a parable that directly applies to us as we will see.
At this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus has entered the last week of his ministry before being crucified. Here in Jerusalem he knows exactly what is coming and why he has come. He speaks strong warnings, indictments and judgments against the religious leaders there because of their corruption and unfaithfulness. In chapter 19:41f, Jesus weeps over the city, because he knows what will happen to them. Construction for this temple has gone on for almost 50 years. It is magnificent. By the looks of it, you would think it would be standing for thousands of years. But Jesus says not one stone will be left on another.
When Jesus comes to Jerusalem here, he sees what they’ve done. He sees that they have turned the temple into a market place. The name of His Father is dishonored by all this. Jesus’ heart burns with zeal and he is furious! Have you ever had someone say something nasty about your mother? What kind of reaction does that stir in you? Well, Jesus heart was stirred by this insult to His Father, our God. He immediately took action to reclaim the honor for his Father’s name. Mark’s gospel gives a fuller account of this in chapter 11:15-19. Jesus boldly begins a priestly work. He cleanses the temple saying: “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. But you have made it a den of thieves.” Think about how this must have looked! Imagine the disturbance and confusion.
The chief priests, scribes and elders have long since accepted this sacrilege. They who were given charge of bringing honor and praise to God have failed. They have let encroachments of the world surround and enter the temple of God. In fact, they have not only allowed this dishonor of God to occur, they have set themselves up as the police to maintain it! They are so used to the garbage around them they are surprised at Jesus for clearing it out! So, what do they do when Jesus cleanses out this mess? They turn on Him! You can hear it in their questions and attempts to trap Jesus. “By what authority do you do this and who gave you this authority?” Do they care? The truth is they have no authority to allow what they have allowed to happen! But Jesus, the Son of God, actually has all authority to do what he did. He is merely doing what they themselves should have done. This same blindness that allows them to accept the garbage and dishonor of God prevents them from seeing who Jesus is. They don’t realize that the King of kings has come to visit. They can’t see that the One the temple represents is here! Standing in their midst!
So Jesus tells them a parable. (Luke 20:9-19)
Do you understand this parable? Jesus is predicting his own death at their hands. He is revealing the truth in the midst of their attempts to trap him. Can he make it any plainer than this? What does God have to do to make these blind unbelievers see who Jesus is? What have they done with God’s honor so far? They will treat Jesus just as they have already treated the honor of the Father. They will throw him out and kill him thinking that they are doing what they MUST do. WHY? Well, think of it. The only alternative is to bow before Jesus in full surrender to his authority. This they can not do, because they do not believe in him. They like their church just the way it is. To them this is the way it is SUPPOSED to be. Jesus has no right to change it.
I wonder, what do you think of all this?
About a week ago I had an interesting discussion with someone about church buildings. There was a couple who are not members of the Church of Christ who were telling me about their recent visit to a large evangelical church up in North Carolina. She said, “We went in and the building was huge, and the seats were like theater seats, and the pulpit area was a big stage. There must have been 2000 people there. As you came in they had coffee and donuts and there was nothing in there that looked like church at all! No Christian symbols of any kind were in there! Not even a cross! The place was brand new and this was their first service in it. The preacher got up and said that he had intentionally designed the place so that there were absolutely no Christian symbols.” She had an expression of complete shock as she went on, “Then the preacher said, ‘It looks like the architects slipped one in on me.’ He pointed to the large window at the rear of the auditorium where the panes holding the glass formed a cross.” This young couple was horrified! How could a church intentionally build a church that didn’t look like a church!
What do you think? I suppose the better question is: what does God think?
I’m sure there might be a lot of varying opinions among us about this. But one thing I know: God is looking for more than architecture and Christian symbols in the places where we worship. In the first place, for the first three centuries the early church didn’t have its own buildings. There were no church buildings until after Constantine. In fact, during persecution, the church sometimes even met in catacombs.
Jesus tells us what God is looking for in worship. In John 4:24, Jesus said, “God is Spirit and those that worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” Jesus said, “These are the kinds of worshippers the Father seeks!” Don’t miss that. God is seeking… seeking worshippers and it is HOW they worship, more than WHERE they worship in that counts. Jesus makes this undeniably clear. The Samaritan woman in John 4 asked where to worship, and Jesus pointed past where to who and how we worship.
So preacher, what’s the point?
We are the church. Our bodies belong to God and as we bring others to Jesus and more and more people are saved, God’s temple is being built out of living stones. This place is not God’s house… YOU ARE! WE ARE! The temple of God is being built by Jesus Christ and on Jesus Christ.
Listen… the vineyard has been taken away from those who did not honor God and given to you and me. When you accepted the grace of God in Jesus Christ you accepted this. When you were baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, and raised up to walk in newness of life, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit as one of His own. You and I are under the Lordship of the King of the universe. We will answer. We are to be bearing fruit for the Lord. What you do, where you go, what you say, how you say it, what you watch and entertain yourself with, are all to be for the honor and glory of God. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. You are a chosen people, you belong to the Lord your God. Your bodies are not your own, they are the temple of the living God! What we do here is to remind us and encourage us so that when we leave this place we will not forget that. We will humbly receive the word planted in us which can save us and walk obediently in it. We will remember what our purpose is in this world. We will not neglect the honor of our Father. We will live as the body of Christ and do what Jesus would do.
We are entrusted with this great calling and duty. The church that limits its worship to church buildings is a church that dishonors God. Jesus, is coming back, and he will call us to account. Who is building your life? Who is protecting your future?
Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen keep watch in vain.
Listen… Everyone that builds their life without God will ultimately fail. But, and this is the most important thing of all… everyone whose life the Lord builds will never fail. We are keepers of the Lord’s vineyard. Let us rejoice in Him and desire Him and give our whole heart to Him.
