12.31.23 1 Kings 8:6–13 (EHV)
6 The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim, 7 for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place for the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles with their wings. 8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets, which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 When the priests came out from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of the LORD. 11 The priests were not able to take their positions to minister in the presence of the cloud, because the Glory of the LORD had filled the House of the LORD. 12 Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he dwells in thick darkness. 13 I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
When Is Christmas?
What is it that tells you it’s Christmas time? “It’s not Christmas until. . .” We have made it a tradition to go to Kluck’s on the Friday after Thanksgiving to cut down a tree, take it home, and decorate it. You might think of the Christmas music that starts up on 104.1. Here at church we also set up the tree. We change the banners and put up the lights. The choir practices with special music. It takes a lot of work, but I would think that most people think it is worth it in order to try and properly set the stage for the season in celebration of our Savior’s birth and entry into this world.
In our lesson for today from 1 Kings, Solomon was trying to set the stage for God to come to his temple. Up to this time the Ark of the Covenant had been kept in a tent. David had been setting aside the provisions, and it was Solomon’s job to build the temple. He wanted to do it right! The makings of it were as immaculate as you could get. The inside of the temple was covered with gold and the lampstands were made out of gold. There were angels, palm tree designs and precious stones throughout on the walls. There were two huge gold plated angels called “cherubim” that were placed in the Most Holy Place. Their wings spread out the entire width of the room and touched each other in the middle. It was as beautiful and expensive as you could get. Nothing was spared. Solomon called it a MAJESTIC house. But it wouldn’t be COMPLETE until GOD moved in.
“King Solomon, along with the whole congregation of Israel who had gathered with him in front of the ark, was sacrificing sheep and cattle, too many to be counted.” Why the sacrifices? There was a time previous to Solomon, when David tried to have the ark moved, but he didn’t show enough care and respect for what was happening. When the ox stumbled, a man reached out and tried to steady the ark, and he was put to death for just touching it. Solomon knew from his father’s mistake what an awesome thing this was, to try and move this holy item into the temple, the place where God would come to the Israelites in a special way. He didn’t want people to die in the process, and he didn’t want to inadvertently upset and sin against God. So in order to appease the holy God, thousands of animals were slaughtered for the sins of the Israelites. They were recognizing the HOLINESS of God through the sacrifice of so many animals.
There was one thing that didn’t change at all, and that was the Ark of the Covenant. It remained the same. All it had in it was the Ten Commandments and a smaller pair of cherubim over the top of it. Then, of course, the LORD who would dwell between the cherubim as well. No changes were made to the ark at all. But there’s something to be said for that, isn’t there? Some things don’t need to be changed. The Ten Commandments are the Ten Commandments, more precious than gold. They reveal God’s will for mankind, a direct revelation from God Himself. Written on stone, nothing flashy, but nonetheless solid and changeless. On top of the ark, the LORD would dwell between the two angels, in an area called the Shekinah. He is glorious in and of himself. The minute you try to IMPROVE God’s Word or God, you end up ruining it completely.
When all of the sacrifices were done and it was time for God to enter, that’s exactly what He did. When the priests came out from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of the LORD. 11 The priests were not able to take their positions to minister in the presence of the cloud, because the Glory of the LORD had filled the House of the LORD. This visible descent of the LORD would send a clear signal to the people of Israel that this place was indeed blessed. This was, indeed, a holy place. God Himself would dwell there. If God hadn’t entered into the building, it would have been nothing but an empty shell of a building, in spite of all of the beauty and the preparations that were made. But He did come and sanctified the place as holy.
The place was so holy that it even says that the priests had to step away. hey couldn’t do their duty when the holy God was there, it was too holy for them. And isn’t there some symbolism in that? When God would actually and fully come into our world and make His holy sacrifice on the cross, then the priests would no longer even NEED to make their sacrifices. They could just step aside.
Now think about all of the preparations that you made for Christmas, all of the money you spent, all of the time you set aside to prepare for this season. What was it really for? Who was it really for? You wanted the food to be just right, the lights to look perfect, you wanted everything to go just perfect? Why? Was it for your own entertainment and enjoyment? Was Jesus found somewhere in there? Anywhere?
Think about the preparations that were made here, all of the music and the decorations, all of the candles and the decor. What was it all for? Was it just for the sake of the music? Was it just because we like singing by candlelight? Or was there something deeper behind the symbolism? Wasn’t it rather to prepare your hearts for Jesus to come? Wasn’t it to actually focus the hearts and the minds on the MESSAGE of Christmas, that God came in the flesh?
Solomon wanted to make sure that the ambience in and around the temple sent a message. This God is precious to us. We want Him to come to us. We need Him to come to us. Without Him, we are lost in the darkness of sin and death. Yet this God is holy. We are sinners. We can’t stand in His presence without sacrifice. And that is a purpose behind our worship as well. We still want to maintain a sense of awe and majesty in the way we worship. This God is holy! God is not just a baby. As the angels sang, “He is Christ the Lord!” Unless you recognize the holiness of God, you won’t appreciate what that God is doing in the manger. He has come here to die! We can get caught up in the ambience and the music instead of the glorious message behind it all.
It’s so strange to us! He doesn’t look glorious at all! Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he dwells in thick darkness.” That’s the exact OPPOSITE of what you’d expect! Imagine if you were an Israelite and you then saw that dark cloud come down on the temple at Moses’ day. What would you have thought? I would have maybe thought, “This is a dark God. This is a scary God. We have to sacrifice so many animals just to temporarily appease His wrath? He seems so angry!” I’d maybe want to run away. Even though He would obviously be very real, what is there to love in a God who lives in dark clouds? Dark clouds can be sad and depressing and scary.
But that’s not WHY God dwelt in the dark cloud. That’s not completely how God wanted to be seen and known. God described Himself as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34) Then why did He choose dark clouds to dwell in? Had He not concealed His glory, the Israelites would have died on the spot. A regular cloud couldn’t have done the trick, not with His glory. It had to be a dark one.
Solomon said, I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell forever. That may have been true for THEIR lifetimes, but it wasn’t true forever. And that’s a good thing. How could people have a loving relationship with a God of dark clouds? It doesn’t look very loving. It doesn’t seem personal, especially if only the high priest could get access to Him through sacrifices of animals. So instead of dwelling in the clouds, in a spiritual form over a box that nobody had access to, God decided to come in the soft and tender flesh of a baby. On Christmas Day He was placed on a different box called a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. The angels were not inanimate statues of gold, of extraordinary size. They were flying in the sky, shining with God’s glory, and singing to the shepherds, pointing them to the glory of the babe in the manger. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men on whom His favor rests! God allowed some dirty shepherds to come and see him in the flesh! Here is the perfect coming of Christ, a tender God who could be held and loved and ultimately crucified. No more animals would be sacrificed from this point forward, for God Himself would be sacrificed.
This God still comes to us, wrapped in such simple and bland things as bread and wine, for us to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins. He who dwelt in the darkness now comes to us who live in a dark and dreary world, in order to give us the light of salvation in Jesus. We all have easy access to Him! We don’t need the glamor of gold. We have God in flesh, bread, and wine. This is God’s wrapping paper of today - the God who chose to come here and allow Himself to be held and touched. Why? So that we could be forgiven. This is why Christmas is so important to us. Forget about the tree. Forget about the lights. Forget about the gifts that we give one another. All we need is Jesus, and we have Him, right here, in Word and sacrament!
Just as God came with His special presence in the temple, God comes with His special presence HERE, in the church, where two or three are gathered in His name, with His sacrament! People like to undermine the need for churches and buildings. But if God used one in the Old Testament, then why couldn’t He and wouldn’t He use one today? Solomon put time and effort into building the temple for God. He called it majestic. He was proud of what he had built. So ought we to do the same!
That’s what church is for! I just don’t get it, seeing pictures of people at home and opening presents, enjoying food and drink, but never once even singing His praise with your brothers and sisters in Christ? Not coming to receive His sacrament? I totally get it if you CAN’T make it to church. God knows your limits. But if you can, and you choose not to? What kind of a message does that send to your children? Grandchildren? Spouse? Lord? What kind of a Christmas is it if Christ is not the priority?
Is it any wonder that Christmas feels empty to those who don’t keep Christ at the front and center of it all? The house you celebrated in is gone? Your children don’t come home any more? Your grandparents have died? It is a sad and real thing. I understand that. It won’t feel the same. But the message IS the same. “You will find a babe, wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger. Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior. He is Christ the Lord.” Don’t let the sadness drown out the fact that the real gift is found in the manger, on the tree, in the Word and the sacrament, wrapped under water, bread and wine. This God has come to you, for you!
We like to laugh at the movie Christmas Vacation where the crazy aunt wrapped up a cat for Clark for Christmas. The cat was none too pleased and couldn’t wait to get out of the box. But think of what Jesus did! He willingly allowed Himself to be wrapped in flesh and chose to STAY in that flesh FOR US, boxed up for us, so that we could hold Him in the arms of faith! There’s a painting of Jesus in heaven, holding on tightly, in a big bear hug, someone who has just died. What a beautiful thing! It’s real, because Jesus still has body and blood. He still can be held, and He can still hold us! Even today, He allows Himself to be wrapped in bread and wine, to be EATEN and DRUNK by us. Why? So that we can be FORGIVEN! So that we can know we are loved by God. This is what Christmas is about for us! This is why we have built this church, so that Jesus can be given to you and held by you here. And we can be held by God’s grace and mercy, in the loving arms of Christ, stretched out on the cross.
This is what you receive at this holy place, when the Word and sacrament are given to you. God Himself comes here, to you, to give you blessing after blessing. God Himself is present! This is what worship is all about as we fellowship together in CHURCH, this church that we have built. We may not have gold on the walls, but we have beautified this place as well as we can, to honor our Lord, and give you Jesus.
There’s a song that is entitled “the 12 days of Christmas.” It actually reflects the fact that the Christmas season in the liturgical year is only 12 days long. Today is officially the 7th day of Christmas, but we aren’t talking about “7 swans a swimming.” And your true love hasn’t given you any partridges in pear trees. No, He has given you His Son, in the flesh, on the cross. How much greater is this than coming in a dark cloud! And Christmas lasts much longer than 12 days. Christmas time is whenever Christ comes to us in Word and sacrament. Yes, this is a holy place, a glorious place, because Jesus is here to give you Christmas time and time again. Merry Christmas to you today and every day, through faith in Jesus, as you wait to see Jesus, in the flesh. Amen.
