Some churches call their worship space a meeting room or auditorium while other churches have a sanctuary. A sanctuary represents the realm of God ... a place where heaven and earth meet and mingle and where the people of God encounter the Holy.
One thing our medieval ancestors got right was placing the cathedral at the center or high point of the community. A cathedral took generations to complete but that did not matter since it was to the glory of God.
I have only lately come to really appreciate the promise of a new heaven and a new earth that runs through the scriptures. A deepening edge of my faith is that every act of compassion, mercy and justice; every time we speak the truth with love; every sacrifice made in the name of our friend and savior, Jesus Christ, will live all the way into God's new creation.
I realize all too well that we confuse today's organizational agenda with those eternal kingdom purposes. I understand that many are oppressed and wounded when the church forgets to work for kingdom purposes and the glory of God.
Yet, as I once heard Bishop Willimon affirm: Church is what Christ does!
Lord, may our worship this morning become a sacred meeting and celebration of your love. Amen.
About Me
- Jim Simpson
- I am a pastor with a passion for Christian formation and spiritual direction. I love my wife, Peggy, and we are parents together of 7 fine grown children along with a chocolate Lab, Mocha, and a Jack Russell named Sugar. I have gathered a collection of kaleidoscopes ... whose images provide a metaphor for my approach to discernment in spiritual direction.
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