Good Morning Friends,
There are many mornings that I think about adding to my blog, but so often I get distracted by something else.
Once the Christmas was done, I started working on renovating my upstairs bathroom. A great guy from my St. Paul’s used gifts of dry wall, tiling, flooring, and I added painted and hung new towel bars and a shower curtain. Plus, a plumber to connect a new toilet, and faucets for the bath, shower and sink. Mix it all together and I have a beautiful bathroom where I soak in a deep bathtub almost every night. It’s awesome.
And, as I revel in my new project on my home, I note that Jesus did not invest in buildings. Jesus invested in people. In the gospel of Mark chapter 3 we have Jesus naming and empowering his co-workers.
13-19 He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons. These are the Twelve:
Simon (Jesus later named him Peter, meaning “Rock”),
James, son of Zebedee,
John, brother of James (Jesus nicknamed the Zebedee brothers Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him)
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus – Son of God – most powerful – Prince of Peace – etc, wanted helpers to do what he did. He wants the apostles [literally, one sent forth] to increase the amount of people that could be reached with Jesus’ message and ministry.
Christianity was never suppose to be a one person show; even Jesus. The message was what matter and Jesus wanted to get that message of God’s good news out to as many people as possible. AND having a building doesn’t seem to be on Jesus agenda.
This Sunday we will celebrate the Transfiguration of Jesus. Whenever I think about that passage, I think of Peter saying, “It’s a good thing you invited us to be here, now we can build a booth for you and Moses and Elijah”. Having a dwelling on earth was not the priority, dwelling with God wherever we go was the important part. The journey with an awareness of the Presence of God is what will transform our lives and our world.
Yes, church building are convenient. But, they are not the dwelling place of God. They can become sacred places because of what we do in them, not just that we build them.
Think about your most sacred places today. Realize that you have brought that meaning to that place because of God’s presence with you
Peace
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