Safe
Introduction
In a changing world God is recalling us as Church to the seemingly impossible, to be “The Safest Place On Earth” (Larry Crabb). Just a few weeks ago the man on my right at a city bar spoke up about how a pastor had interfered with his little sister, only to be complemented by the stories of the guy to my left about his Catholic school upbringing. Similarly, when Robert mentions church at work some of the blokes automatically make remarks about “kiddy fiddle”. Increasingly numbers of people are convinced that religion does more harm than good and young people especially see us as judgemental. Despite the odds Jesus is recalling his people to be a sanctuary in a world that has lost its ease. Whether it is street kids fleeing family violence, battered women, children harassed by cyber bullying, dispossessed Indigenous people, those tormented by mental illnesses, or a population traumatised by fears of climate change or restlessly alert to the lightning strike of terrorism, the human need for a totally safe and secure family can only be met by the Church that Jesus builds.
2000 years ago only the Christians picked up abandoned babies from the dung heaps, only believers stayed behind to nurse the victims of plague when the pagan population had fled to the hills, only the followers of Jesus supplied the physical needs of the imprisoned, treated slaves, children and women as full human beings and gave equal dignity to all ethnic groups. The Early Church Fathers spoke without hypocrisy of the Church as a latter days Noah’s ark, the one safe place in a world heading for destruction. Jesus can build such a Church once again, even in Australia. In 2011a Pentecostal church received national publicity for “spontaneously” transforming into a disaster relief centre during the Queensland floods. The restoration of the Church as “The Safest Place On Earth” will require a fusion of the supernatural and the practical; the practical I will leave to others, but in the Bible safety comes from maintaining the presence of the Lord through the construction of a sanctuary.
Beyond Judgement
God spoke to Moses, ““Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.” (Ex 25:8). At the centre of God’s residence in the sanctuary/holy of holies was the Ark of the Covenant; the Ark held the original stone tablets of the Ten Commandments written with God’s own (Ex 25:16; 31:18). The goodness of God’s commands is unquestionable, but as Paul says, “the letter kills” (2 Cor 3:6). The unkeepable nature of the commandments constantly reminded God’s people they were guilty sinners unable to live in his holy presence (Rom 7:12-20; 1 Tim 1:9 cf. Rom 3:20). Law never inwardly empowers us. The sight of a police car in your rear vision mirror might strike you with a tinge of guilt and fill you with the fear of a punishing speed but it will never leave you with a sense of the goodness of obeying the law. Understanding our struggles and imperfections the Lord in his kindness provided at the centre of the sanctuary a way of forgiveness.
Above the tables of the law was a cover called the “mercy seat”; a place where the wrath/judgement of God was turned away through sacrifice. Once a year on the Day of Atonement the High Priest would sprinkle sacrificial blood on the mercy seat symbolically cleansing away the defilement of the nation’s guilt and renewing fellowship between God and sinners (Lev 16:15). As a sign of the reconciling power of sacrificial blood the glory of God’s presence overshadowed the mercy seat providing the people with a sense of security and protection against judgement (Ex 25:22). This gracious arrangement had one great drawback, the endless offering of animal sacrifices could never convince the consciences of the worshippers that their sins were fully forgiven and placed beyond condemnation (Heb 10:1-3, 14).
Understandably the Jewish people found it easier to serve the gods of the nations than the demands of the Holy One of Israel (Josh 24:14-28; Isa 30:11). After a long history of rebellion the temple itself became the home of idols, the sacrifices were defiled, God’s glorious presence departed, and the divine judgement of exile fell on the nation (Ezek 8-10). Finally the Lord offers himself as the final solution to the cycle of sin and punishment; a promise with a powerful prophetic twist; “the LORD…. will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling” (Isa 8:14; cf. Ezek 11:16). After the return from Babylonian exile God’s glorious presence did return to a temple in Jerusalem, but only in the person of Jesus. Jesus changes everything.
Father, Son, Spirit
When John opens his Gospel with, “the Word became flesh and made his home amongst us…and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth” he proclaims that in Jesus the heavenly sanctuary of God is housed in the mortal humanity of Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:18, 17). Totally safety and security is found in the presence of the Son of God. In calling God his heavenly “Father” and teaching his disciples to do likewise Jesus opened up the gates of heaven and ushered us into its holiest place (Matt 6:9; John 5:18 cf. 17:11). In Jesus there is no condemnation; ““God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him…. whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.””” (John 3:17; 5:24). The forgiving words of Jesus totally transformed the consciences of all who accepted him; to the adulterous woman brought to him for stoning as the Law demanded he promised; ““Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”” (John 8:10-11 ESV). From now on God’s home will be in those who follow Jesus; ““If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.””(John 14:23). With this promise at one stroke Jesus pronounces the abolition of an entire religious system of holy buildings, rituals, sacrifices and priesthood. This total revolution in the history of religion became most transparent when Christ confronts the keepers of the temple sanctuary.
Immediately after cleansing the temple of its money-changers Jesus prophesied concerning his own coming death and resurrection; ““Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…he was speaking of the temple of his body”” (John 2:19, 21). The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were no fools; there could not be two spiritual sources of safety and security, either Jesus had to go or they had to go (John 11:48-53). Thus the great crime brought against Jesus at this trial was this; ““We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” (Mark 14:58). Crucified as a blasphemer the abusive crowds reminded him, ““Ha! Look at you now!”…“You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. 30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!” (Mark 15:29-30). Who would believe that the man heard crying out, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” could actually be the one eternally safe and secure place from divine condemnation upon a sinful world. (Mark 15:34). Yet one man, the most unlikely of all, did find in Jesus such a sanctuary.
This was the man who in the presence of Jesus openly confessed; “we deserve to die for our crimes” (Luke 23:41); this robber dying next to Jesus is a man stripped of all reputation and self-righteousness. He knew that according to the Old Testament sacrificial system intentional wilful sins like his could never be forgiven (Num 15:22-31), yet in the presence of the bleeding dying Son of God he sensed someone who could forever cleanse his conscience from guilt and so offered to Jesus his petition, ““Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”” (Luke 23:42). This plea that was met with a remarkable promise; “today you will be with me in Paradise.”” (Luke 23:43). While the law-abiding citizens of Jerusalem could only see Jesus as a condemned man the dying thief supernaturally saw Jesus as undergoing a condemnation for us (cf. Rom 8:3). Being in the presence of the one who prayed “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”” this criminal sensed that he was in the living presence of the true and eternal sanctuary of God, he had a revelation that the Father to whom Jesus prayed is a Holy Father and the cross is the place where atonement is made by the shed blood of the Son of God “once for all” (Luke 23:34; Heb 7:27; 10:10). Jesus himself is the true mercy seat of divine grace and the shedding of his blood delivers our consciences from guilt, condemnation and fear bringing us safely into the Father’s love forever (Rom 3:24-25; Heb 9:13-14; 10:14; 1 Pet 1:2). The sacrifice of Jesus has opened up for us the sanctuary in heaven.
Church as Sanctuary
This is how the book of Hebrews puts it; “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22). In Jesus the Church has become a holy place through which men and women can enter the sanctuary of heaven and experience respite on earth. When the New Testament refers to the Church as a “temple” it uses the term (naos) that in the Old Testament was used of the inner sanctuary where atoning blood is applied and wrath is turned away (1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). God’s safest earthly presence is concentrated in his people.
In the heavenly dimension of its identity the Church is a zone free from the Lord’s anger and condemnation, a refuge and a holy sanctuary (Heb 12:18-24). The “holy space” where God lives is not the apex of a material building next to an altar served by priests but us as the whole Body of Christ (Eph 2:21). This is the wondrous picture Paul upholds to the Corinthians, “we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”” (2 Cor 6:16-18). This is a beautiful vision of a holy temple made up of living stones who together as one family of love cry out in the Spirit’s power, “Abba, Father!” (Rom 8:16; 1 Pet 2:5). A Body living in the dynamic revelation that there is no condemnation for us in Christ cannot pass condemnation against each one another, or against anyone whom the Lord brings to us (Rom 8:1). Such a community, such a family is “The Safest Place On Earth”.
Perhaps at this stage of the sermon someone is thinking I need to come down to earth; in fact when I told Donna about today’s topic she laughed in disbelief, so repeatedly tragic have been our experiences of institutional religion. Like the chap I sat next to on our recent flight to Malaysia, rare is that person with experience of “Christianity” who has not somewhere along the line felt judged, condemned or unsafe in “the Body of Christ”. Yet I see signs that as he has done in the past the Lord is drawing together many strands setting the stage for a great reformation. Let me start with an historical illustration.
Through the Middle Ages and up until the time of Michelangelo’s terrifying scenes of the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, if you walked into a parish church in Europe you would have been confronted by a “doom painting”. Fiery pictures of the torments of the condemned in Hades were designed to “scare the hell out of you” and keep you dependent on the institution and laws of the Church. No wonder the men and women of those times were obsessed with death and tortured by the question; “How can I find a gracious God.” This set the stage for the revelation that the Holy Spirit gave to Martin Luther of the gospel of justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone; the world has never been the same since.
The average Australian tries to avoid all thought of death and cannot conceive of a gracious God; but in a world unable to shake off the specter of financial insecurity, relational breakdowns, inner unease, fear of climate change and global terrorism more and more men and women will be found asking, “Where is there a sanctuary from the traumas trials busyness and the emptiness of life today?” It is God’s time to reveal the Church as “The Safest Place On Earth.” Just a few weeks ago I approached by a pensioner who had been bashed outside some shops near his house; he is working on a “Positive Communities” neighbourhood programme and senses the need for spiritual help to bring a total sense of safety and security to the frightened of our day. Jesus is calling his churches to reopen their doors to the community and his people to reopen our hearts in prayer-filled action for our neighbourhoods.
Conclusion
The world is changing, if Australians will not come to God as their sanctuary in times of affluence and peace he must take them into a time of great trouble. (Isa 2:19, 21; 26:9; Rev 6 ff.). A shaking is coming upon our nation and it will not stop soon (Heb 12:25-29). To be “The Safest Place on Earth” where people can be themselves in all their fears and insecurities, to be a condemnation free zone where the strangest and most damaged people can feel safe and secure in the arms of a loving heavenly Father, this will require from us a total letting go of any other source of security and safety than Jesus. Peter issues us with a warning, “It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?” (1 Pet 4:17) You cannot experience the safety of Christ’s forgiving love if you nurse negative feelings against any other person, living or dead, we cannot sense his presence if our security is finances, marriage or family, most of all, we will never be able to offer the fear-filled, abandoned, lonely and anxious of this world a heaven-born peace until we shift the focus of our assurance from the forms of institutional religion to the blood of the cross (Eph 1:7; Phil 4:7). Christ is calling his Church today to be rebuilt into the sanctuary and refuge for the lost and broken that it once was. Do we hear this call – will we follow?