Christmas 2, January 2, 2010.
Home. I've often heard it said: no matter where you travel, "there's no
place like home" (Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz). For those who are exiled,
there is no more cruel word (Ulatempa). Some people never travel far from
home; others try to take "home" with them; and still others say "home is where
the heart is" (Pliny the Elder). Home. Perhaps the best example of Someone
who spiritually 'never left home' is Jesus.
Jesus said, "I must be in My Father's House."
Jesus DID physically come-and-go to that Jerusalem Temple. He went
came-and-left on the 8th day for circumcision; later for Mary's purification
(40 days); and we also know He was there for Luke 2:41-51. He went every year.
He came-then-left the Temple another two decades; until His Final Journey.
But there is another idea we each need to remember. In John 2Jesus said,
"Destroy this Temple and in 3 days I will raise it up." The crowds were
clueless as to what Christ meant. They rejected Him. They wanted to build
their lives on their own struggling to be holy by going to the Temple to
pay-as-you-go for their own sins. Jesus, the temple? They were all too eager
to destroy this Temple-Jesus.
The Jerusalem Temple was more than just a house of prayer or a place of
sacrifices. It was more than a symbol of God's rule over all His creation.
The Temple was God's special indwelling with Israel (1 Kings 6:13), even tho
Solomon proclaimed all of creation could not contain Him (1 Kings 8:27-30).
God was present there to receive sacrifices, offerings, and prayers. He
was there to give blessings to His priests, and thru them to His people. God
was dealing with sins. For Jesus to claim to be the Temple, He would have to
be True God present in the flesh. Jesus is the True Temple.
He is "the Word made flesh (Who) dwelt among us" as John wrote {Introit}.
Altho all of creation cannot contain God, He 'for us and for our salvation .was
made Man' (Nicene Creed). His body was the Temple in which the final sacrifice
for sin would be made. All Old Testament sacrifices and offerings pointed to
the Day the LORD made (Ps. 118:24) to put an end to all sacrifices with His One
Holy Sacrifice: the Lamb of God.
Christ's death on the cross put an end to all lesser sacrifices in the
Jerusalem stone Temples of Solomon (destroyed in 586BC by the Babylonians),
Ezra (built after 516BC), and Herod's rebuild (which ended in 64AD, and "not
one stone was left upon another" [Matthew 24:2] when General Titus of Rome
besieged and destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD). Christ was the Ultimate Temple
Sacrifice.
So even tho Jesus physically came-and-left the Temple many times, He
Himself is the True Temple. Jesus never left Home! The Temple can not leave
the Temple. Even when It was destroyed on the cross, three days later the
Temple of Christ's body was raised up fully restored. By the way, that is the
same length of time, three days, Joseph & Mary went looking for Jesus.
Jesus is Still in the Father's House. When we are in His Church, we are
in His House. But His church is not just a building.
Christ is present when two or more are gathered in His Name (Matthew 18)
around the forgiveness of sins. When a child is baptized. When liturgy is
spoken. When you are absolved of sins. When Scripture is read. When you
receive the body and blood of Christ. All of these are God's work including
you in His temple of living stones (1 Peter 2). Our Father has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing, adopting us as His own according to the
riches of His grace (Ephesians).
It is correct to say 'we are in the Father's House,' AND 'about the
Father's business' (an alternate reading of Luke 2:49c). We are about the
business finished by Christ on the cross, a treasure of grace given to His
Christian church on earth. "For wherever there is forgiveness of sins, there
is life and salvation." (Luther).
The blessings of the Temple of Jesus go with us, wherever we go. Just as
the people who left the Temple retained the blessings: so do you & I! Just as
Jesus continued to grow in wisdom, so can you and I as the word of God dwells
in us richly (Colossians 3:16) in this new year.
God's strength and protection goes with you in 2010, and always: even to
the ends of the earth. God's mercy, compassion, and care is yours to keep, AND
to show toward others, just as it is in Christ.
God has transformed your life in Christ. That does not end when you leave
here. It does not even end when you die. It is yours forevermore. We can
leave the Father's House but as Christians we can be sure Christ, our Temple,
will never leave us.
Many people went home for the Christmas holiday, some came home. Most
have left, returning to other places - with a little bit of 'home' going with
them in their minds and hearts. As God's people, the Temple of Jesus remains
with us no matter where we go because of Who He is and what He has done for us.
In this we rejoice! Amen.
