Nougat 12

What is your relationship to the temple of God (the physical buildings)? Is it integral to our spiritual lives or is it a white elephant, ie, past its usefulness? Consider today’s Holy Nougat

“In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.” ‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Regardless of your view on the temple’s purpose, do you find yourself getting a bit upset at the very casual treatment of the temple? I do. And I still do – I’m incensed by the casual way in which holy place is treated. Being old school, I grew up with the admonitions about eating, drinking and talking loudly in a sanctuary. I also am aware of some spaces where shoes are prohibited in deference to God’s command to Moses in Exodus 3.

Of course, I am also aware that there are places where church buildings do not exist in the same style and structure that many hold dear. In such spaces, it may be that utility needs outweigh expectations for church buildings. Yet even then, I suspect there is a reverence for the space where God’s Spirit is collectively worshipped that precludes the diminishing of the temple. I also think that it begs reflection on how we purpose our sites of worship and even our activities done in the sanctuary – ie the worship area.

But is the real issue about walls and halls or about our interpretation of the first commandment – loving and worshiping God above all else? For, it may be the way in which the temple had become part of the structural injustice normalized under Roman rule. The temple rituals required set sacrifices offered at particular seasons and there were various levels depending on one’s household income. Our Nougat presents a scene where the sacrifices had devolved into a system of capitalizing on the worshippers and even profiteering from the needs.

While this is normative for many of us, it is not what God desires. Ezekiel is clear in speaking out against eating the sheep (see chapter 34). Reverence for God and God’s temple is not to be at the expense of others, particularly the vulnerable! No if, no but. Giving God God’s due cannot be about profiting from the vulnerable. We may incorporate gadgets and modern tech into our worship (including lighting systems, ICT, QR codes or swipe machines), but we cannot allow any of those to detract from the fact that we’ve got one goal. And that is, to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Whether a fancy cathedral, a storefront, a room in our homes or on Zoom, we seek to ensure that God is worshiped in the beauty of holiness today and always.

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May all we seek be found in Christ