April 28, 2024- Pastor Message
05/09/2024THE MEANING OF “CHURCH”
“The foundations of the Lord’s house were laid in the month of Ziv in the fourth year, and it was finished, in all particulars, exactly according to plan, in the month of Bul, the eighth month, in the eleventh year. Thus Solomon built it in seven years…Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, and stretching forth his hands toward heaven, he said: … ‘Is God indeed to dwell on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built! Regard kindly the prayer and petition of your servant, Lord, my God, and listen to the cry of supplication which I, your servant, utter before you this day. May your eyes be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there.’ Listen to the prayer your servant makes toward this place’” (1 Kings 6:37-38; 8:22, 27-30).
This prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem expresses two basic truths of our faith: that God is above and beyond all space and cannot be contained in any place; yet, our immeasurable God chooses to humble himself by making his home with us in places we reserve for him. God, as Spirit, certainly does not need physical places. We, however, as physical beings living in the physical world, do need places for prayer and the worship of God. For the Israelites, the place where they encountered God and brought him their prayers and supplications was the temple. For us today, our sacred place is a church.
It is no accident that we use the same word to mean both the building we dedicate to God and the community of people whom God calls together to worship there. The word, “church”, comes from the Greek “Kyriakon doma” - “the Lord’s house” - indicating that a church building is given over completely to God to serve his purposes, the highest of which is divine worship. We consecrate churches to God through a special ceremony, anointing the walls with sacred chrism, and we fill them with sacred art as a way of constantly lifting our minds and hearts to God when we are there.
This is also reflected in the way we conduct ourselves when in a church. As much as possible, we maintain an atmosphere of reverent silence in awe and wonder before our God, whose house this is, and also to enable those present to keep their minds and hearts fixed on God. When we do speak in church, it is in prayer, directing our words to God. Like the building itself, we consecrate the time we spend in a church to God, giving it over to him completely. We come to a church to encounter the Almighty God, and that is exactly what we do.
Thus far, I have been focusing on the building we dedicate to God, but I mentioned that the word, “church”, also means the people gathered there. I will focus on that meaning in next week;’s column as we continue to reflect together on the meaning of “church”.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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