Our House

Happy I-can’t-believe-it’s-December Saturday, friends!

Do you remember the saying, “slow as Christmas?”

Ridiculous.

Maybe it’s like everything else once one reaches a certain unspecified age—time flies whether you’re having fun or not.

Nonetheless, here we are. ‘Tis the season. In the next two weeks, I’ll be part of 7 Christmas music performances and will attend a few more.

And love every minute of it!

For followers of Jesus, Christmas provides a unique opportunity to share good news through the gift of music. People who are not necessarily “church people” will come to a Christmas music program.

And, if we do it right, they’ll be entertained, encouraged, and blessed AND they’ll have the opportunity to be reminded how much they are loved by God.

This morning, my hymn text is a simple song from the seventies (couldn’t resist the alliteration) in which I wish I could change one word (and have changed it when I’ve led it).

What’s the word in question?

“His.”

But isn’t everything His?

Absolutely!

Isn’t the church God’s house?

Certainly.

So what’s the problem?

The building isn’t the church.

Am I going to refuse to sing this song?

Of course not.

I understand the long history of referring to the place where we gather as “God’s house.” And I understand that, in the Old Testament, the “house of the Lord” was very much an identifiable place.

But something happens in the New Testament that redefines sacred space and God’s dwelling place.

WE (the people of God) are His house.

He dwells in US.

So, in a very real sense, the building is not God’s house; it’s the church’s house.

It’s the space we have constructed and set aside for the purpose of gathering the church to worship—to magnify HIS name and minimize OUR individual preferences.

Hence, “let’s forget about ourselves …”

So what’s my one-word edit? (You thought I forgot, didn’t you?)

“This.”

“We have come into THIS house and gathered in His name …”

We are not guests who come into His house asking for His stuff.

We are His house …gathering in His name …focusing our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on His glory …reminding each other that we belong …encouraging and building each other up in His grace, mercy, and love …hearing what He will say to us through His Word …And blessing one another in His name to go and be His people in His world until we gather again.

Be amazing today, my friend.