Five years ago, in August, I preached a sermon entitled,
“The House of God”. The principle text was I Peter 2:1-6 where Peter speaks of
Christians being the stones out of which God is building a spiritual house, a
temple of glory and honor.
In that message I mentioned a Newsweek cover story on the
resurgence of religion in America. It said, “The trend has been
reversed. America is returning to church.” But
interestingly, when you dig a little deeper you find that it’s not biblical
faith that they’re returning to, but self expression. The
goal is not so much salvation as support; not so much holiness as it is
self-help. And what’s so exciting about
that is it’s not new. When it comes to
shaping God into our own image it’s been around a long time. Aristotle taught it. Alexander the Great
embraced it. It’s the same culture into which Jesus
launched His disciples. He prepared them
for it. In the first century, all around
Israel, there were people worshipping other gods. And
each god had its own story, its own myth, its own origin, its own character,
its own blessings and curses. And it’s instructive to note the centrality of
these gods in the lives of these people.
They built their lives around them.
Three centuries before Christ,
Alexander the Great came to a little town. Now Priene wasn’t on
a main trade route so it remained small and provincial. But when Alexander the Great got there he
determined to make it his home. For
nearly a year he lived there, and the principle reason was the presence of a
temple to the goddess Athena. The
architect of this temple was a man who designed one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world. When he built it, he put
it on the highest peak of the city, rising above the terraced rocks and the
defensive walls. And though he designed
it with an abundance of gold and silver, it was not the gold and silver that
impressed, it was the huge white stones out of which it was built. They said those stones could be seen by ships
20 miles out at sea. And in the temple
was a 21 foot high statue of the goddess Athena. She was considered the protector of all
civilized life, of all art and agriculture.
They used to call her, “The Lord and Giver of Life.” The statue was made of 21 feet of solid
gold. And next to the statute was an altar. And that altar was the center of all
religious life. Worshippers would come
to the altar and there place their offerings, sing hymns of praise, and pray
prayers like this one: “O Athena, hear
the prayer of your humble servant. O
Glorious Athena, fill me with your love, your strength, your wisdom for I lay
myself at your feet. I worship you from
the bottom of my being. I am your
servant now and for all time, glorious goddess.
Bless this house and every aspect of my life. Help me uphold your ideals…Grant me your
blessing. I thank you for your interest
in me for I am your humble servant.”
People would come from all over Asia to
worship in her house. They’d come bearing gifts and praying prayers for her
provision. But more than that, if you were hungry you could find food in her
temple. If you were thirsty you could get a drink from spring water that they
piped in from miles away, and they called it, “Living Water.” If you needed a
place to stay you could get a room in her house for no cost. If you wanted to
be entertained you could go to her house and always find music and dance and
artistry. If you needed medical attention the best doctors in the world were in
the temple Athena day and night. You see, everything you could possibly want or
need was at her temple.
Now just think of what it meant to be a
Christian in Priene. It’s thought that the earliest Christian settlement ever
established outside Israel was in Priene. And yet everything in that town was
dedicated to the glory of Athena and her father Zeus. Every good and service
was controlled by Athenian worship. So what was a Christian to do? Without
paying homage to Athena no one could buy or trade. Without bowing to Athena no
one could serve on the town council. Without worshipping her no one could get
fire, for the place to secure fire was at the altar of Athena. So how was a
Christian to live in Priene? To whom did they turn to get the necessities of
life?
Paul tells us in I Corinthians 3, “In
him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the
Spirit.” In Ephesians he says, “You are fellow citizens with the saints and
members of the household of God,” He’s not talking about individual Christians,
but the community of faith in one place.
You see, all over Asia people would ask
those first believers, “Where’s your temple?
Where’s your God? Where is the
source of your life?” And you know what
those Christians would say? “Come and
see.” You see, in that town of Priene
there was another temple. But instead of
being built of large white stones, it was built of living, human stones that
when pieced together.
And that was the testimony of the early
church. They didn’t just come into Asia with the words of Jesus or the works of
Jesus, they came with the presence of Jesus in their midst. As they lived together, as they loved
together, as they ministered to the needs of each other they became a greater
temple than the temple of Athena. They became the
Temple of the Living God. And so when they went out into the
streets and people would ask, “Where is your temple?” they said, “Come and see
it.” And they’d bring them into their midst.
And immediately they’d encounter something they’d never encountered before--the
living presence of Almighty God. And through those little communities of
believers, called Insulas, the church of Jesus Christ exploded all over Asia.
Into a culture of narcissism and individualism, Houses of God
began to be built. And when the world entered those
Houses, two realities suddenly hit them – Jesus is Lord and Athena is a fraud.
You know why? Because in those insulas they saw living
stones loving each other selflessly. They saw living stones eating together the
bread of life. They saw living stones drinking together the living water and
praying for the sick and delivering the demonized. They
saw no unmet need. And when they experienced all of that, they’d know the
Living God. And isn’t that exactly what Jesus promises them that night in the
Upper Room when He lifts the bread and says, ‘This is my body, broken for you?”
He lifts the cup saying, “This is my blood sacrifice shed for you? As often as
you eat this bread and drink this cup you show forth my death until I come
again.”
The proof that Jesus loves the sinner
is that we love each other. The proof that Jesus forgives our sin is
that we forgive each other. The proof that Jesus is the way the truth and the
life is that you and I are bound together in such a way that He is our way, our
truth, and our life. For years I’d read the words of Jesus to the church of
Ephesus, “I have this against you, you’ve left your first love,” and I’d think
He was talking about their love for Him. But I don’t think that anymore. I
think He’s talking about their love for each other. And that’s what the
preacher of Hebrews is telling us in chapter 3.
Did you know that within 100 years of
the Ascension more than 80% of Asia had become Christians? Think of it. In 100 years more than 80% of
the territory of Asia became followers of Christ. You say, “How is that possible?”
Because they came to love each another as Christ had loved them. Within 100
years of the Ascension Asia is transformed by the power of the Gospel. And yet,
within 100 more years there are almost no Christians in Asia. You say, “What
happened?” They lost the love they had at first. When persecution ended, when the saving
Gospel of Jesus Christ had become the majority report and everyone was free to
go and buy and sell and do their own thing, they did. The insula was replaced
by the insular. And you know something? That’s happened in our day. The insula
has become the insular. So much like today!
We will speak about all of this Sunday, for when the
preacher of Hebrews comes to chapter 3, he talks about Jesus as “our Builder”. The
text is Hebrews 3:1-6. Can you imagine the comfort of knowing Jesus as Builder
when you are being persecuted, and when you are weary and worn, and asking, “If
God loves us so much, why is life so hard?”
In preparation for Sunday’s message, “Our Builder”, you may
wish to consider the following:
- How does verse 1 follow seamlessly from chapter 2?
- In verse 1 the preacher calls his hearers “holy brothers” who share in a heavenly calling.” Why?
- What do you make of his words, “Consider Jesus?” Does he use the word “consider” elsewhere in this sermon?
- Is there anywhere else in the New Testament where Jesus is called “an apostle”? What does it mean?
- In what ways is Jesus greater than Moses when it comes to the house of God?
- What is “the house of God” in Moses’ day and how is it a foreshadowing of the house of God in Jesus’ day?
- How is Jesus the Builder of this house?
- What impact would the preacher’s words about Jesus having greater glory and honor than Moses have on this audience?
- What significance is there to the preacher’s statement in verse 5 that “Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son”?
- What does the local church have to do with verse 6?
See you Sunday for Communion.
