Sanctuary 

 “My house shall be called a house of prayer,

but you have made it a den of thieves.”

Matthew 21:13

          Jesus had a high view of worship.  He believed that people need a place for sanctuary, a place that is set apart from the hustle and bustle of worldly affairs, a place for worship and prayer.  This did not mean that people cannot worship and pray in other places, for he often withdrew to “the lonely place” or to a garden.  But, he recognized that too many distractions often divert us from these spiritual disciplines.  We need a set-apart place to sharpen our focus.

          When Jesus discovered that the one place people ought to be able to worship and pray – the Temple – was filled with turbulence of a carnival; he let loose with the greatest display of anger you find from him in all of scripture.  The moneychangers brought the practice of the everyday world to the one place people should be able to find refuge. That, Jesus could not abide. He turned their tables upside down.

          Modern day worship faces similar struggles.  Ringing cell phones and pre-worship chatter divert us from the main task at hand and that is to come before the Lord bringing the best and worst of ourselves. People sometimes enter a sanctuary with no sense at all that they are standing on “holy ground”.  This derives perhaps from low expectations.  Some may not really believe that God can be found in this place and so do not receive the spiritual direction and encouragement that follows true worship.  That kind of worship, Jesus said, is always characterized by “spirit and truth”.

          So, the next time you go to church take a few moments to settle in and settle down.  Release the tensions of the week.  Breathe in and breathe out and open yourself up to the possibility that God is really there and that God does care.

Bring us back to the heart of worship, we pray O Lord. Remind us that it is indeed all about you.  Create in us a sanctuary where we might catch of glimpse of your holiness and experience the touch of your love.  Amen.