The Names of God - Sanctuary

Sanctuary 

And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  Isaiah 8:14 (ESV)

Until this writing, I had come to despise the word sanctuary when used in conjunction with God or the Church. So many have come to believe that the room in which congregations assemble, referred to as The Sanctuary, is where God actually abides. This could not be further from the truth. But yet, we do not allow children to be boisterous or condone slouchy dress because it is “God’s House.”

I love this passage in Isaiah where God says, “I will become a sanctuary,” not live in one. I heard Grady Nutt speak when I was a freshman at Samford University. He made the statement, referring to Jesus in the tomb, “People have been trying to put God in a box, but the problem is He won’t stay there.” It’s convenient to “know” where God is, in reference to The Sanctuary. We can go see Him when WE want to. We also are not bothered by Him when WE want to do our thing. The truth is, He IS the sanctuary. He allows us to abide IN Him, where we have fellowship as friend with friend. We are always in Him and He is always with us.

When The Church decided it needed a building, they took the model of temples built to worship Greek gods, like Apollo and Athena. These places of worship to pagan gods were referred to as “sanctuaries.” The reason for this is the “god” was a statue. It actually did “live” inside the building used to worship it. I’ve been to the model of the Parthenon in Nashville, TN. In it is a replica of the statue of Athena. Why would we want to copy ways of worship given to pagan idol? We have a living God, worthy of our fervent worship; a God not bound by walls; One who desires a life-giving relationship.

It's time for The Church to return to its roots. Focus on being the Body of Christ in the earth, taking Jesus to our community, our world, by sharing the love given to us by our Creator. We cannot do this by locking God up in a “sanctuary,” but instead allow Him to live through us, His “lively stones.”

That brings us to the other part of Isaiah 8:14. In addition to being our Sanctuary, He also declared He would be a “stone of offense and a rock of stumbling.” Look at how Peter described this as it relates to The Church:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4 – 5 (ESV)

As we, the Body of Christ, present the Gospel in living, breathing fashion, we become the “spiritual house” (a type or picture of the temple) where God’s word causes people to see their need for a savior. They become “offended” to the point of repentance; they “stumble” at the sight of their own futile attempts to reach God by their effort. The Church is not the “sanctuary” of God. God is the ”sanctuary” for The Church. “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28 ESV) In Him we “are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ…” (Ephesians 4:15 ESV)

We do not “visit” God at church on Sundays and other special occasions. Instead, we are to abide “in Him” every moment of every day; totally consumed by the awareness of His presence and the reality of His will being formed in us. Let’s work on getting our mind adjusted to exactly who is in the sanctuary. We are the ones in The Sanctuary, not God living in our building.