Remodeling The House Of God

Day 142:  Numbers 25, Psalm 142 & 2 Kings 16

I enjoy remodeling.  I like putting a new twist on an existing room and updating the look and at times the layout.  In our last home I removed walls, took out a non-functioning brick fireplace, exposed the hardwood floors and added new cabinets, pantry and new countertops to the kitchen as well as taking the floor back to it's original hard wood.  That kind of work in my house is enjoyable and brings an increase in the look at value of a home.

In 2 Kings 16 I read about king Ahaz who began to remodel the Lord's Temple and I thought about the remodels the church has gone through over the years.

When I was a kid in church we sat in hard backed pews.  We sang 4,5 or 6 verses of the hymns that had been chosen.  I remember older people getting upset if the song leader only had us sing the first, third and fourth verses.  Back then you wore your best to church on Sunday.  You didn't talk about your failings or sins as a preacher.  For my parents, they were expected to be the model of a perfect couple and family.  The dutiful wife, the well-behaved kids.  My dad always preached from behind the large wooden pulpit.  Though he would walk out from behind on occasion he was expected to use it.

Today we sit in padded chairs.  We sing praise songs that deal with how we feel about God or expresses one of His character traits but doesn't deal with theology much.  Preachers are expected to be transparent about their lives, we let people bring drinks and food in the "auditorium."

My thought today is, what is okay to remodel in our worship and what's off limits?

Ahaz removed the sea (a small pool mounted on the backs of 12 bronze oxen in which the priests would wash before beginning their Temple rotation) and it's base and instead put it on a stone pedestal.  He also removed the alter from the Temple and placed it next to an alter he had constructed to match one that he saw in Damascus.  And he made some other changes to the Temple to suit his fancy... er, pagan idolatry.

In the Old Testament and Temple worship the items in the Temple proper were put in a specific layout to represent spiritual truths.  The alter first, then the sea then the Temple with the table of show-bread, the lamp stand and the alter of incense  and behind the curtain the Ark of the Covenant.  Everything had a purpose and reason for being there.  When Ahaz remodeled the Temple he was changing the way God had ordered worship to take place.

What is okay to remodel in worship today?

The way we sing?  What we sing?  The clothes we wear?  The seats sit in?  Food and dink or no?

Worship is about recognizing God's place in our lives and submitting ourselves to Jesus.  Worship is not what I get out of it, but what I put into it.  I don't go to worship to get filled, I go to worship to remember who fills me.  I don't worship because of where I am or who I'm with I worship because He's everywhere and He's God with us - the hope of glory.  So remodel my songs, my seat, the order of worship or the way in which I worship but don't mess with who I am worshiping.