The theme of Wednesday night sermon
series is “Three-sixteens”, looking at Chapter Three, Verse Sixteen in a
variety of books in the New Testament. Tonight we look at First
Corinthians 3:16--”Don’t you know that you
yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
It seems to
me that this one little verse--just one sentence, seventeen words--says an
awful lot to us. The first thing it says, at least to me, is that each
and every one of us is very special and very important to God. I mean,
think about this. You are God’s temple. Not just your physical
body, but everything about you. Your mind, your heart, your body, your
soul. Your hopes, your dreams, your fears, your desires. Everything
about you, everything that makes you you, is God’s temple.
That’s
pretty cool, you know. Because the temple was a really special place.
Especially the original temple, the one built by King Solomon. The
Bible goes on and on about that first temple. It gives the exact
dimensions of it, which were directed by God. It gives all the materials
the temple was made out of, which were also directed by God.
And this first temple was made out of the best,
the most expensive stuff available. It was made of cedar and juniper.
It was made of special stone from a special quarry. There were all
sorts of ornate carvings. And everything was overlaid with silver and
gold and gold and bronze. There were tens of thousands of people who
worked on that first temple, and it still took them seven years to build it,
that’s how incredible it was. And of course, the cost of it was enormous.
It’s been estimated that it would cost over two hundred billion of
today’s dollars to build that temple.
And the thing
is, the Apostle Paul, and the people of Corinth that he was writing to,
would’ve known all that. What Paul was telling them, and what Paul is
telling us, is that each one of us, you and me, is just as valuable as that
temple. Each one of us is just as beautiful as that temple. Each
one of us has been created out of the best stuff available. And each one
of us has been made according to exact specifications that came from God.
That’s
pretty awesome to think about. If that does not make us feel good about
ourselves I don’t know what will. To think that we were made to God’s
exact specifications with as much care as it took to make the most beautiful,
most expensive building that has ever existed on earth. That’s pretty
good.
But of
course, there was a reason the temple was made the way it was. Maybe you
know what it is. The temple was not just a place of worship, the way the
church is now. The temple was thought of as, quite literally, the house
of God. The temple was where God lived. That was not just a
metaphor or something--they believed in it literally. The temple was
where God physically lived. That’s why it was so important that it be
built the way it was. They were not just building a house of God.
They were building a house for God. And they wanted to build a
house that was worthy of God, to the extent that it’s possible for humans to
build a house that’s worthy of God.
So when Paul
says “the Spirit dwells in your midst”, that was not just poetic license.
That was not just something Paul was saying because it sounded good.
Paul meant it literally. Paul was saying that just as God lives in
the temple, the Spirit of God lives in each of us.
Now that’s a
pretty awesome thing to think about, too. To think that God’s Spirit
physically lives in each one of us. That God’s Spirit lives in me.
That God’s Spirit lives in you. That the Spirit of the Almighty,
all-powerful God would live in us. That’s quite an honor. That’s
pretty good, too.
But while
it’s a pretty awesome thing to think about, it’s also a pretty awesome
responsibility. Because just as the temple was made to be a house worthy
of God, to the extent it’s possible for humans to do that, you and I need to
make ourselves worthy of God, to the extent it’s possible for us to do that.
If you and I are God’s temple, if God’s Spirit is going to literally live
in us, then we need to do everything we can to be that perfect, beautiful
temple that is worthy of having God live in it.
What does
that mean? Well, it means we need to take a look at every aspect of our
lives. Because, as I said, when Paul says that we are God’s temple, he’s
talking about every aspect of our lives. Our physical body is part of it,
but only a part. Our thoughts are part of it, too. So are our
feelings. Our minds, our hearts, our bodies, our souls, our hopes, our
dreams, our fears, our desires, everything about us, everything that makes us
who we are, is part of God’s temple.
That means
we need to make everything about ourselves worthy of God, to the extent that we
possibly can. Our thoughts need to be worthy of God. Our words need
to be worthy of God. Our feelings need to be worthy of God. Our
emotions need to be worthy of God. Our hopes and dreams need to be worthy
of God. If you and I are God’s temple, then everything about us needs to
be worthy of God.
That’s a
pretty tall order. I certainly have not done it. I’ve had my
moments--I suspect each of us has had our moments--but I certainly am not
worthy of having God dwell in me. I don’t know anyone who is.
But maybe
that’s the point. Because you know, as great and fantastic as that first
temple was, for all the billions of dollars and all the man-hours it took to
build it, it still was not really worthy of being the house of God. It
may have been the best, fanciest, most expensive building that ever was or ever
will be, but it still was not worthy of being a place for God to live.
It’s simply not possible. No building built by humans, no matter
how much it costs or how long it takes to build, could ever be worthy of being
the dwelling place of the almighty, all-powerful, awesome, perfect, holy God.
And no human
being, no matter how good, no matter how righteous, no matter how generous or
loving or caring they are, can ever be worthy of being the dwelling place of
the almighty, all-powerful, awesome, perfect, holy God either. It’s
simply not possible. That is, it’s not possible for us. But it is
possible for God.
See, God
takes our best efforts and makes them better. That first temple, as great
as it was, was not worthy of God. But God took the best efforts of the
people of Israel and blessed them and made them worthy of God. And that’s
what God will do for us. God will take our best efforts and bless them
and make them worthy of God.
So our part
in this, what we need to do, is make sure we’re giving God our best efforts.
Our thoughts are not going to worthy of God--but we need to make our best
effort to make them that way. Our words--certainly my words--are not
going to be worthy of God--but we need to make our best effort to make them
that way. Our feelings, our emotions, our hopes, our dreams, are not
going to be worthy of God--but we need to make our best effort to make them
that way. If we do, then God will take our best efforts and bless them
and make them worthy of God.
And the best
way I know to do that is to spend time with God. That means prayer, of
course, and it means reading the Bible, but it also means just spending time in
God’s presence. Spending time thinking about who God is. Spending
time thinking about all the things God does. Spending time thinking about
all the times God has been there for us. Spending time thinking about all
the gifts God has given us. Spending time thinking about all the times we
did not get what we wanted, but later on got something better. Spending
time thinking about how everything we have and everything we are comes from
God.
If we spend
that kind of time with God, we’re more likely to give God our best efforts.
Not out of force or obligation, but because we’ll want to. When we
think about how awesome, how incredible God is, when we think of everything God
has given us, we want to give God our best efforts. It does not feel like
an effort. It feels like a joy.
So this
week, that’s what I’d invite you to do. Spend time with God. Think
about who God is and what God does. Think of all the gifts God has given
you. And then give God your best efforts. God will bless those
efforts and make them worthy of God.
You, and I,
are God’s temple. God’s Spirit dwells within us. That’s an
incredible honor. Let’s do all we can to be worthy of it.
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