The Time Has Come!

This article originally appeared in the March, 2015 edition of the Wheatland Parish newsletter.

            Our parish offices have moved.  We are no longer in the Education Building.  We are in the new addition to the Gettysburg church!

            Everything is not done, of course.  The outside is not completed (and no, wise guy, that doesn’t mean we don’t have walls).  There is concrete to be poured.  Those things will be done when the weather warms up enough for them to be done.  The fundraising is not done, either.  We have raised over three-fourths of the money, and that’s awesome.  But we still need to raise the other one-fourth.  So, if anyone has been holding off on donating, waiting for the right time, well, the right time is now.

            But even though everything is not done, we can still celebrate!  And we should!  We have a real, functioning, beautiful addition to the Gettysburg church!  That’s an awesome thing!

            Here’s the thing about that, though.  We can and should celebrate the church addition.  But we need to realize that the completion of the addition is not the end of something.  In fact, it’s the beginning.

            Here’s what I mean.  We want to think of our churches, and our church additions, as sacred spaces.  But what makes them sacred?  It’s certainly not you and me.  There is only One who can make a place sacred, and that’s God.  The presence of God is what makes a place sacred.

            But while only God, and not you and me, can make a place sacred, there is something we can do.  We can’t make the church addition sacred, but we can profane it.  As I say that, I’m not using the word “profane” in its common usage to mean vulgarity.  I mean “profane” in the way it was used in the Bible.  I mean “profane” as showing a lack of reverence, even a contempt, for God.

            How can we avoid that?  Well, if what makes a place sacred is the presence of God, then the way for us to avoid profaning that place is to show reverence to God.  And the best way for us to do that is to do the things Jesus told us to do.  Love God.  Love our neighbors.  Make disciples of all nations.  Live as God’s children.  Dedicate our lives, and our churches, to serving God.

            What that means is that we cannot just sit back and admire this beautiful addition to the Gettysburg church.  We have work to do.  There are children out there who need to know about God and need to be able to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.  There are people out there who feel alone, who feel like no one knows about their problems and no one would care if they did.  There are people all around us who need to feel God’s love.  And the best way for us to help them feel God’s love is for us to show them our love.

            With God’s help, and with the help of many people, we have built a beautiful building.  But if we don’t use it to do the work of God, it will be just a building.  So let’s all work together to do the work of God.  Let’s honor God with everything we do.  Then our sanctuaries, our additions, our basements, and every inch of our churches will truly be sacred.