when church is holy

On the outer edges of the city limits of Cleveland, Ohio there was once an old Episcopal Church.  Kim and I used to pass by their building from time to time on our way into the city for different events.  One day we noticed it was for sale and then suddenly, within a few months, it had been sold and construction crews had moved in and begun to renovate the property.  Only, the building had not been sold to another church.  It was being converted into condominiums!

Architects and crews had gone in and re-designed the building as living spaces.  The first (and likely most expensive) space to go was the unit built into the nave, over the altar, where the Lord's Supper had been served for decades, if not longer.  Why the altar?  Probably because that was understood as a "holier" place, and thus more valuable.  If memory serves me, those condo's went fast - all of them.

What strikes me as strange, however, is the emphasis on parts of the church building as "holy."  What made that building holy had nothing to do with bricks, mortar or sanctified parts of the sanctuary.  What made it holy was the real church - the people who had worshipped and served there over the years.  People are the church.  People are where God resides.  Not in temples made of stone.

It is this value on the "Body of Christ" - the followers who make up God's Temple - that should fuel our godly behavior toward one another.  When we sin (and we will), when we fall short (and we will), when we disappoint one another (and we will), we seek to restore things and to forgive one another because we have been made in God's image and purchased with the blood of Christ.  We seek to preserve the unity in the community of faith because, together, we embody Christ on earth.

What might our days or weeks look like if we viewed others in our households or our congregation as holy - truly holy?  How would it change the way we treat one another?  How much more quickly might we deal with our bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice and unwholesome talk?  How much more quickly might we be motivated to extend grace to one another and offer forgiveness?

May the holiness of God's people, the very Body of Christ, fuel your compassion, kindness and forgiveness this week.  Amen.