Above: Jerusalem and the Second Temple, by James Tissot
Image in the Public Domain
Three Temples
DECEMBER 29, 2021
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The Collect:
Almighty God, you gave us your only Son
to take on our human nature and to illumine the world with your light.
By your grace adopt us as your children and enlighten us with your Spirit,
through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 20
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Chronicles 28:1-10
Psalm 147:12-20
1 Corinthians 3:10-17
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[The Lord] sends forth his word and melts them;
he blows within his wind and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and judgments to Israel.
He has not dealt so with any other nation;
they do not know his laws. Alleluia.
–Psalm 147:19-21, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
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The pericope from 1 Chronicles, true to the pro-Davidic Dynasty bias of 1-2 Chronicles, omits certain unflattering details and depicts King David as a champion of fidelity to God. It does, however, say that David’s bloodshed made him unfit to build a temple for YHWH at Jerusalem.
St. Paul the Apostle, writing while the Second Temple still stood, argued that those who trust in God are the Temple of God:
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
–1 Corinthians 3:16-17, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
“You” is plural.
I wonder how much better the world would be if more people treated others as parts of the Temple of God–as individuals to respect, if not get along with all the time. Yet each person has God-given dignity as a bearer of the image of God. This concept of people–believers, in particular–as the Temple teaches us to treat one another properly. Even non-believers bear the image of God, and therefore deserve good treatment and basic respect.
I admit that I have an easier time extending basic respect to favored cats and to people I like and who mostly agree with me than to those who annoy me and who seldom agree with me. Some people think so differently from me that, given the opportunity, they argue about even objective matters, such as what the weather forecast says. They seem like characters from the great Argument Clinic sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. (Statement: “I came here for an argument.” Reply: “No, you didn’t.”) So I have some spiritual work to do, via grace. You, O reader, might not be so different from me in that regard. The good news here is that we need not rely on our own power to accomplish this goal, for we have access to divine grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 23, 2015 COMMON ERA
PROPER 16: THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN COPELAND, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/08/23/three-temples/
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