Each of our lives is marked by sacred sites
that we cherish in our memories.
~ R. C. Sproul
We were heading home on the 7-hour drive from cleaning up Katrina debris. We had all worked hard. Had seen some sad sights. Had heard some hard stories.
But we were energized just the same. That’s what God does in sacred sites.
So for hour after hour, we sang to our Lord. And sang. And sang. One song led to another and another. Sometimes two of us, sometimes three, sometimes the whole van.
God was accepting our praise; we felt it in our bones. And it felt right. It felt holy.
R.C. Sproul finishes The Holiness of God describing holy space and holy time. Our culture rarely gets it (although we caught a glimpse with the public outcry against a potential mosque on Ground Zero in Manhattan).
In our society, religion is limited to a kind of personal therapy for people who have difficulty dealing with the difficulties of life. Ours is a profane existence, with no sense of the presence of the holy.
But we need to see the holy. We need to believe there’s a miraculous opening from our world to a better one, a step into the wardrobe to step out into Narnia (thank you, Mr. Lewis).
We need to see a baby in a manger and know he is really a king.
And we get it in Jesus.
Moses first got it in a burning bush. He discovered he was on holy ground. Because the Holy’s presence made it so (Exodus 3:5-6).
Jacob got his sacred space in a dream at Haran with ladders and angels and the voice of the Lord (Genesis 28:16-17).
Men throughout the Bible built altars to honor hallowed spaces. To mark the spot where heaven spilled over on earth, where the divine touched the profane.
But we know it really has nothing to do with place. It has everything to do with Person. With God. An encounter with our Creator opens holy space.
Time also marks sacredness. Sproul differentiates between the two Greek words for time—chronos time, the ordinary moment-by-moment passing of time, and kairos, the special moments with certain significance. The historic moments.
Kairotic events include such crucial moments as the Creation, the Fall, the Exodus, the Captivity, the Incarnation, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost.
These events are watershed moments in God's work in history. They are filled with redemptive significance.
While God is with us all the time and in every space, we still benefit when we mark moments of transition, moments of importance. God did. When he completed his work of creation, he declared the seventh day as holy (Genesis 2:3).
We understand such moments. We set apart birth dates and anniversaries and other holidays as sacred time, time to pause and recognize significance and give thanks to God.
We’re in the eves of a sacred Christian holiday. As you celebrate Christmas, in whatever way you do, remember that on one day in time (December 25 or not), in one space in Bethlehem, our world was injected with a sacredness like it had never seen before.
And has never been the same since. Praise God!
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:21
* * *
Do you have a sacred place or time? What is it?
More on Chapter 11—Holy Space and Holy Time—at Challies.
Previous chapter reviews from The Holiness of God.
11 comments:
"Injected with sacredness..." I like that. What an instructional post ... and every bit inspiring, too!
Merry Christmas, Lisa.
Lisa...love this reminder. We tend to light candles and go to places with dim lights and haunting music and we call that holy.
but your reminder that 'holy' can occur anywhere God is wonderfully illuminating.
Great post, Lisa. It can sometimes seem too good to be true, but we do need the holy and we accept His gift of love and life. There's no better place to be.
Thank you.
What a wonderful way to live in the sacred today, here!
I love how you summarized it, "our world was injected with a sacredness like it had never seen before"
GLORY TO GOD!
Lisa, I am grateful for you, for your diligence, your love to our God! I am grateful that God brought us together to encourage one another into good works.
I, too, look forward to reading more, and more books with you; you are such a good company.
Blessings to you, my sister and friend!
Lisa, I loved this!: "But we need to see the holy. We need to believe there’s a miraculous opening from our world to a better one, a step into the wardrobe to step out into Narnia." Having seen the movie in theaters this past weekend, my own kids said "I wish there really was a Narnia." of which I exclaimed "Oh but there is!" and I've been talking, explaining, and trying to get them to see with spiritual eyes. I'm reminded of my own spiritual eyes with your post and how sacred our moments really are.
It's actually become when I clean house or prep meals. Sometimes even when I exercise.
It's so wonderful that you remind us our sacred places can be anywhere. No limits. Thank you Lisa!
I immediately thought of two places where God injects sacred space - when I write and when I read. I think it's because that is when I am quiet and I am totally focused on Him. This is one reason I love spending time in God's word and prayer -- but it extends into reading posts like our jam and sharing comments.
Lisa, thank you, thank you for pouring such a piece of yourself in the jam this month - unwrapping Jesus together. I'm so grateful to have a part of you in this season together. Merry Christmas and may this space of remembrance of those you hold dear be injected with the holiness with which you write about.
Love to you & your mother, whom I know I'll meet one day. ;)
There's so much to ponder here . . . the need for Narnia, the sacred in my life, chronos and kairos (and I've been reading Percy Jackson, so there's even more to think about than there would've been 2 weeks ago), where God invades my world . . . Hmmm . . .
For me large bodies of water---especially the ocean---are full of the sacred. When I write in my journal, that's another place where I can feel I've entered into his presence.
Merry Christmas, Lisa! May you know a heavenly sacredness as you celebrate.
I featured your post today at the High Calling, Around
the Network, featuring some of the best blogs around.
Find the link here:
http://www.thehighcalling.org/around-network/around-network-words-can-change
It's been a long time since I first read Sproul's book, but I remember it profoundly impacting me at the time.
You wrote that men throughout the Bible built altars "To mark the spot where heaven spilled over on earth, where the divine touched the profane."
And then you said, "But we know it really has nothing to do with place. It has everything to do with Person. With God. An encounter with our Creator opens holy space."
Often I don't feel worthy to be in that space, like Isaiah, I am a woman of unclean lips. Thank the Lord he purifies me by His blood.
Ann,
Yes, Sproul’s book definitely leaves a mark. I’m currently listening to Jerry Bridges’ “The Pursuit of Holiness” (it was free this month at ChristianAudio!) and so far, so good.
Your Isaiah reference is fitting, which also reminds me of Peter’s response in Luke 5:8 when he fell down at Jesus knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” The closer we get to his holiness, the larger the contrast is between us.
But yes, we can thank him for making us clean despite ourselves!
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