Cloud (Ordinary Time - Day 89)

1 Kings 7:51-8:21

King Solomon, with 180,000 people of Israel, has completed the construction of the temple of God. The last order is to bring the Chest of God into the Inner Sanctuary. So, he calls all the leaders of Israel together to finalize the finishing touches. The leaders bring the Chest from Zion, the city of David, and carry it inside the temple. While this is going on, a massive celebration is happening. The people are realizing that the symbol of their deliverance from Egyptian oppression is in its rightful place.

Inside the Chest of God are two stone tablets - the two tablets which Moses received back when God made his covenant with Israel, promising to protect them and lead them to the promised land. After the Chest makes its way into the temple, a cloud fills the space inside. Maybe it's smoke from all the burnt offerings going on outside. But, the priests aren't able to carry on their duties because the smoke is too dense. Solomon calls this smoke the glory of God, and addresses the people as the priests come out of the temple. He says,

"The glory of God has filled this place. Ever since he delivered our ancestors from Egypt, he never set aside any city of Israel to build a temple for himself. However, he did choose my father David to rule. David had it in his heart to build a temple to honor the name of God, but God told him he wouldn't be the one to do it. He said his son would be the one to build the temple. So, here we stand today. The temple is built, and the Chest of God along with everything else is set in place. God's promise remains true!"

Everyone in Israel has grown up with the same narrative. Their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers have carried down the story of their rescue from oppression. Everyone knows their history. They have a common problem and a common solution. What the temple does is set in stone their history. It is a physical reminder of where they were and where they are now. It was not about belief for the Israelites, but about actual history. They were oppressed by the Egyptians and delivered by a power greater than themselves. 

The temple not only serves as a reminder of Israel's past, but serves as a memorial to the Great Deliverer. 

As a Christian, I should find one common problem with all my fellow Christians. I should also find one common solution. What the problem was is, I was in bondage to something. For me, it was alcohol. I couldn't stop drinking and I had to have a power greater than myself to rescue me. The solution was that God did something for me that I can never do for myself. God rescued me from a life of bondage that I couldn't get myself out of. Eventually, I realized that my bondage to alcohol was only a beginning. The bondage was way deeper than I thought it was. The alcoholic bondage was merely a symptom of my absolute addiction to me. I needed a way out of being addicted to me. And I found one. I was restored with a power to choose who to follow. 

If I stand on the outside of Christian groups and take a look in, it's hard to find what the common problem is. It's hard to find the common solution. It's hard to see the basic fundamental building block of why. It's so easy to look outside ourselves and hurt for a world that is oppressed and looking for a way out. It's easier still to think that we are graduated from a life of oppression. 

I think one of the things that can drive communities to the ground is the idea that we are rescued and removed from oppression - that we no longer deal with the things that drove us mad before. We can now take up our mats and solely focus on pouring our effort and energy outside.

As an alcoholic, I cannot transfer what I don't have. As a Christian, I can't either. If I lose sight of what I've been rescued from and lose sight of the work I still have to do on a daily basis to make sure I don't lose my mind once more, I will be on a fast track to drink again and place myself at the center of my world. 

So, my question to anyone sharing life together in community is this: Are we transferring something that we have, or trying to build something with mere words? 

When we don't share a common problem, the goals become burdens. The visions distort and twist and keep changing over time, because there wasn't a common problem and a common solution to begin with. There's this since of always shooting in the dark, working by trial and error. There never seems to be a common solution, so we convince ourselves that if we just try "this way" it'll all work out.

When we realize however, that we have a common problem in that we were each rescued from whatever ailment drove us mad, we have a covenant. We have a Temple. We have a mark of the invisible presence of God entering our space like that cloud in Solomon's temple. We have a common solution in sharing our experience, strength, and hope with other people who are dealing with the same things. We have the opportunity to carry the grace which saved us from ourselves into the world. We have something we can unanimously sink our teeth into.

Today's Action: Have we been rescued? If so, are we doing the things we need to do to keep us from putting the chains back on? If so, are we carrying the message of our rescue to the people who want to know a way out? Do we find a common problem and a common solution with the people we identify as our community?