In Its Place
(1Kgs 8:1ampsim21)
Pastor Yangjae Kim
Its great for us to be in our place. We have many places to be in as a father or a mother or a child. If we can put ourselves in our place properly, we will enjoy the heavenly kingdom here on earth. However, it is really difficult. Lets think about what our proper place is and how to be there.
1. It is where the ark of the covenant is placed. In short, it is the center of the Word. The climax of chapter 8 is the process of placing the ark of Gods covenant at Solomons temple. Yet the inside and outside of Solomons temple were built by gentles the king of Tyre and a slave. Notice that we can build our temple by getting along with all sorts of people, even those we cant spiritually talk to, yet still keep our own place of faith. After the completion of the temple, all people and furnishings were brought to it. Yet the center of the temple is the ark, the Word. Likewise, the Word should be placed at the center of our life. God gave us his prescribed design and style of temple, considering the different way of our building it. The purpose of building the temple for 20 years was to place the ark in its inner sanctuary. In the ark, there was nothing but the two stone tablets. They are what Moses received from God at Horeb and are also Gods promise for us. The ark, which had been out of its place was finally put back in its right place. Without having the Word placed within us, we also cannot find our proper place. The Word lets us face our reality as 100% sinners, which helps us find our own place. We all are Gods temples, which can be sanctified only by the Word. When the incarnated word of God dwells in us, we can keep our own place.
2. It is the center of our mission. The cloud that filled the temple when the priests withdrew from the Holy place signifies Gods presence and glory. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, the sign of Gods glory. Human beings may well have fear before Gods glory because they are sinners. Inside the cloud is the glory. Yet we dont want to carry the cross to get the crown. We cant perform our service because we are not ready to follow the glory after laying down our physical need. Trials that come to us are the signs of Gods blessing and glory. Nevertheless, we cant embrace them because we are still holding on to other things. Thats why we dont see the salvation of our household. The trial that we want to withdraw from so badly is where we find Gods dwelling place. We need somebody who will guide us with the Word. Therefore, our mission is testifying about Gods glory as Moses did after seeing the glory in the thick cloud. Thanks to the trials that Moses had in the desert, he understood the Word of God and explained Gods commandments to his people after coming down from the holy mountain with the tablets (Ex 20). Thus the Word within us makes us come forward to our mission.
3. It is the center of blessing. We are qualified to bless others around us when we make up our mind to build a temple for God. And we actually bless others after experiencing Gods presence. We can boldly work for others salvation as we dispel our greed and fear in us one by one. We need to be careful when taking care of others, but we also need to be bold when testifying for the gospel. Then we can bless the entire assembly around us with our testimony thanks to the timely wisdom and boldness that God provides for us. The best blessing for others is not saying 'Everything will be OK. You can do it!' It is our testimony about how we survived trials with the Word.
4. It is the place of Gods choice. The qualification of the one who blesses others is not self-righteousness, but humility. Gods temple is not built with human hands, but with His hands that fulfill the promise he made to us. God provides everything, whether the lot for the temple or the building materials. It was not Hiram, king of Tyre but God himself who provided everything. Everything is from Gods resources. However, we often ascribe some achievements to our effort even though we actually gave very little effort. Notice that some of the Israelites, who came out of Egypt became the dwelling places of Gods holy name while others didnt. God chose only David among others. The focus of Gods predestination is not on his choice for a few, but on the weight of human responsibility. David was Gods chosen one despite his great sins because he always came forward to God with a repenting heart every time he commuted sins. Only those who repent can keep their own place. The right place is a gift for the man of a repenting heart.
5. It is where our descendants build their spiritual temples. God sometimes rejects what we think is the best not only for Him but also for us. God prefers the spiritual temple within us to a visible one. God spares us a visible temple because he has prepared a better one. Yet we always stick to visible achievement. Its not that we shouldnt chase visible achievements, though. When we obey Gods disposal in our favorite project, accepting our inability, God surely blesses our spiritual descendants to build their great and huge temples. Watching our daily application, God makes our child the dwelling place of his covenant. When we make ourselves a dwelling place of the Word first, God also makes our child the same. Thus God makes our child our spiritual heir. Some of us build the temple with money or knowledge. But we should build it with the Word and raise our child with it so that they can do the same. Heres a testimony from a deacon of our community. He is a manager of his alumni association. Yet the gathering is on Sunday, which made him not attend it. Later he received an announcement text from the alumni board. His wife got upset, mistaking it as a love note. She kept crying and refusing his explanation. Pressing down his anger, the deacon thought he brought everything on himself, looking back on his past affairs, which made his wife in her sixties a victim of delusional disorder. To his surprise, the deacon discovered that his anger disappeared and he prayed, 'Lord, this sinner has nothing to do. Only you can heal our family!' Later, he managed to resolve his wifes misunderstanding. Like him, we also need to pray Lord, help us make our application with patience under all circumstances!' This is the key to keep our own place. Repentance makes us keep our place. We need to be able to interpret all the incidents, big or small, that happen to us with the Word. By placing the Word at the center of our life, we will see Gods glory overflowing in the course of our life journey!
The priests then brought the ark of the LORDS covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. (1Kgs 8:6)
