My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, ANE EVER SHALL BE.
ORTHODOX HOUSE OF WORSHIP
King Solomon built a magnificent Temple or "the Lord’s House" with extraordinary detail and astonishing beauty. "So all the work King Solomon did for the Lord’s house was finished, and Solomon brought in the hoy things of his father David and all the holy things of Solomon, the silver and gold furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house" (3 Kingdoms 7:37). King Solomon’s Temple is one of the most infamous temples in human history. Commissioned by King Solomon himself, it was the first temple to be known as God’s ROYAL PALACE. Scripture tells us that the Temple was built by seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters.
"When the Temple was being built it was built with stones finished at the quarry, so no hammer or axe or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built" (3 Kingdoms 6:11). When they brought them to the temple site they fit. Speaking of the Church, Saint Paul writes, "the whole building being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:21). Similarly, "you also, as LIVING STONESs, are being built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5). Christ Himself FASHIONS THESE STONES AND BRING THEM TOGETHER.
The "Temple" was made beautiful NOT as a show of riches, but because THE LORD DWELT THERE. King Solomon asked, "But will God indeed dwell with men on earth?" (8:25) He answered in the negative only in relation to temple maes with hands. However, the positive answer relates to the Incarnation of the Logos/Word, for God the Son was made flesh for our salvation. "The Logos/Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
"Then Solomon said concerning the house he had finished building:
‘The Lord made known the sun in
heaven;
He spoke to those dwelling in
darkness;
Build My house, a house of splendor
for yourself,
To dwell in newness.’" (8:52).
Solomon’s Dedication Prayer
"Then Soloman stood before the altar of the Lord on the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, and he said, ‘O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keep, Your covenant and Your mercy with Your servant who walks before You with all his heart. You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father…" (8:20-52). The New Testament counterpart of Solomon’s prayer is the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 17, before His Passion, presenting the Church to His Father.
Christ’s Prayer for Himself:
"Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth, I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was’" (John 17:1-5).
King David, Solomon’s father, was a pious man. He loved God, and this is revealed in the beautiful, religious poems which he wrote and sang — the Psalms. David as the first person to conceive of the idea of building a magnificent temple to worship the True God. There was, certainly, the Tabernacle of the Testimony, the moveable temple, but it was only needed by the Jews while they were in the desert. He prepared this project for many years, gathering great sums of money from the spoils of war and other sources. He collected, the Holy Scripture says, a hundred thousand gold talents and thousands and thousands of silver talents and uncountable sums of copper and iron. Everything was ready for the construction of the Temple. David’s joy was great. But at the last minute he was not allowed to set the cornerstone. Why? Did he die? No. God forbade him to build it. And what was the reason for this? Because David was "A MAN OF BLOOD." That is to say, because he had waged wars and in them much human blood had been shed. (see 1 Chronicles 22:8).
The Temple’s construction, then, was entrusted to his son and successor Solomon. What does this teach us? That the True and Righteous God does not want churches built by people who were the cause of blood being shed by unjust, greedy and arrogant people who build churches for the wrong reason such as their own personal glory and pride and not for the Glory of God.
The early Christians who were persecuted by the pagans, and idolatrous emperors. They resorted to worshipping God in caves. In Rome they worshipped Him in the catacombs. They dug deep into the earth and made tunnels and long and narrow galleries that it was only with difficulty that a person could pass through. In other places they widened into small rooms like the space of a small church. The Christians gathered in those underground rooms secretly, celebrated Divine Liturgy, and received the holy Mysteries (sacraments).
The persecuted Christians showed their great faith especially when they were in constant danger of being captured and tortured and killed. They need faith to get up in the middle of the night, to walk through the streets of Rome, to go out of the city and to go down into those catacombs and worship the True God and Savior Jesus Christ. When Saint Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor, who defeated the idolaters, and the Christians left the catacombs and without fear freely worshipped God inside the churches they began to build. we have to hide our faces in shame when we think about how the Christians of that time went down into the catacombs in fear for their lives, while we, today’s Christians, without any danger to ourselves, do not enter a church, or if we do so we do it with a cold heart. For our hearts to become warmed again we need the holy fire that burned in the hearts of those Christians.
I have purposely mentioned how the Temple that King Solomon built revealed his faith, love, dedication, sacrifice, zeal, and gratitude for God so that all of you may come to understand the true spirit and the great love that is required to build "the Lord’s house.". Also, of the personal relationship, purity of heart, life and prayer, that one must have to acquire communion with Jesus Christ our Lord, God, and Savior. We must learn from the early Christians what it means to be a Christian today. There are some who worship God mechanically and hypocritically and others who are very honest, reverent, humble, and filled with unconditional love for our Lord. These sincere Christians worship God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). We must never convince ourselves that our God cannot see into our hearts and minds and to know if we truly believe in Him or not. It is very foolish and arrogant to believe that He can be tricked by us to believe that we are pious when we are really not. We are known to God and those who are truly His followers are His true friends and disciples.
Let us not complain or criticize or gossip about how ornate, luxurious or extravagant the place or church where worship is. We need only to look at the Temple of Solomon and to learn how important it is that we offer to God the very best and the most beautiful of all things. Besides everything that we offer are not ours but His. As a matter of fact at the Divine Liturgy the Priest lifts up the Precious Gifts and declares: "Thine own of Thine own, we offer to Thee, in all (time) and for all" (kindness to us). This is the loftiest and the most sacred moment of the Divine Liturgy, because at this moment the Mystery (Sacrament) of the Holy Eucharist is consummated (consecrated). Everything is God’s, we have nothing of our own to give. The church is not made beautiful as a show of riches or because we simply want to squander funds but because it is the dwelling of God, "the Lord’s House." or "the House of God." The church is indeed a heavenly Palace, the earthly Kingdom of God. It is a precious and special space where man and His Creator come together.
In the Book of Apocalypse (Revelation) Chapter 4:2-3, God is seen in biblical vision as sitting on a "THRONE.", a symbol of His Sovereign Lordship. His Trone is surrounded by "a rainbow, the sign of God’s everlasting covenant according to which He will NOT judge man again as He did at the Flood. Mercy (Eleos) triumphs over judgment (Matthew 9:13). Thus, in the Orthodox Church, the Altar Table is sometimes called "the Throne." "Then a voice came from the Throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!" (Rev. 19:5). The Church on earth ("Church Militant") is united with the Liturgy in Heaven; a deacon calls from the Altar, as it were, for all "to praise our God." Worship is not a solitary act. Rather it is the Bride of Christ, the True Church–those on earth joining with those in heaven–giving thanks to our God and King, Who has made us citizens of His magnificent Domain. [Source: The Old and New Testaments]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 