Sanctuary

I pulled onto the church campus Tuesday morning with the knowledge that a shooting had taken place near the church Monday night. Matt and Heather, who live in the parsonage, had heard gunshots ring out and spoken with the police. Today’s newspaper said it was a drive by shooting. An 18 year old was shot in the back- bullet when straight through him –he was treated and released from the hospital. Men, apparently just a bunch of teens, had stood right in front of Matt’s house, shooting at someone running towards the church… Debi, my sharp eyed wife, caught what the police had missed, bullets through our windows and into our walls. One 45 caliber bullet had even bounced off the masonry of the building, leaving a pealed slug on the concrete.

Too much violence: walking the grounds, in light of this week’s news, I couldn’t help but think that suddenly Riverside looked a lot like Laguna Beach… and not in a good way. In our 20 years at Central Community we’ve had a car run off the road and into the wall of the sanctuary, lightning strike trees on our grounds and the resulting thunder blow out our windows, a small plane crash on our corner and now kids with guns and bullets in the building. Not exactly the church growth strategy we’d planned.

The shooting took place on our day off- Monday –and no one from the church was hurt, with the exception of understandably shattered nerves for Matt and Heather. Even the kid who was shot- is alright –and they caught the guy who shot him. The plane crashed on a Thursday evening, right before services, when we still had a little house on the corner with staff living in it. Mark was at church while Natalie was home alone. She didn’t know a plane was sitting in their front yard until she heard the sirens. The lightning struck on a Sunday, just after everyone went home. Leaders were still in the offices and thought the world had come to an end when the thunder exploded- but no one was in the building where the glass blew out- where we’d just had services an hour earlier, again, thankfully, no one was injured. The morning the car ran into the building, school had just started, Debi was having breakfast with our son John in Sister Lane’s little house on the corner in her breakfast nook. They saw the woman lose control of her car and thought they were goners- she missed the house and hit the church. Judy and I heard and felt the impact- again, no one was injured. God is good.

So much has happened on our little corner that people use to say that they didn’t know when Jesus was returning but they knew where: the corner of Phoenix and Arlington, (our cross streets).

Sanctuary: refuge, asylum, shelter, safe haven, a holy place, a sacred building, a church that protects fugitives, the “holy of holies,” it’s a jammed packed word. Most of us think of it in regard to “church,” the place we sing and listen to the message each week. We hold it in high regard, not sacred maybe, but safe, hopefully. I’m old enough to remember the days when people still wanted to keep the doors of the sanctuary unlocked, maybe not even have locks, on the sanctuary. The idea always appealed to me. At Central Community, it caused quite a controversy when we put an alarm system on the sanctuary, people openly said: “Who would rob God?” and “We should trust it to The Lord!” Today, no one doubts the need and a few may wonder if they’re safe enough, even in the “sanctuary.”

A good thing to remember is that the sanctuary we use is really just our auditorium. A big meeting place with a fancy name. No special powers against the world. The building won’t fend off bullets, cars, airplanes or lightning and thunder… it’s just a building… we should expect nothing more from it. That which is special about it is that which we bring to it: our desire to worship, our hearts open to God, His Word ready to be lifted up and listened to, the fellowship of the fallen – ready to be held together and healed in His Hands. Sanctuary, true sanctuary, is in the eternal love of Christ Jesus and His redeeming power alone. It’s eternal. Lightning, plane crashes, out of control cars and even young wannabe gangsters with guns can never penetrate it- it’s secure and it’s the treasure of all those who follow Christ.

Believers are dead to the world and alive in Christ Jesus. He is our Sanctuary.

My prayer for you: whatever your circumstance and where ever you live, is that you might dwell richly in the sanctuary of Christ Jesus, today and all the days of your life.

Blessings,

Eric