This past April, I celebrated my 49th
birthday. Not quite the big “50” but significant none the less
and I wanted to do something special so I decided to take myself to
London. It was my first trip abroad and I was really excited...
excited for the adventure I was about to embark on... excited for
seeing a new and different county, excited because I was traveling
alone, something I love to do... to meander the streets finding new
treasures... taking my time to take in the city.
One of my “must” stops was the
Temple Church, which is the knight's Templar church that was featured
in the DaVinci Code. I wanted to go there because I was looking for
a connection to the early church... the first century church...
because this church grew under such tremendously challenging
circumstances. Crucifixion, being fed to the lions, mass murders and
persecutions were par for the course for the early christian
community. This is the reason the sign of the fish, the Ichthus, is
used today to represent Christianity, because the ichthus was a sign
used by persecuted believers to identify each other.
Drawing the sign of the fish in the
dirt was a secret signal, known only to believers, that stood for
Christ. It was a visual reference to Christ's miracles, Him
multiplying two fish and five loaves, feeding five thousand [Jn.
6:10-13]... and then four thousand [Mark 8:1-9]... it was the only
way for believers to safely reveal themselves to each other, and
although I changed the spelling (someone else was using it) the
ichthus, was the inspiration for this blog, “Ikthos”... a way
for believers in The Way, believers in Christ, to identify one
another and share their faith with one another in a safe space, where
we can engage one another, nurture one another and truly be that
“body fitly joined together, joint supplying joint” [Ephesians
4:16]
What I found among the effigies and
stone and stain glass was a living church steeped in tradition. The
majority of the service was sung, as the early church and even the
Latin Roman Catholic mass was sung. The
Temple Church was consecrated in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary on
February 10, 1185AD by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem and
has
existed continuously. The feeling of history was palpable, however,
I believe the service I attended, was very different than the
services attended by the early christian believer.
The early church during Roman
oppression, met in private homes, catacombs and as Justin Martyr
replies to his interrogator Rusticus, the Roman Prefect, “Wherever
it is each one’s preference or opportunity....” 1
This
was a church under seige... where being revealed as a member could
get you put in prison, tortured, interrogated and ultimately
killed... and yet it grew.
After
Constantine “converted” (I'm not sure he converted to
Christianity or if he converted Christianity for his own purposes),
the reverse became true. If you didn't accept Christ, join the
church (and at that time there was only one) and worship exactly as
they said, you could be tortured and/or killed. If you dare have a
difference of opinion or a unique experience that differed from what
was taught to be the norm, you could literally loose your life. One
would think we've come a long way... or have we?
There's
much to be learned from the past. And although events and
circumstances have changed our society... what we know and in many
cases, what we as modern believers find important, the truth of the
Gospel, the Good News, never really changes because people, the one
constant throughout history, never change. We never loose the need
to be loved, unconditionally. We have never and will never be
perfect so we will always have a need to be perfected, and that is
what the love of God, in the person of Christ Jesus does. He
perfects that which concerns us. [Psalms 138:] In every way. In our
body He heals, for he is the balm of Gilead. He gives sight to the
blind and raises the dead. In our hearts, for he heals the
brokenhearted and in our mind He frees us from fear by giving us the
spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind” 2 Tim 1:7. And
yet we have movements within modern Christendom, that want to make
the church be more “seeker friendly” as if those who seek Christ
today are really any different than those who sought Him when He
walked the streets of Galilee. Zacchaeus, the short tax collector in
Jericho who climbed the tree so he could see Jesus, didn't have any
greater need to “see Jesus” than any other vertically challenged
person would today, except Zacchaeus made the effort... he labored to
“see”. And I don't believe Jesus responds to us today with any
less graciousness or love than he did to Zacchaeus. If we make the
effort, Jesus shows up, and He dines with us... he heals our hearts,
stills our minds and nourishes our spirit... or at least that has
been my experience.
Although,
my visit to the Temple Church was special, something I'll remember,
it was my experience at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle that
moved me to tears. I was there the week after Easter, and there was
a very simple, very large cross with a large crown of thorns draped
over the top, hanging over the alter. It looked like it had been
created with builder's lumber, not artistic or polished or
“beautiful” by any modern aesthetic, but more beautiful than
anything in either church because it represented the love... what
Christ was willing to do for us... what God was willing to sacrifice
for us... God's labor of love for us. There is no need to make our
faith any more “seeker friendly” because Christ has sought us.
The work to get us to God is done. It is finished.
____________
1Christianity Today,
“Where Did Christians Worship?” by Christopher Haas. Issue 37
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-37/where-did-christians-worship.html
