They dominated the skyline, looming large over the city.  They defined it.  Instantly recognizable all around the world, they became icons, symbols of strength.  Then one day, they came down and left a vacancy in the skyline, in the identity of the city, and in nation’s symbols of strength.  It had taken six years to get from groundbreaking to occupancy, and then it took another five years to complete the project.  Eleven years total, to finish the World Trade Center . The Twin towers stood in New York City for nearly thirty years.  They came down in a day.

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus’ disciples were admiring the grandeur of the temple in Jerusalem .  The temple was the center of Jewish religious life and prominent safe haven of the nation.  “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings,” they exclaimed.  Jesus’ response was to predict the temple’s destruction.  Likely this was not the reaction the disciples were expecting. The Romans destroyed the temple in AD 70.  A small part of it remains in Jerusalem today.

Mankind has always been proud of its large buildings.  The origin of the word “building” comes from an old German word for dwelling.  Buildings were constructed to be inhabited by people.  Temples are particular types of buildings, holy places, and places to worship God.  God is the primary inhabitant of a temple.  Although people come to visit, to worship, a temple is a house for God.  By predicting the destruction of the temple, Jesus was telling his disciples not to put their hope and trust in a place, not even in the temple.  The disciples would have understood the temple as God’s house, the only place where sacrifices were offered for the sins of the people.

The Old Testament records the origin of the temple begins with David.  When David had settled down into a house made of cedar, scriptures say that he wanted to build a temple for God.  He thought the ark of God ought to be housed in something more permanent than a tent.  The Ark of the Covenant signified the presence of God.  God spoke to King David through the prophet Nathan saying, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body.  I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”  In Hebrew, the word “house” has two meanings -- David’s house, David’s dynasty, and God’s house, the temple in Jerusalem .  God promised David, through Nathan the prophet, that David’s throne, his kingdom, would be established forever.  King David’s son Solomon built the first temple.  The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and later rebuilt.  By the time Jesus and his disciples visited the temple in Jerusalem , it was being reconstructed and lavishly decorated by Herod the Great. 

Mark’s Gospel illustrates that Jesus’ prediction of the temple’s destruction was widely remembered in his day.  In fact, his prediction of the Temple ’s destruction was used against him.  When Jesus was arrested, he was brought before the high priest, the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  One of the charges levied against Jesus was that someone claimed to have heard him say, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands.”  Jesus kept silent and did not answer that charge.  Again, as Jesus was crucified bystanders taunted him with,

“Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it again in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross.”  Instead, Jesus stayed on the cross and saved us.

In the early days of the Church, Christian communities began to speak of themselves as the temple of God , the consecrated place, where the presence of God is found.  The apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that they are God’s holy temple because the Holy Spirit dwells within them.  They are where the presence of God resides, in dwellings not made with hands.  The apostle Peter tells the exiles of the dispersion that they should allow themselves to be built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Whereas scholars generally agree that the First Letter to the Corinthians was written by Paul to Christians disputing with one another before the destruction of the Temple , they also generally agree that the letter known as First Peter was written after the destruction of the temple, to communities of persecuted Christians.  This suggests that early Christians began to think of themselves as the “ Temple of God ,” where the presence of God resides, even before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem .  This practice of envisioning the Church as the temple of God continued among Christians after the temple was destroyed, and continues to the present day.

The one holy catholic and apostolic church is the temple of God .  The church is the place where God dwells.  We worship in this beautiful, historic building but God dwells in us, His church.  Individually each baptized Christian is a living stone.  Collectively we comprise the temple of God .  We are built into a spiritual house upon Christ our cornerstone, a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God.  Spiritual worship is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. 

Scripture tells us that before Christ’s return to judge and to save, the world will be in turmoil.  On any given day, depending upon the circumstances of our lives, it might seem like the end of the world has arrived -- we receive an unexpected, devastating diagnosis -- an important relationship ends -- someone we love is hurt and suffering.  But we are people who have hope.  Regardless of whatever suffering we must endure, we are not alone, the Holy Spirit is at work within each of us.  Individually and collectively we are grounded upon, and oriented from, Christ our cornerstone.  Our foundation is not a building, made by human hands.  Our Savior Jesus Christ is our unshakeable hope.  He suffered, died, and rose again, defeating death so that we may have eternal life.

Amidst the uncertainty and difficulty of life we wait expectantly for the second coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We watch in hope for His promised return.  As we wait and watch we are sustained by His presence, in the Word proclaimed, and in His Holy Supper

Defined, identified, and empowered by the cross, when turmoil and upheaval penetrates our lives, we have confidence that Christ who suffered, died, and rose for us will return as He promised.

Amen