The House of the Lord

AM Psalm [120], 121, 122, 123; PM Psalm 124, 125, 126, [127]
2 Samuel 18:9-18; Acts 23:12-24; Mark 11:27-12:12

The first Bible passage I learned, sometime around the age of four, is the opening verse of a Psalm assigned for today, Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Not only did I memorize the words, but I could also visualize the experience of being taken to church by parents for whom church was a central part of life, and of being welcomed by a kind Sunday school teacher who taught me this snippet of a psalm. With a young child’s understanding of God and the world around me, I was glad to be in that place.

In our gospel lesson for today Jesus is in the temple in Jerusalem, which he sometimes referred to as “my father’s house.” During his brief ministry Jesus seems to have spent a lot of time there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew and recited Psalm 122. Earlier in this chapter of Mark, Jesus had tossed the money changers out of the temple, saying, “Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Now Jesus is back in the temple, verbally mixing it up with the religious authorities and easily getting the best of them.

In the Psalms and in the Gospels, “the house of the Lord” refers to the temple, the place where the Israelites felt closest to God. Christians have appropriated that term for our own houses of worship, whether they be in a home or a cathedral, a white columned building on Oak Street in Denton, Texas, or a Gothic Revival structure on East Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

For many months we at St. Paul’s were not able to gather in that space for worship, and we missed it. But since the church has reopened, some of us worry about whether it is safe to attend because of the pandemic that will not go away.

Our church may well be closed again soon, perhaps even before you read this reflection. If that happens, we will be sad all over again, but we would do well to remember that we are not the first people to have lost the opportunity to worship together, and that the church—the house of the Lord—is so much more than a building.

Written by Bob McMath

Bob and Linda have been parishioners at St. Paul’s since moving to Fayetteville in 2005, and we love it.