Have we merely exchanged one place for another, one attitude
transported from the Temple of old to our Church today? Have we denied access to people and
issued invisible passes for entry? Have we sinned by marking off the territory
between people and God and made it much bigger, much more difficult than it really is? Do we
surround our churches (and our hearts) with "courts" limiting admittance to people?
Do we wear looks on our faces that betray our sinful hearts which speak to people,
“You may come THIS far but no farther!”
The court of the Gentiles is where we marginalize our
children and our youth. We have sent them out of our adult worship
communicating to them that access is for adults only. We have told people who
work on Sundays they are to be in church but then feast at their tables and in
our hypocrisy banish them to the outer courts. We must repent and tear down the gates of our attitudes.
The court of the women has become the boundaries of where
the aged who were once like us are now made to feel useless, worthless, outdated
and have nothing to contribute. And for some churches it is still where people
must wear the labels of the opposite sex, the weaker sex, the helpers of those
who are the really important. This is where the gates are not opened, but if
they are they are up a stairs and out of reach so those with any kind of
disability cannot enter. We must repent and build bridges.
The court of men made up of proselytes and those called “Israel”
is a boundary felt by those who have sinned but are kept on probation and made
to feel their shame for a just a little while longer. If they can just stick it
out then will be forgiven (maybe), they will be incorporated (possibly), they
will be restored to the fold completely (if they don’t fail again). In the
meantime, we want them to hear “please keep coming” but what we are really
saying is “don’t forget to bring your tithe.” We must remove the beam from our own eye and use it to make a ramp for others.
The court of the priests and the holy place are where those
who have voted the same way we do are allowed to enter in, who are in the same denomination we are; where those who look
like we look, talk like we talk, know all of the secret handshakes and nods and
winks. It is where those who have paid their dues come in and so no longer need to pay
anything but their time in showing up to be a model, a presence, giving a word
to the keeper of the gates showing they know how to gain access by their importance,
prestige, power, influence, and money. We must repent and then be still.
The Temple proper and the most holy place is really forgotten.
Even though the Gate Beautiful opens for one to see straight through the courts
to the Temple curtains themselves, there are too many things in the way, too
many barriers, too many rules, too many hoops to jump through, too many right
signs and signals to know, too many distractions, too many "too manys" to name. Everyone is so busy with everything else the Temple isn't seen anymore. So the Beautiful Gate is renamed “the Exit”.
The Temple courts, which limited people’s access, have
really been turned upside down and made to go in reverse. God isn’t in the
Temple, but outside the courts. And the further you go towards the Temple the further you
go away from God. Are the Temple courts still in place?
So walk out of the rules, the regulations, and away from the
mirage the "acceptance of people" creates; walk in the other direction of the
weights placed on you and the chains of others who "think they know something" and seek to hold you to them for they believe "the one with longest chain wins!" But
you want to go where there are no chains, where there is something else, something like freedom and a limitless reality.
And as you turn to look outside, you are instilled with a desire to not walk, but to run.