“Surely God is in This Place”

I don’t know whether you’ve ever been able to visit a Gothic cathedral, but, you know, they’re hard to be alone in. And I’m not talking about crowds. I’m talking about the sense of smallness you have in a place where every thing speaks of the greatness, the majesty and the immensity of Almighty God. There’s something about the darkness and the vastness of the space, the eerie echo of sounds, the flickering light of candles and the strangeness of the colored light seeping through the stained-glass windows, that can cause chills to run up and down your spine and make you anxious to trespass in that hallowed space alone for very long. And then there’s the sense that you’re being watched from somewhere high above, and a feeling of uneasiness comes over you, as if by your very presence the sanctity of this place has been tainted. The odd mixture of dread and peace you experience can only imperfectly be described with words like “awe,” and “awful.” You’ve entered into the house of God, and it is awesome!

Now let me ask you this: Have you ever felt that way here in this place? Have you ever been gripped by the horror of the holy by entering alone into our little converted 1950s single-family dwelling/day-care facility? Even with our new beautiful banners and altar paraments this is still not quite as awe-inspiring a place as a gothic cathedral. And that’s not because God is not in this place. It’s just that it’s a lot easier to sense the reality of God’s awesome presence in a cathedral.

Why is that? Why should we be filled with awe at God’s presence more in one place than another – in a beautiful church building more than in a converted home? It is because God made us sacramental creatures. That means He made each of one of us as the union of a spirit and a body with the capacity, therefore, to receive and to know spiritual truths and spiritual realities through physical means. God left the imprint of Himself on everything He made, and we have the ability to see it. Things that are beautiful and majestic and awesome speak to us of the beauty and majesty and awesomeness of God. And cathedrals scream to us of the beauty and majesty and holiness of God. So we experience awe.

But in a place like this? What do we have here to inspire us with awe? What sign do we have that this too is none other than the house of God and the very gate of heaven?

Jacob came to a place that was from all outward appearances pretty uninspiring.

Jacob was on a journey, not because he’d heard a midnight summons to get up and go, but because he was running away from his enraged older brother who wanted to kill him. You remember the story. Jacob basically stole his brother Esau’s birthright – his inheritance of the Promised Land. So Jacob’s mother Rebekah told him he’d better take off and go live with Uncle Laban back in Haran for a while, until Esau cooled off – if Esau ever cooled off. So Jacob set out northward from Beersheba and came to the region around the Canaanite town of Luz. The sun had begun to set and he’d been journeying all day. So he decided to stop there for the night and lie down and go to sleep. But the place was so barren and desolate that all he could find was a big rock for a pillow. Imagine the neck-ache in the morning!

But then in the middle of the night, Jacob is visited with a holy vision from God. He sees a staircase with its bottom step solidly set upon the ground before him. He follows it upward with his eyes as it continues to rise higher and higher. His anxiety level begins to increase as his eyes fixate on the holy angels ascending and descending upon it. And then he looks and he sees at the top of the staircase, which opens up into heaven itself, the Lord of Glory standing and looking down at little Jacob, who at this point has probably fallen on his face in fear.

And then Jacob hears God speak. And what does God say? As the loving father to his prodigal son, God speaks His word of grace to a miserable sinner and renews his covenant with Jacob. God then further assures Jacob that, even though he is being driven into exile, wherever he goes He will be with him, and will keep him and bring him back to the land of promise. “For I will not leave you until I have done everything I have spoken to you.”

So Jacob wakes up the next morning and proclaims, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!” Well, how could he have known it? There was no glorious temple to testify to the presence of God. There was no grand cathedral to fill him with a sense of holy fear. He was in a desert wasteland in the middle of Canaanite territory. And all he had was a big rock to consecrate as the sign of God’s holy presence. But he says, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and the very gate of heaven.”

And so now how do we know that the Lord is in this place, and that this too is none other than Bethel, the house of God? What sign do we have?

Jesus said, “Hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” What Jesus is saying is that He is the stairway to heaven. He is the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream. Jesus is the One who unites heaven and earth, upon whom the angels ascend and descend, and upon whom we ascend into the presence of God. So wherever Jesus is, and wherever He has placed the sign of His presence, there is the house of God and the gate of heaven. And here it is, right here [pointing to the altar]. Here’s the sign that this is where the stairway to heaven is, because this is where Jesus comes to us and lifts us up upon Himself and carries us into the Holy of Holies of heaven itself. And here in this place is where we hear God renew His covenant promises with us, miserable sinners, through the reading and preaching of His Word, and in the word of Absolution. Surely the Lord is in this place, and it is awesome!

But how does the knowledge of the Lord’s presence in this place work out into our lives? How is it reflected in our behavior? How do you enter into this place? Do you enter it differently than you would into a glorious cathedral? Would you enter there in reverent silence, but here as if there’s nothing very special about this place? Would you enter there wanting first and foremostly to acknowledge the presence of God – perhaps by bowing before you entered your pew, and then kneeling down in prayer to ask for grace to prepare your heart to offer Him a worthy sacrifice of praise – but entering here with your mind first set on finding out how each other’s weeks went?

Is it finally the art and architecture of a building that ought to inspire in us a sense of awe that this is indeed the house of God and the very gate of heaven? Or as Jacob could look a plain old rock and see in it a sign of the Lord’s presence, should we not see the humble signs of bread and wine and say in our hearts, “Surely the Lord is in this place… and it is awesome!” And should that realization not work its way out in our actions?

Surely the Lord is in this place, and shall we not know it by faith? This is the house of God and the very gate of heaven. How awesome is this place!. +