Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Discipleship and Architecture: Works of Love
In a long and ongoing conversation about "heaven" NOT being some distantly locatable place "out there" loosely corresponding to our idea of outer space, a friend semi-recently asked what I mean by "the other side of the veil"...
"Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man."
Hebrews 8:1-2
"For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf."
Hebrews 9:24
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us THROUGH THE CURTAIN, THAT IS, THROUGH HIS FLESH, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."
Hebrews 10:19-24
Two implications of those verses taken together and in context of the rest of Scripture are:
1. The heavens are and/or declare the glory, rule, and presence of God (ex Rom 1. 19-23, Acts 1. 8-11, Heb 11. 3, Ps. 19).
2. Our "good works" "re-veil," or make appear, the body of Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God (like fruit from a vine).
This means that living in a secularist narrative, which declare the gods banished to outer space (or up to Mt. Olympus, or wherever) changes what it means to be obedient, changes the meaning of the appearance of the obedience of faith. And changes what it means to "stir one another up to love and good works."
Good works become legalism and salvation by works, because salvation is most primary associated with what's been banished from human affairs. If, however, the flesh of Christ IS the veil between heaven and earth, then "good works" are participation in God's remaking of creation. "'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.' And [Jacob] was afraid, and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'"
Another way of saying this is that the Temple complex is a microcosm. Imagining ourselves moving through the Temple, then, helps us orient ourselves within the scriptural narrative. Also, though, the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place helps us imagine the relationship between heaven and earth. We are priests, and heaven is just next to us, separated only by a thin veil.
This becomes important, because our predominant image of our cosmos is a photo of the globe from the moon. So, as we place ourselves in the scriptural stories in relation to God in heaven, we imagine moving not through the Temple but around on the globe in relation to a God who is outside it. The atmosphere replaces the veil as the governing image of our relationship between heaven and earth.
This becomes especially problematic as we try to live out our faith in a modern world, because it means we are really living out of a whole different narrative. What distinguishes the modern world as such, in fact, is exactly that governing image of the globe imagined from outside itself - as compared to dwelling upon the Earth, under the domus of heaven. Or, perhaps, as compared to imagining ourselves as living "in the camp" as sojourners on the way to the promised land whose firstfruits was the resurrection.
If we move around within the globe in relation to a God who is without, then we tend to imagine that God might intervene sometimes, maybe even more than we realize. Essentially, though, God lets the universe run according to the laws that He designed. If, however, we are in the Holy Place, and He is in the space just next to us with which we share breath, then Job 34: 14 enters our being intimately like the smoke from the incense in the Most Holy Place.
If he should take back his spirit to himself,
and gather to himself his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.
Job 34: 14-15
If heaven is imagined to be "up" and "out there" at a distance, then "good works" are "merely external" acts that do not bear upon the salvation that occurs "on the inside." If, however, God's very presence, the Shekhinah, is "in the building with us" or "in the midst of our camp," then "stirring up one another to love and good works" becomes the appearance of the body of Christ in the world, who is the Temple or the Tent, which is the centerpiece of the city or camp in which we dwell, live, and move.
If our image of heaven is governed by a photograph of the globe, then our image of the cosmos is governed by the scientific narrative of progress. The turning point of our history is the modern revolution of knowledge, technology, and politics. We participate in that history as our image of the world is governed by what we take to be scientifically proven as true. If, however, our image of the relationship between heaven and earth is governed by the Temple, by the Tent of Meeting, then Emmanuel, God with us, appears in our very midst as our actions in the world are governed by the other-oriented, self-sacrificial love of the cross. The turning point of history is then Golgotha, and we participate in the Truth, who is a person, with blood stained love.
P.S. For any Architects reading this, I do realize that "good works" means something particular in the language of Hebrews. A work of Architecture is and can still be, I would hope, a "good work" of self-sacrificial, other-oriented love that is an extension of the body of Christ in the world. The "good works" of Hebrews require the death of the self and a re-orienting of the cosmological order. The same could be said of architectural works of love that are juxtaposed against a different kind of work that reveals a different order.
Hebrews 8:1-2
"For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf."
Hebrews 9:24
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us THROUGH THE CURTAIN, THAT IS, THROUGH HIS FLESH, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."
Hebrews 10:19-24
1. The heavens are and/or declare the glory, rule, and presence of God (ex Rom 1. 19-23, Acts 1. 8-11, Heb 11. 3, Ps. 19).
2. Our "good works" "re-veil," or make appear, the body of Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God (like fruit from a vine).
This means that living in a secularist narrative, which declare the gods banished to outer space (or up to Mt. Olympus, or wherever) changes what it means to be obedient, changes the meaning of the appearance of the obedience of faith. And changes what it means to "stir one another up to love and good works."
Good works become legalism and salvation by works, because salvation is most primary associated with what's been banished from human affairs. If, however, the flesh of Christ IS the veil between heaven and earth, then "good works" are participation in God's remaking of creation. "'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.' And [Jacob] was afraid, and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'"
This becomes important, because our predominant image of our cosmos is a photo of the globe from the moon. So, as we place ourselves in the scriptural stories in relation to God in heaven, we imagine moving not through the Temple but around on the globe in relation to a God who is outside it. The atmosphere replaces the veil as the governing image of our relationship between heaven and earth.
This becomes especially problematic as we try to live out our faith in a modern world, because it means we are really living out of a whole different narrative. What distinguishes the modern world as such, in fact, is exactly that governing image of the globe imagined from outside itself - as compared to dwelling upon the Earth, under the domus of heaven. Or, perhaps, as compared to imagining ourselves as living "in the camp" as sojourners on the way to the promised land whose firstfruits was the resurrection.
If he should take back his spirit to himself,
and gather to himself his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.
Job 34: 14-15
If heaven is imagined to be "up" and "out there" at a distance, then "good works" are "merely external" acts that do not bear upon the salvation that occurs "on the inside." If, however, God's very presence, the Shekhinah, is "in the building with us" or "in the midst of our camp," then "stirring up one another to love and good works" becomes the appearance of the body of Christ in the world, who is the Temple or the Tent, which is the centerpiece of the city or camp in which we dwell, live, and move.
If our image of heaven is governed by a photograph of the globe, then our image of the cosmos is governed by the scientific narrative of progress. The turning point of our history is the modern revolution of knowledge, technology, and politics. We participate in that history as our image of the world is governed by what we take to be scientifically proven as true. If, however, our image of the relationship between heaven and earth is governed by the Temple, by the Tent of Meeting, then Emmanuel, God with us, appears in our very midst as our actions in the world are governed by the other-oriented, self-sacrificial love of the cross. The turning point of history is then Golgotha, and we participate in the Truth, who is a person, with blood stained love.
P.S. For any Architects reading this, I do realize that "good works" means something particular in the language of Hebrews. A work of Architecture is and can still be, I would hope, a "good work" of self-sacrificial, other-oriented love that is an extension of the body of Christ in the world. The "good works" of Hebrews require the death of the self and a re-orienting of the cosmological order. The same could be said of architectural works of love that are juxtaposed against a different kind of work that reveals a different order.
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