Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Rediscovering Sacred Space {Reflections}
Ever wonder if we've lost something vital in our modern rush to demystify the world? Ryan explores one of the most fascinating paradoxes in spiritual history: how ancient Israelites built an ornate temple for God, only to realize that no building could contain the divine presence.
The temple wasn't just a building—it was a teaching tool. Through rituals and sacred spaces like the Holy of Holies, people learned how to relate to the transcendent through tangible experiences. These microcosms served as spiritual training wheels, helping believers grasp concrete concepts before understanding that all of creation is sacred space.
Fast forward to today, and we've largely abandoned these spiritual handholds. In our embrace of materialism and science, we've unintentionally disconnected from the sacred. Buildings are just structures, moments are just time passing, and we've lost our ability to recognize the holy in our midst. Ryan suggests that perhaps we need to intentionally reclaim sacred language and rituals—not as superstitious practices, but as powerful reminders that help us recognize divine presence in everyday life.
What if the place you're sitting right now is holy ground? What if everything that has happened in your life has led you to this precise moment for a reason? By rediscovering how to recognize sacred spaces and moments, we might just find ourselves reconnecting with the divine that's been present all along. Share this episode with someone who might need this perspective, and consider joining us at Central in Elk River, either at our 8:30 liturgical gathering or 10:00 modern service. Your journey matters, and perhaps it's led you here for exactly this message.
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What is up everybody? Hey, my name is Ryan and welcome to our Reflections podcast. Hey, one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is when God sort of commands the people of Israel to build this temple. It begins as a tent, like a tabernacle, but ultimately then Solomon builds this temple, and this temple is like a sacred place where they believe that God physically dwelt. In this place they had a section that was called the Holy of Holies, like the holiest of all the holy places, and so as you walk into this temple it kind of progressively got more and more sacred or more holy. And in these places they were taught how to relate to the divine and they would have like animal sacrifices and they would splash blood all over and they would put grains and other kinds of things. And the idea was that God was showing them how to relate to God, because how would human beings ever know how to relate to the divine, the transcendent? You know God. How do we know how to relate to God unless God sort of tells us? In the ancient world, the gods didn't usually tell you, but this God, yahweh in the Bible, he does. He gives us explicit instruction how to relate to them.
Speaker 1:And then, though, not long after Solomon builds this temple, which is beautiful, ornate, they call it the house of God, the dwelling place of God. And not long after this, solomon is recorded as sort of lamenting he says hey, how could God ever dwell in this building? As though God could be contained in the building. And there is this revelation of like yeah, god doesn't dwell in a house. Now, they interacted with him as though he did like this sacred place and this is holy. But then there's a slow realization, that kind of seeps into the Jewish consciousness, and then even in Jesus, where they begin to realize that God dwells everywhere, that God inhabits the whole creation, the whole thing is a temple. And so it raises the question like well, why did then God make them build this one temple?
Speaker 1:And I think this is why I think these people had to know what it meant that this God was holy, and they had to know what it meant that this God was holy, and they had to know what it meant for something to be sacred and for there to be a holy place. They had to have this microcosm, this little small example, so they could know and understand the bigger picture. And they had these rituals that would again were how they were to engage the divine, the holy, to engage God, and these rituals were like a concrete example of some deeper ideal and profound truth in the world. And so the ritual was like a microcosm that sort of mimicked the entire thing, the whole grand thing, and so they had to know, hey, how do you know the whole place is holy, that the whole earth is filled with God's presence. Well, let's make this little spot right there, this little building, and make that place. We'll declare that place holy and sacred and you'll do these rituals that actually embody or concretize the ideal, so you can know what it means to sin, forgiveness, love, the presence of the divine, and then you can kind of extrapolate that out and have a bigger picture. Oh, actually this whole thing is a temple and all that we do in our lives are kind of rituals and interacting with the divine, and it's beautiful and so. But here's where I think we are today.
Speaker 1:I think Today, in 2025, I feel like we have lost so many of these handholds. We've lost the sense of the sacred. Many folks sort of profess atheism, which I definitely empathize with them. We favor materialism as a philosophy and even you know we love science and I do too, but what happens is we've I think unintentionally have unhooked ourselves from the divine, from the transcendent, these ideas, or even the sacred and the holy, and so we don't know what it's like anymore to have holy or sacred places or holy or sacred things. These things don't know what it's like anymore to have holier sacred places or holier sacred things. These things don't really exist anymore, because we're like, oh, it's not really a sacred object, that's just a rock, that isn't a sacred place, it's just a building, and I get it. But I wonder if it's not time again for us to re-engage these ideas of like microcosms as sort of a symbol of the whole.
Speaker 1:And so, like I don't know, on Sunday we had our worship gathering and look, look, I work in a church, a church building. I mean, we are the church, but I work in a church building. And I remind folks often, hey, this place is not any more sacred than it is outside, and fair enough, like God dwells outside as much as God dwells in this building. The whole thing is a temple. But on Sunday I just felt compelled, with all the people there, I just want to. I said, hey, look at me, we're all here, all of our hearts are pointed towards God in this moment.
Speaker 1:I just gave this sermon it was maybe a part of the sermon I said I want to declare as the pastor this is a sacred place and this is a sacred time right now. And I told them, I said this is a sacred time because I said, hey look, every decision you've ever made in your life, everything that's ever happened to you, good and bad and otherwise, all the things you know pain, suffering, joy, celebration all these things have led you here to this moment, right here in this place, now in this time, and that makes this a sacred place and a sacred time. And that makes this a sacred place and a sacred time. And I would say the same for you. Like, whatever you're doing, wherever you're listening to this podcast, all that you've ever done in your life has led you here to this moment, to listen to this podcast at this time and place. That makes this somehow sacred. You're kind of joining others, and even Mike and I here in this room, and that makes this, as we turn our hearts towards God and the sacred or the divine, it makes it a holy place and a holy moment and I just feel like man.
Speaker 1:I feel like I want to just be a person who just continues to declare certain things and places holy.
Speaker 1:Maybe we revert back to like temple kinds not the temple as in Solomon's, but I mean like having this idea of like, hey, let's declare this thing holy and sacred, to remind us of the handholds, of what it means to have sacred places and mountains and rivers, and then to be able to then again extrapolate out like okay, now that we have these grasped or handholds again, then we can re-envision that the whole thing is holy and sacred.
Speaker 1:So I don't know, I feel like I want to just be a person who calls people back to the sacred and the holy.
Speaker 1:Of course I remember that the whole thing is sacred and holy and that God is everywhere. But maybe we rewind and just remind folks that God is here right now, in this place, in this room, in this time, and light a candle or just take a minute and quiet ourselves to then remember this is sacred and reclaim that sacred, divine, holy language and maybe even have some rituals where we you know, we do it at church we eat bread and wine and we dunk babies in water and these kinds of things. It's what we're doing, but maybe as a society, if we can reclaim some of these sacred and holy moments and movements to remind ourselves that, in fact, the whole thing is holy. So today, yeah, may you know that this time and this place, wherever you are, that's a sacred place because you're there, and maybe may your eyes be open to the presence of God and his presence there in that place and remind yourself that this is a sacred and holy time All right.
Speaker 2:Love you guys, peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget, you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 8.30, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering, or you can check us out online at clcelkriverorg Peace.
