You Want us, Our True Selves

Many of the accounts in the Old Testament are of mighty works carried out in the Name of the Lord - David building the temple, Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, and these are collaborative efforts, all the artisans and people coming together to share materials and labour to enable these projects to completion.

1 Chronicles 29: 10 - 17 (NIV)

10 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord,

the God of our father Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,

for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;

you are exalted as head over all.

12 Wealth and honor come from you;

you are the ruler of all things.

In your hands are strength and power

to exalt and give strength to all.

13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,

and praise your glorious name.

14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.

Such buildings and constructions are visible symbols to display reverence for and the power of God. Ely Cathedral is also a similar construction, built to glorify God and visible for miles around. Every church building is built as a place to bring God and people closer together. But in Jesus, God becomes the temple. There is no need for a space to meet God when God can be met anywhere. And in knowing God through Jesus, we become part of this universal temple too:

John 2:19-21 (NIV)

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

The temple of the Kingdom of Jesus is built from His body and His people. The gifts that He gives us become the building blocks. the Message version of 1 Chronicles 29 describes this - the material things that build a physical building like a temple or church come from God and we give back to Him what He has already gifted. And the same is true of spiritual gifts - knowledge, skills and talents, that we give of ourselves back to Him to build the temple of His people.

1 Chronicles 29: 16 - 17 (MSG)

As far as you’re concerned, we’re homeless, shiftless wanderers like our ancestors, our lives mere shadows, hardly anything to us. God, our God, all these materials—these piles of stuff for building a house of worship for you, honoring your Holy Name—it all came from you! It was all yours in the first place! I know, dear God, that you care nothing for the surface—you want us, our true selves—and so I have given from the heart, honestly and happily. And now see all these people doing the same, giving freely, willingly—what a joy!

Kingdom work is all part of the construction of this temple, helping more and more people come to know the love of God in their lives, to know His strength in times of darkness and to carry this on in our own lives. And the work of the CAP team is one way, bringing practical help for a real problem and also bringing alongside love, support and the knowledge of God's love into the lives of our clients. We are stronger together in the love of Christ.

Prayer

Please pray for all our CAP clients and especially for those waiting for their first appointments, now booking in to August. Pray for our debt coaches and visit team, for the love of God that they bring into the homes of each client and for the strength and support that this can bring into their lives.

Please pray for continuing opportunities for outreach work and the strengthening of links with other services, such as social prescribers and the Job Centre, that by working together with others serving our community we can be part of a bigger picture of care and service and that this will help bring the message of the help and hope that CAP can bring into the lives of those struggling with poverty and debt in our community. Pray that they would know that they are not alone and that there is help and hope.