Desecration and Restoration - the Human Heart as the Dwelling Place of God

This Sunday we are presented with three very different readings about temples.

In the first, the prophet Ezekiel describes a vision of the restoration of the temple Solomon built to be the holy dwelling place of God among the people of Israel. In the midst of the exile, he consoles them with a vision that recalls the garden of creation, God's abundance, and the lasting promise that God will always dwell among them. It is a vision of hope for the future built upon an idealised longing for the past.

In contrast, John's Gospel presents us with the less than ideal reality of the temple rebuilt by King Herod. It has become a place of commerce, where only animals sold by the temple are considered worthy of sacrifice, and only temple coin, which must be exchanged in the courtyard at outrageous rates, can be used. Incensed by the desecration of the sanctuary, Jesus literally turns the tables, scattering the livestock and driving out the rabble.

Of these two images, one is an unreal ideal, and the other a profane violation of what had been built to honour God.

And in between we have St Paul's exhortation, reminding us that the real dwelling place of God is not bricks and mortar, but the human heart.

"The temple of God is sacred," he writes. "And you are that temple."

As I reflect on Paul's word's, Ezekiel's vision and Jesus' robust rejection of greed and exploitation disguised as piety, I am challenged to ask myself

'What I have built upon the foundation that was laid in my baptism?'

Am I a worthy dwelling place for the Spirit of God, or do I have some restoring to do?

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