Temple Torn in Two: July 10

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 1, 2, 3; PM Psalm 4, 7; 1 Samuel 15:1-3,7-23; Acts 9:19b-31; Luke 23:44-56a

The curtain of the temple was torn in two. It sounds like a big deal. A curtain, torn in two. You get the impression that the curtain was part of the design of the temple, meaning it had been there for over 500 years. Maybe the curtain had been replaced, maybe not. But families, individuals, and sojourners had looked at that curtain (or one like it) for over half a millennium. That’s older than the United States. That’s about the length of time since Europeans first arrived in North America. A curtain that people had seen as the backdrop to their worship of God, the Holy of Holies, torn in two.

What would it mean to you to lose something that had been at the core of your identity for longer than we can comprehend? It’s hard to imagine. We are not immune to change. The loss of a loved one who we have spent the majority of our lives caring for and being cared for, the sudden change of everything we have known. Or the loss of what was important. A church closes, a town shudders, a business dissolves. A curtain is torn in two.

In today’s reading, the temple is torn before Jesus’s death, a different story than Matthew and Mark.  Regardless, the place that people had worshiped for most of their shared collective memory was changing. 

Sound familiar. While many of us still get to worship in vibrant settings, it’s hard to ignore that the church is not what it used to be, a hard truth for those of us who love the institution and have found so much life and hope in it.  

The curtain was torn in two, and a few years later the whole temple was destroyed. What was found in its place was the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a hope that people had not expected nor could really comprehend. And yet, the destruction of the temple gave birth to a whole new understanding of God, contained in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Can we too be faithful to believe that God is always up to something new? The curtain was torn in two and what came next was so much more beautiful. What is in store for the institutions, systems, and experiences that we find torn in two, too?

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection: What could the temple be a metaphor for in your own life? How does hope help you transcend loss?