Rebuilding is in progress.

I heard recently from a friend that the house that I was brought up in is about to be demolished and the site will be redeveloped. Our house was a three bedroom bungalow with two reception rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. It was just an average size house, but it was built on an acre of nicely laid out garden land in quite an exclusive part of a very pretty little village.

So, why would anyone want to demolish it? It is a single storey house which would be very hard to extend. A developer could extend outwards, but would take up useful land space and the result would just be a bungalow with an extra bits tacked on. The alternative would be to add a second storey, but then you have to follow the shape of the existing property. Better altogether to make something new.

Isn’t this a bad idea? Destroying the past? This house has been a central part of several families lives over the last 90 years. Actually, this is a story of progression. 100 years ago there was just farmland. Then there was a modest bungalow that had housed several families. Next there is going to be a larger two storey family home. And after that there may be …..?

It’s a progression. It’s not a complete re-writing, it’s just that it’s time to do things a little differently to reach the same goal – a family home. See where I’m heading??

When God brought His people out of their slavery in Egypt and led them through the desert toward the land that He was giving to them, He instructed them to build a place to house His Presence. A place where He could be recognisably present with them. What He told them to make was a Tent. This wasn’t an ordinary 6 berther from Mountain Warehouse. He told them in great detail how to make this tent, because every detail about this dwelling place for His glory was important. When it was complete, He came and filled it with His Presence and His Glory. The glory of God was so strong that Moses couldn’t enter.

There came a time when the Tent was no longer useful. Things had moved on. The Israelites were now living in their own land and were established. After years of. Israel’s somewhat up and down relationship with God, He had King Solomon build the first permanent building to replace the Tent. This was the Temple, built in Jerusalem. There had been nothing wrong with the Tent. This was not a re-writing, just time to do things a little differently. A progression….

When Solomon had finished building the Temple, the Glory and Presence of God filled the place so powerfully that the Priests were unable to function.

The progression continues…..After the death and resurrection of Jesus our King and saviour, there was no longer any need for a physical building to encounter the Presence and Glory of God. Why? Because now He lives in us (Ephesians 3 v 17). We know from 1 Corinthians that we are now His temple, the place where He chooses to live.

So that is the part of the progression that God has always been looking forward to; the time when He would not just dwell with us, but dwell in us. But it doesn’t end there. There is more to it than just (just!!) God living in me and God living in you. He wants to live in us together – the Church, the Body of Christ.

When He filled the Tent in the desert, and when He filled the newly built Temple in Jerusalem, he had unrestricted access. It was cleared and ready for Him and no one else. That is what He is after with His people together – otherwise known as the Church. When that happens, and He has unrestricted access, then His Glory and His Presence will rest among us powerfully and, I believe, visibly. This is where we are heading.

In the process of getting there, I believe it is time for some 3 bedroom bungalows to be demolished to make way for what needs to be built next. That means an end to some of the things we have done – not because they were bad necessarily, but because they will not serve the purpose of what God is after.

This is where we will need to listen closely to Holy Spirit in order to make way for the new, the coming Glory and Presence among us. As we listen to Him, we will discover what the “new” looks like, and some of it will be unlike anything we have experienced so far.

Then we will have a choice. Do we look back to the past with its fond memories and cling onto that, or in the words of Ruth, do we say to God “where You go, I will go”. I am sure that part of the “new” that God wants to bring will make our Church titles, names, denominations or streams irrelevant. He is looking for One Church that is completely open and surrendered to Him – a place where His Glory and Presence can dwell without hindrance.

This is not church unity engineered and negotiated by Church Leaders, looking to build links based on a need to “be seen as one”. This is unity brought into being by Holy Spirit as He connects all those whose heart cry is “We want Jesus to be glorified and we will follow Him wherever He takes us”.

Holy Spirit is bringing together the Temple where God wants to dwell. When that happens, as with Moses, as with Solomon, the glory will be so intense that men cannot minister or control it.