Contemplating the temple of God

The other day, I was reading John 2:13-22, in which Jesus becomes angry and drives the merchants out of the temple area. I have always thought of this passage as referring to the literal temple, the place that Jesus, the merchants and livestock were inhabiting at the moment when Jesus drove them out.

On this day, though, the temple reading was paired with 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy."

I had never thought about these readings as a unit before, or considered how they give meaning to each other: Paul is calling us to a reverence of God, ourselves and God in us. When I read, then, about Jesus becoming so angry that the temple was being defamed, this is what I think: Maybe Jesus wasn't talking only about the physical building of the temple, but also the physical being of our bodies. He was certainly talking about his body.

Maybe he wasn't only angry about God being disrespected in a place, he was also angry about people's dignity being defamed through their bodies being used for making money and for our own gain, instead of being places where people and God are reverenced, respected and recognized as holy.

Which brings us to the question: Are we recognizing each person we come into contact with or hear about as holy, as a temple of the Lord? Are we recognizing ourselves as holy, as a place where the Lord is present and loving us totally and completely?

When we think about what a church can be, are we allowing ourselves to be that place -- a place where God wants to make his presence known, a resting place for the weary, a place of forgiveness, a place of relief, a place of complete and utter love and acceptance for the doubtful, a place where all questions, feelings, thoughts, problems, joys are welcome, a safe place as well as a place of challenge because of the love that is present.

A place of spirit and transformation. A place of rest. A place of quiet and a place of answers through experience, words and gestures.

A place where God's voice is heard, but even more, where his presence is known and, simply, is. A place where his ever-present presence and love is recognized.

Our interactions with one other and ourselves can come from a place of wonder and awe at the utter dignity of what it means to be human, to be made in the image of God and loved by him, a temple where he wants to dwell.

This is what he says to us: "The temple of God, which you are, is holy."