Devotional and Discussion Thought of the day:

A post on Facebook this morning brought memories of our trip (dare I say our pilgrimage) to Rome last year.

We were walking down a street – just trying to get a feeling for the city.  An amazing city,  and dare I say it had a sense of both home and holiness.  It is hard to explain – but it was there, not just in the churches, but among the very streets.  We came across this building from the back, obviously a place that was old and needing more restoration.  As we rounded the front – it was the Pantheon – the incredible temple built for sacrifices to be offered to the pantheon of Roman Gods – its oculus – the hole in the center of the dome – even on an overcast day lit this ancient magnificent structure incredibly.  The huge iron doors, amazing.

Yet what astounded me the most, this incredible building, built to worship false gods, built as a place to appease them, was transformed, sanctified, set apart centuries later to be a place of like transformation, a place to celebrate the Light pouring into lives.

What I never read of, what I never realized – is that this building is now a church – an active place where people are baptized, and transformed by the Love of God.  A place where the Body and Blood of Christ is the only sacrifice that matters, the only one that could be used to redeem and revive and restore.

A place that was redeemed, that was set apart (sanctified) to be a place where redemption and sanctification of man occurs, because of the love of the One, True God, who does that which we cannot.  He buys us back, He redeems us, He cleanses us, He sets us apart….for Him.

As I walked into the Pantheon, as I saw the altars, the paintings, the incredible dome, the oculus, a sense of awe overtook me – much different than the awe at the forum, or at Triumphant Arches, or looking at the wall, or even as we walked through the ruins of Pompeii.  It wasn’t just a historical reminder of our past, of the culture we’ve lost.

It’s a place where faith is strengthened, where life in Christ begins, where redemption is seen and known.

A place where God has come.

A place where I have hope – for if God can transform such a place – I realize that I too can be transformed – and that I too can be a place where God dwells, where He abides, where with other believers, we form a temple not made with hands… and our sacrifice is not to die, but to live.  Where as this building gains the identity of being a place of God, such is my vocation and life.  Yours as well.

Such is the wonder of walking with Christ.

He makes all things – whether ancient temples dedicated to man’s glory, or men themselves…new.

May our lives praise Him, and may people glorify Him more as they see His work in and through us.  AMEN