Rediscovering Sacred Space {Reflections}

Ever wonder if we've lost something vital in our modern rush to demystify the world? Ryan explores one of the most fascinating paradoxes in spiritual history: how ancient Israelites built an ornate temple for God, only to realize that no building could contain the divine presence.

The temple wasn't just a building—it was a teaching tool. Through rituals and sacred spaces like the Holy of Holies, people learned how to relate to the transcendent through tangible experiences. These microcosms served as spiritual training wheels, helping believers grasp concrete concepts before understanding that all of creation is sacred space.

Fast forward to today, and we've largely abandoned these spiritual handholds. In our embrace of materialism and science, we've unintentionally disconnected from the sacred. Buildings are just structures, moments are just time passing, and we've lost our ability to recognize the holy in our midst. Ryan suggests that perhaps we need to intentionally reclaim sacred language and rituals—not as superstitious practices, but as powerful reminders that help us recognize divine presence in everyday life.

What if the place you're sitting right now is holy ground? What if everything that has happened in your life has led you to this precise moment for a reason? By rediscovering how to recognize sacred spaces and moments, we might just find ourselves reconnecting with the divine that's been present all along. Share this episode with someone who might need this perspective, and consider joining us at Central in Elk River, either at our 8:30 liturgical gathering or 10:00 modern service. Your journey matters, and perhaps it's led you here for exactly this message.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
What is up everybody?
Hey, my name is Ryan andwelcome to our Reflections
podcast.
Hey, one of my favorite storiesin the Old Testament is when
God sort of commands the peopleof Israel to build this temple.
It begins as a tent, like atabernacle, but ultimately then
Solomon builds this temple, andthis temple is like a sacred
place where they believe thatGod physically dwelt.

(00:35):
In this place they had asection that was called the Holy
of Holies, like the holiest ofall the holy places, and so as
you walk into this temple itkind of progressively got more
and more sacred or more holy.
And in these places they weretaught how to relate to the
divine and they would have likeanimal sacrifices and they would
splash blood all over and theywould put grains and other kinds
of things.
And the idea was that God wasshowing them how to relate to

(00:56):
God, because how would humanbeings ever know how to relate
to the divine, the transcendent?
You know God.
How do we know how to relate toGod unless God sort of tells us
?
In the ancient world, the godsdidn't usually tell you, but
this God, yahweh in the Bible,he does.
He gives us explicitinstruction how to relate to
them.
And then, though, not long afterSolomon builds this temple,

(01:16):
which is beautiful, ornate, theycall it the house of God, the
dwelling place of God.
And not long after this,solomon is recorded as sort of
lamenting he says hey, how couldGod ever dwell in this building
?
As though God could becontained in the building.
And there is this revelation oflike yeah, god doesn't dwell in
a house.
Now, they interacted with himas though he did like this

(01:40):
sacred place and this is holy.
But then there's a slowrealization, that kind of seeps
into the Jewish consciousness,and then even in Jesus, where
they begin to realize that Goddwells everywhere, that God
inhabits the whole creation, thewhole thing is a temple.
And so it raises the questionlike well, why did then God make
them build this one temple?
And I think this is why I thinkthese people had to know what it

(02:02):
meant that this God was holy,and they had to know what it
meant that this God was holy,and they had to know what it
meant for something to be sacredand for there to be a holy
place.
They had to have this microcosm, this little small example, so
they could know and understandthe bigger picture.
And they had these rituals thatwould again were how they were
to engage the divine, the holy,to engage God, and these rituals

(02:24):
were like a concrete example ofsome deeper ideal and profound
truth in the world.
And so the ritual was like amicrocosm that sort of mimicked
the entire thing, the wholegrand thing, and so they had to
know, hey, how do you know thewhole place is holy, that the
whole earth is filled with God'spresence.
Well, let's make this littlespot right there, this little

(02:46):
building, and make that place.
We'll declare that place holyand sacred and you'll do these
rituals that actually embody orconcretize the ideal, so you can
know what it means to sin,forgiveness, love, the presence
of the divine, and then you cankind of extrapolate that out and
have a bigger picture.
Oh, actually this whole thingis a temple and all that we do
in our lives are kind of ritualsand interacting with the divine

(03:08):
, and it's beautiful and so.
But here's where I think we aretoday.
I think Today, in 2025, I feellike we have lost so many of
these handholds.
We've lost the sense of thesacred.
Many folks sort of professatheism, which I definitely
empathize with them.
We favor materialism as aphilosophy and even you know we

(03:28):
love science and I do too, butwhat happens is we've I think
unintentionally have unhookedourselves from the divine, from
the transcendent, these ideas,or even the sacred and the holy,
and so we don't know what it'slike anymore to have holy or
sacred places or holy or sacredthings.
These things don't know whatit's like anymore to have holier
sacred places or holier sacredthings.
These things don't really existanymore, because we're like, oh
, it's not really a sacredobject, that's just a rock, that

(03:50):
isn't a sacred place, it's justa building, and I get it.
But I wonder if it's not timeagain for us to re-engage these
ideas of like microcosms as sortof a symbol of the whole.
And so, like I don't know, onSunday we had our worship
gathering and look, look, I workin a church, a church building.
I mean, we are the church, butI work in a church building.

(04:13):
And I remind folks often, hey,this place is not any more
sacred than it is outside, andfair enough, like God dwells
outside as much as God dwells inthis building.
The whole thing is a temple.
But on Sunday I just feltcompelled, with all the people
there, I just want to.
I said, hey, look at me, we'reall here, all of our hearts are
pointed towards God in thismoment.

(04:33):
I just gave this sermon it wasmaybe a part of the sermon I
said I want to declare as thepastor this is a sacred place
and this is a sacred time rightnow.
And I told them, I said this isa sacred time because I said,
hey look, every decision you'veever made in your life,
everything that's ever happenedto you, good and bad and
otherwise, all the things youknow pain, suffering, joy,

(04:57):
celebration all these thingshave led you here to this moment
, right here in this place, nowin this time, and that makes
this a sacred place and a sacredtime.
And that makes this a sacredplace and a sacred time.
And I would say the same foryou.
Like, whatever you're doing,wherever you're listening to
this podcast, all that you'veever done in your life has led
you here to this moment, tolisten to this podcast at this

(05:18):
time and place.
That makes this somehow sacred.
You're kind of joining others,and even Mike and I here in this
room, and that makes this, aswe turn our hearts towards God
and the sacred or the divine, itmakes it a holy place and a
holy moment and I just feel likeman.
I feel like I want to just be aperson who just continues to
declare certain things andplaces holy.
Maybe we revert back to liketemple kinds not the temple as

(05:41):
in Solomon's, but I mean likehaving this idea of like, hey,
let's declare this thing holyand sacred, to remind us of the
handholds, of what it means tohave sacred places and mountains
and rivers, and then to be ableto then again extrapolate out
like okay, now that we havethese grasped or handholds again
, then we can re-envision thatthe whole thing is holy and

(06:01):
sacred.
So I don't know, I feel like Iwant to just be a person who
calls people back to the sacredand the holy.
Of course I remember that thewhole thing is sacred and holy
and that God is everywhere.
But maybe we rewind and justremind folks that God is here
right now, in this place, inthis room, in this time, and
light a candle or just take aminute and quiet ourselves to
then remember this is sacred andreclaim that sacred, divine,

(06:22):
holy language and maybe evenhave some rituals where we you
know, we do it at church we eatbread and wine and we dunk
babies in water and these kindsof things.
It's what we're doing, butmaybe as a society, if we can
reclaim some of these sacred andholy moments and movements to
remind ourselves that, in fact,the whole thing is holy.
So today, yeah, may you knowthat this time and this place,

(06:44):
wherever you are, that's asacred place because you're
there, and maybe may your eyesbe open to the presence of God
and his presence there in thatplace and remind yourself that
this is a sacred and holy timeAll right.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Love you guys, peace.
Hey, if you enjoy this show,I'd love to have you share it
with some friends.
And don't forget, you arealways welcome to join us in
person at Central in Elk Riverat 8.30, which is our liturgical
gathering, or at 10 o'clock,our modern gathering, or you can
check us out online atclcelkriverorg Peace.