Not Built By Human Hands

Acts 7:48-50 - “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

‘Heaven is my throne,

    and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me?

   says the Lord.

Or where will my resting place be?

   Has not my hand made all these things?'"

Acts 17:24 - “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands."

It's funny that for 2,000 years we've devoted so much effort and resources to building things for God. We build all sorts of physical structures for Him, everything from modest little buildings to ornate cathedrals.  We create all sorts of institutions and summon up various movements. And then we act like God should feel obliged to inhabit the tidy little boxes we've built for Him.

The real tragedy of it all may be that by trying to confine God to our man-made structures, we miss Him in all the places He's at work.  We miss Him in the mundane experiences of day-to-day life, in our cubicles and offices, in the supermarket and playground, on buses and planes, in the midst of children crying and dogs barking, during sleepless nights and dreaded mornings.  We miss Him in the very thing He calls His body and temple - beautiful, frustrating, transcendent, fearful, glorious, shame-scarred humanity.

We build teachings and doctrine and demand that He abide by them.  We put together the perfect formula so we can manipulate Him to serve our whims.  We construct a building and call it "God's House" and talk about how He dwells in the sanctuary.  And by creating this idea of building something for God, we forget where He's been this whole time. 

The amazing, humbling truth is that He is already perfectly at home in our hearts, gently inviting us to see Him at work all around us.  He's eternally whispering to us that we are loved beyond imagination, secure in His affection, invited to share in His life instead of having to summon up one on our own.  The illusion of separation died on the cross, the curtain was torn in two, and our eyes were opened to what He meant by "Immanuel, God with us".  This is truly Good News, that we can enter into a Sabbath rest from trying to build something that could never contain Him and instead enter into what He has already built.