On April 15th, 2019 I watched, along with many throughout the world, the newsfeed of the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris fire, and my heart went out to the people of France.
Before I go on, I must state that this post is neither a place for people to request money, or a place to shame others who don’t give their money to causes of the reader’s preference. So comments along these two veins are unwelcome here.
Now, back to the newsfeed –
It was clear that even people who had little room for God in their lives cared a great deal about this building. History was being destroyed. Art was being destroyed. The locations and settings of common community and world memories were being destroyed.
When flashlights appeared on the tower balcony, some sense of hope was restored. Perhaps the façade could be saved!
Then came word that the crown of thorns had been saved, along with some of the other valuable contents. The crown of thorns! Reportedly the very crown that was pressed upon Jesus’ head the night before his execution. In order to survive these nearly 2,000 years, such a relic would surely need to defy the natural laws of organic decay.
Need I mention that sometimes my mind runs off on tangents?
That crown would indeed be unique if it was in any way coated or stained with dried blood from Jesus’ head. Which led me to wonder whether there was enough blood to support DNA testing. And what would a DNA test of Jesus’ blood show?
Then I started thinking about how valuable this ancient history (whether 800 years or 2,000 years) is to so many people, which moved me to consider how this affects us today.
Some say they will support rebuilding the Cathedral. Will they try to make it just like it was, or change it according to their current tastes? Will they use ancient building techniques or modernize the construction? Will they capture the history long past, or focus on that same God that created that age as well as today? I am not an architect or an art historian. So for me these considerations are only a matter of fancy.
Then a deeper question came to mind. For the people of France, and Israel, and England, and all other nations, yet only for those who actually believe that there ever was a God in the universe, do we see God as a historical character only, who used to do some amazing things? Or do we see God as he says he is, an eternal being, as active in each present sunrise as in any other, and working in hearts open to him today as much as he was in centuries past?
The Temple in Jerusalem did not contain God, though it was built to honor him and be his seat. Rather, God met the representatives of His people there, and listened to their petitions, coming and going as He willed.
Later, the church, from the very founding of the term, was not a building, but an ‘assembly’ of ‘the called out ones’ – the body of believers. The location of their meeting was not, at first, understood to be the church, though in these days we often call buildings ‘churches’, almost as a confusing shorthand for the location in which the body of local believers assemble.
In an age when ‘church’ buildings are being destroyed around the world, or used for museums and theaters, and smaller churches are remodeled into homes and stores, it is not God who is inconvenienced. The body of believers meets elsewhere, and in some cases quite a bit farther away from the spiritual epicenter of the early years.
Ezekiel reported that God said: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:27).
When describing the Counselor to come, Jesus said “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13)
The Apostle Paul wrote to Gentiles “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” (Romans 8:9)
The Apostle Paul also wrote to Timothy: “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:14)
God is not dead, nor does he sleep. He does not age as we humans do. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He was here before time began, and will remain long after the universes passes away. He is active on the earth every day, throughout each century, working in, through, and among those who seek him.
None need look back to past millennia without also seeing today and searching the future, to see God’s hand at work. The Christian faith does not live only in history long past. For many people around the earth it indwells each present moment.
So although I lament the loss of artistic treasures from ancient days, many of which are irreplaceable, I also hope that many who have been affected by the cathedral fire will also seek the living light of the world, the one who lives not in our confinement of time, but told Moses, and tells us, his name is “I am who I am”. “Seek, first, His kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things (what we need) will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). This promise is nothing like Aladdin’s lamp. This is not a chance to get all the toys and treasures we think will satisfy. This is not about exalting oneself. God’s people exalt God. And God works in them.
Which brings me back to the earlier thought about DNA. If it were possible for a sample to be drawn from your spirit this very day, and a spiritual DNA test was performed, what would the results show?
Percipient Witnesses 