Artifacts of Worship

We serve a God who brings dead things to life - His Son died for us, but He was raised from the dead by God, who now calls us to die to self and life to Christ.   In Colossians 3, we read:

2Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

This is an expression of our true identity in Christ.   We recognize by setting our minds on the things of God that we are truly not in this world and should not place worldly desires above the desire to be like Christ.   We have considered ourselves to be dead to this world, dead to sin, and alive in Christ - God brings dead things to life, and we have been raised with Christ to live a life of meaning.   Now, there are activities and attitudes that we need to let go of, and there may be Godly practices that we need to recapture, so that each day we go forward with a fresh sense of God's Spirit in and with us.

We have been made alive with Jesus Christ, and a passage from Ephesians 2 reminds us of the living God who has given us that life and continues to be our life:

4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest, writes in America Magazine that he visited the site where the Archdiocese of New York carefully stores the artifacts from churches that have closed.   He says that, "The Artifact Storage Facility, located on the grounds of a former orphanage, is at once a beautiful, sad, mysterious, amusing and hopeful place. It was hard not to be moved."

He relates that several rooms are filled with crucifixes and statues of Jesus and the saints, tightly encased in bubble wrap. There are candelabra and golden candles, old church pews, and various fixtures from these closed churches. Various statues were there, too. Martin says that,

The Jesuit friend who was with me said he felt particularly sad to see items marked "In Memory of..." But the friendly and efficient caretaker, who works for the archdiocese, ensures that all the items are cared for, and he tries to find them good homes—whether in new parishes, hospitals or schools nearby, or more far-flung parishes, or poorer parishes overseas. After having read so much about parish closings, and wondering what would happen to all the beautiful works of art, for which people sacrificed so much, I was glad to see them cared for in this way.

He states that are multiple reasons behind such closings—finances of course, but also rapidly changing demographics. And he emphathizes with those whose churches have closed - indeed, it can be a painful experience.

But, he reminds the reader that, "the church is not a building. And it is not marble. It is not stained glass. As beautiful as those things are, the church is something even more beautiful. It is a community. It is the Body of Christ. And it will always live.

"It may seem to move around and shift and change and in certain places flourish and then seem to pass away—but the church will always be alive."

Now, Father Martin had a takeaway at the end of his pictorial journey. He asks:

What are you called to let go of?

And where is God offering you new life?

I think it's important to reflect on how change comes as we are willing to let go.    Perhaps God is calling you to let go of something in your past, something that you have held on to, but it may be holding you back in the future direction of your life.   There may be elements of the past that you clutch tightly, but from which God is wanting to set you free.

Another point that we can take from Martin's piece is that God specializes in bringing things to life.   Martin reminds us that the church is not a building, but it is a living entity made up of people who have bowed the knee to Jesus and pledged to follow Him as their Lord and Savior - and while church buildings may come and go and artifacts may be removed, the church is alive, empowered and strengthened by Almighty God.   Even when we may look weak, if we tap in to His mighty power, He will give us a fresh sense of Himself.

Personally, I looked at these pictures - of icons wrapped in bubble wrap, of gifts to churches that have been stored away and wondered if there are not artifacts stored in our own lives that have been treasures for us, but we have allowed them to be packed away.  Are there areas of our worship that were once fresh, but now have become stale or useless to us?   If we serve the God who is the life-giver, then perhaps we need to allow Him to resurrect attitudes or practices in our own lives that were once active and meaningful.   Maybe we have lost the zeal to dig deeper into God's Word and it has become a stale exercise.   Perhaps we don't attend church with an attitude of expectation that we once did.   Do we need a makeover or at least a course correction in our spiritual life, so that we experience God in the way we once did?   Remember, we serve a God who has made us alive in Christ and wants to bring us into a fresh walk in His Spirit each day.