Community Class BLog

Written by:  Jeff Prince

Edited by:  Michael Hardin, my sweet husband.

2 Chronicles 7:1-3

1 When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple. ² The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it. ³ When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming down and the glorious presence of the Lord filling the Temple, they fell face down on the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying,

“He is good!
    His faithful love endures forever!”

I must admit that 4 weeks describing the building of a temple has not resonated with me.  Really, 4 weeks? I also admit that I don’t know the history of this ancient text. The temple meant a lot to people that had been oppressed.  They needed something to give them hope. God is with us. We need hope to keep us going.    

I can imagine that fire coming down would make me bow down face first on the ground.  Praying perhaps, don’t burn me up.  I see fire as a metaphor.  Fire burns. It purifies. It can be dangerous. It can also bring about something healing, better, and new.    

A memory came back to me as I wrote this; growing up in rural Alabama, my dad would burn off the fields. It looked dark and dreary, but later came beautiful green grass.  Much like the sequoias in California, “lower-intensity fires, sequoias can open up their cones and start to germinate”. 

See more about that here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/07/americas/sequoia-trees-climate-california/index.html

Perhaps we need to burn down our false gods, consumerism, Christian nationalism, selfishness, and domination over others. We need to burn down things in our individual lives and collective world that simply do not bring healing, hope, and good news for all.  Perhaps we burn down religion and theology that keep others out and some in. Doctrines and theology that look like love but are really nothing more than domination of others without individual agency. 

Jesus said it best,” The spirit of the Lord is upon me, [I am] anointed to bring good news to the poor.  … proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free.”  Luke 4:18 Notice here, no oppression only good news, release, sight, and freedom.  That is something in which we can find hope, life, love, and peace. 

Dr Kelley asks us in his homily on 11.26.2023, “who and what is your allegiance to?”  I saw the metaphor of fire here.  What do we need to burn for something better? 

“God’s love is for everyone. The good news is for all people. It is not conditional on what state you live in.  It is not conditional on what country you live in. It is that you are loved by God.  Receiving God’s grace changes your life as you allow it to permeate the world around you. You and I have been graced with God’s presence. To whom is your allegiance? Is it to [the] Christ that sees no distinction. It doesn’t matter about the color of your skin. What state you are from. It doesn’t matter what you can accomplish. What you have accomplished. What gender you are. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. Or how little you have. It doesn’t matter what your orientation is.  It doesn’t matter if you are one who has struggled and failed. God loves everyone. And calls us to experience the grace that is available.”  (This is not a perfect quote.  I listened to it on You Tube with a lot of rewinding. Check out the perfect quote. It starts around the 44.10-minute mark). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf0SXMIRmqk