A doorkeeper in the house of our God: Meditations on Psalm 84

The desire of the psalmist, and his passion for the house of God, is a desire to be where God is, and to be in close fellowship with Him.  For the ancient Hebrew people, this place took different forms—from the various altars established by the Patriarchs, to the Tabernacle built under Moses, to the Temple built under Solomon.  In each of these places, God heard the prayers of His people, and encountered them with His presence.  He came to them on mountains like Sinai, and His glory rested upon cities like Jerusalem.  But even with these particular places, it has always been that all of creation belongs to God, and there is no place beyond His presence.  Ultimately, to dwell in the house of the Lord, is to be in fellowship with God by faith in Him and His covenant, which is a fellowship with God that endures for eternity.

I find it strange that people—all of us, in some way or another—tend to resist this notion nearly all our lives.  Even for the regular Sunday morning church attendee, we find ourselves put out if the sermon runs long, or the liturgy seems boring, or there are songs we don’t like, or there are social events we’d rather be frequenting.  We know the 3^rd Commandment (Thou shalt remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy,) and sometimes we pry ourselves out of bed or away from the TV/computer/video games/cell phones, put our social plans on hold, and begrudgingly go to church.  Somewhere down deep in the recesses of our sinful soul, we think God should be happy with our little one or two hour sacrifice of our time, that He should be satisfied with our worship, and that He couldn’t possibly hold it against us for getting back to our other interests when we’re done.  After all, we’ve satisfied the letter of the law, and we have things to do.  We might even have tossed some money in the offering plate, managed to smile at a few folks, didn’t nod off during the pastor’s sermon, and came up for Communion.  But whatever you do, don’t get in our way as we’re heading for the door…

Of course, when we think about it in these terms, it sounds as ludicrous as it is.  A heart like this certainly does not satisfy the Law of God.  A heart bent on selfish desires, that somehow thinks giving a small portion of our lives back to the God who gives us all our lives, is not a heart of faith working in love.  This is the heart of one who is hopelessly twisted and evil, fallen from the created image God breathed into us at the beginning, with all our natural powers ultimately perverted to worship ourselves.  This is the heart of a sinner, who regardless of how many times they come to church, make offerings, sing songs, or tolerate sermons, deserves nothing but death and hell. This is the heart of one who is condemned to die, despite all the self justification it can muster.  This is a heart nailed to a cross of its own making, suffering and dying, with no hope of escape, and only the eventuality of that last ragged breath waiting to open the portal to everlasting torment on its horizon.

Perhaps you would ask, if this is the condition of that heart of the regular church going Christian, how does it differ from the heart that wanders about in the world, with scorn and abandon, satisfying its own lusts and perversions without restraint?  If the unbelieving and evil world is on the same justly deserved trajectory of death and hell, what difference can there possibly be?  Why should the Christian try to satisfy a Law that cannot save them, any more than it will save the one who blasphemes it openly?  It is a good question, and it strikes at the foundation of what it means to abide in the house of our God.

No flesh will appease God by works of the Law, for no flesh shall achieve perfection by their works.  Entirely born in sin, we continue to live under the curse of sin, until that sin works itself out in a death we justly deserve:  for the wages of sin is death.  The Law stands before us all, declaring the holiness and righteousness of Almighty God, and the hopeless depravity of mankind.  By the light of the Law of God, all mankind stands condemned; it is only the delay in our final sentence that gives us the time to dream up delusions of self justification.  Regardless of how good or excusable we think we are, we are all nailed to a cross of execution, awaiting the last ragged breath to escape our condemned bodies.  And we hang here justly, for our sins bear witness that the Law is holy, and righteous, and good—as is the God who executes His justice upon us.

But there is hope, even for the one nailed to a cross of slower or faster execution.  Consider the scene at Calvary, nearly 20 centuries ago.  On that hill, were crucified three people, two of whom were thieves, having justly earned their punishment.  The third was the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Jesus had earned no punishment, but took it upon Himself willingly.  He had not earned death, and the holy Law of God revealed no flaw or wickedness in Him, but He took the place of death and condemnation anyway.  The Son of God became the Lamb of God, the Holy Sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world—and with those sins, takes away the condemnation and hell which they justly deserve.  For as one man, Adam, sinned and cast the whole human race into corruption, so by one Man’s divine Sacrifice, Jesus Christ, are many made alive.

The two thieves are an image of mankind, nailed there with Jesus.  Both will die for their sins, and justly so.  One will scorn Jesus, rejecting the salvation He offers.  The other, in faith and repentance, accepting his own guilt and begging for mercy, will ask Jesus, “Remember me, when you come into Your Kingdom.”  That dying thief, soaked in his own misery and blood, sentenced to die, who by faith clings to Jesus with hands riveted to wooden beams, receives mercy, grace, and salvation.  He does not dodge his cross, and he does not dodge temporal death—both the faithful and the faithless thief die upon their cross, and both breathe one last, rugged breath.  But the eyes of the faithful and repentant thief that close in death, open to a new life forever in the house of his God.  For to the dying and believing thief, Jesus’ words come, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.”   The disbelieving thief dies, and goes to his just condemnation, but the believing thief by grace through faith, lives forever with Jesus in His Kingdom.

This is how sinful and condemned people, abide in the house of the Lord forever.  Not by works, for our works are what have nailed us to our justly deserved cross; not by vain philosophy and self justification, for they will not pry us off that cross to which we are fixed; not by any other name given under heaven, for no one other than Jesus has died for the sins of the world.  Only by a faith which can do nothing other than gasp out to Jesus, “Remember me… forgive me… have mercy on me a sinner,” comes the free gift of grace which promises, “You will be with Me in paradise.”

So why do we come to church, or do the things that faith in Christ inspire us to do?  Not for the sake of the Law, but in loving response to the Love of Christ first poured out upon us.  We come to the sanctuary of our God, because it is there that His Eternal Word breathes out the promise of the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation we sinners who so desperately need.  It is there we return to Calvary, remembering that we are but a justly dying thief, but that the Lamb of God has taken His place with us, that through His life, death, and resurrection, we too shall have everlasting life in His Name.  Here we encounter our Savior, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and who by grace through faith takes ours away as well.  It is here we remember the promise, that though we draw our last ragged breath in this world, our eyes shall open to the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, even as our faith is made sight.

Here we remember, that it is better beyond measure, to be a door keeper in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, than to be lost in the perdition of the wicked who spurn Him.  For in Jesus, all dying robbers and thieves are made alive forevermore, by grace through faith in Him.  Have courage, my fellow condemned sinner—it is His good pleasure to give you His Kingdom.  Not by what you have done, but by what He has done.  All glory and honor be to Him forever.  Amen.