1 Kings 8:27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

Here we have a major, and vitally important, difference between the Biblical concept of God and that in such religions as Shinto and Hinduism. Earlier in this chapter Solomon talks repeatedly about building “a temple for the Name of the Lord.” In other words, man can build something to commemorate God’s Name, but the idea of created beings building a residence for the infinite Creator is absurd. In a sense, houses of worship are more for our sakes than they are for God’s, because they help us focus on Him, but He doesn’t need them any more than we would need, say, a paper airplane to carry us around. God certainly uses specific locations to teach us about Him, as when He caused the bush to burn without being consumed so as to get Moses’ attention. At that time He told Moses to take his sandals off, because he was on holy ground, (Exodus 3:5) but that was strictly because He was manifesting Himself in that place at that time. God was no more contained in that bush than He was contained in Solomon’s temple. As I write, Muslim Brotherhood elements are destroying church buildings in Egypt, which is painful to those who have worshiped there (sometimes literally, and people are being killed as well) but they can no more destroy the God those Christians worship than a mosquito could carry off an elephant. Sometimes God allows fire or natural disaster to destroy buildings in order to remind us that He is not limited to buildings, and our faith must not be either.

I live in a country that is dotted with shrines to innumerable gods. The Japanese themselves use the figure of 8 million, but I don’t think anyone has ever made a definitive catalog. Not that it matters, of course, but it’s illustrative of the human mindset that tends to worship anything awesome. The problem is, the average Japanese is so used to this mindset that they can’t grasp the idea of a transcendent, infinite Creator who loves them personally. (To be honest, an awful lot of Americans don’t grasp that idea very well either.) My task is to give people enough information for them to recognize the source of what they feel when they come to our services, or even when I’m talking to them. Then, maybe, they will open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, repent and believe.

Father, You know the challenges I face better than I do, but they are no difficulty for You. Help me trust You with the challenges and with all the people involved, me included. Help me live and walk in step with Your Spirit so that Your presence may be manifested more and more through me, drawing people to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!