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I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, \u201cGo and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. \u2026 Then God\u2019s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm. (Revelation 11:1, 19)

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This is an odd set of bookends to the 11th chapter of Revelation that we didn\u2019t get to on Sunday.\xa0

The first verse or so is likely a reference to the earthly temple that John is told to go and measure.\xa0 The final verse is about God\u2019s heavenly temple of which that earthly version was only a copy.\xa0 These are curious, but not unimportant references.\xa0

And what they refer to is an assurance that no matter the chaos and uncertainty that God\u2019s people were facing, they were set apart as God\u2019s worshiping community, which was a place ordered, measured, and secure against the uncertainty of the moment.\xa0

Not only that, but the place of worship before God was a place that had correspondence with the heavenly temple.\xa0 And there, in that heavenly temple, God\u2019s presence and promises were real.\xa0 There was the Ark of the Covenant: God\u2019s throne and mercy seat\u2014the signs of his rule.\xa0 There was thunder and earthquakes also, the signs of God\u2019s presence. \xa0

And, because there was correspondence between earth and heaven through Jesus Christ, the earthly place of worship also became a sanctuary for God\u2019s people.\xa0 A sanctuary held secure by God\u2019s rule and presence on earth as it is in heaven. \xa0Worship creates a little embassy of the Kingdom of God wherever two or three are gathered.

Craig Barnes has a section in his book The Pastor as Minor Poet that speaks to what\u2019s going on here, I think.\xa0 It goes like this\u2026

He says: \u201cA disaster is anything that makes us feel like the stars are falling down.\xa0 That\u2019s why it\u2019s called a dis-aster.\xa0 The late University of Chicago theologian Mircea Eliade claimed that all religions are centered on an axis mundi, or a sacred pole that keeps earth connected to heaven.\xa0 This can be a totem pole, the center pole of the tribal hut, a temple, or the cross of the Christians.\xa0 Whenever there is a disaster, no matter how personal or global in scope, people rush to their axis mundi to insure that the heavens are not collapsing on top of them.\u201d1\xa0

So whether in the uncertainty or disasters of our present moment or in the uncertainty or disasters of John\u2019s day, the sanctuary of our worship and the cross of Christ give a steady place to return to remind us that no, the sky is not falling.\xa0 Earth and heaven remain connected and secure because God\u2019s presence is still with us and his rule is still sure.\xa0

1. Craig Barnes. Pastor as Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), p. 44.