"How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." This morning the Old Testament lesson peers into the life of Jacob.  Jacob is the Grandson of Abraham, and the son of Isaac.  Jacob has an older brother Esau.  They are fraternal twins, but Esau was born first, and so the birthright and blessing and promise of a great nation belongs to Esau.  

Remembering back to childhood Sunday School, or Vacation Bible School, or if you are of particular musical taste- a certain Grateful Dead song…you will remember that Jacob’s life was difficult and complicated.

Esau was born a hairy and red skinned child who is to become a shepherd and a hunter- sort of a man’s man.  Jacob, on the other hand, is described as one who dwells in tents- or as some Jewish scholars put it gently- a momma’s boy.  

Anyway, Jacob ends up taking the birthright away from Esau by bribing him with food when he is famished.  And then, later, when Isaac is on his death bed, Jacob- by the master plan of his mother- elaborately plans and then tricks his father Isaac into thinking he is Esau…and steals the blessing that is Esau’s.  

Jacob’s mother Rebekah then desires that Jacob take a wife from her family…and Isaac sends his son Jacob on a several years journey to procure a wife and secure the promise of God that a great nation will come forth out of the line of Abraham.  

It is with this sorted, complicated background that Jacob sets out to take a wife- his mother conniving, his brother enraged and his father on his deathbed.  

It is at that place that we catch up with Jacob this morning.  He has ventured out under those conditions…and he stops for the night to rest.

And we know the story from there.  Jacob’s ladder.  Jacob has a vision of Angels ascending and descending from Heaven to Earth.

This vision confirms the promise of God…and is a place where Heaven and earth meet.

So Jacob sets up a pillar and calls the place Bethel…or “House of God”.

In Jacob’s sorted and troubled life…he has found a place where the presence of God is found…a place where Heaven and Earth are joined.  

And it doesn’t take a lot of maneuvering to re-imagine this vision within the life of the Christian Church…and within the structure and architecture of the church building itself.

In fact…it was only a very short amount of time after the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ that the fathers of the Church transposed the vision of Jacob into the faith and practice of the Christian.

From the earliest of Christian community, the Holy Eucharist was the main service and the most important ministry of the Church.  Communities prayed the Eucharist in their homes, underground in the Catacombs, and then in buildings specially constructed and consecrated for that purpose.

And from the earliest of days, Christians believed and had faith in the fact that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Bread and the Wine.

We have also held the belief that the action of the Hoy Spirit transforms the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

So, we designed and built Churches to emphasize and enhance our belief in the presence of Christ in the Holy Communion.

Looking at our own Church…we have the Nave, or the place where the people gather to pray…and it is fashioned after a ship of sorts.  The word Nave itself coming from the Latin “naval” which means ship…and the idea has strong connections to the Arc of Noah.  

Our Sanctuary, the place inside the rail where the altar is…is significantly elevated and is the focal point of the Church.  

The altar is the place where we believe Heaven and earth touch…are joined.  The altar is the realization of the vision of Jacob…the altar is our connection to God.

Besides the Holy Eucharist…this is a house of prayer.  Meaning, that we believe our prayers are carried to Heaven by the Holy Spirit and they are answered with Grace that comes from the throne of God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

So, imagine if you will, the altar being the conduit…the ladder that carries our prayers to God and the ladder that brings Grace into our lives.  

Our liturgy speaks of Angels… “therefore with angels and arch-angels’… the Church has always believed that angels are among us…that we are given guardian angels…that angels send us humans messages from God.

And the altar has been seen as the conduit for the angels as well.  

So, if we stop and ponder the thought for a moment…there is a tremendous amount of heavenly activity in this old place.  

We have constructed our own Bethel.  We have marked a place where Heaven and Earth are joined.  And we come here week after week to gaze at that vision and to benefit from it.  We come here week after week to see the promises of Jesus Christ made real and present.

Needless to say…this is a sacred place…this is a Holy place…this is none other than the House of God…the Gate of Heaven.

This idea that the Church is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven is why we ornament the Church with our best efforts…and with beautiful artwork and carvings.  It is why we spend a tremendous amount of our treasure in this place.

And that is why when you walk into this Church, you feel a hushed reverence…it is why it feels like you are walking into another realm- because you are walking into another realm…you have entered the space where Heaven and earth are joined.  

One of the most amazing things I noticed when I came on board here was the volume of people who stopped by to pray… and the efforts made at keeping the doors of this church open 24 hours a day.

It has been very moving to see so many people, many of whom do not go to church here…stopping by on a daily basis to offer prayers to God and to rest in the place where Heaven and earth are joined.

And this reality is something we, who belong to this Church, often forget and perhaps do not make the greatest use of.  A tremendous gift is to be found here.  

Perhaps we take this place for granted…we come into this holy place socializing and talking…forgetting where we are and what others are doing here.

Or perhaps our lives are amiss…and we forget that any time day or night we can come here…we can come here and pray and sit in the presence of God…sit in the House of God…sit at the gate of Heaven.

Let us not forget how awesome this place is…and what she stands for…and what a gift and a blessing she is to our lives and the lives of those in this community.  

And with that…let us not forget that no matter how complicated our life gets…no matter what is set before us…no matter the trial we must face or the hardship we must endure…God is here among us…His presence is in this place…we have the gift and the blessing of Bethel…God has joined Heaven and Earth in this very place…

"How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."