Sacred Times

In an argument with religious leaders who said that you could swear by the altar but not by the gift on the altar (because that was too sacred), Jesus made this response:

You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? - Matthew 23:19

Jesus seems to be saying that a the altar is what is sacred and that by coming in contact with the altar, the gift placed on it becomes sacred. In some ways there’s a parallel to what we do when we create time for God - even when reading these simple City Church devotions. Our simple times are not sacred in themselves - they pick up their specialness because they touch on the very presence of God. It’s a simple reminder not just that religious practices are not what we’re after (God is what we’re after!). And this image also reminds us that ten minutes in the morning on on a lunch break can still be remarkably sacred.

The famed 20th century Rabbi, Abraham Heshel, reflects on this insight:

Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year.  The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals; and our Holy of Holies is a shrine that neither the Romans nor the Germans were able to burn… the Day of Atonement.

- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heshel

When are you most sacred times? What makes them sacred?