You're On Holy Ground
Exodus 3 5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
Someone had jokingly made the comment about the new carpet, "Take off your shoes. You’re on holy ground." As I thought about it, I realized, you are on holy ground – not because of the new carpet, but because this is the God’s house.
Let’s look at our passage and see what we learn about the holy ground of God.
Exodus 3 1. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-- why the bush does not burn up."
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."
Moses saw the burning bush and ‘turned aside’ to see it. Many would have missed the burning bush because they are just too busy to notice or too disinterested. Too many are just ‘getting through’ life and not taking full advantage and living life to the fullest.
You have to ‘turn aside’ – break free from the busy-ness of the everyday life and pay attention. How often God must call to us and we don’t hear him.
The passage indicates that ‘because God saw that Moses ‘turned aside’ God called out to him. How often we probably miss the profound because we don’t take time to notice.
Moses noticed and he took time to investigate. Many time Jesus would speak in parables and to many they were just nice stories. "Come. Let us go hear the storyteller." But the disciples turned aside and probed deeper. "lord, what does the parable mean?" That’s what makes the disciple different from the average hearer. You commune with God on His terms, not on your own.
Draw closer, but not too close.
We must be close to God, but not casual with him. I fear that we have lost the reverence of God. We have become too familiar – too ‘buddy, buddy’. We must remember that God is God. He is the Almighty. He says, "Draw nearer," but don’t take that to mean that we can make our own terms. We must revere God as who He is.
Holy Ground
We are to come boldly to the throne, but watch how you come.
I’ve noticed the Catholics do something that may be just habit to many, but it’s a nice touch if done sincerely. They bow before the cross when they into the sanctuary. That may seem a little liturgical – a little mechanical – a little formal, but sometimes I think we forget that there even is a cross and what it stands for.
Take off your shoes – show some respect. You are in God’s house. This is holy ground because of the presence of God and only because of His presence. There is nothing holy about anything of this earth except when God touches it.
Honor God’s house. Look at the OT honor of God’s house:
Exodus 35
21 and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.
22 All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewellery of all kinds: brooches, ear-rings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD.
23 Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen, or goat hair, ram skins dyed red or hides of sea cows brought them.
24 Those presenting an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the LORD, and everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it.
25 Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun--blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen.
26 And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair.
27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
28 They also brought spices and olive oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.
29 All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the LORD freewill offerings for all the work the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do.
And look what happened!
Exodus 36 5 and said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done." 6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: "No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary." And so the people were restrained from bringing more,
7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
These people were truly honoring the Lord and His house.
The prophet rebuked the people for not doing so.
Haggai 1 9 "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.
WE must respect God’s house, not because of the building, but because this is where we publicly meet with Him.
The salt at the bottom of storage silos would lose its savor – its saltness – because of constant contact with the soil. It drained the salt of its savor. That’s what the world does to the believer. That’s why we must ‘take off our shoes’ – come before the Lord in honor and reverence with a clean heart and life.
The temple, being the place of the divine residence, the priests there performed their services barefooted, and to this day the Jews go to their synagogues barefooted on the day of atonement.
The Church
I want to remind you tdhat when you come in here you are on holy ground.
Children – This is the house of God. It is not your play room. It is not a place for running, playing tag, jumping on the furniture, or any kind of such nonsense. This is a place where we come to meet with God, to honor and worship God, and to hear from God. It is not a social club or a community center – it is God’s house! It is holy ground.
Now I realize that some of the kids are not in this service with us, but I’m not just talking to the kids. It’s the parents who are to blame. Parents, teach your children that they should respect God’s house. I know you want to fellowship with your friends, but remember that you have children somewhere on the grounds and you need to know where they are and what they are doing.
I never allowed my children to run around the church disrupting adults and crashing into the elderly. When I was fellowshipping with my friends, my kids were within sight, fellowshipping with their friends calmly. They acted like kids, yes. But they were not allowed to run free and act like unmannerly brutes.
I know all of your kids. And I live them. They are good kids. Some are them are very energetic, but they are good kids. But they need to be controlled and you are the ones to do it. Don’t get angry with me, or with anyone else who sits them down, but really that’s your duty. (And don’t be harsh with them – just firm.)
Dress – Folks, if you were going to meet with the Governor, I doubt that you would dress the way some people dress for church. Is God not important than the Governor? I know God doesn’t care what you wear – or does He.
Did you know that in the books of Exodus and Leviticus God gives strict instructions about the priests garments in the holy place? He is specifically told to wear undergarments so as not to be indecent before the Lord.
I have to say that some of the clothing I have seen in church is indecent. Some of it is just improper. Short skirts, short shorts, tank tops, revealing clothing are just not proper attire for church. Rags are not proper unless that’s all you have. Someone I invited recently asked if we have a dress code. I usually say, "No, come as you are." But I thought twice about it. Some have taken unreasonable advantage of my hospitality.
Church is not a fashion show, but neither is it a rag party. Pay some respect when you enter these doors. You are on holy ground.
Attitude – We need to come in an attitude of humility and sobriety. Some today are giving the impression that church is party time. Yes, it is a celebration. Yes, we are to be joyful. But it is to be a holy joy. We must respect those around us and we must honor the Lord. It’s not what we get out of it that counts, but what God gets out of it.
Ask yourself – "What am I coming to church for? For me, or for God?" We come to worship him, not to get gifts from him. Those are the rewards of being in his presence, not the reason for coming.
Holiness –Above all, this should be an atmosphere of holiness. We should approach the Lord in fear and trembling. Yes, we are instructed to "come boldly before the throne". But we are also warned:
Ecclesiastes 5 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.
In Leviticus 10, Aaron’s sons, priests, were slain by the ;Lord for offering "strange fire", unauthorized offerings. God wants it done God’s way, not ours. We’d better learn to respect God for who He is.
Moses was warned – "Be careful. You’re on holy ground. Take your shoes off. Show some respect." It’s advice we need to remember today.