Holiness' Location

I remember having a conversation with a Baptist pastor friend, years ago.  It was about an argument in his church about where the flags should be displayed.  Those being the U.S. flag and the Christian flag. He wanted them out of the building entirely! Some Baptists are "big" on separation of church and state.

He was interested that we allow our flags, U.S. and Episcopal, to stand in the back.  I told him my story about the Sunday we processed our flags behind the cross and I preached from the pulpit so that my words could be directed to the U.S. flag standing just to the side.

As we talked we recognized a difference in how our denominations understood and used the word sanctuary.  For him it described the worship space and included the entirety of its interior.

Our language was different and reserved sanctuary to name that much smaller space behind the altar where the reserved sacraments are kept.  Specifically in our practice: in a box, also called an aumbry (ambry to some). The word sanctuary itself can be applied to a kind of ornate container, often brass or plated with silver or gold.

What that difference exposes is interesting.  Using last week's "place of holiness" as our definition, what does it say about our churches that sanctuary can differ so much in its identifying a place of holiness? And how is holiness held such that a sanctuary can be a whole building or just a small box in a building?

Part of an answer is to acknowledge the places our denominations hold on the spectrum of sacramental theology.  Episcopalians are a sacramental people, along with Orthodox, Catholic and to a lesser degree Lutherans.  That's our end of the spectrum.

On the Baptist end and beyond are Quakers, Christian Scientists, Mormons, Congregationalists, and most "non-denominational" groups.  In between you'll find Presbyterians, Methodist, Church of Christ and most reformed theology groups.  Pardon my imprecision but the point is to say that our differences may find their expression in how we decide to display flags but they originate in a deeply foundational beginning.

They are also expressed in how these different denominations practice communion.  On our end you'll find wine used exclusively and as you move through Baptist practice you'll see more grape juice and eventually no communion at all!

For us holiness is found in a practiced sense of Christ's presence in the bread broken and wine shared as body and blood. Beyond Eucharist how would you locate holiness, except in the people gathered?  Heck, most of a Quaker meeting is just that, a gathering.  And so it makes some sense for my friend that sanctuary means the entirety of his church's worship interior.

So . . . sanctuary means different things to different denominations but one thing that it means to all denominations is that holiness should have a place in our lives.