In 2018, the iconostas at Saint John’s in Santa Maria was new, and some folks wondered why it was there. So on this day, the memorial Beheading of St John the Baptist, I gave this homily. I’ve translated it from Cebuano into English, but it still may not sound like me – in Cebuano I can’t use very complex sentences or allude to things by passing off familiar phrases from the King James, and hearers usually don’t know the Old Testament, so I needed to be more blunt.
Our Temple
Before Christ was born, before the Jews ever came to the promised land, they were slaves in Egypt. God freed them and for many years they wandered in the desert. They had no permanent place to worship, but God instructed Moses to build a tent, and inside it God met with Moses face to face, as a man meets his friends.
Outside the tent was a courtyard where the people of God could draw near. It contained a metal basin of water for washing.
Inside the tent was the Holy Place. Only the priests and their assistants (like deacons) could enter here. They offered prayers and thanksgiving on behalf of all the people.
Also in the tent was the Most Holy Place, behind a huge curtain. Behind that curtain only one person went: the High Priest, once a year, brought the blood of a sacrifice, and prayed for the forgiveness and salvation of all the people. In the Most Holy Place was the box containing the original ten commandments, and icons of heavenly angels called Cherubim. And here the glory and light of God were seen, only once a year, by the High Priest.
After the Jews settled in the promised land, their king Solomon built a temple, according to the same plan God gave Moses: A courtyard, a Holy Place for priests and deacons, and the Most Holy Place where the glory of God dwelled.
Israel’s God came to his people in the flesh. Many rejected him, but some received him. And soon many others like us, people of many nations, believed and became equal members of the people of God. (This is why we are called both “Israel” and “The Church.”)
At first, the believers in Christ did not build separate temples for themselves; they met in members homes: “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers… So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47).
But as we have experienced, when many people are gathered in a house to pray, it is very crowded. The Christians began putting a rail or division between the Holy Table and the rest of the people so that the bishop and deacons had room to work. Eventually this division grew into the wall we now call an image-stand or “iconostas.”
You know, the church building now is still like the tent of Moses over 3000 years ago: First we have the courtyard outside. We baptize new Christians in a basin of water outside the church – just as the priests and deacons in Moses’ tent washed outside in the courtyard. In large churches, when you enter in the front door you are in a place called the Narthex; this is a place where everyone is welcome, Christian or not, repentant sinners and curious inquirers.
From the narthex, we enter into the Holy Place. In English it is called the “Nave.” In the tent of Moses, this place was only for the priests. And what does God call his people, the Church? Moses prophesied, “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). St Peter tells us, “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). Christ our King taught us what it means to lead, to be a king:
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5-7).
So let the first among you become the least, and the servants of all. In the Revelation, to the King of all kings, the saints sing: “You have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 1:6; 5:10).
Who can stand in His Holy Place?
Today we commemorate the beheading of John the Forerunner, whom Christ called the greatest of the prophets (Luke 7:28). God gave us Saint John as an example. He refused to let people make him famous: He always pointed to Christ, who was greater. Without fear, John spoke the word of God to the world, called for repentance, and he was hated and killed for his testimony to the truth. Aren’t all Christians called to share our joy in Christ? To stand up on behalf of the powerless and unborn? To speak up for what is true and pure? Moses once said in the Holy Spirit, “I wish all God’s people were prophets!” (Numbers 11:29) and at Pentecost Moses got his wish: the Holy Spirit who filled the prophets now lives in all of you who received seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Seal!)
You are the prophetic people of God. As a kingdom of priests, now you have come into the Holy Place to intercede for all the people. You bring sacrifices of praise, you bring offerings for the poor and for this temple, and together we offer up all these sacrifices to God on behalf of the whole world. And after you have stood up before God on behalf of all the people, you will go out and speak to the people on behalf of God as prophets, serving them all as Christ the King served.
In the tent of Moses, this Holy Place was only for the priests. Can you enter and pray here? You are prophets, priests and kings: This Holy Place is your home. You belong here.
The Iconostas
Now, at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, our thank-offering of bread and wine is not yet transformed into the life-giving Body and Blood of Christ; it is still only bread and wine.
The bread and wine will soon be carried in solemn procession from the place of preparation up to the Holy Doors. Together with the thief on the cross, we will pray “Remember me in Your kingdom, Lord!” And then the offering will be carried into the Most Holy Place and placed on the Holy Table. Then the Holy Doors will close and block the offering from our view.
This re-enacts for us the burial of Christ, whose body was enclosed in the tomb and a stone was rolled over the entrance to close the way.
Who saw the resurrection of Christ? No one! When the women and the apostles came, the stone was already rolled away. They did not see the miraculous rising of the living, life-giving body of Christ; this happened behind the closed door of the tomb. In the same way, no one on earth saw when Christ invaded Hades, freed the prisoners, and led them to his Father, who accepted Christ’s joyful self-offering as an offering of peace, a sacrifice of praise. Even so, when the priest, behind the closed curtain lifts up the Body of Christ (“Holy things are for the holy”) this is not seen, because the doors and curtains are closed.
But, as Christ came to the Apostles who were hiding behind a locked door, the living and life-giving Christ comes out to meet us here and now, for our salvation in this present world.
Another image of the church building:
St Symeon of Thesalonica wrote that the courtyard or narthex is the world. The Holy Place where you stand now represents heaven, where man meets with God. And the Most Holy Place behind the iconostas stands for that which is beyond the heavens: The essence of God that no one sees.
When Christ died on the Cross, the Apostles tell us that the great curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was torn open. The way to God was no longer closed. (Matthew 27:51; Luke 23:45) Here and now, the eyes of our heart are darkened by our sins and passions. But with repentance and the grace of the sacraments, we can be purified and healed from our sins, and meet with God face to face, as Moses did. In a hidden way, the God who is unapproachable will come near to us and allow us to see him.
Just as the curtain in the temple was torn open, here we have doors which close between us and the Most Holy Place precisely in order that we may OPEN them and bring out the glory and presence of God to his people.
Soon, when I come back out through these doors with the life-giving body of Christ, I will say: “With fear of God, with faith and love, Draw near!” Fear of God makes us confess our sins with sobriety, because the flame of God can burn us sinners. Faith will make us trust Christ to keep his promise, to receive our repentance, and to make us holy. And love is how our hearts respond in thanksgiving to the God who comes out of his Most Holy Place to us.
And having participated in the most holy body and blood of Christ, we will leave here, full of the Holy Spirit who filled the prophets, full of the love of God. And, like St John the Baptist, we will do the job of a prophet: Give praise to Christ and not to ourselves; speak without fear for what is right and pure; and invite everyone to come and see what God is doing in his Holy Place.
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