NOTE: Since inclement weather cancelled in-person services, today’s video message is a conversation with the congregation about Pastor McColl’s plans for a sabbatical in the fall of 2027, which will be to focus on being a living sanctuary.
January 25, 2026
“Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary”
Psalm 63:1-3
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Psalm 63:1-3
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary Psalm 63:1-3
This is not an ordinary Sunday. We actually hadn’t planned to even be in the sanctuary this Sunday. But as I continue to discover, there is our timing and then there is God’s timing. This particular Sunday falls into God’s timing. Given this space and change of plans due to weather, I wanted to take this time to have a conversation with everyone. As many of you know, I am planning to take a sabbatical in 2027. I’m still putting it together, but it looks like it will fall in August, September and October of 2027 and follow this idea of becoming a living sanctuary.
When we think of sanctuary, our faith story reminds us that the sanctuary is where God came to dwell to be among God’s people. We know the stories of when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and God dwelled among God’s people, leading them as a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. We are also told that God told the people to build a place where God would reside among the people when they entered into the promised land.
When we think of sanctuary, we think of “A holy place where God is present” which as one commentator put it, sounds like balm to our modern ears. “But God’s presence in the Hebrew Bible both was and was not a good thing for humans. The fact that the Almighty Creator of the Universe would deign to make a habitation among humans was, of course, good news for God’s people. Good news—but not particularly safe news.
Our faith story also reminds us that the sanctuary was a dangerous and risky place because of the very presence of God, telling us that even when Moses asked to see God’s face, God said that no one would be able to see God’s face and live. Then in the Gospels, we are told Jesus went up to the mountain and was transfigured so that his face shone like the sun, meaning that what we can take from our faith story in regards to becoming, in regards to preparing ourselves to be a living sanctuary, in regards to becoming a place where God dwells whether that is our heart, our mind, our very building, or our literal sanctuaries, what our faith story tells us over and over again, is that the experience will change us. It will transform us. And we cannot go back to the way things used to be.
Now I fully admit that I cannot take credit for this idea or theme. It came about last summer when we decided to foster some kittens through our local animal control. They had put out a plea for help since they had taken in seventeen kittens in a short span of time. When we went to the shelter, I was overwhelmed with conditions. I questioned my sanity and wondered if we were doing the right thing. But my children were adamant. I tried to get them to choose the healthiest looking kittens but as all good teenagers will do, they decided to ignore my request. They chose two of the sickest kittens there, one had a serious eye infection and the other was lethargic. The first week of fostering these two kittens was draining, life-giving, frustrating, tender, stressful and beautiful. Unfortunately, they seemed to be getting sicker, so we took them to our local vet. She simply said, “I’m glad you brought them here. We will try our best, but I can make no promises.” We took them home and worried about them all night. The next morning, I had to rush one of the kittens back to the vet where unfortunately, it passed away. In talking with the vet, she explained that its system was just too compromised. Then she said, “Heather, you did all you could. You gave it a gift. You gave it sanctuary and it knew it was loved.” This statement about sanctuary resonated with my very being. It got me thinking about the many ways I as a minister hold sanctuary for others. It also became a reflection prompt for me to think about how I find sanctuary in my own life and on my own faith journey.
As I said I am still working out the details and plan of how this all works together but I was reminded again this morning how often we have a narrow view of ideas, or words like sanctuary. For example, the song, “Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary” How many times have we sung that in church? How many times have I sung it at church camp only to be reminded that there are more verses to this song…verses which remind us that God is our Lord, who refines us with God’s hands. Verses which pray that God will teach God’s children to stop fighting and start uniting as one.
When we only sing one verse of a song, when we only hold to one definition of a word, we miss so much. We miss where God is moving in and among us calling us to be transformed. Which is why this sabbatical leave and its activities for both myself and Midway Christian Church will be designed to explore what it means for me to find sanctuary for myself, what it means for you as a person of faith to find sanctuary. It will also explore what it means to be a living sanctuary for others, especially in the post-COVID church setting. It doesn’t need to be said again about how COVID has changed the church. But it does need to be explored how the church responds to these changes. For me, what I am discovering is that our church’s mission is shifting from bringing in to becoming as in what if we as individuals, as communities of faith become living sanctuaries for people, for our surrounding community in the chaos which often fills people’s lives. This becoming is not a need to have all the answers, or to design programs to satisfy all needs. This becoming is more about creating space to dwell fully in the presence of God, whether that be in our actual sanctuary, or gathering around tables in our fellowship hall, or simply creating space for conversation and connection. This becoming living sanctuary is not about escaping reality but rather about fully residing in the presence of God in all aspects of our lives, cultivating a mind-set which saturates us in the goodness of God in all things and through all things. This becoming is not about either or. It is a both/and – meaning that we are called to find sanctuary for ourselves and become living sanctuaries for others.
I know that everyone probably has lots of questions about this sabbatical and what it means for Midway Christian Church. I’ll be glad to answer your questions the best that I can. I would also invite everyone to talk to my sabbatical committee or join us next Sunday at our Board meeting.
This is new and exciting not only for me but for Midway Christian Church. This sabbatical and its planning is an invitation to dream, to vision, to open ourselves up to the many ways God is calling us to offer sanctuary to others, to find sanctuary for ourselves in a world of chaos.
So, as we as a community of faith, dream and vision about how we are called to become living sanctuaries for God, I will simply leave us with the words of the song. May they guide us and lead us. May their wisdom shape us and prepare us. May they become our prayer as we become living sanctuaries for our God:
O, Lord, prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;
With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary for You.
Lord, teach Your children to stop the fighting, start uniting all as one;
Let’s get together, loving forever, sanctuary for You.
You were the One, Lord, who sent the Savior, heart and soul, Lord, for our land;
It is You, Lord, who knows our weakness; You refine us with Your hand.
O, Lord, prepare me, to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true;
With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary for You.
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