Sanctuary

I used to enjoy watching the old Robin Hood television series as a young boy. Every few episodes there would be a scene where Robin or one of his merry men was being chased down by the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, racing through the woods with arrows and spears flying. Just as the sheriff was about to capture Robin, there appeared a church or chapel of some sort. Robin would make one last, final lunge at the chapel door; and with nothing more than his fingertips touching the door frame, Robin would yell out, "Sanctuary!" The sheriff and his men would back off and return the way they had come, leaving the exhausted Robin Hood in the care of the kind priest. Even the lying, cheating, thieving, evil Sheriff of Nottingham recognized the claim of "Sanctuary!" and honored it. In medieval law, the principle of sanctuary was the right to be free from arrest while in the church. This was a part of English law into the seventeenth century. It has never been recognized by the laws of the U.S.A. Indeed, those U.S. citizens who sought to avoid the military draft during the Vietnam War had to seek sanctuary in other countries, often Canada.

Sanctuary has become an issue once again in American society with the debate over immigration and legal and illegal residency. Some churches are active in the movement to protect undocumented workers and immigrants; while others seek to provide comfort, aid, and protection to military members who refuse to be sent to the war in Iraq. First United Methodist Church of Tacoma, Washington, is at the forefront of the controversy. In a city surrounded by military bases, it has declared itself to be a "sanctuary" for military personnel resisting the war. The church's administrative council voted unanimously on June 11, 2006, to declare their church such a sanctuary.

We apply a similar understanding when we use the term "wildlife sanctuary," a place where living plants and animals are legally protected from human encroachment, use, harvesting, or killing. It is a place of safety for the wildlife.

Medieval churches were often constructed over the location where a miracle or martyrdom had taken place. The church and the place it occupied were considered holy or "sanctified." Even today, Roman Catholic Churches contain holy, sanctified relics of a saint in a box within the altar. The altar is also holy because it holds the actual body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist's bread and wine. The area around the holy altar is known as the sanctuary. It is this meaning of "sanctuary" that has been adopted by most Protestants rather than the medieval legal concept of "sanctuary," although they are certainly not unrelated. For most of us, the sanctuary is the place where we gather for congregational worship, even without celebrating Holy Communion.

A good friend and former racquetball partner is also a minister in the Church of Christ. Our conversation often included religion and revealed our considerable differences of opinion. He could not understand my enthusiasm for decorating our sanctuary for Holy Week, maintaining that the room in which worship takes place is more appropriately known as an auditorium. He claimed that there is nothing particularly holy or sacred about th auditorium. It was seen more as a place for preaching and vocal singing without instruments. He attached no special significance to worship's location. Perhaps this is similar to contemporary worship services being held in a variety of locations — theatres, fellowship halls, people's homes, storefronts, vacant buildings — almost anywhere but in the church sanctuary.

At my own church's recent congregational weekend retreat, we used the song "Lord, Prepare Me to Be a Sanctuary" (The Faith We Sing, 2164) as a theme for the retreat, singing it often throughout the weekend. The song offers the prayer that God will "prepare me to be a sanctuary." It is a prayer that we should be pure, holy, tried, and true, giving thanks that we can be a living sanctuary in which God can dwell. It's one of those songs that we must be careful of when we sing; because if we really mean what we sing, the results and consequences of making the words real are drastic. How many of us really mean it when we sing this song?

Read more about sanctuary at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary