It is certainly a loss of magnificent historical building but not "just the loss." Second perhaps to the Vatican it is the greatest historic symbol of resilience and faith of Christians around the world. It physical design reminded us that our God is high and lifted up. To the world in general it is the loss of the peg upon which we recognized our connection with our past both religiously and secularly.
It stood as a testimony to the greatness of God an d the need to worship Him in a Majestic setting befitting His majesty . . . . He is high and lifted up in the Sanctuary of His grace.
It is also a symbol of the ingenuity of man. So with the loss of the building we loose not only a building but an example of our own creativity and that of our fathers.
It is not a "hole in the soul" because the Christian faith is not tied to any earthly construction no matter how grand and how significant it may be. Our faith is in God and not the buildings we construct to honor Him and in which we worship Him. The day has come when our worship is not tied to a building or a place. We worship in Spirit and Truth wherever we are because God meets us where we are. So there is no "hole" only sadness for loss of a meaningful facility.
Worship “in spirit and in truth” is not a call to austere bland worship canters or an end to grand cathedrals. It is a clear declaration that worship is not dependant upon facilities. However, the facilities in which we do worship should be as functional as our faith and as grand as our God that we can make them.
Perhaps in the destruction of Notre Dame has become the symbol of the nature of modern Christianity . . . . a marvelous exterior and a burned-out interior. Christianity appears on the exterior to be the same as always but the interior is far from its spiritual center.
Our works continue . . . . we still feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the widow and orphan and fight the scourge of abortion. Today, more than ever we build great church building to house thousands of people. But we now do them because of our natural human compassion or ambition and it is no longer the “love of Christ” that constrains us. The church has to all external appearances a “form of godliness.”
Is the burning of “Notre Dame” God saying in another way that we have become like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day "whitewashed sepulchers?" It seems to me that it could very well be a call to return to the faith of our fathers . . . . to a real life changing faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God who died and rose again that men might be delivered from sin and death. The burden of the outer man is the weakness of the inner man. We have become a people where the body is willing but the spirit is weak. We have our earthly cart ahead of our spiritual horse.
Perhaps nothing symbolizes this more than the fact that after the entire inside of the building was gutted the only thing remaining was the cross. The fire destroyed a building but not a church because the church is not anchored in the building but the product of the cross.
That Cross reminds us of the core of the Christian faith. It is not the works that we do but the Lord that we serve. As long as the cross stands so stands the church. The Christian faith is better seen in the statement "we will rebuild." It is the interior that must be restored and it will be restored around the centrality of that cross.
I saw of Muslim’s praising Allah for the burning of the cathedral as well as others laughing at the burning of Notre Dame. If that is true it will be a short lived moment of celebration. Woe be to them who delight in the pain of God's people. Out of the ashes of the burned-out cathedral sanctuary (symbol for the heart of Christianity) God will raise up a strong and mighty nation (the universal church) through a new birth of faith in, focus on, and commitment to the Christ of whom that lone standing cross in the burned out sanctuary stands.
“Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven . . . upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Should the Lord delay His return there will be a day in the future in Paris in the Cathedral of Notre Dame when the voices of God's people again sing, from hearts that have been made glad, of His majesty. Some will again see the Lord high and lifted up. It will be the same church on the outside but with a new heart and enthusiasm within.
“Heaven and Earth may pass away but the Word of our God endures forever” and the church which is the body of Christ will endure to become the bride of Christ even if it must be resurrected from the dead,
