In Victor Hugo's haunting story of the hunchback with the funny name, the Cathedral of Notre Dame serves as "sanctuary" for Quasimoto from his cruel world. The tower bells are his only friends. He races over gargoyles and steps with ease to hidden places throughout the only home he's ever known. He only suffers during the rare times he leaves his sanctuary and people torture him with cruel words. Quasimoto, in all his deformity, finds peace in the great cathedral as long as he remains hidden until bidden by his adopted father, Claude Frollo.
Frollo is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame who also spends a great deal of time in Notre Dame. His body is whole but his spirit is deformed. Although he adopted the abandoned baby Quasimoto, he uses the Hunchback to do his dirty work. Frollo is a legalist, tormented by lust for Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy girl. From the moment his lust ignites, his exalted position in the cathedral becomes a prison.
King David could have related to both the Hunchback and the Archdeacon. He was outcast from society and hid in caves. His burning lust for a woman led him outside God's protective law. Yet, unlike the two characters in Hugo's story, David learned to achieve "sanctuary" in the pasture with sheep, on a battlefield facing a giant, in caves with fellow soldiers, during a plague on a threshing floor, in a worship processional that brought the Ark of the Covenant home to Jerusalem, and prostrate before God as he begged for forgiveness. Although he preferred the tabernacle, David worshiped God's holiness wherever he was, in whatever role he was assigned for the day. David knew true sanctuary.
Abba-Father, forgive us when we, like Frollo, use our church membership or involvement as a cloak to cover the sin we cherish in our hearts. Bring what deforms our spirits to light and heal us through worship today. Like Quasimoto I'm too often guilty of using the church as a sanctuary from "the ills of humanity" when You're looking for people to spend time with You in quiet pastures then carry the sanctuary You give us to the battlefields, the work places, the celebrations, the dark places, and the hospitals of the world. What a beautiful place church is when it's where we come together to worship You in Your holiness and to encourage each other's faith as we carry Your Peace and Light into the world. Help us worship You regardless of our circumstances and to let go of the security of church walls. May we find sanctuary in Your Word and Your Presence. Help us receive all You have for us and give all You call us to give today and through the week.
In the name of Jesus who is our sanctuary from sin and death!
"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness." Psalm 29:2
"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." Psalm 27:4
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