On Yom Kippur, Aaron washed himself, donned special clothing, and made an offering for himself and others. His actions cleansed the space and the people. (Leviticus 16) 

Some cite these passages to justify limiting access to their sacred spaces, like certain areas in cathedrals prior to the 1960s Vatican Council or temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Islam reserves the entire city of Mecca for Muslims only.

In this context, I find two things Christ said particularly intriguing.

He and Paul referred to our bodies as temples (John 2:19; 1 Cor. 6:19). Manmade sanctuaries symbolize the temples of our bodies and the divine beings dwelling in them.

We are the temples.

Consider, then, Christ’s declaration, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Matt. 15:11).

What defiles sacred space isn’t what we allow into it, but what we do when we step out of it. Keeping our sacred spaces sacred is about us, not them.

Don’t worry about who “goeth into” your sacred space. They won’t defile it. They can’t. Worry instead about how you behave when you “cometh out” of it. It’s our actions that defile sacred space, not theirs.

Failing to honor the souls we covenanted to serve defiles the sacred space we occupied when we promised to love them all, particularly those whom we keep out.

When we gather, let’s gather everyone.