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This Week's Sermon !

July 21, 2024 - Season of Pentecost - United Church 99th Anniversary!

2 Samuel 7: 1-14a
Psalm 89
Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56

“Not for Ourselves”

I try to not comment on elections in my sermons, especially American ones, but this thought popped into my mind as soon as I read a commentary on today’s reading from the older testament. We just heard that King David was told, through the prophet Nathan, that he will not be the one to build the temple; that task will fall to his successor. We know that there was never a “David’s temple”, but rather, a “Solomon’s temple!” We are also told in this passage that God will continue to bless him and build him a house of flesh and blood, in other words, a royal line. It is, of course, a word play on the word, “house”. The biblical story loves word plays!

Maybe you see this next part coming? I wonder, I wonder what would happen if Donald Trump had a dream, or one of his closest advisors had a dream, and in this dream, God message was, in effect, “DONALD, YOU ARE NOT THE ONE TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” America will become great again under a future president.” Or even more horrible for the GOP, “America will become great again under a Democratic president.” Imagine!

Every leader, every candidate, provincial or federal, campaigns on set of goals or key points. “If you elect me, in 4 years this will have changed and I will leave X, Y and Z as my legacy.” Or, at least they used to! More and more though, Canadian politics is going the way our American neighbours did quite a number of years ago. So-called, “attack ads” focus on what the others are doing “wrong”, rather than saying anything significant about what the party in question will do right! It’s too easy to criticize, much harder to be positive.

Many years ago I was involved with the National Department of Stewardship Services of the General Council. Once a year, I flew to Toronto for three days of meetings. One of the members of the Department lived in a suburb, I think, somewhere between Toronto and Hamilton and the congregation he served was building a church. His congregation, most of whom lived in big, swanky homes (probably heavily mortgaged) came to the conclusion that it was not right that they lived in big homes, but rented worship space for their church. They decided that it was time they built a church! God deserved that much! Even before a sod was disturbed they had so many decisions to make; often the kinds of decisions those who built the first city churches in Canada probably took for granted and did not even discuss.

Some churches have what I might call a “high” sense of architecture; the space or view both inside and out, must speak of the worship of God. The whole building draws the eyes and the heart upward. Others are very “low” church and it is the music, among other things that transforms their plain space into worship space. I was never in that new church so I don’t know how that church conveyed the idea that this was worship space; I don’t know what their sanctuary looked like. In the days when people were moving to the suburbs and building lots of churches it was common for United Churches to have a gymnasium and many classrooms for Sunday School. The one I can think of in PEI now rents half of those classrooms to a local private school because the rent helps them tremendously with their occupancy costs and they don’t need them for Sunday School.. I know of another congregation which built a new building and paid for it so that their young people would not have that burden; but those once young people, now in their 30s and 40s have moved away, or are not interested and the ageing congregation is left wondering “What happened?”

Many Canadians are sports fans, following hockey and curling in the winter and baseball and football in the summer to name just a few sports. I heard on the radio on Thursday that there is a group trying to determine if there is enough support to pay for a replacement stadium in Saskatoon. It’s going to take a lot of money and stadiums don’t appear out of thin air! Do you remember game 7 of the Stanley cup playoffs; it wasn’t that many weeks ago! The end of the game was near and one more goal for Edmonton would tie the score, another would win the Cup! They had come from behind, surely they could do THIS! So, there I was, yelling at my TV for an Oilers goal. (As if the team could hear me!) When the play got close to the Panthers net I yelled, SCORE, SCORE; I wanted a Canadian team to win. YET, I knew that if it was, lets say Toronto and Anaheim, in the same situation, despite the fact that the Leafs have not won since just before expansion, I would be cheering for Anaheim. I’ve got nothing against the Leafs, but my nephew is on the Anaheim team. I know that I will cheer for his team no matter what jersey he wears.

We know how fast a team’s fortunes can change; I remember the back to back World Series wins by the Blue Jays - I’m certain my sister still has the commemorative Coke Cans! But I don’t think they have taken the series since! But it’s all about the recent past! It’s about fame and legacy and winning and there can only be one winner, can there! And one winner also means a whole roster of those who did not win, though it is hard to call any player at that level, “a loser.”

Lets go back to good ole King David. He’d done quite good for someone starting out as a mere shepherd boy, hadn’t he! The Hebrew people had no tradition of monarchy (only what they observed when they looked at other nations) and David’s was only the second “house” to have occupied the throne. He seems to have organized a strong enough army that his battles were over, for a while at least. He was relaxing and had time on his hands!

He thought that it was time for a temple; a permanent house for the Ark of God, since he lived in a palace, made of cedar. It did not seem right that God lived in a tent! I suppose David’s palace of Cedar would give him some bragging rights. The temple might give him more!

Look at all the castles and estates and palaces that the House of Windsor owns or had access to. (I would not want the occupancy costs - but Charles III has independent income streams! )

God’s immediate promise involves a legacy of flesh and bone, a “house of David” not a house of brick and stone. God has a plan and it is God’s plan to start with the House of David before a building built by him.

As I have hinted, I gather that the temple that David had in mind may have had more to do with David making a name for himself, than it did to praise God and to bring honour to God’s name. While there are biblical passages in which others look to the wealth of the land and proclaim, “look at that, God has done great things for them.” It seems that things start to go askew when the people begin to think that they are the ones responsible for the “great things.” “Look at what great things there people are doing to honour their God. Aren’t they dedicated.” See that subtle difference.

In comparison to the grand cathedrals of Europe Canada is a late-comer to the party. Of course, some of that is the technological knowhow to raise heavy stones and make it seem as if they are just hanging in the air. Funded by kings and bishops, it is hard to determine if the great cathedrals of Europe are supposed to make a name for the architect and builders or for God.

Some denominations believe in austerity in terms of a worship space while others see the grandness as a primary way to inspire holy awe in the congregation.

Quite a few years ago now I read a very, very long book about a man who began his career as a builder of great cathedrals. As he completed one phase of one cathedral he would leave and travel to other jobs and asw he went he learned more and more about arches and flying buttresses and domes and learned that, as a master craftsman, he would only be hired when the work was difficult. When they came to the point where any ninny of a stone mason could oversee the next phase, his contract would be done. It was an interesting look into the history of architecture and the building of these magnificent churches.

When we look at our role in the community and our mission to it, how do we balance making a name for ourselves and having what we do praise God. For example, we DO want to be known as the church who helps the poor and hungry, but how do we connect this to our response to the Gospel rather than a call to “look at us, WE help people, aren’t we great!”

As we seek to be God’s people in this time and place let us remember that our primary task is to give glory to God and not to ourselves. Let us trust that God will honour our response at the right time. Let us give Glory to God in all things.

Amen.

1995- 2021 The Rev. Beth W. Johnston.

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