August 26th:
August 26, 2012 Call: 1 Kings 2: 10-12; 3: 3-14 Text: 1 Kings 8: 1-6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43 Holy Ground A few minutes ago, this was what we said and by saying so, what we acknowledged what we recognized and what we proclaimed: "We are standing on holy ground and I know that there are angels all around Lets us praise Jesus now We are standing On holy ground This place of worship This sanctuary is indeed "holy ground" It is not innately holy. God didn't point God's finger at 26 Main St Send a bolt of lightening As James Earl Jones' voice proclaimed "Build it and I will come." It is holy ground because it is a place that we have set aside To remind us of God's presence and God's promises To give us a place to come together For worship, sharing, learning, and serving God. And To make a statement to the world that we do so. And it is holy ground despite the fact that those who set it aside And those who stand on it Are people who have often failed God and failed each other It is holy ground even though - perhaps because of - the fact that We are an imperfect congregation Led by an imperfect pastor Worshipping, learning, praying, and serving In an imperfect building Built and maintained by imperfect workmen who were engaged and paid by our imperfect predecessors. And all I can say is "WOW!" What an incredible message of love from God! That same message must have been conveyed to The elders of Israel The heads of all the tribes The leaders of the ancestral houses And all the people of Israel When they gathered for the dedication of the temple that Solomon had built to and for God. That dedication and that temple help us understand the patch of holy ground on which we stand today both in terms of its value for us and its dangers to us [1 Kings 8: 1-6] The dedication service began With the ark of the covenant being brought into the temple. The ark contained the "Ten Commandments" and had accompanied the Israelites. Throughout their years in the wilderness Throughout the days of the judges Throughout the days of King Saul and King David. That ark had been nomadic and constantly on the move Now at last in this temple it had a home. The service continued as Solomon began to speak And reminded them that God keeps God's promises [10-15, 17-21] In that dedication service, The entrance of the ark was the prelude and the processional The re-mind-er of God's covenant was the call to worship. And Solomon's prayer was both prayer and sermon. [22-30] Solomon's temple was like our sanctuary. It too was holy ground. It too was set aside for people to come together To worship, share, learn, and serve God It too reminded people of God's presence. It too reminded people of God's promises promises of love and Promises of mercy. It too made a statement to the world All this is good: Good for us and good for God Solomon's temple is like our sanctuary And, I am quite certain that the people who worshipped there were like us and we are like them. Those people were imperfect too. Oh, they were excited that the temple was there to remind them of God's presence as we are excited that this building is here to remind us. But despite Solomon's prayer/sermon recognition that "Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God" Much less the house (the temple) that Solomon built As the years went on that excitement contributed to their beginning to see this man made and set aside temple as innately holy And as God's dwelling place The place where God was and lived and had God's being. They were excited too That the temple was there to remind them of God's promises God's covenants As we are also excited that this building is here to remind us many years later Those Israelites were particularly excited by the promises and covenants that God had made through and to Moses: "If you obey my commandments, I will be your God and you will be my people" And David: "Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel for ever Although they will need to be punished at times" But as the years went on that excitement caused them to become cocky and arrogant about those promises "We are God's people" they thought therefore we can do what we please" They overlooked and ignored that it was a mutual covenant They overlooked their promises to obey God's commandments They refused to listen to the prophets who tried to call them to give priority to the Lord and not to their own wants, desires, and emotions Prophets like Amos and Hosea in the North Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah in the South. The problem included Solomon, The man who had built the temple The man whose prayer for wisdom had so pleased God Solomon began to focus much of his energy on creating foreign alliances Marrying several hundred wives and keeping a few hundred concubines in order to do so And with these wives and concubines came their pagan gods And the worshiping of them. Solomon, like the people he led were so excited about what God was willing to do for them That he became careless and indifferent about giving God priority, and Thus careless and indifferent about obeying God's commandments Solomon, like the people he led Instead of being awed by the gifts of God's presence and promises began seeing them not as gifts, but as entitlements. And therefore, they distorted the re-mind-ers that the temple provided for them. And when he died, Israel split into two kingdoms: north and south Ultimately both kingdoms were conquered Leaders were taken into exile Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed And the people felt that either: God had abandoned them Or that God was too weak to do anything to help them. It took a while - quite a while - before they realized that it had been their fault For they had looked Not at what God had already done for them Not at what they were to do for God But rather at what they wanted God to do for them in the present and in the future They had looked at God as their servant and not at themselves as God servants. They had distorted the reminders and opportunities of the holy ground The story of that ancient temple presents us with questions like: Are we so like those people that we could do the same thing? Could you and I soil the holy ground on which we stand? Could we distort its reminders and opportunities? Could you and I ever fall into the trap of thinking that this sanctuary is the only place where we can be with God And that when we are not here that God is irrelevant? Could we lead lives of indifference Like the people who worshiped at the temple? Or will this holy ground remind us of God's presence in our lives - no matter where we are and God's promises through Christ and encourage us to take advantage of the opportunities To come together to worship, share, learn, and serve Thus causing the lives we lead to amplify the message it proclaims? In short will our lives be ones of indifference, cockiness, and arrogance Because we know God loves us Or will they be ones of giving God priority Because we know God loves us - and that we love God. You and I have just completed a summer of relaxation and less work Now, we should be well enough rested to begin to answer those questions Solomon concluded his prayer/sermon with the following words: 1 Kings 8: 59-61 They seem a good way to conclude this reflection For they are just as relevant today as they were then.