Reflections on "Does It Matter - Part 1" Exodus 25: 1-8; Luke 6: 46-49

I really liked this sermon.  Both of the texts spoke to me, and I think the sermon reflected that.  The stories that I randomly encountered in the last week (talking with Aka and reading Christian Century) seemed to be exactly what I needed for this sermon.

When I went to the preaching seminar a couple of years ago, the professor who critiqued my sermons challenged me to have something for a person to do in response to every sermon.  I'm not sure that was achieved with this sermon, but the sermon did have lots of reflection that may mirror what others in the congregation are thinking as we move through the capital campaign.

“Does It Matter – Part I” FPC, Troy; October 23, 2011 Exodus 25: 1-8; Luke 6: 46-49

Introduction: I have thought quite a bit about buildings recently, more specifically, this building our sanctuary.

I have thought about the sanctuary a lot in the context of working with a committee to see what needs to be done to repair and upgrade our sanctuary.

I have also thought about the sanctuary a lot in the to context of does it matter? Does it matter that we repair stained glass windows, or upgrade the audio-visual capabilities, or repair the ceiling.

Should we spend money on a building?

As a continuing part of my reflections, I want to share some stories about buildings this morning.

Story 1: Aka Pereyma, artist who sculpted “Jacob's Ladder” traveled back to the Ukraine with her daughter several years ago. Aka grew up in the Greek Catholic tradition, which I gather is what would be called part of the Eastern Catholic church that is connected with the Roman Catholic church, rather than the Greek Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox church. My less than informed understanding would be a church that feels Eastern Orthodox, but who liturgy follows the Roman Catholic tradition. In other words, lots of beautiful sanctuaries and icons.

After they returned home to Troy, Aka asked her daughter, “What impressed you most about the Ukraine?”

“the chapels.” Across the Ukraine, Aka informed me, they saw what can best be described as little chapels. Places that are built to hold one or two, maybe three people who can meditate or worship God.

Aka told me that many times they would arrive at a crossroad juncture and look up and see one of these chapels. As if at any critical juncture someone might need a place to meditate and worship God.

Aka was so impressed with these chapels that she has now built or orchestrated the building of four of these chapels. She showed me the latest one she has designed. Fascinating looking chapel (story told with Aka Pereyma's permission)

Having a place to worship God matters.

Story 2: God instructed the Israelites to “Build me a sanctuary where you can gather to worship me.”

We remember that the Israelites were people on the move. It was not practical for them to build a building. What good would a sanctuary like ours do them when they were nomads living off the land?

But God wanted them to have a place of worship; a place where they could be in the presence of the Lord. God commanded them to take up an offering to build the Tabernacle.

We know that God gives the Israelites very detailed instructions for the Tabernacle. WE also know that as the Israelites traveled from place to place the Tabernacle was dismantled and the reassembled in the new place so that wherever the Israelites went, they could gather and worship in the presence of God.

A place to worship God matters.

Story 3: I recently read an article about the government of the Czech Republic deciding to give back the churches and property taken from the churches (or to give monetary compensation if the building had been destroyed) when the the communist government took over in the 1950s. (Christian Century, “Czech government will turn over seized churches”Aug 26, 2011, Jonathan Luxmoore)

Imagine the joy being felt by the churches in the Czech Republic as their historic buildings, the places of worship, are being returned to them.

A church building does matter.
Story 4: I shared in my blog earlier this week about my grandmother's house in Falls Church, VA. That I believed to be on the National Registry of Historic buildings. One of the persons reading my blog sent me a list of those buildings and asked which one was my grandmother's house. It wasn't there, which led to my calling home.

I learned that my grandmother's house was sold to the historical society, which wanted the house because of its historic nature. And in the deed is the requirement that the house not be destroyed because of its historic value. Apparently the plaque on the building is from the historical society, not the National Register of Historic Buildings.

This summer we took a family photo on the front steps. As we walked around this house where my grandmother lives, I had lots of stories to tell. Just seeing the building reminded me family gatherings that took place there; family members who have since died; I even remember that house as the final resting place of my blankie, that my grandmother threw out when she decided I was too old to have a blankie (that may explain a lot about me!).

If I drove by this address and the building was not there, if there were a parking garage or high rise office building, would I still have those memories? Maybe? But I suspect the building itself evokes those memories in ways that would not happen if it were not there.

Move 2: But buildings do not matter just because they are there.

a. Jesus tells the story of building

1. One person builds a house on a rock solid foundation. This is the person who hears God's word and responds to it.
2. When the flood comes, the building survives because its foundation is the Word of God.
3. Another person builds a house with no foundation. This is the person who hears God's Word but does not respond
4. When the flood comes, the house is swept away because it does not have a strong foundation.
5. This sanctuary matters when it brings people into the presence of God.
6. This sanctuary matters when people gather and hear God's Word and go into the world to share God's word and serve God's people.

Move 3: Back to the stories I have mentioned about buildings.

a. Aka Pereyma Back to Aka's building of the chapels. As she shared this story with me, she stopped and emphasized to make sure I got it, that her desire to build these chapels was for the glorification of God.

b. Czech churches have new issues with the return of their buildings. The churches will no longer receive state support. They will now be left on their own. They are in the process of discovering that buildings will only matter if they help the church live out its calling as the body of Christ."Although we've dreamed for years of becoming free from the state, this will pose a great challenge," said Ruml, whose council represents 11 Christian denominations, including Catholics as associate members. "Many church members are used to state support, and will need to be shown how this new situation offers opportunities for stabilizing our position and opening society to our work." —ENInews

c. As a funny aside, after her death (which was probably 10 or more years after she had sold the building), Leslie (wife now; fiancee then) and I stopped by the old house and went in and asked to look around the house.  It was owned by some company that had staff there, and they allowed us to wander through the building.  In their main office, which happened to be my grandmother's former bedroom, they had one of those boards that tracked  who was in and who was out by moving the marker next to the employee's name to the 'In" column or the "out" column.  I was surprised to look up and see that Mrs. O'Bannon, my grandmother, had her name listed there and a marker noting that she was "In."  The person showing us around saw me notice that and became a little embarrassed as she explained, "we hear strange noises sometimes, and when we do we mark your grandmother as being "IN," and when we don't hear the noises, we mark her as being "out!"

Conclusion: Our sanctuary matters because it has been a place where God was “In” for generations in the past; our sanctuary matters in future generations when it serves as a place where God's people can gather to worship God and discover that God is still “IN.”