Sermon: “Imagine the Possibilities”

Texts: Ezra 6:13-18; Luke 21:5-6

22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

August 29, 2010

Scripture introduction.  Both readings this morning concern the most important religious structure in ancient Israel —the Temple, which was located in Jerusalem.  You may remember the story (2 Samuel 7) of how King David, having consolidated his power in Jerusalem, intended to build a temple.  Through the prophet Nathan, however, God forbade David from building the temple and told David that the privilege would be reserved for his son, Solomon, who would rule as king after David died.

As foretold, Solomon built the first Temple around the year 950 B.C.  It stood for about 350 years until the residents of Jerusalem were conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, when the building was stripped of its ornamentation and the wooden doors and roof were burned.  A generation later, when the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, the Persian king, Cyrus, allowed the former residents of Jerusalem to return and rebuild the city.  Eventually, they rebuilt the Temple, probably using what was left of the old structure that had survived the fire.  Our first reading, from Ezra, records the lavish celebration and thanksgiving sacrifice that occurred on this occasion, when the Temple was restored during the Persian period—about 515 B.C. 

This so-called “second” Temple continued in use throughout the remainder of the Persian period and into the Greek period, when the Greek rulers who succeeded Alexander the Great tried to force the residents of Jerusalem to worship Greek gods.  Eventually, as told in books of the Apocrypha, the Jews rebelled against the Greeks and re-established their own kings.  These Jewish kings ruled into the New Testament period, although in later years they were mere puppets of the Romans.  The most famous of these Jewish kings was Herod the Great, who undertook a massive building program in Judea.  One of his projects was to enlarge and improve the Temple in Jerusalem.  He greatly extended the plaza that surrounded the Temple, creating huge porticos.  He covered the Temple in dazzling gold leaf.  It was this building, the so-called “third” Temple that stood during the earthly life of Jesus.  Our second reading, from Luke, records how Herod’s splendid Temple complex impressed Jesus’ disciples, who were rustics from Galilee.  Yet Jesus responded to their wonder by prophesying that the magnificent buildings would eventually be destroyed.

Thirty years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Jews rebelled against the Romans, attempting to throw off Roman rule, just as they had the Greeks in earlier years.  But the Romans crushed the rebellion and in the process completely destroyed the Temple.  The Temple was never rebuilt.  For the last thirteen centuries, the Temple Mount has been the site of the “Dome of the Rock,” the oldest monument of the Islamic faith.

Sermon.  I will never forget the experience of walking on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem nor of standing at the base of its great retaining wall, which is called the “Western Wall,” where Jews and people of other faiths leave written prayers wedged between the stones.  Even if I had not seen the other monumental building projects of King Herod, such as the port city of Caesarea Maritima or the Herodion fortress, the scope of the Temple Mount alone would have convinced me of Herod’s architectural ambitions. 

In King Solomon’s time the rocky hill on which the Temple was built would have been prominent, but not particularly magnificent in size.  It was Herod who, by building gigantic retaining walls around the whole hill and by filling in the space between the hill and the walls, created an extremely spacious plaza at the top of the hill.  A comparison to one of the flat-topped mesas of the desert southwest in our country would not be out of line.  With just a little bit of imagination, one can visualize the shining Temple located roughly where the Dome of the Rock is now, as well as the splendid porticoes that ringed the entire complex.  In these porches, roofed with red-clay tiles and fronted by graceful columns, Jesus would have taken shelter from the sun as he taught his disciples and argued with other teachers.  At the foot of the stairs on the western side of the Temple Mount is the base of the retaining wall that creates the plaza above.  Although none of Herod’s Temple remains standing today—as Jesus said, “not one stone” is “left upon another”—we can still see the massive stones of the retaining wall.  The largest of these weighs 570 tons and is 45 feet long by 14 feet high.  No wonder Jesus’ disciples took pride in the Temple.  It was one of the architectural marvels of the ancient world.

We can also imagine the joy in the hearts of the residents of Jerusalem more than 500 years before Jesus, as they completed the last restoring touches to the Temple of their day.  For fifty years they had lived as captives and as refugees in Babylon.  Indeed, they were still poor from their time in captivity in Babylon; so they were not able to restore the structure to Solomon’s original plans.  Even so, it stood as a symbol of their faith in God and of the restoration of their nation.  The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, for whom two books of the Old Testament are named, had urged them on toward the restoration of the Temple, and now the job was finished.  They gave thanks to God in great celebration. 

We, too, are proud of what God has enabled us to do with our historic church building.  We were not held captive in Babylon for fifty years, but it may have seemed like fifty years that we debated whether and how to restore this building.  Just as God provided the favorable conditions for the residents of ancient Jerusalem to accomplish their project—including even the cooperation of the distant Persian rulers—so God’s providence has helped us here. 

We are grateful for the professional advice we received from architects and engineers and interior designers, helping us understand what in our building needed to be restored and the most efficient way to do it.  We may not always have appreciated it at the time, but we benefitted from the advice and enthusiasm of our fund-raising counsel, who convinced us that with God’s help we could raise the money needed for this project.  I still consider it providential that, at a time when the stock market was at its lowest point in ten years, you responded with pledges that allowed this project to go forward.  To our surprise, the low bidder on our project turned out to be a contractor from Indianapolis.  When they told us that they had a separate division within the company devoted to church construction, we weren’t quite sure what to make of them.  But they have proven that they consider church work to be a special calling.  As much as possible they accom-modated our worship and other church needs while the construction was going on.  Their best subcontractors were the demolition team.  As I saw our old, load-bearing walls being demolished and the temporary bracing and shoring taking their place, I learned that demolition was just as much a skill as construction.  In addition, we had the support of our fellow Presbyterians as we embarked upon this project.  The Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program provided the bridge financing that carries us over until the end of the pledge payment period.  In all of these areas, I see the hand of God moving.  Most of all, your own willingness to endure the mess and disruption and to work tirelessly each Saturday to get us ready for Sunday worship showed me that this was all the work of the Holy Spirit.  I am so proud of what has been accomplished here with God’s help.  I know you, too, are proud, and rightfully so.

I am so proud, in fact, that I have to remind myself that this is not about the building.  [repeat]  This is not about the building.  That’s why the passage from Luke is appropriate.  No building will last forever.  As Jesus predicted, the Temple is no more.  Even the pyramids of Egypt are gradually eroding.  What will endure throughout all the ages is what we do in this building.  We now have a facility that is comfortable and functional.  It is a tool for ministry.  As our friends from S & B Construction can attest, a hammer does no good hanging on a wall.  Only when we use it is a hammer good for anything.  That is why the title of this sermon and the theme for the day is “Imagine the Possibilities.”  For years now we have been focused primarily on what to do about our aging building.  This subject has absorbed much of our energy; and that was appropriate, given the circumstances.  You have risen to that challenge, and you see the good results.  Now the question is a different one:  we must ask, “What will we do with this building?”  This is not a question that I can answer.  It’s not a question that any small group in our congregation can answer.  The question must be answered by our whole church com-munity.  I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit will lead us toward the missions that we are meant to do here—the ones that are unique for us, that no other church is as equipped to accomplish.  I hope there will be many ideas.  We may have to try a few and see how they feel before we find our calling as a congregation.  And of course our calling, once we claim it, will evolve and grow to meeting changing circumstances. 

It all starts with ideas.  In your bulletins this morning you will find a yellow card with the caption, “Dream Weaver,” printed at the top.  I invite you to prayerfully consider right now how you believe God is leading us to use this building.  You may already have some ideas, but I ask you not to write anything until we come to the Prayers of the People later in the service.  Whatever you write, I want it to be in the context of prayer.  When you do write something, I hope and pray it will be both God’s word to us and your fervent prayer to God.  There will be a time of silence during the prayer when you can fill out the card, and I hope there will be many ideas.  Please place the cards in the plate at the time of the offering.  We will publish these ideas in the next Herald newsletter, and they ideas will be a starting point for further planning.

Jesus said that we should not store up treasures for ourselves on earth, but rather should store up treasures in heaven, where nothing—not even the passing of the centuries—can destroy them.[1]  Just imagine the treasure that we can store up now that we have a functional building—a tool for ministry.  Together, let’s “imagine the possibilities,” and then let’s accomplish some.