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One of the most ironic thoughts that came to mind in chewing upon the Old Testament passage from First Kings is that it was an elaborate prayer of dedication for Solomon’s Temple. As we know, the temple was essentially destroyed twice. The second time left but a remnant which we know today as the wailing wall.
The prayerful but cynical Ecclesiastes says it best: “1For
everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2a
time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
what is planted; 3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to
break down, and a time to build up…”
The Holy Spirit imparts many lessons to us in regards to “building
up.” Building up in the texts we have
this week is about building faith. This
faith is something that is begun in the heart and over time reveals the
openness of God working through us for the sake of the Gospel.
For the sake of the Gospel is something we don’t
necessarily have in the background of all we “do and say” as disciples of
Jesus. The human struggle is our
self-made obstacle of spiritually growing beyond the self to be open to Love
God and neighbor in the most prayerful and beautiful way we can muster!
The other day I was dusting my trinkets on my pastor’s
study desk. One item in particular, was
a simple pair of glasses that another pastor had left behind. This pastor was the first pastor at the
beginning of my journey into ministry. Upon thinking about his example and
witness in the world, I wondered for a moment what it looked like through those
glasses… Well, let’s just say I didn’t
know he was almost blind… All humor aside, the “picture” of “church” that this man painted upon my very
impressionable mind at the time was beautiful.
It had nothing to do with buildings, polities or traditions… it was a
powerful faith coming from a prayerful wisdom that only can begin with Jesus in
the heart.
He was just one person, and one pastor out of many who
are called forward into something they can’t help building upon—the Gospel of
Christ Jesus, the Lord. As some of you
know I’ve been writing a lot of essays lately about serving, what ministry
looks like and why I am called. One
batch of essays in particular kept asking the same question essentially over
and over. This question was: what is
church? I know in some senses the
intention of the series of essays is to see how consistent my theology is… And
I met the challenge with exampling how consistent my faith is.
It is not a faith built by works righteousness’ bricks
and the mortar is certainly not of a physical form but a spiritual one! The
physical church is actually to be a metaphysical place of building from the
inside-out. The inside being the heart
and nurturing, developing its prayerful wisdom and the outward is our naturally
motivated and missional response in the world, but not of it. Unfortunately something got lost in
translation there where the building of the Body is more concerned with
numbers, politics and agenda over and above the True work of the Gospel. I believe in realizing this, needs us to ask
ourselves: Why do we Gather? What does it mean to scatter?
The answer to why we gather to scatter is also its
solution: faith. Faith is a fickle
creature, it takes a life time’s journey to develop (and of course we’re too
impatient for that!). As well as it seeks us to live into our promise to God to
be humble and gracious. This leads me to
the powerful Gospel character today, being the centurion. Here’s a political figure, example of Roman “muscle
and oppression” basically, coming to Jesus with a bizarre but amazing faith
asking Him to heal his servant.
“Only say the Word, and let my servant be healed…” What if we changed this around to be an
introspective question we challenge ourselves with as disciples of Jesus? Only say the Word, Lord Jesus, to help me be
healed to continue on as your Faith-filled servant! I think I rather prefer faith-filled to
faithful. Perhaps this is so since it
literally is much clearer for me to contemplate. Being faith-filled is taking into
consideration the development of the heart’s wisdom (remember the heart is the
first church) to grow and then be incorporated, expressed through the body
(with a small b) as being faithful.
The notion of the Body with a larger B, is a place to
share and grow together as a different kind of family. Again, the bricks and mortar have confused
our sense of mission…but all is not lost…
We don’t have wailing walls to weep upon but the walls of our hearts
need to be opened and baptized with the Gospel’s command to us to go therefore
and make disciples in all that we prayerfully do and say through a transformed
heart. The Gospel’s temple that Christ
Jesus exampled for us is by no means exclusive but inclusive. It is by no means
a Gospel invented for the health and wealth of those who evangelize it. It is by no means a Gospel of propaganda for
self-concerned ideologies or agendas… It
is a simple one stringed Banjo song: Grace is lived by and through faith—a simple
gift received, a complex spiritual task for us to incorporate and share.
My task as a pastoral leader is to help others through my
compassion, discernment and inner peace realize, develop and open that faith in
the heart that is seeking to grow. St.
Paul, as we have been blessed to see in many of his letters, the task was the
same as well. Through Paul we not only
have the example of someone who’s experienced a profound spiritual
transformation—his conversion experience, but we have an example of the first
pastor, the first “theologian” and the first disciple to push the envelope… in “doing
and being” church together.
I remember the wonderful study class I had at TEDS around
St. Paul and some of his letters. By the
time the class looked at Galatians, the professor gave us a wonderful insight
to think about, but he said: “Can’t you just literally hear him yelling at
them?” And I must confess, that yes I
did! St. Paul starts out rather gracious
in the beginning but then definitely gives them a piece of his mind about their
derailment from the Gospel. A verse that
sticks out as the strongest or most powerful for me is verse 10 where he says: “10Am
I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please
people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
WOW, what an amazing insight of faith and a powerful
lesson that we still truly need to think about today! The Joy of the Gospel alongside of the
prayerful work of the Gospel can only come from realizing Christ Jesus in the
heart. The heart must be opened and
shaped by the Gospel in order to share it naturally. Sharing it naturally is not legalism—applied obedience
and it is certainly not building an idolatry to the world of the self! God can’t
work through us if we are only curved inward to satisfy the self and its gospel…
The Galatians in many ways, classically mirror the
problems we have today in “doing and being” church… They were what was known as “Judaizers” they
basically wanted anyone who converted to the faith to become a Jew first. You could sort of say that they were treating
“joining” the church as some sort of initiation rite. Unfortunately Baptism today in the church has
become mistakenly, as well, an initiation rite to membership in the church…. And
that frankly is NOT to be the true purpose at all…
St. Paul had to set things straight since his teaching
and witness to the Gospel as a church planter and pastor were basically under
attack. It’s 2,000 something years
later, and the Gospel alongside its witnesses and teachers, is still under
attack. How do we move forward? Where do we prayerfully go from here? Go back to asking yourself that question I
put out there earlier: Why do we Gather?
What does it mean to scatter?
Gathering to scatter takes putting on those glasses of
peering into a beautiful example—Jesus.
Gathering to scatter means allowing that beautiful light of the Gospel
Christ Jesus, to enter in, opening the doors of the heart to harbor a humility
and faith that can grow to move mountains… Being a child of Grace and promise
is just that. We are children of the
King—only the heart knows how long the road will go forward… Promise is our
lives together lived in love, peace, mercy, kindness, compassion and so on.
Let us Pray—
Gracious Lord Jesus,
Your example should align our hearts
To open prayerfully to the mission of the Gospel
Help us build a mighty temple in the Heart
Of a beautiful and humble wisdom
To live and love You and our neighbor
Through a mighty faith that can and will move mountains!
Amen
May 29th, 2016;
Second Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 4; SOLA Lectionary
Sermon by:
Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins, FODM
Psalm 96:1-9; 1
Kings 8:22-24,27-29,41-43; Galatians 1:1-12 & Luke 7:1-10
Below is the link to this sermon's delivery at the Grace Hub's house church service at 8am
https://youtu.be/GQ7yoVo4hXg
https://youtu.be/GQ7yoVo4hXg
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