When I sat down to write my sermon this week, I could see cup plant and Joe Pye in bloom directly in front of me. I love the beauty and diversity of the plants around my home. And while the garden continues to be a work in progress, there is a part of me that recognises the work I am doing is aimed at restoring what was – it is trying, in a small way, to put back what humans destroyed when we came in and decided we know better what the world needs.
David said to Nathan: ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’
When things had settled down, David suddenly realised that their relationship to God didn’t conform to human standards. Humans lived in houses built with cedar. The thought that a representation of God, the Arc of the Covenant, continued to inhabit a lesser structure felt problematic. Surely God needed a better home too!
Such is the working of human minds. We are limited by our own understanding of the world and how it should function. Sure, we have science which has allowed us to discover so much about how the world works. That doesn’t change our tendency to want things the way we want them regardless of whether those choices are right and good or not.
David wanted to build a house for God. For humans, this would be something wonderful. We all need homes for our comfort and protection. David assumed that the same could be said of God, forgetting that God is not a human being. God is God. God doesn’t need our structures to be God. God proved that through God’s ongoing presence in the journey of the Israelites from slavery to freedom in the promised land. God didn’t need a Temple. God doesn’t need our church buildings. God does understand our need for these and so, even as God shifted David’s focus, made promises about a generational home, and pointed to the coming of Jesus, the time would come when God enabled Solomon to build the Temple in Jerusalem which became a centre for worship and community that has nourished Jewish people for generations.
Humans need places where we can be intentional about our relationship with God. We need this place. This building holds the prayers of generations. It has been a sacred gathering place longer than some of us have been alive! It is here where we have baptised children, celebrated marriages, and mourned those who have died. It is here where we have danced, and sung, and prayed, and taken and eaten, year, after year, after year.
We need this place. Churches fulfill a human need to gather, and to explore our relationships with each other, the community, the world, and God. We need this place, this spiritual home, to be nourished in our faith, to be challenged, to learn, and to grow. We need this place as a centre from which we can share our God-given gifts so that others might learn what we have learned about the wonder, grace, and love of God.
We need this place. God doesn’t need a house of cedar the way humans do. And yet, God happily meets us in this place knowing our need for it. God happily walks with us here, being present through our prayers, our singing and dancing, our feeding and being fed, each baptism, and wedding, and funeral, each vigil and each wonky worship service. God meets us here because God wants a relationship with us and will do whatever is needed to be present in spaces where we seek God.
We need this place and share this place as we seek to do God’s work in the community. Knowing this, God is present with every bag of clothes, every smile from volunteers, and every moment when there is listening and sharing in this ministry. God is present as music rises from the Community Concert band, honouring the gifts each participant brings. God is present as the Rotary club discerns its work. God is present in the wonder of children as they explore in Guiding groups. God is present in the gifts of the young people participating in WECAP, sharing their gifts through theatre. God is present for the vendors supporting the courage they have to try and build something special. God is present as we share food and fellowship. God is present in this place because God knows we, and this community, need it!
We need this place and so God shows up here so that we can know God’s presence, and love not only when we are here, but as we walk wherever we may go in our lives. We need this place, our house of cedar. May we share the wonder and grace of God’s presence not only in this place but as we go forth into the world. This we pray as we sing: 531 You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord.