I preached this morning at a service to dedicate my largest church's major refurbishment scheme. I ended up challenging us all to be more mission focussed. I was asked to post my sermon for those who did not get to the service this morning and those who want to consider the issues we explored further...
"We have set today aside to rededicate ourselves as a church
and dedicate all the refurbishment work that has gone on in recent months, done
for the glory of God to enable us to be his people more effectively in this
area where we are called to be. We are grateful to those who have worked so
hard to get us here. It’s not quite finished yet as the floor in the hall is
done later in the month and painting of the bricks and more discussion about
notice boards and what to put over the bricks but today is an important moment
as we mark the fact we have a building more appropriate for proper mission and
outreach which some of us have dreamt about for a long time.
I want to think for a while about rededication. What are
all these improvements for? Why have we bothered? It is about a desire to
refocus. Within the Hastings and St Leonards review a few years ago we decided
we were called to stay here rather than join another church to do something
new. We decided our call was to serve this community in its diversity and need,
and since that decision we have begun some new work looking outwards, not least
Messy Church and the Wednesday drop in both of which are now becoming
established. New things take time to develop.
Let’s think again about the Temple of Solomon which was
dedicated in our reading from the Old Testament.
We have a picture of a building in which no expense was
spared, built unquestionably to the glory of God – though probably a fair dose
of pride and self-satisfaction too!
None of the building of the Temple happened easily. Solomon’s
glorious temple was born in struggle and frustration if you read the various
accounts about it – and only the guiding hand of God kept the vision alive.
After the Israelites conquered Canaan the tabernacle (the box
containing the Law and symbol of God’s presence) – was not carried from place
to place anymore. For a time it remained in Shiloh and was later taken into
battle and captured by the Philistines. But it brought them trouble and they sent
it back! Eventually King David brought it to Jerusalem – where he had land
ready to build a permanent temple – but as much he wanted it – circumstances
(aka God) did not allow it! So David had to content himself with making plans
and gathering materials so that his son Solomon could eventually bring the
dream to reality.
And then finally we have this great moment: God’s presence
is in this holy place: “Now I have built a majestic Temple for you, a place for
you to live in for ever.” Imagine being there on the day of dedication – an
amazing awe inspiring time of renewal about the glory of God and the might of
his people. Remember in Jewish theology if the Temple stood things were great,
when it fell, spirituality went down the toilet.
Indeed however much the first Temple might have been
divinely sanctioned or inspired. However architecturally perfect or well-appointed
it might have been, it did not last forever and the people were taken into exile in Babylon.
The temple we read of Jesus visiting was in fact the second
replacement for that building. But the desire for and use of such a place
highlights the longing of the people to have somewhere that could be the focus
of their devotion and represent the glory and presence of God in the world.
We love our church, and we talk about our building and we
spend a lot of time talking about our buildings. I had two encounters yesterday
in the two largest churches in the Circuit with people with angst about what to
do about their large premises…
But we learn that Jesus was wary of it and the practices
that it embodied. Interestingly I don’t hear Jesus saying that the temple never
had a place – but he did have lots to say about it’s right use. I have been
introduced to Poldark – we’ve got through two series on DVD and have nearly caught up
with this series. George Warleggan is an evil so and so, condemning people as
magistrate to be tied to a pole in a public place and be lashed, scheming to be
top dog in society and owner of the local church. There are enthusiastic
Methodists in the current series who dare to turn up and sing hymns in his
church so he bans them. They then turn up and sing the other side of the church
wall! It is his church with his rules. You went for respectability and to be
seen rather than any expression of faith or living the Gospel.
If the Temple became a nice comfortable place to be, a
place of ease or self-satisfaction then of course it would be doomed. Remember
Methodism was raised up to spread spiritual holiness throughout the land. It
was a response by a frustrated Church of England priest who was called by God
to shake up his church because ordinary people weren’t hearing the good news of
Christ. Respectability, the George Warleggan’s of his day tried hard to stop it
by banning it from inside the churches but it oozed out into the world and
changed society. We have not refurbished here to keep us going for a bit longer,
we have refurbished here for mission and to show people Jesus, no other reason,
although us men are very glad we don’t have to go down several steps to go to
the necessary anymore, thank you!
If you read more about the Temple, you’ll see it became
fixed in time, place and ritual.
Go to some churches and sit in someone’s pew. I love this
picture! We can become fixed. We sit where we like to sit, but it can be a
different experience trying somewhere else. We like what we like in worship
when people need something very different. We want the good old days back when
everything was perfect. Some churches produce the same old programme year after
year never reviewing things and wonder why no one is coming. The world moves on
but we stand still, rooted to what we know and then we hit crisis point and we
wonder what to do. God is moving but we are not. We need to keep building,
spiritually, every day. We must always be renewed else we will not be here and people will ask what's happened as rumours of our death spread.It’s like a genuine letter redirected to me from my Mum’s post: “Dear Mrs
Pruden, we are sorry to learn that you have died. If you could ring us to let
us know what has happened that would be helpful…” and as our President of
Conference has said, “I know I am part, at present, of a declining Church, but
I am not part of a declining gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is here to
stay, but has the time not come of us to be radical? To take some risks in
order that we can grow… Because, you see… I don't believe that God is done with
us just yet."
It doesn’t matter where we sit, how we do it, whether today
the preacher isn’t to our liking or we make mistakes today it is why we do it.
We are called to keep moving. Moving is scary but together supporting each
other, trying to understand the world and what people need and how we meet that
need, we can grow. Let’s use our facilities and be flexible. Let’s celebrate
what God has given us and be confident we still have a purpose.
The
Temple was for everyone but its ritual and access were monopolised by a few.
The rules for its use handed control to an elite. It was not a place for all
We’ve got a new porch with lovely new glass doors and we
are using that as our main entrance now which is brilliant. Churches with glass
doors are a good thing. People can see what is going on in them. Imagine
shopping and you couldn’t see what was in the shop through the windows. But a
glass door also enables us to see out into the world and a door lets us out as
well as people in.
So our dedication today challenges us as well as enjoying
our building and using it to go out of church and be church where we need to
be. Jesus did church in the street to people like Zacchaeus. He reached out to
the unlovable and despised and invited them to be part of his party.
One positive feature of the Temple, as Jesus experienced
it, was that it was at times a vibrant, transient community –with pilgrims
coming from far and wide. I wonder what happened after Jesus finished with
Zacchaeus. Was the despised tax collecting cheat embraced into a community of
believers? Are we really inclusive and do we want everyone through our doors? I
don’t think we’d have done all this work if we didn’t.
Some of us from St Helens church went to look at a Methodist
project in Dover on Friday called Footprints at the Beacon church. The old
London Road church in the centre of Dover owned two dilapidated shops.
It amalgamated with another Methodist church and a URC one
to form the Beacon and had a vision to do mission out of the shops.
Now a refurbished space run entirely by church members and
run on donations apart from outside bookings offers a weekly lunch, paid for by
donations, a youth coffee bar, the town food bank, support for refugees, an
English language conversation group, a cooking on a budget course, a craft
group, a parent and toddler group, a children’s reading and story club. The
place is also used for a community hub and for restorative justice work, it is a
safe space and buzzing with the gospel in action. I asked how it is entirely
run by church members. I was told “well, we have vision.” I asked how it is
entirely run on donations. I was told “the money comes.” I asked how it has
affected the worshipping community. I was told “we have found new life and
purpose.” I asked what the influence of the place is on the town. I was told
“we are respected and known.” I like their mission statement. It sums up what I
think church should be, what we should be today, what this work has been done
for. “We seek to address the needs of the local community, especially in
relation to loneliness through the provision of community activities and
programmes that are appropriate to combat deprivation, poverty and inadequacy
in all forms. We seek to welcome all and exclude no one.”
In a moment in our prayer time as we rededicate ourselves
we will move round the building to each new space. We celebrate the space for
outreach through Messy Church and toddlers, and hospitality and the CAP Life
Skills course which has begun and a space for friendship and help on a
Wednesday which I will gently be adding some worship to from time to time from
September.
We celebrate our welcome and our openness, our desire to
reach out perhaps with food out of a decent kitchen, we celebrate our worship
life and the challenge of God in Christ to be church, for today, together.
So I thank you for being Calvert today and I encourage you
to share what we have been given, we mustn’t get fixed in our place or our ways
and we must continue to welcome and include.
God’s people have always built – built to the glory of God
– and in return God has always challenged the people to be and do more.
All are welcome in this place!
In the name of Christ, the Lord of the church who is our
cornerstone and on who we build. Amen."
