1 Kings 5:1-5; 8:27-30, 41-43
(sermon note: 10-27 sermon note)
1Now King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had always been a friend to David. 2Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, 3‘You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 4But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.”
27‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! 28Have regard to your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; 29that your eyes may be open night and day towards this house, the place of which you said, “My name shall be there”, that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays towards this place. 30Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling-place; heed and forgive.
41‘Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name 42—for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays towards this house, 43then hear in heaven your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.’
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a wise man who lived in a temple. He had several disciples who studied under him. Every day, he would teach them things about God and world. “Teacher, where is God?” asked a disciple one day. “Everywhere, my son,” said the wise man. “Everywhere?” “Yes, everywhere. In everything you see. And inside everyone too,” replied the wise man. The disciple pondered over it. That evening, he was still thinking about it while returning home. As the disciple was walking, he suddenly saw an elephant rushing down the road. There was a man on the elephant, yelling, “This elephant has gone mad! Please get out of the way!” Initially, the disciple was scared but then he thought to himself, “Teacher has told me that God is everywhere. That means He is in that elephant. And God is in me as well.” The disciple thus came to the conclusion, “God cannot attack God! So, the elephant will not attack me. I have nothing to fear.” Even as the elephant charged towards him, the disciple stood in his place, confident. The man yelled several warnings to the disciple, but he didn’t budge. “Move you fool! You will be crushed to death!” Coming at a fast pace, the elephant reached the disciple. Mad with fury, the animal wrapped its trunk around him, picked him up and flung him aside. The disciple shrieked with fear and disbelief. The disciple landed safely on a haystack. His teacher and friends came running towards him. “What happened? Why did you stand there?” asked the teacher. “Teacher,” said the devotee. “You told me God was in everything and in everyone. If God was in the elephant, why did he fling me aside like that?” “Yes, God is in the elephant. But God is also in the man who told you to move.”
It’s funny how our minds can come up with the silliest things pertaining to God. That disciple thought, “God cannot attack God!” and thus reasoned that the elephant wouldn’t attack him. Clearly, he hadn’t heard the Christian narrative of a triune God in which one entity allows for the death of another entity. And if the thinking goes that God is in each of those who killed Jesus, then God certainly can attack God. Besides, we are fools when we limit God and what He can and cannot do. That disciple was a fool to believe that God couldn’t attack God! God can do whatever God wants! That disciple was lucky that he was simply tossed aside. Anyone standing in the way of rampaging elephant deserves to be trampled…
Alas, that disciple is not unique in his ability to come up with silly things pertaining to God. Recall from last week’s reading how King David got it in his head that he needed to build a temple for God. He felt that God deserved a home that rivaled in lavishness to the palace that he was blessed with to live in. God had no home, or so David believed since it was commonly believed that God was only present in the traveling ark of the covenant. So David got it in his head that God needed a home. Of course, the idea also helped David in not having to chase after God. God could be enclosed in a temple and people could travel to be with him and praise him there. Well, God had Nathan tell David that He neither needed a temple nor would a temple be built by David. Silly idea, David! God can’t be enclosed in a temple. The teacher in that opening joke had it right, God is everywhere, in everyone and everything. And yet God allowed for a temple to be built by David’s son, Solomon, as we heard in our reading for today. As silly of an idea as it is, God still allowed for a temple to be built and countless temples and churches to be built since. Which naturally begs the question—if God doesn’t need a temple, if God can’t be enclosed by a temple, then why allow it to be built at all?
Well, God may not need temples, but we certainly do. We need these places of sanctuary and rest amidst our busy and noisy world. We need places to help us center our lives. We need places to help us feel the presence of God in our lives. Our world is a chaotic world, and we need places that provide order and stability. We need places where we can bring our fears and our doubts and feel less alone and scared. We need places where we can thank God for all his many blessings in our lives. Oh, yes, we need temples even if God doesn’t need them. They serve so many purposes in our lives that we’d be lost without them. I know, I know, we can gather in God’s beautiful creation and fulfill a lot of those same needs. Or libraries for that matter! But God’s creation, as beautiful as it is, doesn’t consistently provide sanctuary. God’s creation can be awfully loud and chaotic at times too. And libraries, well, not everyone abides by the quiet rules…
Temples, in their purest forms, provide perfect sanctuaries in a noisy world. Alas, they are also built by human hands and are comprised of humans, and we are foolish, unstable creations. We don’t know the mind of God and our bodies are constantly beset by change and struggle. Our temples reflect who we are as finite beings. I only bring this up because our temples, our churches, often times aren’t the sanctuaries they are meant to be. Today we’re also celebrating a time when the church needed to reform itself because it was no longer the sanctuary it was meant to be. The church had no longer provided stability and order and it desperately needed a re-formation. And just as God provided Solomon with all he needed to build that first temple, God also provided us with what we needed to rebuild or re-form our church. That’s because our God knows we need the sanctuary of our churches! Our churches are for us, not God.
But it’s true, God isn’t enclosed in our churches. He IS much larger than our churches! Our God goes with us from this place, eager to provide sanctuary wherever we go. Recall the words God spoke to Moses, “He said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” (Exodus 33:14) Those words of assurance are spoken to us too. God is a sanctuary in a restless world. We can take comfort in David’s words, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18) Let us continuously call on him and seek his gracious peace. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
