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| Would Jesus say the same thing about our churches that He said about the Temple in today's Gospel lesson? |
This sermon was preached on November 18, 2018 during the Sunday Holy Eucharist services for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost. The readings that inspired the sermon were the following:
Dr. Gerald Smith, a Religion Professor at Sewanee, more affectionately known just by his last name—Smith, once took his Intro to Religion students out of their normal classroom and onto the Quad. He did this to make a point about how we see the priorities of a community reflected in its buildings. Using the architecture on central campus—some academic structures, the administrative offices, and All Saints’ Chapel—Smith asked the class what they saw. Even though the students had walked by that area many times this exercise of paying attention served as eye-opening.
A Geology major informed the class that Tennessee sandstone made up the façade of the chapel. An upperclassman pointed out how so many disciplines were represented in the buildings around the Quad. Then, a church-nerd pointed out the Gothic nature of All Saints’. Finally, Smith jumped in to make clear his point. “Which building is the tallest?” the professor asked. “The Chapel,” the class replied. “So, what do you think that means? What does that say about the university? What does it say about this community’s priorities?” Those questions around the physical world and values have stuck with me.
Dr. Smith asserted throughout that particular class that our tallest buildings indicate to us what we hold most dearly. In that case, an Episcopal identity at an Episcopal University. But, if we look in our city, what does our architecture confess about us? Well, what buildings are tallest? Banks, offices, and churches. What about across the country? What buildings are tallest? The One World Trade Center is the tallest at 1,776 feet. That is the skyscraper rebuilt on the site of the Trade Center buildings, which were bombed on September 11, 2001 in New York City. Among the other tallest structures are The Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago and 432 Park Avenue in New York City.[1]
What do these buildings tell us about what we give worth to in our society? These buildings reflect that we value trade, our economy, wealth, and having a place to live. By the way, Riverside Church also in NYC—associated with the American Baptists and the United Church of Christ—is the tallest church in the U.S.A. and it is a full 1,384 feet shorter than the One World Trade Center, 10 miles down the Hudson River.[2] So what does this say? What do these buildings tell us about what we value? Perhaps these questions do not really help to inform us.
Building a really tall church seems impractical. And, in over-crowded cities like New York building up makes more sense than building out. Still, I cannot help but wonder what Jesus would think if we marveled to him about our tall buildings or even our beautiful church. If we caught him on a day like the one in today’s Gospel lesson we might find ourselves taken aback.
“Look, Teacher, what large stones and what a large church!” we might even say, “Jesus, did you notice how pretty our new facilities are?” He could very well reply, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” If bold enough, we might reply, “What gives Jesus? Why are you so upset? Isn’t it important to have tall and beautiful structures that point to what we hold dear?” I’m not positive how Jesus would reply to this, but He might very well reply with the words he spoke long ago, “Beware that no one leads you astray.” Astray? Astray of what? Where are we going off God’s path?
Our Great Teacher warned us to be wary, but why? His disciples wanted to know when the Temple would be toppled because they thought this would be a sign of the End of Days, Armageddon, the Eschaton. According to Jesus, there was a lot that needed to happen before the end. He cautioned that some would falsely come in His name. He said not to be alarmed by wars and rumors of wars. He even said to keep going through national uprisings and earthquakes and famines. Whoa! Jesus, do you even hear what you are saying? But, there is something to all of this. There is something to Jesus’ words because they are not just about being wary, and they aren’t about being worried, and they certainly aren’t about being fearful of what is to come—even if we might be all of these things.
No, Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel lesson are about something else. His words call us to wonder what it is that we are truly looking out for. It is not about all those terrible things—wars, rebellions, earthquakes, and famines—for they have been happening since Jesus was walking the earth. It’s not simply about those signs. And, in a society with lots of tall banks, apartments, and even churches that have been built up and demolished over the years, it’s not just about stones falling down. No, Jesus’ words cut through the noise of nations rising and falling, of natural disasters, and of everything else in our busy lives. Jesus cuts right to the heart of what is important.
Even when everything around us is crumbling, even when we feel like the sky is falling, even on our darkest days, Jesus tells us to keep going, for these are just the birthpangs. What will come will be beyond anything of our wildest imagination. That which will be born from these events will be the reign of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the realm of the Spirit! You see the best is yet to come!
Now, I won’t ever fully know the pains of the birthing process—other than perhaps a almost broken hand from my spouse’s kung fu like grip during labor. However, the difficulty of labor, even in our day and age, seems so tremendous that it is incredible that any of us are here in the first place. Still, I know that whenever I ask people about their moments closest to Christ throughout their whole lives what they almost universally point to is the birth of a child. New life marvels all of us. And, it seemingly far outweighs even the challenges of labor. The sprouting up of God’s way in this world will, according to Christ, be as painful as delivering a child. And yet, this is what we are called to be a part of.
We are called to bear God’s reign into this world. While the building up of the physical world is important, I mean look at how beautiful our new additions are, there is more than just what we see. Christ calls us to be dwelling places ourselves for God’s Spirit. Even when everything around us is crumbling, even when we feel like the sky is falling, even on our darkest days…when this material world crashes down, we are always called to bear God’s Kingdom, which never crumbles or falls or fades. We are called to keep going. Jesus says to us, “Don’t worry about how tall the building is. Instead build up dwelling places in your souls where my Spirit can dwell. For even our hardest hours are just the beginning of the birthpangs, which lead to God’s Kingdom being born in us and in this world.” Keep going, keep the faith, for these are just the birthpangs of Christ’s reign in this world, and the best is yet to come.
[1] “List of Tallest Buildings in the United States.” Wikipedia. Accessed 11/15/18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_the_United_States.
[2] “List of Tallest Church Buildings in the World.” Wikipedia. Accessed 11/15/18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_church_buildings.
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