"Property, Purpose, & Presence"

1Kings 8:22-30 Jan.23/05

Shaped by our Surroundings

Someone has said that "Christianity has a way of beginning in a catacomb with nothing but a message, and ending up in a cathedral with nothing but money." Woe to us if we allow desire for property to compromise propagation of the gospel! As we prepare for our annual congregational meeting today, one of the issues coming before us as a young congregation is the possibility of acquiring a building. Yet to date we've managed nicely without one, thanks to God's provision and the gracious policy of a school board. What about buildings? Do they necessarily detract from our missionary message, and make us mercenary instead, preoccupied with raising funds to maintain a hunk of real estate?

      We want to be driven by Christ's purpose for our church, not by a facility's demands for upkeep. Rick Warren in The Purpose-Driven Church makes some observations about churches that are "driven by buildings": "Winston Churchill once said, 'We shape our buildings, and then they shape us.' Too often a congregation is so anxious to have a nice building that the members spend more than they can afford. Paying for and maintaining the building becomes the biggest budget item. Funds needed to operate ministries must be diverted to pay the mortgage, and the actual ministry of the church suffers. The tail ends up wagging the dog. In other situations, churches allow the smallness of their building to set the limit for future growth. Staying with a historic, but inadequate, building should never take priority over reaching the community."

      In seeking to discern Christ's mindset on this topic, let's look first at factors in favour of not being property-driven. Then I'd like to survey with you some Biblical thoughts about the role buildings can play in God's plan.

Church Without Walls

Christianity, or more accurately "The Way" of followers of Jesus, is fundamentally a MOVEMENT not an establishment; it's a RELATIONSHIP not realty. During Jesus' ministry, he did and said some things that were taken as threatening to the Temple establishment. All the gospels record Jesus' cleansing of the temple, upsetting the tables of the moneychangers - probably more than once. In John 2(19) He said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." They thought He meant Herod's magnificent structure, but really he was speaking about His body (Jn.2:21). For Him, the important temple in which God was about to do a miracle was His own body, not the big limestone structure.

      The Lord didn't seem to suggest His followers should be constructing special buildings in which to meet after His death. He promised, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20) No mention of mortar. After the Resurrection, He kicked off what it means to meet as church by appearing to His disciples in a room, breathing on them, and inviting them to receive the Holy Spirit. A very spiritually-oriented, person-based approach, highly portable - which was just as well, once persecution started!

      This language of Christianity as a portable religion carries on through the writers of the New Testament. John (1:14) wrote, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" - literally, "tabernacled" or "pitched his tent". Paul explained to the church at Corinth, "... you are...God’s building...Don’t you know that you yourselves (plural) are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you (plural) are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:9,16f) The temple wasn't a tourist attraction out there but a happening when believers gathered. Similarly, to the Ephesians (2:19ff) he said, "you are...members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." He's not talking about a physical building, but a "holy temple" made up of people. The dwelling-place of Christ is in our hearts, through faith (Eph.3:17).

      For the first 300 years, Christianity managed to spread worldwide without specific buildings such as we see today called "churches". It was a persecuted, often illegal religion. They started out in the book of Acts by breaking bread "from house to house" (Ac.2:46; Rom.16:5; 1Cor.16:19; Col.4:5). After Constantine, Christianity became the state religion; in the Middle Ages, great cathedrals were built, probably the product of sacrificial community effort, as some would take pride in their local arena today. When the pioneers came to this country, schools and churches were among the first public buildings constructed - that represented civilization and community. The Reformers reacted to the excesses of the medieval church, stripping buildings of their ornamentation, chopping the heads off statues and removing candlesticks in an effort to "purify" worship - hence the name "Puritans". They sought to get back to the basics of what church was about, and the New Testament wasn't big on ecclesiastical property.

      There are advantages to not having a specific building for a church. It can definitely free funds for purposes of mission rather than maintenance. We hear stories from other congregations of having to pay thousands of dollars for repairs to roofs or masonry, tens of thousands of dollars for organ upkeep and replacement. With all the need apparent in the world today (material and moral), such a monetary drain suggests the goal of such congregations has been diverted from service to self. As soon as you acquire a building, there's a strong temptation to start using the word "church" to mean the building rather than the people. Jesus' vision, however, was for circles of ever-expanding fellowship groups.

      It isn't just the cost of purchasing the building, but the ongoing maintenance: upgrades, improvements, accessories (we'd need our own screen; whose stepladder are we going to use?), and many "hidden" costs; for example bills for monthly services - heat, water, sewer, electricity, and who wants to pay for a business telephone line?! When you start adding it up, we begin to appreciate more the sacrifice of the band and set-up people who get ready and tear down our equipment and chairs each week. Their sacrifice - of effort, and an extra hour of sleep each Sunday - has translated into quite a bit of extra funding freed up for mission purposes, and a comfortable surplus.

      Mind you, although it's been a lot of work, we haven't had it as tough as some young church plants. Those in urban areas may have had to move to different, larger rented facilities, and with each upgrade came extra work. Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church remarks, "The shoe must never tell the foot how big it can get. Saddleback used high school campuses for our seeker services for 13 years. In order to make the best of what we had to work with we organized two quality control crews. The first crew would come in before 6 am and set up 42 different classrooms and a gymnasium. The set-up crew would diagram each classroom's layout on the chalkboard before moving anything. That way everything could be reset in the right order by the take-down crew when they came in at 1 pm after all the services were over. Every classroom was vacuumed twice every Sunday - once at the beginning of the day and once after we'd finished using the rooms. It was hard work, but part of the price of growth." Whew! After all that each Sunday, you'd really appreciate a Sabbath rest!

The Case for a Place

So considering we're primarily a movement not a fixture, how can congregations justify owning property at all? What theological justification might we find in Scripture for all the expenditure required to have designated buildings exclusively for church use? An interpretive note before we begin: the Old Testament quotes refer chiefly to the Jewish Temple, not the Christian church. We can't confuse the covenants and assume that if it was true for the Temple, it just automatically transfers to be relevant for Jesus' followers. But there are definite parallels which would also apply today.

      First, there's the aspect of being PLANTED as God's people. A sense of permanence, belonging in a location. We may refer to this as having a "footprint" in the community, rather than being largely "invisible" during the week - as far as buildings go. In the song Moses and the Israelites sing after being saved from Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea, they say, "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling...You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established." (Exodus 15:13,17) A sense of permanence, having a place to grow. Later, to David, God pledges, "And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed." (2 Samuel 7:10) In some ways the Temple represented the security and blessing the people enjoyed as a benefit from their Divine Protector.

      Second, a physical building became associated with God's actual PRESENCE to some degree, hence the language "God's house". There's a tension here, as the Bible is aware of the danger of trying to put "God in a box"; yet mysteriously the Lord promises to localize Himself to some degree.

      Right after receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, Moses climbs the slope and disappears in the cloud-cover to spend 40 days getting God's instructions for the fledgling Hebrew nation. Now, what do you suppose would be top priority to outline? Maybe a comprehensive legal system? Guidance about health and government? No, the very first matter on God's agenda is construction of a place in which He can be worshipped. At the outset of Exodus 25, God details an offering to be taken up, for a purpose revealed in vv8-9: "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." That sounds like a physical place of worship is pretty high priority to God!

      When Solomon dedicates the awesome Temple they've just completed, he prays to God before thousands of listeners, "I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever." (1 Kings 8:13) To 'dwell' means 'settle down, abide, dwell, tabernacle, reside' - in other words, it's a location where God chooses to make His presence known.

      Of course, Almighty God who created the universe would never be captured completely in an enclosure humans could carry or construct. The Old Testament has many references to "heaven" as God's "dwelling place" (Dt.26:15; 1Kings 8:30,39,43,49). Even as Solomon dedicates the temple, he acknowledges God is infinitely bigger than his masonry masterpiece. In 1Kings 8(12,27) he prays, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud," and, "will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.How much less this temple I have built!

      Our Lord Jesus Himself seemed quite comfortable referring to the Temple as "my Father's house", for example, when Joseph and Mary were looking for their young missing Son (Lk.2:49; Jn.2:16). One of the Master's sayings in particular captures this mystery of God being both local and transcendental: Mt.23:21f, "And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it." Note how the second part saves us from thinking God is ONLY present at the temple.

      In the early church, the charge against the martyr Stephen is that he "never stops speaking against this holy place [ie Herod's temple] and against the law." He's associated with the popular misconception that Jesus also claimed He'd destroy the building. Stephen runs through a short course in God's covenant faithfulness despite Israelite stubbornness, then concludes by with a quote from Isaiah (66:1f): David...asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.But it was Solomon who built the house for him.However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?’" (Acts 7:44-50) So in the New Testament, while there's still acknowledgment of God's presence at "God's house", there's an easing away from the notion of God being confined to the Temple, or being able to experience His Presence only there. A distinction that threatened the religious leaders so much that it contributed to the death of both Jesus and Stephen; they must have felt it was an important distinction to make.

      Have we answered the all-important question yet, the one people are really desperate to find out? You know the one I mean - is it OK for kids to run in the church?! Hold onto your hats, we may get to that one yet. Seems funny to me in retrospect, that while we weren't supposed to run inside the church growing up, we WERE allowed to stretch out and sleep on the pews during the sermon! Maybe that's because some of the adults were doing the same thing, sitting up!

      Third, while we can't exactly equate or limit God's PRESENCE to the building (a la God-in-a-box), it's more accurate to say the building can be a RE-PRESENTATION (representation) of the reality of the Lord, a reminder of His existence. Dt.12(5,11; 14:23) and other passages refer to "the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name". A name represents someone; for example, I can refer to our MP Paul Steckle by name without him actually being here, and you know who I mean. Likewise, Solomon prays more exactly of "a temple for the Name of the Lord" (1Kings 8:16-20). Ezra 6(3) records even a decree by a pagan king, Darius, ordering the Jewish temple to be rebuilt, in which Darius acknowledges: "God...has caused His Name to dwell there." (see also Jer.7:12,14)

      A church building becomes associated with the Name of Jesus, people say it's a "Christian church" as opposed to a Jewish synagogue or Moslem mosque. Thus it's a visual pointer to God, a silent witness, 24/7, re-presenting the Lord in that location. Wonderfully, miraculously, graciously, God somehow deigns to become associated with these humble transitory deteriorating structures. Just as graciously as He allows His Name to be associated with us struggling saints.

      Fourth, by means of a building the Lord's people can HONOUR Him. When the Tabernacle was completed in the wilderness, it was filled by the cloud of God's glory - so much that Moses couldn't even enter it (Ex.40:34f). Similarly when Solomon dedicated the temple, the cloud of the Lord's glory filled it, and the priests couldn't perform their service (1Kings 8:10f). Ps.26(8) refers to the temple as "the place where Your glory dwells". Conversely, when the rebellious nation is exiled, Ezekiel (10:18) sees a vision of God's glory departing from the temple. Sin brought shame, and this was reflected at the temple.

      How we treat God's things reveals a lot about whether we honour God in our heart. This comes through clearly when the second temple was being built. The prophet Haggai was inspired by God to rebuke people for being busy with their own homes but neglecting God's house. The Lord says, "Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored" (Haggai 1:8). God says attention to the building is a way of honouring Him. Once they got on the job and made it a priority, the Lord promised, "From this day on I will bless you" (Haggai 2:19) - instead of the drought and loss they'd encountered up until then.

      Fifth, the building representing God in a place becomes a focus prompting PRAYER. It's a place that invites people to meet with the Almighty. Even before the first tabernacle was set up, "Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the 'tent of meeting.'Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting..." (Ex.33:7) The Lord promises about the tabernacle itself, "There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory." (Ex.29:43) Solomon's prayer of dedication lists all kinds of possible trouble people may get into, but in each type of predicament he asks God to respond when the victim prays toward the temple. (1Kings 8:29) Through Isaiah the Lord says He will give people joy "in my house of prayer...Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." That's quoted by Jesus when He clears the temple (Mk.11:17). Our Master saw the building as important in terms of a meeting place, a spot people could come to in order to communicate with God and worship Him together. His promise to show up in the midst of 2 or 3 who gather in His name comes in the context of them agreeing about something they're asking the heavenly Father for; that's prayer (Mt.18:19f).

      ['portal': Narnia / Kate & Leopold - gateway by which to interface with other dimension] I don't know if it's possible with the vandalism that's about these days, but it would be nice to be able to have a part or small simple side chapel of a church always unlocked and available for people to come and pray (or, at worst, find shelter from the cold). Too bad when a church's wealth gets in the way of offering its original purpose to the public.

Boots for the Body

Never forget: the church is not a building; the church is...? (people) We're to be purpose-driven, not property-driven. And what's our purpose? Not maintenance of bricks and mortar, but ministry. Paul states that the role of leaders in the church is "to prepare God's people for works of SERVICE, so that the body of Christ may be built up..." (Eph.4:12) Thus if a building gets in the way of ministering to the needs of a community and world, something's wrong. The building ought to be but a glove or boot or set of coveralls that facilitates the body's serving of others. As Rick Warren says, "The shoe must never tell the foot how big it can get."

      It may be cheaper and easier not to have a building; but are there aspects of ministry a building would make possible that we are hampered in right now? This week another person mentioned to me that it would be great to have our own space for weddings and funerals. A place for receptions after such functions with a little more decorum than a school gymnasium. I know a church librarian who'd just love to have some permanent walls and shelves to line with good edifying reading material! Some people in this congregation have artistic talents in the manufacture of banners which could beautify our worship space and be left up from week to week. It would be helpful to have a kitchen and meeting area where we could host a men's breakfast on occasion like the St.Andrew's group does. You can probably imagine some other examples...

      Whatever our decisions in this area, the Lord is keen to make us "planted" as His people in this location; to make His Presence known through us; to draw all kinds of people to find His help through Prayer; and to show His glory and honour, day after day. Property or no property, He's just waiting for us to get on board with His purpose. Let's pray.