A Dwelling Place for God

This is the 18th Sunday since we worshipped together in this Sanctuary, this holy place, this space set aside for worship. A year ago, 6 months ago, I would have told you that it simply was not possible. And yet, here we are, and here we will likely continue to be for some time – not gathering in this space that was first consecrated for worship in March of 1976. As the time of sheltering at home began, I talked with a friend who had gathered up the candlesticks and cross and paraments from their church, the symbols in the Sanctuary and taken them home to create a worship space for recording services. Other pastors were still going to the Sanctuary to record worship. Some advised not going both because it could mean gathering with others who might be contagious and because it could cause a psychological divide between the congregation, who so missed their place of worship, and the pastor, who was where they wanted to be.

Is it ok? Is it ok to not come to church? For years small and mid-sized congregations have spoken out against TV preachers and televised worship services. How could you possibly experience God in your PJs? How could it be when we dedicate our church building to God with a Commission from Presbytery gathering outside the building with the Congregation and the Session of the church gathers inside, and the Moderator of the Commission approaches the church doors and knocks three times saying “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord,” when the baptismal font and pulpit and lectern, the table and the organ have all been prayed over and dedicated to God’s glory?

One third of the book of Exodus deals with the problem of where to worship God. Over time, the Israelites had assimilated portions of Egyptian worship into their religious life. They had idols to pray to for particular concerns and they had adopted the belief of the ancient Near East that the dwelling place of God is the mountaintop. When they escaped from Egypt, they knew that God sent the plagues, divided the sea, provided the manna and quail, brought forth water, but they still worried whether God was with them, or not.
God called them to Mt. Sinai to meet God and receive the Ten Words, the commandments for community life. And when Moses came back down Mt. Sinai and told the people all that God had instructed, they responded, ‘All the words which God has spoken we will do.’ There is an elaborate description in the first half of Exodus 24 of Moses offering burnt offerings and throwing half the blood on the altar and the other half upon the people as the blood of the covenant between the people and God. It would have been possible for them to leave Mt. Sinai and take the Commandments with them and continue to travel, in search of the promised land, and continue to wonder when God was with them, and when God was not.

God called Moses back up on the mountain and after a time of preparation, 40 days and 40 nights, God told Moses to return to the Israelites and take up an offering, an offering of their treasures, the best of what they brought with them from Egypt, to take up an offering from those with willing hearts to make for God a sanctuary. The NIV says “and I will dwell with them.” The NRSV says “that I may dwell with them.” The word translated “dwell” is “mishkan” meaning tabernacle or tent.

God calls on those with willing hearts to give of their treasures to build a moveable Sanctuary in the center of the camp so that wherever they go, they will know that God is with them. Of course, once they came into the Promised Land and built the Temple in Jerusalem, the presence of God again became in their thoughts, localized.

This is the pattern throughout history: disruption causes God’s faithful to seek God and they find that God pitches a tent wherever we are, and then a time of establishment follows and God’s presence and worship becomes localized again – in a Temple, in a Cathedral, in a church. Each time we enter a phase of establishment, the worship of God is in danger of being rote, something we do without thinking, a prescribed order with no expectation of God acting.

And so, as much as we may miss being in worship in this Sanctuary, my friends, we are in a time of disruption, and times of disruption are opportunities. In times of disruption, people who have turned away from the establishment because they have been hurt by it or seen its hypocrisy, or questioned its lack of passion for justice and peace, people who have not seen a reason to believe in God, or practice religion, people who are Christians but not disciples, in times of disruption, we have an opportunity to reach people who are now seeking God. And we may find that we ourselves are going deeper in our faith and commitment as the disruption in our lives prompts us to seek God. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to do three simple things before you turn off this service – like it on YouTube, if you haven’t already, subscribe to our feed on YouTube, and share your favorite Farmington Presbyterian online service so far on social media if you have a social media account.

The pattern holds true for us in localization of God’s presence as well. For the Farmington family, this Sanctuary has been a sign of God’s presence with us. It has been a place of baptisms and communion services, it has been a place where we have extinguished candles during Holy Week and sung “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today – Alleluia” on Easter Sunday mornings. It is the place where we have sung “Silent Night” and passed the candlelight of the Christ child on Christmas Eve and where we have sung “Joy to the World” with all the brightness of the noonday sun. Here in this place, we have been gathered by the Holy Spirit as family, as brothers and sisters in Christ.

And now we are scattered, and yet we worship gathered by the Holy Spirit, for it is no longer the place that is the dwelling of God. It is in the midst of the people gathered. Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there, in the midst of them,” and Jesus prayed for us, those who would hear the message of the disciples and believe in him, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

It isn’t these walls and pews, or even the Font or Table or Bible that we miss, really. It is the faces, the relationships, the love. If you have had someone on your mind in the congregation, reach out to them. We are looking at having some Zoom socials. If you have ideas for games we can play on Zoom, or if you have a group that wants to gather together and wants resources, or if you would be willing to convene a group, please email me. God is pitching a tent, wherever we are, and those with willing hearts are encouraged to offer their resources.

As we continue in this liminal space, this threshold time, as we struggle with what a “new normal” may look like, practically. May we remember that God chose to pitch a tent along with the Israelites as they wandered, and God travels with us in this time. May we have hearts that are willing to offer our resources to make a Sanctuary for God. May we remember the words of Paul to the church at Ephesus and to us, “We are members of God’s household, built on the foundation of those who have spoken God’s word, with Christ the Word as the very cornerstone. We are all joined together to make a holy temple, to become a dwelling in which God lives by God’s Holy Spirit living in me and in you. Amen.