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June 19, 2005
None Other Than the House
of God
Genesis 28:10-22, Ephesians 2:11-22
Prayer:
O God, on this day of thanksgiving and celebration, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, for you are our Rock and Redeemer. Amen.
In the last year or so, I have been reading a lot of Frederick Buechner. Buechner is a Presbyterian minister and a writer of fiction and non-fiction. On vacation last week I read Telling Secrets, his memoir that reflects on some of the darkest times in his family's history—his father's suicide, his daughter's survival of anorexia. In telling these stories he seeks to find the meaning in them. In the introduction, Buechner describes the difference between story and plot. Story, he says, is the chronology of what happens, whereas the plot is the because of the events.
I was struck by this difference between story and plot because there has been a great deal of story and plot around this place lately.
In the last ten months we have seen a story unfold, we have witnessed the chronology of events.
- We have watched as this sanctuary was stripped of everything familiar, down to the bare, original brick, and then as it was gradually restored to a new glory.
- We have watched as the courtyard was dug up, as floors were poured down below and on the main level, and as the skylights were installed.
Some of us had the privilege of being in the building every day and not only watching but hearing, feeling and sometimes smelling the progress; others have kept track by looking at the photos on the church website. I know that I have found it highly educational and exciting to be witness to the chronology of the events.
That chronology is important, and it is part of our congregation's history. But what is more important than the story of the renovation is the plot of these events, the whys and becauses of it.
Why would a congregation spend so much time and energy and money on a building? On one level, the plot and the becauses are practical:
We did this because
- the sanctuary roof was in terrible shape
- because the lighting in the sanctuary was poor
- because the carpet and the walls were looking worn
- because the electrical wiring in the ceiling was so precarious, it was difficult for us to find insurance
We did this because
- during really warm stretches during the summer, we held our breath that the air conditioning would still work
- because it was a two-day process to switch the system from heating to cooling or cooling to heating
- because the 1960s electrical system was not adequate for the needs of 21st century technology
These are only a few of the practical whys and becauses of the renovation. And there is another that underscores them:
We did this because we believe Cedar Rapids needs this building: for the Linn Community Food Bank, for Sunday Evening Meals Program, for the ways we currently serve and may yet in the future serve the downtown community, for the witness of this church in this place. Beyond the practical reasons, we believe that we belong here, not just now, but for years to come, and that caring for our building today allows us to continue caring for others tomorrow.
There are other story threads and sub-plots from the last ten months that are worth remembering as well:
Faithful members of the congregation continued to show up on Sunday mornings in spite of the heat, the cramped quarters, and only one functioning toilet on the main level BECAUSE this church—whatever shape its physical structure is in—is an important and essential part of their lives.
Visitors found us and stayed with us and joined us this year in spite of all of the above because they found a welcome here, and things happening—worship, education, service, and fellowship—that they wanted to be a part of.
For me, personally, perhaps the most moving story is that of the way this congregation came together, with patience and good humor, in the inconvenience of the renovation and the absence of a senior pastor. Members of the congregation have provided critical leadership of the renovation process and the day to day programs of this church. This whole process has called out leaders, and I believe has made this congregation stronger and healthier and more committed.
There are so many stories and plots to share about the past ten months. Indeed, as big events have a habit of doing, memories have been stirred and many have shared stories from the congregation's past, as we remember where we have been and what has come before.
But beneath all of these stories, there is an even deeper plot at work, the why and because that underscores and supports all the other storylines and subplots of the past ten months and ten years and beyond.
To get at the deeper plot we have to go back to the book, our book, the book that tells an old story that even though its events took place thousands of years ago is still our story today.
Of course I am talking about the Bible, and while all of the stories of the Bible echo that deepest of plots, of the stories we read this morning, the reading from Genesis does it best.
In that story, Jacob is out in the wilderness, running for his life after he stole his dying father's blessing from his twin brother, Esau. Jacob stops to rest in a place desolate enough that he gets to use a rock for a pillow, but he is worn out from the journey and from fooling his father and brother so that he sleeps anyway. And in his dream, he sees a ladder connecting heaven and earth and angels ascending and descending. God is in the dream, too, promising Jacob that the land on which he is lying will be given to him, that God will be with him and bless him and his descendents.
Jacob wakes up, afraid and amazed, aware that this place is "none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:17) He takes his rock pillow, sets it on another rock, pours oil on it, and declares the name of the place Bethel, Hebrew for House of God.
What can we learn from this passage? What is the deeper plot at work here? It is a story rich with meaning, but at its heart it reminds us of this: Everything begins with God. God takes the initiative and we respond in faith.
When you think about it, Jacob was not a particularly promising candidate for God to choose him, to promise him land and many descendents. He was a liar, and some might say a thief, hardly qualities one looks for in a leader. But God chose Jacob anyway. God chose Jacob and promised him a future, and Jacob responded in faith and obedience.
Perhaps we have not been particularly promising. Perhaps there were those who scoffed when in 1847, a small group of people began worshiping in a schoolhouse just a few blocks away from where we are now. But God promised a future, and those founding members responded. There were some who scoffed a few years ago when we began the building campaign. But again, God promised, and we responded. Throughout our congregation's history, God has continued to promise a future, and generation after generation has responded with faithfulness.
The reading from Ephesians reminds us, we are built on a foundation that goes back even farther than those nine founding members in 1847. We are built on a foundation of saints and apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ himself is the cornerstone. This is the why and the because of our life together on the corner of Third Avenue and Fifth Street, past, present, and future.
To be sure, as the years continue, there will be more stories and chronologies of events, more plots that explain the whys and becauses of things that happen and things that are done. But in whatever the future brings, we trust that we are in this place because God calls us to be here, and we are responding as faithfully as we know how.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
Copyright © 2003-2007 First Presbyterian Church of Cedar Rapids. All rights reserved.