This sermon was preached at Dominion-Chalmers United Church on June 10, 2012.  It was the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Chalmers Presbyterian Church, which later became Chalmers United Church. It was also the 50th anniversary of the amalgamation of Chalmers United Church and Dominion United Church. 

“Shifting Foundations”                  Ezra 3: 10-13; Mark 13: 1-8

by Rev. Dr. Christine Johnson

There’s a lot of intrigue when it comes to the building of the second temple in Jerusalem.

One king gives a decree that it’s okay for the Jewish people to build,

                then the next one withdraws it and so the building is stopped,

                then the next one goes into the archives and finds the original decree,

                and the building is resumed.

If you read the entire book of Ezra, you’ll soon discover

this construction project is way bigger than the materials,

                or the money,

                or the expertise to build it. 

You see, these people had lost the first temple, the temple built by Solomon.

This great temple had been destroyed by invading armies and

the leaders of the Jewish people dragged away to Persia.

The Jewish people not only lost their temple,

                they lost their freedom, their dignity, their religion, and their gathering place.

So, when modern people say, “a church is only bricks and mortar”

                I point them back to this story.

A church is about the people who are in it, the work they are doing,

                the people who have been part of it, and the people who will be part of it in the future.

A building is a tool,

                a tool for freedom, for dignity, for religion, a gathering place of God’s people.

For 100 years, this building has stood as a beacon of God’s light in the world.

For 100 years, it has been a gathering place for Christians who are seeking solace,

                or education, or fun, or friends.

For 100 years, Dominion-Chalmers United Church has welcomed the stranger,

                fed the hungry and clothed the naked.

In this building, an amalgamation was born out of the tragedy of a devastating fire.

For 50 years, the people from Dominion United joined the people of Chalmers United,

one traditionally Methodist,  the other traditionally Presbyterian,

to form a new downtown ministry.

For 50 years, the legacies of these two dynamic churches have become your legacy.

An anniversary such as this is a great time of celebration,

                and also an excellent time for reflection.

For today, we’re not just celebrating a fine building with all its accoutrements.

We’re celebrating the hard work and tenacity of the people of God

                to be open to God’s spirit working in the world.

And so as much as the building is a tool and an anchor

                there’s a temptation for us to forget that the doors are not to be locked against the hoards,

                but to serve as an invitation, a gateway into the heart of God.

I think this was Jesus’ point as he walked outside the temple in Jerusalem.

The building of this new third temple had only begun in Jesus’ lifetime.

The first temple, built by Solomon, had been destroyed.

And the second temple, built with  the purse of King Cyrus of Persia,

                had also been destroyed.

Jesus knew the precarious history of the temples of Jerusalem,

                and had seen first-hand what a religious building can do to its religious leadership.

Jesus lamented  the greed of the temple priests,

                the perversion of laws that were a barrier to healing and peace,

                the lust for power and control,

                the rejection of the poor and unclean.

He knows that trouble is coming and it won’t be pretty.  

He knows there will be war and rumours of wars,

                nation rising against nation,

                earthquakes, and famines.

Yes, he says, this temple will fall,

                but that’s when new birth takes place.

As DCUC celebrates this milestone, and as your friends from GSJ, know all too well,

                the gift of a building, 

                a gift given to future generations by hardworking and God-loving people,

                is both a blessing and a curse.

For 100 year old buildings have arthritis in the knees and bulging discs in its spine.

The roof leaks, even when it’s just been repaired.

The drainage system around the foundation gets old and has to be replaced.

Paint needs refreshing and furniture replaced.

Heating bills have to be paid and stained glass windows re-leaded.

And so now is the moment when we ask

                the most important question of all.

Why do we take care of our buildings and pour our heart and soul into them?

If you say because they’re beautiful,

                I can show you a lot of beautiful buildings.

If you say ‘I want to have a place for my funeral,

                or for my children’s marriages,

                or to baptize my children,’ there are churches on every corner for that purpose.

If you say I want to honour my ancestors,

Jesus said “let the dead bury the dead.”

If you say I want to preserve the building for the future,

                Jesus said “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

What would be good reasons to pour our heart and soul into our buildings?

If you say God longs for us to use this building as a tool of love, compassion and caring,

                you’re on the right track.

If you say God wants us to be a physical and real presence of grace in the downtown core of Ottawa,

                I’m listening.

If you say we want to use our building to facilitate healing, wholeness and good relationships,

                mmmm, you’re on to something really good.

If you say, we can offer this facility for all the arts groups in the city to share the creative gifts

 because we believe the arts are an expression of God’s inspiration,

                let’s talk.

If you say, by preaching a real gospel in response to real needs,

                I’d say, “Hallelujah.”

If you say, this building serves God’s purposes at this time and in this particular place,

                in the national’s capital, in the shadow of Parliament Hill,

                I’d say, “Yes, you’ve got it.”

I’m always listening to anti-building arguments.

We have too many.

They’re too big.

We spend too much money on them.

We worship our buildings.

Our buildings stop us from doing good ministry...and the list goes on and on.

It is true,

                the foundations of our faith are shifting.

We just don’t have large groups of people flocking to our churches.

It is hard to pay the bills,

                to resist the temptation to want to preserve our buildings for its own sake.

The whole Christian church is undergoing a great deal of upheaval.

Sunday morning is not longer the sacred hour.

Missiologists tell us to get out of our buildings and into the street. 

New music, new worship forms, new ways of expressing our faith

                run up against a lot of resistance from tradition and traditionalists.

In fact, one term that has been used to describe this is “the worship wars.”

Whenever you purchase a house, or any building,

                it is wise to spend extra money on a building inspector.

One of their main jobs is to determine whether the foundation is sound.

The last thing you want when buying a new house,

                are cracks in the foundation, or shifting foundations.

Without a sound foundation, the rest of the house is vulnerable to major damage.

So, today, as we celebrate the milestone of 100 years in this building,

                as we celebrate 50 years of amalgamation,

                all of us need to answer this question as well.

Are we on a firm foundation?

Is it sound?

There will always be mixed feelings about buildings.

In the book of Ezra,

                at the moment the cornerstone is laid,

                the sounds of joy and crying are mixed together in such a way

                “that the people could not distinguish the sounds of the joy

 from the sound of the people’s weeping.”

The elders lamented the loss of the first temple,

and the exiled generation, the ones who had never seen the temple,

were overjoyed to see the temple rise again.

As Dominion-Chalmers goes forward into its future,

                this verse might serve to remind all of you that it was never easy,

                                nor will it be now.

And yet, no matter the emotion,

                whether joy or sorrow,

                they cared.

They cared so much that the sounds mingled and were indistinguishable

                ‘for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.’

In the year of our Lord, 2012,

                in a world of computers and instant communication,

                does this building serve God’s purposes rather than our own?

Do you care so much, whether joy or sorrow, that you’re willing to make some noise?

God’s purposes are the rock upon which true life is built.

If this church is built on the sands of our own egos,

                it will come crumbling down. 

So, it’s not about the money, or the beauty, or the rites of passage,

                it’s not about the concerts, or church functions, or endless meetings.

If this building is built on the rock of God’s spirit of love and forgiveness,

                it will stand forever.

And if there’s troubles, or challenges, or cultural earthquakes,

                take heart, for these might just be the beginning of the birth pangs

                of something new and wonderful

and so amazing that we won’t want to miss a thing.