Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
May 7, 2010—Baccalaureate
1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43; Matthew 5:13-16

1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43 • Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.
“Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name–for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm–when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

Matthew 5:13-16 • “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

I. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Kay Spiritual Life Center. As many of you no doubt learned on your first campus tour, this building is also know as the Flaming Cupcake. There is also another older name for the building that you don’t hear as much any more: “The God Box”. I have to say that given the shape of the building, it’s more like the God Hat Box. But the point is made. This is the building on campus where God lives. God’s embassy here at American at the tail end of Embassy Row.

We’ve gotten used to thinking about our places of worship that way. It’s something we’ve been doing for a long time.

II. BUILDING A BOX FOR GOD

The passage that we just read from 1 Kings is one of the places where this idea got started. That lesson we just heard read this evening happens to be the first scripture lesson I preached on on the first Sunday of the fall semester of 2006, when the members of the class of 2010 were freshmen. I won’t check to see how many of you remember that. In fact, I won’t even check to see how many of you have been regular attendees since then. I promise that in the receiving line after worship, for those of you putting on appearances for your parents, I will act like I know all of you.

This passage from Kings describes the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, after it was built by King Solomon. In the midst of his dedication speech, Solomon says:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!

Solomon shows off some of that wisdom that he’s so well known for. How can Israel build a dwelling place for God? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God. The idea that God would somehow dwell in this building (which was smaller than the palace Solomon had built for himself) was laughable. And still is. Solomon was right in pointing that out. But his observation didn’t take.

People began more and more to view the Temple as where God actually lived. Perhaps that’s why the idea of building the temple had been so controversial in the first place. Prior to the construction of the Temple, the holy place of worship for Israel was the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a moveable sanctuary, a tent compound structure in which the Ark of the Covenant was kept. It could move around the land of Israel from place to place. It was the dwelling of a nomadic God for a nomadic people.

But once the Temple was built, the people’s attitudes about God began to change. God was no longer on the loose, no longer mobile, no longer free. God was now domesticated. In once place. Boxed up. Not likely to cause any trouble.

An episode of The Simpsons in which Homer becomes a missionary sums it up best. Having helped the island native to build a church, Homer declares: “Well, I may not know a lot about God but we sure built a nice cage for him.”

Safely locked up in the Temple, God became a servant of the State, a mascot for royal power, rather than a power over and above the state. It was a situation that led to corruption, idolatry, abuses of power, and injustices against the poor. The very situation that the prophets rose up to condemn as they sought to remind the people of Israel that theirs was a God of justice, of equality, and of freedom–including God’s freedom. God does not live in buildings, God is not bound by our preconceptions, our prejudices, our philosophies.

So, where does God live then?

III. THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD

God lives in you. You are God’s embassy in the world.

That may seem unlikely, I realize. Especially since it’s graduation and some of you are looking for places to live yourselves. You may also think it unlikely because of beliefs you may have about your own worthiness to be such a host.

You seniors have achieved a certain level of self-awareness that your younger selves could only marvel at. I’m fond of saying that no one knows more than a college freshman. If you want proof, just ask one. And no one knows less than a college senior. Just ask one. For you seniors have grown in wisdom enough to know just how much you don’t know. Just how much you have left to learn. Paradoxically, at the end of a college career of four years of non-stop instruction, you can feel that you don’t know anything.

You are headed out into the world and you have this sneaking suspicion that you don’t really know what you’re doing. Rest easy. That’s exactly how you’re supposed to feel. It’s with exactly that humility and openness that you’re supposed to engage in this grand adventure. You’re not supposed to have it all worked out. I’m not sure we ever have it all worked out.

Because you don’t need to have it all worked out, you don’t need to have all the answers, you don’t even have to have found a summer sublet, in order to be a dwelling place for God. In the words of Lennon and McCartney: all you need is love. (Love is all you need).

IV. TABERNACLES FOR THE WORLD

I believe that the main way that people encounter God is through us. People do not usually experience pillars of fire and cloud, burning bushes, parting seas. They experience us. We then are the movable sanctuaries of God’s presence in the world. We are the tabernacles that carry God into the world. And when we live lives defined by love, God dwells within us.

When you live lives that are lives of grace and love for one another, God dwells in you.

When you live lives that serve those in need, God dwells in you.

When you live lives that work for justice, lifting up those who are oppressed, then God dwells in you.

When you live lives that build community, that create places of welcome, that share hospitality with all people, then God dwells in you.

When you live lives of hope, resisting the fear that dominates the world, the God dwells in you.

V. END

Our graduates are on the verge of heading out. This four year sojourn is at an end. A new era in their lives begins. A challenging time. A time of change. We face economic challenges. Political challenges. International threats. Environmental degradation. All manner of new problems face us. And a lot of the old problems are still here, too: war, poverty, violence, racism, famine. There’s a lot going on that you’re going to have to face. A lot going on for you to do.

But you have learned much. You have grown much, particularly in understandings of who you are. During your time here, not only have you figured out who you are, but you’ve come to understand what’s important: giving of self, building community, standing up for those whose voices are not heard.

And you head out into a world that needs you. A world in which civility and community are damaged. A world in which justice is denied to so many. A world hurting and in need of help. A world longing for people to demonstrate the love, fellowship, and grace that you have come to know.

You are ready for the work. You are up to the task. You are the ones we’ve been waiting for. The ones you’ve been waiting for. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Called to be the dwelling place of God in the midst of a broken and hurting world. Called to testify to all that you know, in love, in compassion, in service, and justice.

You are God’s dwellings, tabernacles of love, hope, and grace in the midst of the world. And in the future as you go about the work you have prepared to do, when someone asks “Will God indeed dwell on earth?” the answer will be right in front of them.