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THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
1 Kings 8. 22-30
Hebrews 12. 18-24
Matthew 21. 12-16
I speak to you in the name of † the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As some of you know, last week I led a pilgrimage from Guernsey to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, near Norfolk in the UK. We had a wonderful week together, and on our ‘day off’ we decided to visit Sandringham, one of the residences of the Queen. The house is very interesting, but I was even more struck by our visit to St Mary Magdalene, the parish church that is located next to Her Majesty’s estate.
This beautiful house of prayeris visited by thousands of people from all parts of the world. All who come to see it are struckby its remarkable 16th-century stained glass windows; by the Florentine marble used in the baptismal font; and by the splendid monuments placed on the walls to commemorate various members of the Royal Family. As one looks to the high altar, one immediately notices the ornately-decorated roof of the chancel and sanctuary, which features fourteen carved and gilded angels, each playing a different musical instrument and housed in a special niche. What’s more, the magnificent high altar and reredos are made of solid silver, as is the pulpit. A visit to this extraordinary church inspires awe, wonder and worship. One has the impression of being in heaven, or very close to it. If you have not yet visited the parish church of St Mary Magdalene, I strongly recommend that you do so.
Curiously enough, my visit to the church at Sandringham prepared me to better appreciate the scripture texts that we have before us on Dedication Sunday, and particularly our appointed reading from the first book of Kings. In it, we find Solomon’s prayer offered at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The previous chapters in 1 Kings speak of the Temple’s construction, which lasted seven years. During that time, Solomon used the finest of building materials: cedars of Lebanon, cypress wood, gold, silver, bronze, and huge blocks of cut and dressed stone. The stone walls of the Temple were carved by master craftsmen to produce elaborate decorations of cherubim, palm trees, and flowers. Inside the Temple, everything (even the floor) was overlaid with gold. The Temple was a magnificent building, inside and out.
When the Temple was ready, Solomon brought up the Ark of the Covenant, which had been residing in the Tabernacle, and installed it in the newly-finished Temple. It was placed in the innermost sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim, which were carved of olivewood and covered with gold. As soon as the priests put the Ark in its place, a cloud filled the Temple and the glory of the Lord inhabited it.
This cloud that descended on the Temple wasa sign of the presence of God. It was this same cloud that had led the Israelites out of Egypt and had protected them from the Egyptian army (Ex 14. 19-25). It was this same cloud that had descended on the top of Mount Sinai, when God made a covenant with the Israelites and gave them the Law as a gift (Ex 24. 15-18). It wasthis same cloud thathad settled on the Tabernacle, that movable sanctuary, by which the Lord was present with his chosen people throughout their wilderness wanderings (Ex 40. 34-38). Just as the Lord had been present with the Israelites some five hundred years before (1 Kgs 6. 1), so he was present now with their descendants, in the Temple that Solomon built.
There is continuity here. The same God who brought Israel out of Egypt now dwells with them in their land. But there is also a significant shift in worldview. The Israelites are no longer wandering nomads in the Sinai Peninsula. They are finally established in their own land, in the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are a nation in their own right, with a glorious and wise king. The covenant that was made at Sinai (when the Law was given) is still in force, but Solomon speaks also of another covenant in his prayer: the covenant that God made with David, his father, to establish David's line forever (1 Kgs 8. 23-26). And perhaps most significantly, from now on the Lord will be associated not with Mount Sinai and the Law, but with Mount Zion, the Temple Mount.
It is difficult to overstate the significance of the Temple (and therefore of Jerusalem and Zion) in Israelite and Jewish theology.[1]
Later on in Solomon’s prayer, he says that Jerusalem is ‘the city that you (God) have chosen’ (1 Kgs 8. 44). The Temple is the place of which God says, ‘My name shall be there’ (1 Kgs 8. 29). It is the place where heaven meets earth and where God’s glory appears (Is 6. 1-3). The Temple that is dedicated in our appointed text for today, the Temple that Solomon built, lived in the Israelite and Jewish imagination long after it was destroyed by the Babylonians; and long after its replacement, the Second Temple, was destroyed by the Romans. The longing for the Temple, and for the city in which it stood, is the reason why the Passover meal traditionally ends with the words, ‘Next year in Jerusalem’. It is the reason why the Western Wall (the remaining wall of the Temple Mount that is closest to the site of the Temple) is Judaism’s holiest site.
As we Gentile Christians encounter this text, we may well wonder how it applies to us. After all, the Temple and Jerusalem do not hold the same importance for Christians as they do for Jews.
But the fact remains that God is, and has always been present with his people. The Scriptures tell us that he was present at Mount Sinai, in cloud and in fire; that he was present in cloud at the Tabernacle; and that he was present in cloud at the Temple in Jerusalem. But God is currently present with usmost fully in his Son Jesus Christ, who is Emmanuel, or God-with-us. More than in any building or place, it is in our Lord that the presence of God is ‘fleshed out’. Christ dwelled with us and the glory of God was manifest in him.
Notice that Solomon’s prayer in our text does not confine God to the Temple. In verse 27, Solomon acknowledges that this ‘house’ cannot contain God; and in several verses, he speaks of God’s ‘dwelling place’ as being in ‘heaven’, from where God hears our prayers and acts in mercy towards those who pray (1 Kgs 8. 30-49). Although the Temple was central to Israel’s worship for many centuries, it was not essential. Even after the Temple was destroyed twice, God remained present with his people and was attentive to them.
Our God, who is totally transcendent, will nevertheless hear the prayers of human beings and will respond accordingly. We humans will always, at some point or another, be in desperate need of God’s attention; and yet we can have hope. There is hope, because our God is present. There is hope, because our God is supremely sovereign and is capable of intervening. You and I can come to God with any request, under any circumstances. We can be assured that he will freely forgive, freely save, and freely act in his great love and mercy.
Amen.
Sermon preached at St Stephen’s Church
8th October 2017 – Dedication Sunday
[1] To cite just one of a myriad of examples, Psalm 137 gives voice to the longing of the exiles in Babylon for Jerusalem:
‘By the rivers of Babylon-- there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion…If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.’ (Ps 137. 1, 5-6).
The Talmud instructs Jews to recite this last verse to a bridegroom at his wedding, as he waits for his bride to arrive, so that he will remember that there is no greater joy than the joy one should feel over Jerusalem.