Building for God - Staying Focused
In the midst of a building project, it is important for us to remember, as a congregation, that buildings can have a very powerful influence on us. A tangible, brick and stone structure can exert a powerful, yet often unseen pull on our values, our priorities, our philosophy of ministry, and our understanding of what the church is here to do. Someone has well said that “We dictate our buildings, and then our buildings dictate us.”
To give you an example, let me tell you a little bit about my former church in Lynbrook, NY. Lynbrook Baptist Church was built in the 1920’s by people who were moving to the suburbs of Long Island from places like Brooklyn. In fact, that’s how Lynbrook got its name—they simply reversed the syllables of Brooklyn.
Back in the days when they built Lynbrook Baptist Church, the pipe organ was considered to be the instrument of choice for church music. So they built the church with a very elaborate pipe organ—and the organ pipes were an integral part of the architecture of the front of the sanctuary. The organ was actually part of the building.
Well, over the next sixty years, that organ slowly began to age and deteriorate to the point where in the mid–1980’s, it was in such poor condition that it was almost unusable. Now the congregation had a decision to make. To refurbish that pipe organ and get it back up to proper working order was going to cost in the neighborhood of $50,000.
But there were a lot of younger people who had become part of the church in the meantime who didn’t care two pins about pipe organ music. They thought it was scandalous to spend $50,000 on a pipe organ when the church could be sending out more missionaries with that money.
But on the other hand, there were a lot of people who thought that it would be terrible to just let the organ die and be faced with those silent, mute pipes staring you in the face every Sunday morning. Because, you see, the organ was still part of the building. And for over a year, the congregation wrestled with that issue—all because of the way that the building had originally been built.
We dictate our buildings and then our buildings dictate us.
Same thing happened in the OT. King David had a vision to build a Temple in Jerusalem—a place where all Israel could come and worship the Living God. Now as we saw last week, David was not going to be the man to build it. His son Solomon would be the builder of the Temple.
And that Temple, once it was built, began to wield a powerful influence on the thinking of the children of Israel—on what they thought about God, on what they thought about worship, and on what they thought about themselves as the people of God.
Some of them began to think that, as long as the Temple was in Jerusalem, their nation was invincible. They began to believe that their God actually lived at the Temple, and as long as he lived there, he would never allow the city of Jerusalem to be captured by the enemies of Israel. And so they also began to believe that it didn’t matter how they lived, or how well they obeyed God as a people—as long as the Temple was there, it was like a good-luck charm for their security as a nation.
It’s somewhat similar to what some people think today. They think that as long as they go to church—as long as they physically show up at a certain building from time to time—it doesn’t matter how they live the rest of the time. They’ve done their duty. They have visited God’s house.
You see, buildings—especially religious buildings—can have a powerful effect on us. And so we have to struggle to maintain our focus—to maintain a right perspective on our church building, lest we get off track and out of balance on what it is here for.
It’s always easy for us to start seeing a church building as being an end in itself, and not a means to an end. The great cathedrals of Europe were built to be houses of worship. The soaring architecture, the wonderful stained glass windows, the magnificent craftsmanship were meant to draw the people into the worship of God. A cathedral was meant to be an instrument—a means to an end; not an end in itself.
But unfortunately, those cathedrals are no longer instruments; they are monuments. Not much worship takes place in them anymore. Any giving that is done nowadays in those cathedrals goes, not to the work of God, but to the preservation of the monument.
Solomon did not want to see this happen to the Temple that he built. It was a wonderful building—a beautifully ornate building. It was built with the most costly materials and the most devoted craftsmanship went into its construction. But Solomon didn’t build that Temple to be a monument. He built it to be an instrument—an instrument of praise to the Living God; the God of Israel.
Let’s look at his prayer of dedication for the Temple, which is found in 2 Chronicles 6. I would also invite you to refer to the sermon study notes which you’ll find in your bulletin this morning.
In this prayer of dedication, Solomon reveals the focus of his own heart in this great building project. His heart is focused on God, not on the building itself. Look at what he says in 2 Chronicles 6…
v. 14 He said: “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.
He rejoices in God’s character. He celebrates the fact that God is a God who is faithful.
v. 16 Now Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done.’ And now, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true.
He reflects on God’s promises. Solomon’s father David had said “I want to build a house for God.” But God had said to David “You want to build my house, but instead, I’m going to build your house.” And Solomon remembers that promise.
v. 18 But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
Solomon recognizes God’s transcendence. He knows that you cannot put God in a box. God is too great, too mighty, to ever be limited to a puny little temple built by human hands.
v. 19 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there.
He says “God, even though you cannot be limited to this Temple, please smile upon it. Please grace this place with your presence. Please meet with us here. Let this Temple be a place where people can truly meet God.” He requests God’s immanence—that means God’s nearness and indwelling presence.
And then he goes on to make a series of requests that flow from that request for God’s immanence. Look at what he says…
v. 22 When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.
Solomon asks God to make the Temple a place where righteousness reigns—a place where people are treated with justice and fairness and dignity.
And it seems to me that we ought to pray the same prayer for our church—that it be a place of righteousness; a place where God’s standards are practiced in our relationships with one another.
In so many churches, this is not happening. There is gossip and slander. There are cliques and politicking and infighting. People are used and abused. And the world looks on and says “How is the church any different from the world?”
The church ought to be a place where righteousness reigns.
v. 24 When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their fathers.
Solomon asked God to make the Temple a place where sinners are restored. And that ought to be true of the church today.
The church was never meant to be a showcase for the saints. It was meant to be a hospital for the wounded, a garage for repairing broken lives. It has been said that a church that does not gather in the drunks, the prostitutes, the liars, and the thieves does not deserve the right to welcome the saints.
How spiritual we are as a congregation is demonstrated in the way that we treat sinners. Do we condemn them? Do we wish that they would just go away with their problems and their objectionable behavior and leave us alone to enjoy our nice little fellowship?
Or do we love them, and reach out to them, and offer them the gospel? The church ought to be a place where sinners are restored.
v. 26 When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.
Solomon prays that God would make the Temple a place where mercy is shown. And the church ought to be the same kind of place.
A certain evangelical denomination regularly prays this prayer at their communion services: “Lord, forgive us for turning our churches into private clubs; for loving familiar hymns and religious feelings more than we love you; for pasting stained glass on our eyes and our ears to shut out the cry of the hungry and the hurt of the world.”
Are we attuned to the sufferings of those less fortunate than ourselves? Are we quick to show mercy?
Ben and Charles are two Christian brothers from the country of Ghana in W. Africa. Ghana, like many African countries, has been experiencing bitter tribal warfare, especially in the part of the country where Ben and Charlie lived. Their lives were in danger, so with the help of an influential friend in the capital, they fled the country arriving in the United States about a year ago.
They requested asylum here as political refugees, but their plea was rejected by the U.S. Government and they were ordered to be deported. That was about a year ago. Since that time, Ben and Charlie were held in the Lehigh County jail.
Somehow or other, they got in touch with our church. They related their story to us and asked for whatever help we could give them as Christian brothers. There wasn’t much we could do for them on the legal front, since their case was pretty much open and shut. But one of our men, Ed Eriksen, began to visit them in the jail. He got to know them as they languished there for month after month awaiting deportation.
We began to provide them with a little spending money from our Fellowship Fund to help them buy toiletries and personal items in the prison. Ben and Charlie frequently wrote to us, or telephoned us to express their deep gratitude for our help, our prayers, and our encouragement.
Finally, we received word that Charlie was going to be transferred to a jail in Berks County, and Benjamin was going to be deported. Benjamin asked us—somewhat hesitantly—for one more request. He said that if he were to arrive back in Ghana without any money, he would probably be thrown in jail, or worse. He needed some money to pay off the immigration officials. That’s how things work in Africa.
Well, this was a rather unusual request for our Deacons! Should we give him some of the Lord’s money to essentially pay a bribe? We prayed about it and we decided that if that’s what it would take to help a fellow Christian in Ghana, that’s what we would do. So we gave him $200 from our Fellowship Fund to use at his discretion when he went back home.
Benjamin was put, in handcuffs along with two other political prisoners, on a flight to Ghana on August 29. When he arrived in Africa, his two fellow prisoners, who had no money, were immediately arrested and thrown in jail. But Benjamin gave the authorities the $200 that we had given him, and he was set free.
He wrote us a letter thanking us profusely for what we had done. He is now fellowshiping with the Harvest Baptist Church in Ghana, where he is staying at their mission house. He is a free man.
That’s just one little story of how a simple act of mercy can change someone’s life.
v. 28 When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of his afflictions and pains, and spreading out his hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of men), so that they will fear you and walk in your ways all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.
Solomon prayed that God would make the Temple a place where needs are met. And the church ought to be the same kind of place. Because people have so many needs. They are famished spiritually. They are living with the disaster of broken lives and broken dreams because of sin. And they need help.
Are we going to be there to help them?
v. 32 As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
Solomon asked God to make the Temple a place where outsiders—foreigners—are welcome. He wanted the people outside Israel to know God.
Is our church that kind of place? What do outsiders think when they come here? Do they feel comfortable? Do they feel welcome? Does anybody go out of their way to talk to them and make them feel at home? Do you do that when you see a stranger?
v. 34 When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.
Solomon asked God to make the Temple a place where victories are won. And the church ought to be the same kind of place. The church ought to be an armory to equip us for the spiritual warfare we all engage in.
Satan would like nothing more than to defeat you as you seek to live for God. But our church can make the difference in your life. As you come here from week to week, you can gain strength from the Word of God, and encouragement from the fellowship of your brothers and sisters in Christ, to keep on fighting, to keep on being faithful.
And I’ll tell you one thing that will make our church a place where victories are won. It’s prayer. Are we praying powerfully together as a congregation? Are we seeing God’s mighty hand unleashed in our families and our neighborhoods and our communities because of our prayers?
The church prayer meeting is not a glamorous event. It’s not entertaining; it’s not always exciting. But it is a place where victories are won.
v. 36–39 When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
Solomon had great prophetic insight here. Under the inspiration of the spirit, he foresaw that there would be a day coming when the children of Israel would fall into sin and be taken captive to a far country. And that, of course, is exactly what happened to the Jews in 722 BC and again in 586 BC.
And Solomon knew that when the people found themselves in that far country, defeated, depressed, and living in slavery, their thoughts and their hearts would turn to back to the time when they worshiped God at the Temple.
And Solomon prayed that God would make the Temple a place of hope—a place where hope burns brightest.
And that should also be true of the local church. It should be a place of hope—not a place of condemnation, or confrontation, but a place of forgiveness; a place of new beginnings.
Not all of the people who have come through this church are still here. Some of our young people who have grown up here have turned away from following the Lord. Some of our adult members have fallen into sin, or have just drifted away.
And we pray for them. And we yearn for the day when they will turn back to the Lord. And when they do, I pray that our church would be the kind of place they would feel comfortable coming back to. I pray that they would receive the same kind of welcome back that the father gave to the Prodigal Son who came home. His home was a place of hope. And our church ought to be a place of hope, too.
v. 40 Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. Now arise, O Lord God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, may your saints rejoice in your goodness.
Solomon prayed that God would make the Temple a place where God’s presence is felt. Because if God was there, then all of the other things he prayed for would be answered. Because wherever God is…
• righteousness reigns
• sinners are restored
• mercy is shown
• needs are met
• outsiders are welcome
• victories are won
• hope burns brightest
Because that’s the way God is. And that’s what I want for our church. I pray that during this coming year, we would not become so preoccupied with building a building that we would lose sight of what it’s ultimately going to be there for. It’s going to be there so that people can meet God. So that people can get to know Him better. So that people can be blessed by His presence.
Remember—we’re not building a monument; we’re building an instrument.