This week feels strange for us here in Lunenburg…
We’ve had some BIG days this past week…
Monday – the 7th – we recalled that as the day when ships first landed here in Lunenburg, and a British colony began.
And yesterday – the 12th – was the day, 16 years ago, when the physical building where we enjoy gathering was re-dedicated as a sacred space.
And we were reminded of the scripture from Genesis, that Jacob proclaimed: Clearly, the Lord is in this place!
Well, friends, here we are again. And we are invited to the same awe and wonder that Jacob had. Admittedly, his enthusiasm comes right after his dream about the interconnectivity of heaven and earth, of the ladder stretching between realms.
Clearly, God is in this place, he says. Likely with a WOOHOO! Or and EGADS! Maybe even – clearly not a typical Anglican – maybe some arms-up hand waving.
CLEARLY! God is in THIS place!
Indeed.
Now, you know I’m a word geek, so I find it interesting that the words that Jacob used here are the same that are used throughout the Hebrew scriptures – Beth El. The house of God. The house of prayer. The place where something truly amazing and spiritual happens. The place where the connection to God feels strongest! The place where heaven and earth are linked, and the reality of spiritual interconnection and interaction is revealed as a constant and consistent truth.
Clearly, the Lord IS in this place!
But – and this is fun – Jacob doesn’t build a building. He puts a rock down.
A rock.
Not, in and of itself, a fascinating thing – but a reminder to praise God.
And this is remembered throughout the scriptures, as the word BethEl is used time and again to describe and denote a place where the movement of the divine is being honoured and celebrated.
Abram had a stone altar, the fortified city of Luz is renamed BethEl as a gathering spot for God’s people, that region then divides into smaller sections where God’s presence is felt… there’s lots.
And throughout, they are recognised as inspirational memories; not a promise of divine intervention just by walking past.
The experience of connection is honoured more than the place.
This is why it’s marked with a rock.
Rocks can be moved, if they need to be.
Or connected into amazing things.
Or used as an example of the solid foundations of a community – Peter – meaning ROCK – the rock on which Christ built his church – his community of disciples. A person; a community; a church.
And with those rocks, humanity declares joyfully:
Clearly, the Lord is in this place!
…and I did not know it.
What a great admission, for Jacob, for us all.
The Lord is in THIS place. Here, now. The Lord is here: this is the House of the Lord.
And sometimes, we don’t know it.
We don’t see it, we overlook it, we don’t recognise it, whatever.
Hey, we’re human.
But.
BUT!
Sometimes, we see it. And we celebrate it. And we honour it.
And we engage in the story WITH it.
Because faith, as we know, is not a static reality.
It’s a living, moving, evolving truth.
It’s a joy – a celebration – an invitation to dance with the divine! To find the place within us where we too see God’s beloved as God’s beloved – in our midst.
Clearly, then, the Lord is in this place.
But there’s more to this story – obviously.
Jacob didn’t stop there. He didn’t set his rock, offer prayers, and call it a day.
He continued on.
He moved forward, knowing that he then had a choice: he could carry on with what he had always done, or he could be changed by the experience of touching the gate of heaven.
And so he grasped that his life could be different because of the presence of God.
And he MADE his life different because of the presence of God.
He traveled onward, acting in the way that Paul invited the Corinthians to do – seeing things from a different point of view. Not a human-centred one, but a faith-grounded one. He had seen a new creation, where everything had been made new.
And the world was changed; because the people were transformed by the power of love: of God, and for God.
Clearly, the Lord was in this place – and could be carried elsewhere too!
And that’s what he did. He scattered those seeds of faith wherever he went. With his family, his friends, his neighbours, other towns.
And what a result – his own faith grew, and the faith of those around him grew.
We only need to look to today’s psalm to see the impact of Jacob’s faith – asking that the God of Jacob would defend any in need, and the commitment to trust in God. “We will call upon the name of our God!” verse 7 declares, with confidence.
Clearly, the Lord was in this place!
And that faith continued – as Jesus described the scattering of seeds, leading to growth; and the potential of those seeds of faith, to be as powerful and pervasive as a mustard seed. And as we are recognising these anniversaries this week, we can think about the centuries – literal centuries of seeds of faith in this place, and in our lives.
What seeds were planted by our ancestors; and what grew from them?
How have we benefitted from the faith of those who went before us?
Because – we have. Clearly. The Lord lives in our lives – we have reaped what others have sown, and we have the privilege to continue the growth!
Because this is the house of God. The BethEl. The gate of heaven.
And while we may prefer to be physically inside the building, we know that the House of God is not restricted to those 4 walls. The Holy Spirit is not boxed away.
Nor is our opportunity to tend to the growth of faith in this place.
COVID is giving us a chance to prayerfully reflect and discern the seeds of faith in our lives.
What faith are we harvesting that was planted years ago?
What ministries are we tending as they continue to grow and flourish?
What seeds are we scattering in our community, eager to unleash God’s potential?
And… what post-COVID growth would we like to see in the future, and how are we planning this for now?
The seeds, friends, are there. The growth is inevitable. But we cannot be idle; we are called to scatter those seeds of faith.
And like seeds – we don’t need to know HOW the growth happens, we just rejoice THAT the growth happens.
And that God makes it grow.
Because – clearly – the Lord is in this place – and sometimes we don’t even know it.
So let us continue to grow in faith.
Though we’re not in our building right now, we are in BethEl - the House of God.
Because we are connected. We are together. We are loving and serving God as best we can.
And clearly, the Lord is in this place.
For this place – our souls - IS the house of prayer. It is the church. It is US.
We know that the church is the soil for ministry. The root of prayer. The nourishment of God’s Holy Word. The redemption of the baptismal waters. The stability of community. The faith of the people.
The people of God, gathered in praise and worship of our God.
The prayers ascending – from our hearts and minds and souls – which is our spiritual worship.
For in this: the growth, the potential, the harvest: this is the holy space that our ancestors imagined. We are the community of the faithful that they dreamed.
This is our declaration as we continue our journey in faith and love:
‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’
Amen.
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