A Place to Live

A Sermon By Brent J. Eelman

Habitat for Humanity Sunday

April 21, 2002

Ezra 4: 1-5

When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of families and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of King Esar-haddon of Assyria who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, “You shall have no part with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴ Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build, ⁵ and they bribed officials to frustrate their plan throughout the reign of King Cyrus of Persia and until the reign of King Darius of Persia.

I Peter 2: 4-10

⁴ Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and ⁵ like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷ To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the very head of the corner,”

⁸ and

“A stone that makes them stumble,

and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹⁰ Once you were not a people,

but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

Human beings are builders. It is part of our makeup. We use our hands to construct things and often in the process of building or making things, we experience an inner transformation. That is what I want to talk about today. Building. The theme of this sermon is simple: When we build things that help others and glorify God, we also experience an inner change or transformation. That change is the construction of the soul. It is the discovery of purpose and direction; the recapturing of hope. Building is not always easy. There are times when we run up against difficult problems. There are times when we become discouraged in the building process. Yet even in these situations, building things takes on meaning and purpose. This sermon is a series of illustrations about building, rebuilding, and the human soul.

I

The first story is from the Old Testament. It is the story of the people of Israel after they returned from living in captivity. They were in Babylon for almost two generations and then Cyrus , the king of Persia, frees them and allows them to return to Jerusalem. When they got back they found that the temple is literally in ruins. It was neglected. This is the center of their faith. This was the place where God spoke to his people and here it was in ruins. It was disheartening, and so the process of rebuilding began. Have you ever been involved in a church building project? If you have, you know that people don't always agree on how things should be built.... and some don't even think things should be built... and it is often a time of opposition and conflict. It happened then and it is not a pretty story. People are always people. There were bribes and sneaky behavior, all designed to sandbag the rebuilding of the temple. But here's the good news: It was built! The temple was eventually restored and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of that construction.

Why does a construction project get two books in the Bible? Because it was not just about building with bricks and mortar. As the people were rebuilding the temple, something was happening internally... their faith was being rebuilt. The foundation of Rabbinic Judaism was laid with the rebuilding of that temple.

II

Last night, we returned from vacationing in Chicago and Wisconsin. This last week was a time for nostalgia, because Karen and I met and were married there. For our honeymoon we went to a place known as Door County. It is a very popular tourist destination during the summer time because of the cool breezes that blow off of Lake Michigan. There are many different things to see there, but one of the most intriguing is a small chapel. It is a family chapel, built in a 15^th century Norwegian style with all types of wood carvings. It is delightful to see, but even more interesting than the chapel itself is the story that is behind it. It was the dream or vision of Winifred Boynton and was built on her family property. In a book, entitled: Faith Builds A Chapel she chronicles the story of the construction of the chapel. As she tells the story, the reader soon realizes that it was not merely a chapel that was being built. The family was what we might call "religious agnostic." They believed in God and that was about it. A number of tragic events occurred during the building of that chapel and they were in a spiritual despair. She described it as a "spiritual vacuum." The decision to build the chapel was not for any great spiritual reason... they just thought it would be nice to have one on their property. Yet, in the act of building that chapel, the members of the family came into the presence of a transforming spirituality that sustained their lives and gave them hope. It became, for them, a symbol of the future, of something much greater than themselves. In the process of building this chapel, the family experienced the presence of the living God... She concludes her story with these words: "Peace is not found in a passive acceptance of life, but in active participation in the God given forces that are forever flowing form Him. The Chapel has shown us, and it will show others, that to work with love and to find joy in the doing is to live life and find joy in living... through the building of this little chapel, we know this to be true."

III

The third story is a bit closer to me. It comes from my experience as a pastor in Northern New York. It is also a beautiful area, but in many ways an area that is deteriorating. Walking through the city one could see the glory and wealth that was once a part of the town. When I arrived, it was a shell of what it was 50 years before. The spirit of the community was depressed. The church was going to be a challenge, and I was excited by that. It was about a month or two into my work there that we discovered that the truss beam over our fellowship building was broken and the building was condemned for habitation. There was also a lot of other things that were let go and the price tag for all of it was a little over 800,000 dollars. The budget of the church at that time was 150,000. I was literally in despair, wondering why I had taken the job... wondering what would happen. But we decided to go ahead and rebuild that building. We did.... But that is not the important part of the story. What happened, was that people suddenly had to start working together for something. People reached into their pockets and sacrificed. Members could see something exciting happening.. and one could feel a new spirit that was there. I remember the words that I preached when we rededicated that building. "We have rebuilt the church building... But God has rebuilt us into a community of the spirit... Christ's Church."

IV

Perhaps you can see where I am going with this... there are two more building projects that I want to speak about. The fourth building project is one in which I did not participate, but one that I observed, and it moved me greatly. It was right here, the Habitat House that this congregation built. You see, as you were going about raising the funds and building that House, I was in the process of interviewing here. I would be snuck in and out, shown the building and parts of town. On each of my visits I would go by the display that was up in the hallway. I would see the progress that was being made. I looked at all the names of people who contributed, people who built, people who made phone calls. I don't know the full story of everything that went into that project, but it impressed me. We know the history of the last decade here, and there was probably a lot of reason for despair, a lot of reason to believe that it would not succeed... things were tough. But there was a vision. The vision might have come from the Plan for Ministry which said that it was vital to do one "hands on" mission project. The vision was completed in a house.. a place for a family to live... shelter that you and I might take for granted. But that was not the only thing that was built:

While you were rebuilding that Habitat house: I believe that the spirit of Christ was working in the midst of this congregation, rebuilding relationships, rebuilding a vision, rebuilding and repairing hope, repairing and healing wounds... I marvel at the project... not just hammers and nails. It included rock concerts, and dinners, speakers, and telephone banks. Faith may have rebuilt that Habitat home, but I also believe that the construction of that home rebuilt faith in the life of this congregation.

V

The last story is not finished. It is but a vision. Let me share it. When I came here, I received a lovely book describing the houses of worship on Old York Road. Each of them is beautiful and reflect different faith streams... As I was reading it, I started to dream: Why couldn't these 16 houses of worship come together to build one house for a family? Could we cooperate as citizens of this area and in God's name say together that we are concerned about people and poverty? Could we work together to make a difference? I have no illusion that this is going to be slam-dunk... but I do believe that it is possible.

From the first I have continued to share a vision that I see for Abington Presbyterian Church. It comes from the physical geography that we occupy. Physically we are so visible in Abington. Our ancestors, who built this edifice, defined this crossroads upon which we live. My vision is that we occupy the same spiritual geography in this community, being a conscience and a prod, working to improve the moral and spiritual landscape here. This week, we hope to get together representatives from these congregations to begin work on this project. I covet your prayers.... I believe that as we work together... the spirit of God will be working in our midst... building a community not made with wood, stone and mortar... a community of the spirit.

I have shared five stories with you... four are completed, and one is just beginning. I invite you to be player in that story. But the invitation is not merely to build a house. The stories of building are also stories of spiritual renewal; stories of transformation and hope. The invitation to be part of this building story is an invitation to experience the Spirit of Christ in a new tangible way. It is as though, working with the one who was a carpenter, we might enter into his presence and allow Him to rebuild our lives. This is the good news. Amen.