There’s
a really good story in one of the more obscure books in
the Bible about people coming back from years away from
their homeland. When they get home, the first thing they
begin to re-build is their place of worship, which had
been destroyed many years before. They started with the
place to gather and get to know God. Not houses, not stores,
not banks, not even gas stations (or in their case, hay
stations for their horses and donkeys). Nope. They started
with the central place where they could learn more about
God, offer their gifts, and come away knowing they had
been blessed by the presence of God when they came together
with others in their community.
After
the foundation was laid, they began to sing and shout
with joy. The older members of the community, who still
remembered what it had been like to worship in the temple
before it was destroyed, began to weep. While some of
those tears may have been sadness for their loss, mostly
those tears were ones of joy for renewed hope in the future.
For
most of human history, people centered their common life
in the place of worship. Generally, it was the only real
gathering place in the community anyway, and it served
many different purposes. Above all, it was the place to
offer transcendence, i.e., a place to ponder eternal things,
become more aware of the holiness of God, receive mercy
as was needed, and find strength and encouragement to
go and build just societies.
These
are almost strange concepts in a world that is driven
by consumption and personal satisfaction. But without
time taken to worship God and seek both mercy for ourselves
and a more just society for all, we risk losing one of
the defining points of being human: an awareness that
the world is much larger than we are and that we have
responsibility to live faithfully to a larger moral order.
Otherwise, we forget God and our world collapses into
the horror of pure selfishness. That, my friends, is one
definition of hell. And it is horrible to contemplate.
Now,
here in this area north of Denton, there are numerous
gathering places. Some are churches, some are not. So
what we are Krum United Methodist Church are getting ready
to do does not make us unique. But for us, as we celebrate
our groundbreaking this Sunday on our long-dreamed for
new worship and gathering facility, we do say this: Come,
gather with us. Come, learn about God and things that
are holy. Come, find a place to help rear your children
with love and supportive instruction. Come, find a place
for your teens to be safe and encouraged in their movement
to adulthood. Come, engage with us in the beautiful cycle
of the receiving and giving of forgiveness, the joy of
being reconciled with God and with each other, and the
delight of rich friendships and meaningful service.
This Sunday, January 20, we will officially break ground
on the lovely 10 acre plot of land between NorthStar Bank
and Blanche Dodd Intermediate School. We’ll dismiss
the 11:00 worship time early and all gather on the property
at 12 noon. Everyone is invited to join us, and bring
your own shovel when you come. Let’s dig the hole
that will be the start of the foundation for this space
of holy gathering and community action. Just like those
folks in that obscure book in the Bible, we’re going
to shout with joy and laugh and perhaps even weep as a
long held dream starts to come true.
