Psalm 127 & Mark: 12: 38-44 God- the House Builder.
After the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, I learned many building terms which I had never heard before. I did not know what a shear wall was, and I didn’t know that concrete came in different grades, depending on what it was used for, and I didn’t know that the upward thrust of an earthquake could be focused on the highest point of a building. After watching the Engineer assess the Cashmere Presbyterian Church building, I became more familiar with such terms. I still don’t understand his mathematical calculations, and I don’t need to for I trusted his competency in issuing a Certificate of Safety for the Church building. He must, also, have trusted my competency for later in the year he asked me to officiate at his marriage.
It may surprise us to learn that God is concerned with the way we build our homes. “Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labour in vain,” says the Psalmist. It is possible that the Psalmist was referring to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Psalmist felt that if the Temple was to be an edifice to the glory of those who built it, rather than being built to the glory of God, then all of their work was for nought.
Deuteronomy 22:8 says, “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house if anyone fall from it.”
Here again, God is expressing concern through scripture for the building codes of the day. In Israel/Palestine the roof of the home was a living area. A little like the homes in Cambodia where the family lives on the ground under the house which is on high raised piles. To have a roof without a parapet meant that an adult or child could fall over the edge to their death. By building a parapet, the people were protected.
It is as if the quote from Deut 22:8 is part of the Building Code and Health and Safety Regulations of the day.
We hear much today about the Resource Management Act and the effect and extra cost this places on people and the economy. Regulations are currently being revised to give Tradesmen greater freedom to certify their own workmanship and to make it easier to allow significant projects to proceed without so much “red tape.” But there may be a cost to people’s lives and well-being if this goes to the point of shoddy workmanship being certified, thus putting people at risk.
The writer of the Book of Deuteronomy is talking about building safe homes, or buildings, for people to live in. By doing this, he says, we give glory to God who cares for and loves each and every person on earth. Homes and buildings should, for their inhabitants, be safe and of an acceptable code.
Yet God is concerned not only about the foundations and value by which we construct our homes and commercial buildings. God is also concerned about the foundations and values or codes which we build our lives on and which we live by. How secure are the spiritual foundations of our lives?
In his Letter to the Church in Ephesus, Paul used a construction metaphor to describe the church, as the family of faith, when he wrote, “You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all – irrespective of how we got here – in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day – a holy temple built by God, all of us built into a temple in which God is quite at home.” (Eph 2:20-22)
That issue is also being addressed by the writer of Psalm 127. The one particular point that the author wants to throw into stark relief is the decisive significance of God’s action in the everyday lives of people. He is basically saying that if we take no account of God, and focus only on what we want to achieve by our own efforts, then our efforts are futile or without value. The structure will collapse because it lacks solid foundations.
Self-sufficiency does not signal a holy life! All our efforts are worthless if we think everything depends on us. We quickly suffer from burnout, exhaustion, and disillusionment.
I was reading about a Spiritual Advisor who said that the goal of the spiritual life is getting our fears properly focused. We fear being helpless, losing our retirement nest egg, having to depend on others, or having no one to depend on at all. Too many live lives being up at the crack of dawn “eating the bread of anxious toil” to quote the Psalmist. The result is that we burn ourselves out trusting ourselves more than we are willing to trust God. But the spiritual life requires us to take the risk of giving our independence and drive to God, taking a chance on the Holy One.
At first, our Gospel reading from Mark’s Gospel may not seem to have too much to do with strong spiritual foundations in our lives. But look closer! Today’s passage comes at the end of Jesus’ public ministry. It follows his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and culminates in the events leading to his arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. The context is one in which the religious leaders of the day challenge Jesus’ authority and seek to discredit him and entrap him. Jesus responds by pointing out that their pretentious behaviour has little to do with the scriptural values which they teach. They walk about in long showy robes, taking the best seats at synagogues and places of honour at banquets. And simultaneously they mask their exploitation and abuse of the poor, especially the widows from such abuse. Their behaviour is deceptive and dishonest. It is all about status, power, wealth, and corruption to maintain their entitled position which they use for personal gain. Today, we would call this spiritual abuse.
As Jesus finishes his condemnation of the religious leaders for their false piety and their exploitation of the poor, he notices a widow placing two small coins in the offering and draws his disciple’s attention to her act of generosity. (We know this story as the Widow’s mite) She didn’t have to give until she had nothing left – a 10% tithe was all that was required. Clearly, here Jesus is talking with the religious leaders about the difference between appearance and pretensions and true matters of heart. The religious leaders were all about self and what they could get. They used others, and the Temple, for their own gain. The widow was about faithful service and concern for the well-being of the Temple and worship of God. It is the widow’s heart that finds favour with Jesus. The widow gives because her heart is full of love for God. She does not have material wealth, but the richness in her life allows her to open her hands wide in gratitude to God for what she does have.
Many of the religious and political leaders of our world could well take note of what Jesus is saying here about leadership and the values by which we live our lives. If it is all about them and what they can get rather than what they can give; if it is all about appearance and pretension rather than the well-being of all people and the world, then I think Jesus would call them to account as he did the leaders of his day.
Our holy calling, our building strong foundations under our lives, does not ask us to squander our resources, or to hoard them for our own gain, but rather to live with open-handed generosity and abandon holding tightly to the Holy God and God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ.
To God be the glory. Amen