Do you remember this?
Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people. (Demonstrate finger exercise.)
This was something that I showed my grandchildren over the years. Like all small children they didn’t quite grasp it at first as they attempted to manipulate their hands and fingers to get the desired results. Most often what they did was something more like this. Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people. (Demonstrate finger exercise.) The only problem was that when they opened the doors there were no people! Nada! Nothing!
Sadly . . . I think they are right.
The popularity of Elvis Presley was a phenomenon. Elvis was so popular that the huge crowds that gathered to hear him in concert would mob the stage and areas around the venue hoping to catch a glimpse or brush up against him. It was a dangerous situation for Elvis and for the people gathered. To ward off disaster the announcer would state at the end of his concerts that “Elvis has left the building.” The venue wanted people to know that he was no longer there . . . go home!
Over the years that phrase has been used by many to signify that people or things are gone. They are not there. If you read your bulletin this morning you probably noticed that the title of this sermon is “The Church Has Left the Building”. All of this gives us something to think about this morning.
As I read our scripture reading this morning I cringed because most clergy do not like dealing with apocalyptic or “end time” writings found in the scriptures. Like everything in life, these writings carry with them many different opinions showing that we can’t always agree on what is being said. I am certain that there are those here this morning that would jump on this passage and agree that the “end” is here . . . that the apocalypse is happening right now. Others of you might have a curiosity about them . . . an inkling that maybe, just maybe there is something here that we should all sit up and take notice of . . . just in case, you know! And, then there are probably others who don’t buy into it for various reasons, and others yet who are oblivious to it all.
But whatever the case . . . it is our reading this morning . . . and my first impression of these words were: “The church has left the building.” Hopefully I can explain what I mean by that statement.
The reading begins with some of Jesus’ disciples admiring the temple in Jerusalem . . . as well as they should because it was a wondrous, beautiful, and awe-inspiring building. A true gift to God. But Jesus said (to them), “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
Of course, with Luke’s understanding of the disciples, they did not understand what Jesus was saying. They jump on his statement and begin to want to know when the temple will be razed. One of the things we need to remember about scripture is that it was not written for today. It was written for the people at the time it takes place . . . the audience were those gathered around Jesus and his words were for their time and place. It is not written with us in mind . . . not written for today.
With that in mind we hear Jesus’ words of warning to his disciples. He warns them that there will be those who will come bearing false prophecies and proclaiming themselves as the true leader. There will be all sorts of terrible things that happen . . . wars, famine, natural disasters, fearful events that many will equate to being signs from heaven. There will be persecution. It will feel like hell in a handbasket has been delivered. Jesus tells them to not worry . . . be faithful . . . and go about the business he has challenged them to be about. Don’t worry about the future, deal with life now. God is with you, he tells them, “Remember not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”
Those are life-affirming words of comfort for the followers of Jesus . . . for you and me . . . then and now.
One of the things we understand about the gospels and then the following epistles is that they talk about a major shift in the religion of the Jewish people whom Jesus was preaching, teaching, demonstrating, and performing his ministry to. It was a major paradigm shift . . . what once was would no longer be. Jesus came to show the people the “way”. The “old” would be replaced with the “new”. There would be change and the temple would come tumbling down.
In dealing with this reading one biblical commentator stated that all of us have “temples” within our lives. The problem with “temples” is that they don’t always last. Life changes, things change . . . what once was doesn’t always hang around and is replaced with something new. Think about it . . . things aren’t like they used to be. Name an area of life where you can point to and show that nothing has changed in the past ten, fifty, or even a hundred years. Change seems to be inevitable.
Even the “church” has changed.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the “church” has changed. All of us have been a part of the conversation . . . all of us have lamented that we wish that things were like they used to be . . . and, we have held onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, with a few more people here or there we can go back to the way that things always were. Sing the same hymns. Hear the same sermons. Do the same potlucks. Keep business as usual . . . but the problem is that when we open the doors of the church there are fewer and fewer people.
The “church” is changing.
The “temple” is crumbling.
The numbers do not lie. Across the spectrum the “church” as we once knew it is tumbling down. All the major denominations report dwindling numbers. Even in the evangelical ranks the numbers are getting smaller. Research statistics show that in the United States “church” membership has dropped below fifty percent for the first time in over eight decades.
The “church” has left the building.
But don’t get disheartened. That was my first reaction, too. Then I remembered that the building does not make the “church” . . . it is the people. The Apostle Paul tells us that “church” is the body of Christ made up of his followers. It is the people. It is not a building. It is not a program. It is the people and their relationship with God and others. That is what makes up the “church” . . . and, if that is the case, well then, the words we hear Jesus speak make sense this morning.
In other places in the gospels Jesus states that he—nor anyone else—know the “time or the place” when everything is going to come to an end. He states that the so-called “signs” are always there . . . that life is difficult . . . and that despite it all God is always there. God will not abandon the children of God. Because of this, says Jesus, his followers—you and me—are to go about the business of representing Jesus and his ways no matter what is thrown our way. That includes the razing of “temples” that we have held sacred in our hearts.
These are uncomfortable times that we are living in. Change is taking place all around us and in all spheres of our lives. The change is not familiar; thus, it is not comfortable. Our first reaction is to make ourselves comfortable and we do this by hanging tightly onto what we know . . . what we have experienced . . . what is familiar. But God is not that way. Our experiences of God and God’s presence in our lives is constantly changing . . . and so are we. Change is hard. Change is scary. It is threatening. The world as we once knew it is no more. Yet, Jesus tells us to keep on doing what he has called us to do . . . to love God . . . to love one another . . . to allow the Kingdom of God to come. The “church” does not lie within these four walls . . . it lies outside those doors. We are called upon to go forth and share the “good news”. In that regard, the “church” has left the building. We go forth with God’s presence to live our faith no matter what the world throws at us. In this we are the “church”. We will “stand firm, and (you) will win life.”
Jesus said it. All we must do is believe and live it. Amen.
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