House for All Nations

Genesis 12: 1-9

Galatians 3: 6-9

Mark 11: 15-19

What did Jesus mean when he said the temple would be a House of prayer for all nations? What did God mean when he told Abram that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed? And what does it mean for us in this time and place, as we live and move and have our being in communities that are as diverse as we can imagine? What does it mean for us as we come to this table on World Communion Sunday?

Each of the passages we heard today proclaim that God’s blessing is for all the nations, all the families of the world, and that faith is what secures that blessing. This Old Testament passage begins the story of how God came to be known as the God of Abraham, and we as one of the Abrahamic faiths.

God commands Abram to go where God is sending him, and God promises Abram that he will become the father of a great nation – a great set of descendants, more than the number of stars in the sky, more than the grains of sand on the shore. God promises to bless Abram, and also that all the families on earth who believe shall also be blessed, just as Abram’s faithfulness establishes his blessing.

When Paul writes to the Jewish believers in the church in Galatia, he is challenging their position that Gentiles cannot be followers of Christ unless they are circumcised, unless they follow the Jewish law and essentially become Jews first. This church is on a path of excluding persons of faith who are not “like them”. But Paul refers back to this Old Testament story, saying that it is faithfulness that brings the blessings of Abraham to the Gentiles – the same blessings that are promised for all families on earth.

The words Jesus speaks as he clears the temple of money changers and those selling sacrificial animals are words that were first spoken by two Old Testament prophets, each speaking the word of the Lord. Isaiah said that the temple shall be a house of prayer for all nations, and Jeremiah warned about the temple being made into a den of robbers. We only heard this brief segment, but this story happens right after Jesus enters Jerusalem for the Passover – the story that is retold every Palm Sunday. Right after his triumphal entry into the city comes this story – but just as Mark does in many cases, it is connected with and related to another story – in this case the story of Jesus passing by a fig tree that bears no fruit. He curses the tree for being useless, and when he passes by it later – just after our story – it has shriveled up and died.  In both the fig tree story and the temple story, Jesus is describing the temple and the religious leaders as the ones who are barren – not producing any fruit – because of the roots – the leadership. Mark connects the two stories in order to strengthen the point of each. Jesus is predicting the fall of the temple, and proclaiming the kingdom of God to not be limited to the sacred buildings, to the structures and sanctuaries, but to be everywhere, carried by believers to all nations and all families of the earth.

So with all this in mind, what does it mean for us today to be a house of prayer for all nations?

The church is a place of prayer, and prayer prepares us to give. Jesus emphasized the importance of prayer throughout his life. Prayer connects us with God, and it keeps us centered on God’s will for God’s lives, not on our own will.

The church is a place to prepare for faithful living, and to increase our ability to do so. Here we learn together about God’s will, God’s kingdom, God’s grace and mercy, so that we are equipped as disciples to practice what we learn, to share it with others in both word and deed, in our daily lives.

The church is a place from which we can grow and bear good fruit, a place from which we do not simply come to get something, not a place that we approach as consumers of an experience. Rather it is a place that prepares us to give.

Give what? Well, to give the fruit of our lives. It is where we grow in our ability to offer more and more of our selves in our daily living to reflect Christ and to offer glimpses of God’s kingdom to others. A church that does not bear fruit is as barren as the fig tree. Christ calls his church to be much more than that.

Give to whom? Well, to all nations. And the purpose of this giving is not just to keep the church going, to fill our pews on a Sunday morning. But it is to share the kingdom of God. To share the good news that we have received. To share the salvation that we have been freely given. To allow people of all nations to experience through our love how God is good and how much God loves the whole world and all the families on the earth. To live out the great commandments, to love God with everything we have, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. To trust in God’s faithfulness to work good in everything we try to do, to bring it to completion, since we cannot do anything like that under our own power.

Give how? We give as disciples. We give in worship. We give in our school and work and home and leisure lives.

We give in in the world, where there are so many needs and so many possibilities. Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), provide numerous options to participate in worldwide mission and local mission – feeding the hungry, caring for the refugee, sheltering the homeless, being a good neighbor, working for reconciliation among all people, and on and on and on.

We give in our dedication to mission as a congregation. New Beginnings is a process of discernment, where we will work together to consider options for our future, and to make decisions that will move us forward to do God’s will here in this place. It will take place starting right after Thanksgiving and will continue into early next year.

May we have the courage of Abraham to step out in true faith. May we heed the call of Christ to worship God in word and deed, in everything we do. May we trust that God will perfect whatever we take on in God’s name, for God’s sake. May we always seek to love our neighbors in our communities and around the world, in the name of Jesus Christ who loves us, so that we can bear good fruit, fruit that will last.

May we come to the table this World Communion Sunday, acknowledging our place as citizens of the world, rejoicing in God’s promise that all families of the earth shall be blessed, committing as Abraham did to being faithful, no matter what it takes, and sharing Christ’s bread, Christ’s body, Christ’s unconditional love with all who are in desperate need for such love in their lives.

Amen.