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Theology of Place by Rev. Charmaine Braatvedt There is a common occurrence in this church. Regularly I get phone calls from people who want to get married here, have their babies baptised or have a family member’s funeral here. Many of these people do not attend this church on a regular basis and more often than not don’t attend any church at all. Now I know this is a beautiful church but there are many beautiful places at which these rites of passage can be performed. So why come here? Usually they explain that their parents were married here or they were christened here or their father’s funeral was here or some such link. Generally it boils down to the fact that through relationships or through living in the Devonport community, they have deep within them a feeling of connection and even a sense of belonging here. So what is it about this place? Even when the people change and move on there is something that attracts people to this building. Bruggemann, the famous theologian once said that space can become theologically significant for people and so becomes place. He defines place as: Space which has historical meanings, where some things have happened which are now remembered and which provide continuity and identity across generations. Place is space in which important words have been spoken which have established identity, defined vocation, and envisioned destiny. Today I would like to explore the Theology of place. As we continue the story of David in the book of Samuel we find that the Israelites are settling into Jerusalem, the city which God has given them, and are in the process of making it their home. They are transitioning from being a nomadic people to a settled people. Their king, David has built a more permanent home for himself of cedar and it shames him that the ark of the covenant is still being housed in the temporary accommodation of a tent. His respect for God leads him to plan to build a temple to house the ark as a sign that God will be honoured by a permanent dwelling among his people. God however speaks through his prophet Nathan and declines David’s offer at this time to build a temple in his honour. It is clear from the passage that His directive is not on account of any fault in David. The decision against David building a temple centres on God’s history of moving freely among and on behalf of his people. God will not and cannot be confined to any single location. His domain is universal. Still this does not mean that God is averse to his people creating a space which has been set aside specifically to worship him. In fact he desires that we should do this. Later on he commissions Solomon, David’s son and successor, to do exactly that very thing. He commissions him to build a temple, a holy space where his people can worship him and commune with him. He promises that he will be present for them there. What we must understand is that he is not confined to that one place. In the Gospel reading for today we see that Jesus draws his weary disciples to a quiet place in nature to be renewed and spiritually recreated. God is to be found in nature as well as in the temples, cathedrals and churches which have been built in which to worship him. I wonder if you can visualise a favourite place in nature where you have found it easy to commune with God? Furthermore, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ followers assembled in someone’s house. So we come to understand that God’s Holy Spirit is poured out onto and is present in the community of those who commit their lives to following Jesus regardless of where they are located, and thus we discover that God is to be found in Church as a building; In Church as a place in Nature and In Church as manifest in the lives of the community of faithful who follow Jesus. The purpose of entering into sacred spaces is of course to enjoy being in the presence of God and to be replenished spiritually by that experience. In Mark’s Gospel we see Jesus withdraws from the crowds, “ Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” and then he returns to minister to them. This reflects the rhythm of the Christian life. For the Christian life is a continuous going into the glorious presence of God from the presence of humanity to commune with him, finding wisdom, spiritual strength and healing there, and then coming out of that secluded place into the presence of humanity and there to reflect his glory, to share his wisdom and offer his healing. In the presence of God we allow God to speak to us and give God time to recharge us with the spiritual energy and strength we need to do the work he has called us to do. In the presence of humanity we do the work he has called us to do in the power of his Spirit. The rhythm of the Christian life is the alternate meeting with God in the holy place which for us today is this church, and serving his people in the market place which for us is our place of work, our homes, our schools, our community. We live in a consumerist age where people spend increasing amounts of time in supermarkets, department stores, airports, hotels, motorways, cinemas, sitting in front of a TV or a computer. These places hold little or no spiritual significance for us. Furthermore, statistics show that 20% of our population move house within a year. Our children are being educated in a spiritual vacuum with little or no awareness of Jesus, the Christian faith or even of a cause or power that is greater than themselves. Our family structures are fragmented by divorce and broken relationships. Relativism has undermined the meaning of words like love and truth. And God has at best been relegated to the loft or attic along with other relics of a bygone age. Somehow Western culture has lost its way, drifted away from its spiritual roots and left people well fed but feeling lost and disconnected from their identity, from their families and ancestors and most worryingly from their relationship with God their creator. St Mark could almost be talking about a 21st century crowd when he writes: “ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” 6: 34 The challenge for the church today is to reach out and like the good shepherd to go and find those who are lost and offer them a way back to a place which they can call their spiritual home, where they can reconnect with God. This place may be located in nature, or in this building or in the relationships the community of faith develops with them. Jesus told his disciples that after his death they would be able to worship him in spirit and truth anywhere, not just in the Temple in Jerusalem. However he did not exclude the temple as a place of communion with him. In fact Jesus himself frequented the synagogues and temples throughout his life. He found God as well in the quiet natural havens of Galilee as in the sacred man made spaces that had been made holy by countless souls who offered prayer and worship within them. In an ever more mobile world, there is a growing sense among people that they need to go and feel spiritually renewed by the history, mystery and significance of sacred places where they might touch the hem of God’s robe and find healing, which will be life giving and bring meaning to their lives. This church has a role to play in this regard. This church which for 150 years has offered the people of this community a sacred space in which to define themselves, to explore their relationship with God and to mark the milestones of their lives in the presence of a God whom they acknowledge to have moved with them wherever they have gone has an important role to play and you and I who invest our time and energy in this holy place have the wonderful privilege of being the agents of welcome and hospitality to all in the community who seek to drink at this sacred well. Our purpose as a faith community is two fold: Firstly, it is to be custodians of this sacred place, to paraphrase 2 Samuel 7:10, which God has provided for his people whom he has planted in this community so that they can have a spiritual home. By that I mean that we are called to ensure that this church building, is open and maintained as a sacred space where people can feel at home no matter where they are in their walk with Jesus. “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Secondly, we are called to sanctify our community through being the presence of Jesus in what we say and do. Like Jesus and his disciples in the Gospel reading for today, it is our vocation to follow Jesus and be agents of healing as he was. In Mark we read that “wherever he went into villages towns or countryside- they placed the sick in the marketplaces” and he ministered to them. “They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak and all who touched him were healed.” Our ministry is to bring those who need Christ’s healing to the hem of his robe that in him they might find healing in whatever form they need it and spiritual meaning and purpose in their lives. As people visit this place, as they come here for their funerals, baptisms and weddings, as they come out of curiosity or need, may we be ever ready to welcome them in such a way that they find here a place of belonging where they might feel free to explore their relationship with Jesus however they may choose to. References
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