Tent or Temple

In our groups, and on this blog, we are setting out on what Richard Giles calls “A Six Week Crash Course on the Design of Liturgical Space”. As we begin this journey, he challenges us to ask the question “Tent or Temple”.

The session begins by inviting those attending to read three Bible readings. These are:

Numbers 9 : 15 – end

15On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant; and from evening until morning it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of fire. 16It was always so: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. 17Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, then the Israelites would set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the Israelites would camp. 18At the command of the LORD the Israelites would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they would remain in camp. 19Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites would keep the charge of the LORD, and would not set out. 20Sometimes the cloud would remain for a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they would remain in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they would set out. 21Sometimes the cloud would remain from evening until morning; and when the cloud lifted in the morning, they would set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they would set out. 22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out. 23At the command of the LORD they would camp, and at the command of the LORD they would set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.

1 Samuel 7 :1 – 13

1 When David was settled in his house,
and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

2 the king said to the prophet Nathan,
'See now, I am living in a house of cedar,
but the ark of God stays in a tent.'

3 Nathan said to the king,
'Go, do all that you have in mind;
for the LORD is with you.'

4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:

5 Go and tell my servant David:
Thus says the LORD:
Are you the one to build me a house to live in?

6 I have not lived in a house
since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day,
but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.

7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel,
did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel,
whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying,
'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'

8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David:
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
I took you from the pasture,
from following the sheep
to be prince over my people Israel;

9 and I have been with you wherever you went,
and have cut off all your enemies from before you;
and I will make for you a great name,
like the name of the great ones of the earth.

10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel
and will plant them,
so that they may live in their own place,
and be disturbed no more;
and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel;
and I will give you rest from all your enemies.
Moreover the LORD declares to you, David,
that the LORD will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled
and you lie down with your ancestors,
I will raise up your offspring after you,
who shall come forth from your body,
and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

2 Chronicles 6 :18 – 21

2CH 6:18 "But will God indeed reside with mortals on earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19 Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you. 20 May your eyes be open day and night toward this house, the place where you promised to set your name, and may you heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 21 And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; may you hear from heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

All readings are from the NRSV and copyright © 1989 National Council of Churches, USA

The readings clearly show us that there is a tension between our being a people who are extremely flexible, fully able to move at the whim of God, but where the physical structures that they have available are very flimsy, and in terms of their ability to be used by the wider community, inflexible, and the desire for permanence and constructing a building that is something which is worthy of God and available to be used by the whole community, but which means that the people are less able to move at short notice.

The tension that we can see, is the same tension that we still have, and we could choose to go either way, if we so desired. We could build something which is truly an impressive worship area, Harwood’s own version of the Crystal Cathedral (http://www.crystalcathedral.org/about/architecture.php) – and you could argue that anything that is not up to this standard, is somehow is falling short of what we have the capability to achieve. That said, you could, (and I would) take a very different point of view and point to the challenges that face so many of the people that live around us, and ask what are we saying to them if they see us building something of this size and scale. Likewise, on a day when we have seen destruction on a scale which is, to the majority of us, unimaginable, there are issues of where our money is needed most that we must wrestle with and address.

Please don’t think that these tensions are anything new. Even in Jesus’ time there was a commonly held belief that one of the things that would happen, when the Messiah came, was that people would all live in tabernacles (“tents”) – that they would return to being that mobile, flexible and available people once more. Indeed, there are a number of theologians who understand this as being the cause behind Peter’s statement at the transfiguration, when he offers to build tabernacles for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

We have to recognise though, that we are a different set of people from those early Christians. We are not nomadic for a start, and whilst we might want to argue that we should be, speaking as an itinerant minister, trust me that the way that this impacts upon your family life, your kids education and schooling, and the career of your spouse, points to how we live in a country where for most of us a nomadic itinerant way of life simply is not possible. Now if you were in Nepal, then things would be different, but we are not.

So, if you want my point of view, and this is a blog after all, I think that we do need to have a building, but that the building that we have needs to be simple enough, and flexible enough, to do whatever God calls us to do, not just for today, but in the future as well. Effectively, the building becomes a tool that allows us to go where God leads, rather than a monument that anchors us in a place where we used to be. It needs to include spaces which are sacred, and where we can become more aware of the presence of God, and places which are less sacred, where we can discover God in other ways. In addition, we have to change our mindset that suggests that “the church” is the only place where we practice our Christian faith, and that our success criteria, is to get people to come to us. In reality as a church we should be involved across the community, in other people’s tents and temples, as well as our own – and our success criteria (if we should have one at all) should be to see people’s relationship with God growing, in whatever form that takes.

Henri Nouwen saw churches as places where people should be provided with “safe spaces” where they can discover “their faith and their God”, rather than “your faith and your God”. I would agree with this, but only if you see that those safe spaces take on lots of different forms, and can be in lots of different physical locations.

There is so much that you could add to this, not least of which is a discussion on stewardship, and how we understand the parable of the talents, but this is meant to be a discussion starter, and promptings to get everyone thinking, and so I will leave this here. The blog is here to be used – please use it for positive discussion and discernment as we ask the question “OK God – Which Way?”.

In our groups on Tuesday and Wednesday there were five questions to stimulate the discussion, based on the bible readings quoted at the start – these have been re-produced by permission of the publisher:

1. Discuss the tension between the tent and temple, nomadic and static traditions, evident within these readings and within to Old Testament as a whole.
2. What was the attitude of Jesus to the Temple in his day? Compare Mark 11:15 – 17 with Mark 13:1 – 2.
3. At what point in the life of our own community of faith is there evidence of tension between the tent and temple aspects of our worship and life together?
4. Which aspect do we think is closest to the insights and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth?
5. How can we give clearer expression to this priority in our worship?

Taken from Re-pitching the tent – Third Edition, by Richard Giles ©2004 Canterbury Press, an imprint of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. Used by permission.

Please may I add another question, which goes back to the keynote from the 3rd of January.

6. How does the understanding of “shrines and vines” challenge us move away from our historic dependence on bricks and mortar, and to adopt a more radical view of our buildings?

Further reading:

For those with access to Re-pitching the tent, may I suggest that you read chapter 27 – Nurture and Neighbour as part of your thinking on this topic, likewise I would refer you again to Tom Stuckey’s book Beyond the Box.