Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighborhood monk in dogs.
Welcome.
Now,
As we come.
.
.
To the final movement of our pilgrimage through the Songs of Ascents.
Where we might find God beyond the destination.
Let's just take a moment to become still.
Allow our bodies to settle.
How breathing to slow,
Just take a gentle breath in.
Bring yourself fully into this moment.
Mind.
Heart and body.
And in these moments,
Just become aware of the presence of God,
The God who's walked with you from the beginning.
The God who's met you in longing and joy,
Sorrow and hope.
Struggle and peace.
Because today we come to the end of the road.
But,
As every pilgrim eventually discovers.
.
.
Endings are usually not endings,
They're revelations.
An ending shows us what the journey has been forming within us.
Throughout these psalms we've walked with ancient pilgrims making their way towards Jerusalem.
We began in distress.
You'll remember it said,
In my distress,
I called out to the Lord.
And then we lifted our eyes.
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
We remembered if the Lord had not been on our side.
We learned trust.
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.
We learn surrender unless the Lord builds the house.
We learn stillness.
I have calmed and quieted.
My soul.
And finally,
We learn blessing.
May the Lord bless you from Zion.
And today,
We stand with the Pilgrim at the destination.
But scripture invites us to ask a deeper question.
What have we actually learned?
Been seeking.
And so today.
We're going to reflect on a passage of scripture.
From 1 Kings chapter 8 verses 22 to 23 and verses 27 to 30 where Solomon dedicates the temple.
This is a reading that signifies the end of a pilgrimage.
Let's listen to the passage together and in the silence that follows,
Just allow the words to sink deeply into your heart.
A reading from 1 Kings chapter 8.
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and sprout his hands towards heaven.
He said,
Lord,
The God of Israel,
There is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath.
Keeping your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
But will God really dwell on Earth?
The heavens,
Even the highest heavens,
Cannot contain you.
How much less this temple I have built.
Hear the prayers and petitions of your servant,
Lord my God.
Hear the cry and the prayer of your servant.
Praying in your presence this day.
And so the pilgrims have arrived,
They've climbed the hills.
They've entered Jerusalem.
They stand before the temple,
The place where generations believed they would enter the presence of God.
But Solomon here speaks.
A truth that,
Well.
.
.
It's probably not going to tickle the pilgrim.
In the right way because Solomon says here that the place that's been built,
This beautiful temple he's created,
Can't contain God.
The destination is sacred,
But God's greater than the destination.
And maybe this is one of the important lessons of pilgrimage,
That we often begin our journeys believing that we're travelling towards God,
Somewhere along the way.
We discover something deeper,
That God's been travelling towards us the whole time.
The road was holy.
The waiting was holy.
The questions were holy.
WAHALI.
The tears we shed.
By Wahhauli.
The ordinary moments,
They were holy.
God didn't sit back and wait for us to arrive,
But was present in every single step along the way.
We didn't journey to God.
God journeyed with us.
Let's listen again and as you rest with the words,
Look back over your own pilgrimage,
Not just this series.
It's your life.
A reading from 1 Kings chapter 8.
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands towards heaven.
He said,
Lord,
The God of Israel,
There is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath.
Keeping your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
But will God really dwell on Earth?
The heavens,
Even the highest heavens,
Cannot contain you.
How much less this temple I have built.
Hear the prayers and petitions of your servant,
Lord my God.
Hear the cry and the prayer of your servant.
Praying in your presence this day.
So where have you encountered God?
Perhaps it was in some of the moments of joy,
I'd expect so.
In moments of unexpected kindness,
Yeah.
What about in moments of suffering?
Maybe in silence.
Maybe in some of those places that once we thought were so far from God,
There's no way that God could be there,
But in reflecting you can see that God was walking with you there too.
And that's the thing that a pilgrim discovers,
That every road becomes sacred ground,
Every encounter.
Is an invitation.
Every person becomes a place where God is revealed.
The pilgrim learns that the question isn't,
Where will I find God?
The pilgrim learns that the question is,
Where will I see God today?
So let's listen one final time and this time receive these words as a blessing over the journey that will continue from today forward.
And allow those words to be a prayer that sings deep into your heart as we sit with them just for a little moment.
A reading from 1 Kings chapter 8.
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands towards heaven.
He said,
Lord,
The God of Israel,
There is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath.
Keeping your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
But will God really dwell on Earth?
The heavens,
Even the highest heavens,
Cannot contain you.
How much less this temple I have built.
Hear the prayers and petitions of your servant,
Lord my God.
Hear the cry and the prayer of your servant.
Praying in your presence this day.
Let's pray.
Faithful God,
Thank you for the journey.
Thank you for the roads that we've walked,
For the questions we've carried,
For the places where we've grown and for the moments where your presence surprised us.
Thank you that you're not confined to sacred places,
Holy monuments,
Churches and temples.
You're present in every place,
Every person,
Every single moment.
And as we leave this pilgrimage,
Open our eyes.
Teach us to notice.
Teach us to listen.
Teach us to walk gently on this earth,
Knowing that every place can become a meeting place with you.
Every step can land on holy ground.
May the peace we've received become the peace we share.
May the hope that we've discovered become the hope we offer.
May the love that we've encountered become love that we embody.
And when the road ahead is uncertain,
Remind us you're already there.
You've gone before us.
You walk beside us.
You dwell within us.
And the pilgrimage continues.
And the journey home has only just begun.
And may grace,
Peace and love continue to walk with us,
Bless us,
Remain with us and flow through us today and always.
As we bring this to a close,
I just want to point out the movement that we've been on from Psalm 120 through to Psalm 134.
With some key words.
I'll just pause between each phrase,
Starting with Psalm 120.
I cry out.
I'll look up.
Or a choice.
I wait.
Are in member.
I trust.
I hope.
I surrender.
I receive blessing.
I endure.
I receive mercy.
I rest.
Or remember the story.
I belong.
And I,
Bliss.
And now.
.
.
The God that you were seeking was the God who was walking with you the whole time.
And thank you so much for joining me on this journey together through the songs of ascents.
As our next series starts tomorrow.
I look forward to seeing you.
God bless you,
Friend.
And thank you so much for your support.
Grace and Peace.
Bye for now.
