Building Year

Scripture: Psalm 127

One of the unspoken requirements that I had to agree to when I got married was to be a White Sox fan.  Since I did not have a huge stake in Major League Baseball, that was fine with me.  I do not know how much any of you follow baseball, but this was a rough season to be a White Sox fan.  This year the White Sox set a major league baseball record by having the worse win/loss record in history.   They only won 41 games while losing 121 of them.    While every team has the goal to win, and every fan has high hopes that this year is going to be the year the reality is that it often becomes clear for some teams that this is not going to be their year.  Those years when the losses pile up and the team never quite comes together are often declared building years.  In a building year the focus becomes less on winning and more on preparing for the future.  It is a time for young players to get experience, for the team to focus on being a team, and for necessary changes to be made.   A good building year can make the difference.  While I know it is not popular to point out in this area, IU football is a good example of this.  Last year they had a mediocre 3-9 season, but the players learned, new players were smartly recruited, and a head coaching change has led to what so far has been an undefeated season. 

Sports teams have building years, but I think the concept applies to more than just sports teams.  It can apply to our personal lives.  Often the goals we set for ourselves are not immediately achievable.  To meet those goals often requires intentional work, the gathering of experience, and making some necessary changes.   Often meeting our personal goals requires a building year or two before we get there.  The same can be true corporately as a faith community.  Better living into our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world can require building years.  It can require intentionality, a willingness to learn what works, what does not work as well as it used to, and an openness to change if necessary.   This morning’s scripture reminds us of the final and most necessary piece of what it takes to build to something new: “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” 

This morning’s scripture comes from a particular part of the Psalms.  If you happened to read along in your bible, then you might have noticed that Psalm 127 is labeled a Song of Ascents.  There are fifteen songs of Ascent found in Psalm 120 through 134. These psalms have a strong worship focus, but they also tend to focus on daily living.  There is a focus on the concerns of everyday people like family and harvest.   With one exception all these Psalms are short which would have made them easy to memorize.  The length of the psalms and their down to earth focus as long led biblical scholars and commentators to understand that the psalms of ascent are called that because these are the songs that pilgrims sang as they journeyed to Jerusalem to worship God at the temple on days like the Passover. 

This morning’s scripture reading is a little different from the other songs of ascent.  It is the only one attributed to Solomon, the King of Israel that followed David and was famed for his wisdom.  Which might explain why it reads like something that sounds like it came out of Proverbs instead of Psalms.  In fact, it almost feels like this Psalm is composed of two completely different wisdom sayings that have been smushed together.  That feeling is an unfortunate byproduct of translation because when we translate this Psalm to English, we lose a lot of the poetry.  In Hebrew this Psalm is composed of two stanzas each with four poetic lines, and each being exactly fifty-seven syllables.  This scripture is not two crammed together thoughts, but two thoughts connected and balanced with one another.  

The first of these thoughts is centered on the importance of centering God.   If our plans for the future, the dreams we want to build on, the work we seek to do is not centered on God then it is done in vain.  All our efforts and short-term gains in the end are fleeting.  This does not mean that we sit back and do nothing.  The scripture does not say the builders do not build or the guards do not watch.  It states without God, their work is for nothing.   As Eugene Peterson, author of the Message paraphrase, wrote about this scripture in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, “Psalm 127 insists on a perspective in which our effort is at the periphery and God’s work is at the center.” 

The second of these thoughts shows how the theory of the first part is put into practice.   Verse 3 states that children are a gift from God.  This verse should not be read or understood as a judgement upon those who cannot or choose not to have children.  Rather it should be understood within the context of this scripture.   Verse 3 states that “children are a heritage from the Lord.”  The Hebrew word translated as heritage is a complex word.  The other times it is used in the Bible it gets translated as inheritance and is often in reference to the land God promised the Israelites.  The word is one that implies access to life and happiness.  It is a word that looks towards the future.   The idea is that not only are children a blessing to one’s own life, but in the context of the Israelites living in the land that God promised them, children as a heritage from God is part of how God builds for the future. 

This morning’s scripture belongs to a very specific context.  It was a song sung by ancient Israelites on their way to worship God.  It reminded and encouraged the worshippers ascending to the temple, that God should be the center of all their efforts, because unless the Lord builds the house-unless the Lord builds for the future-it is all in vain.  As an illustration of how this is true, the Psalm then lifts up the example of how it is God that provides children, who were necessary to secure the ongoing future of Israel.  We are not ancient Israelites.  The way that we worship God, our social structures, and our context are radically different.  Despite the Psalm’s context not directly applying to us today, I think the greater truths of this scripture are something we can still learn from and take to heart.  This scripture helps us keep in mind what we need to build for the future.  I think this is a message that we here at Trinity United Methodist Church need to hear, because I think we are in a building year. 
 
I think that is true, because of what I have heard from you.  Back in September I met with several of you over the course of six different listening sessions, so that I could learn more about this church and I could hear what your hopes and dreams were for us going forward.  Across all six sessions the most consistent thing I heard from you is that you want to grow.  The number one dream for the future that I heard in every single one of these sessions is that you want to grow.  The dream is that these pews will be full once again.  In listening to you as a congregation, I am confident that you are all in agreement that you want to grow, you want to build towards something more than we are now.  That is a great goal to have, that is something worth pursuing.  As we think about what it means to grow, as we think about how we are going to be strategic in this building year-I think this morning’s scripture should inform our actions in a couple of ways.  

First, we must remember that unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  It is a laudable goal for a church to want to grow, but we have to be clear about our motivations.   What we want is an easy question to answer: More people in the sanctuary every Sunday.   The harder and vastly more important question is why do we want that?  If the reason why we want to grow is based solely on survival, if the motivation is to get more people so that we can keep on existing just for the sake of existing, then I fear we are building and laboring in vain.  If the reason we want to grow is just to grow because we think that bigger automatically means better and more successful, then we are building and laboring in vain. 

If we want to grow, if we want the Lord to build this house, then our reasons for doing so need to be in the right place.  The reason we want to grow should be because we believe that people need Jesus.  The reason we want to grow is because we believe that the more of us that seek to become more like Christ, then the more effective we can be in transforming this world into a more kind, compassionate, and just place.  The reason we want to grow must be grounded in sharing the grace and reconciliation offered by Jesus so that more people can know the life changing love of God.  The reason we want to grow should be because we are passionate, we are fired up, and we are all in realizing the kingdom of God here on earth. If our hope is built on Jesus Christ, if our motivation is share Jesus so that all the people can be saved, then we can do the work with confidence knowing that the Lord will build the house.  

The second way this morning’s scripture should influence our actions is that it can inspire where we direct our efforts.  This morning’s scripture lifts up children as an example of building to the future.  If it is our dream for the church to grow, then we too, should prioritize young people everywhere.  To reiterate our motivations for doing so should not be out of survival or growing for the sake of growing.  Our motivation should be that young people need Jesus just as much as anyone else.  One of the things that I find most encouraging is that by and large it seems that you as a congregation get that and believe that.   Coming out of the listening sessions, when I asked you all what your biggest dreams were for this church.  The second answer, right after growing, was ministry with young people.  Based off the conversations I have had with many of you over the past few months, I have a strong impression that you all want to love young people, you want to share Jesus with young people, and you desire to see the gospel make an eternal difference in their lives.  

That is all good and worth celebrating.  Yet, I am as aware as you are of our current situation.   We currently do not have a lot of young people, to use the analogy this morning’s scripture uses our quiver is a little low right now.   There are fewer young people than we would like to see and there are more holes in the pews than we prefer right now.  That is our current reality, but there is not a single reason why that must be our future.  We are in a building a year.  Make no mistake, building years take work.   Building years require putting in effort just to figure out the best way forward.  Building years often require making changes.   Building years require learning and stretching outside of our personal comfort zones for the greater purpose of making disciples and transforming the world.

​   There is no way to sugar coat it, all of this is work.   It requires the hard work of introspection, self-examination, and making the necessary changes in our own lives and hearts so that our motivations are truly in the right place.  It also requires the hard work of showing up, of volunteering, of giving from our of time, talent, and resources to invest in a mission greater than ourselves.   Because we are in a building year there is work to be done, but if our motivations are in the right place, if our desire to grow is rooted in sharing God’s love and furthering God’s kingdom then we can be confident that we do not labor in vain.   We can be confident that any growth we eventually see is because it is the Lord that builds the house.  We can be confident of this because  our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Friends, it is on Christ the solid rock we stand so may we be willing to get to work.