You can imagine the scene. David at last has it all. He has gone from youngest son and shepherd boy to warrior and prince, had become best of friends to Jonathan, the son of Saul, the first king over Israel, and then had survived Saul’s murderous attempts on his life; he had defeated Saul and his forces in battle, unified Israel, defeated its enemies, and established a magnificent capital; and he now sits in a comfortable and ornate palace. A shepherd boy, once accustomed to life in the field, tending a herd of sheep which by necessity was always on the move from pasture to pasture, his only home a flimsy tent – now, by the grace of God, he has got it all, a powerful king living in mansion of fragrant cedar. And so his thoughts turn to his God, and David finds that he cannot help but compare the splendor in which he lives to the mere tent that has sheltered the ark of God.

You will remember that the ark was a stone box which by tradition contained the two tablets of the law which Moses had brought down off of Mt. Sinai after the exodus from Egypt. The ark was virtually identified with God, and was considered at the very least a manifestation of God’s presence. And it was housed in a tent.

So now David, having moved on up from a shepherd’s tent to a hilltop cedar mansion, decides it is time that God’s home got an extreme make-over of its own. And David, well he was just the man to get the job done.

God, it turns out, is not interested, and says to David, in essence, “Don’t fence me in.” And further, “Did you ever hear me complaining about living in a tent? Did I ever come whining and complaining that life on the move was not my thing? Did you ever hear me say that life out in the countryside with my people – they were your people too, you know – was not good enough, did you ever hear me say that what I really wanted was a cedar home in the city?”

And oh, one more thing. “By the way,” God says: “As long as we are talking home construction, let me tell you that it is I who will be building YOU a home. No, not a fancy home of wood and nails and swimming pools, you already have one of those, for however long such a home will last – no, I will build you a house (there is a play on words here, the Hebrew word for house also meaning dynasty), a house that will shelter both you and your descendents and indeed all of Israel, a house that will last long after you lie down with your ancestors. A house that I will uphold forever. No matter what.”

A house that God will uphold, forever. That is the theme of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which we read earlier. Through Jesus Christ, God’s promise of a household of peace and reconciliation and unity, no matter what, is extended not only to Jew, but to Gentile as well. We are now included. The last walls which we create to divide people one against the other are broken through Christ, and now we, who were once strangers and aliens from the commonwealth of God, are brought into the one household of God, a home where Jesus is the cornerstone and we are all indispensable structural members. Bound together by the Holy Spirit, here strangers and aliens become sisters and brothers, here Republicans and Democrats, rock-ribbed conservatives and knee-jerk liberals, gay and straight, black and white and red and yellow, financially secure and those scrabbling to make the month’s rent, we all are joined by the power of God into one household, all growing together, as Paul writes, into a holy temple.

There is much to recommend this age-old image of the church as a building, complete with Christ as the cornerstone and us as structural members, and indeed it is right there in some of our favorite hymns – “The Church’s One Foundation”, for instance. And yet I wonder, in this age where the massively immobile stereos of my youth have been replaced by on-the-go wallet-sized iPods and MP3 players, if there might be something to be gained by thinking back on those days of the moveable ark, when God’s dwelling place was constantly on the move, out and about among the people. For our readings today remind us that no matter how beautiful and attractive our sacred spaces might be – and one would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful and attractive space for worship than this old Meetinghouse – still the church is the people, a people bound together and empowered by the Holy Spirit, a people that is both gathered (what we do, for instance, each Sunday) as well as sent out – sent out into the world to share the good news, not just in our words, but through our living. Useful as the images of cornerstones and foundations and temples might be, perhaps something might be gained by images of less weight and earth-boundedness.

For the truth of the matter is this, that God will not be confined to buildings of cedar or oak or granite and marble, to a temple in Jerusalem or a cathedral in New York or a Meetinghouse in West Barnstable. Good news for so many us: good news for the college kids enjoying there last few weeks of summer before traveling off to distant citadels of higher education; good news for the young men and women who have entered the armed services and are headed off to boot camp and perhaps a posting overseas; good news for members of this congregation facing a move away, to be closer to family or to join a retirement community; good news for those who find themselves spiritually at a distance from a church where they once felt so at home, but who now find it difficult to come to worship or engage in our work together.

Good news as well for us who recall that just as the presence of God, symbolically manifest in the ark of the covenant, was out and about among the people, that is where our still-speaking God is most at home – out among God’s people. And so we know that important as it is to gather here, to here listen for God’ word and share Christ’s life-giving body and blood, it is also vital to be out there, out among God’s people – out serving a dinner at the NOAH Shelter as some of you did Friday night, out hammering nails at a Habitat for Humanity House as many of you have done recently, out serving neighbor just as Jesus Christ served others.

As we journey through life, may we always yearn for our true home, a home in God’s presence, wherever we are. Amen. ---------------