"I will fill this house with splendor..".

A few weeks ago Revd Michael Corrigan came to preach at Christ Church. It was a pleasure to welcome him. Later he sent us a copy of a sermon he preached at his own church back in the States, as it mentions us.

Homily

Trinity Episcopal Church

Rev. Michael Corrigan

November 9, 2025

Proper 27, RCL C

Tine and I just returned from spending October at our place in France. We are blessed to live in what for almost eight hundred years was a Cistercian abbey. The monastery is a ruin now, towers of rock and ivy. It requires a lot of imagination to visualize the grand place it once was. Buildings have their time and for Du Loroux, its' time came to an end almost three hundred years ago with the French Revolution. Yet when you gaze upon the stones, the imagination can still conjure up images of what life might have been like; the bells, the calls to prayer, the flow of pilgrims in and out of the gate. It was once one of the rest stops on one of the pilgrim routes to Compostella. 

As beautiful as it is, there are times when a sense of depression creeps in. Each year the soft tufa stone shows more evidence of the erosion caused by the slow trickle of rain which drips from the ivy. Each year, it seems more noticeable. We repair the worst of it as we can but there is no way that we can possibly afford to keep the forces of nature from continuing to wear the ruins down. Eventually they will all crumble away.

We had images of another holy site today in our first reading. The old temple there was torn down too. While an effort was being made to replace what had been there before, the new place was clearly inferior. The prophet (speaking on God's behalf) asked the people: "How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?"  It must have been discouraging for them too.

Spending time in France with so many churches, most in one stage or another of obvious deterioration and lack of use, it can get you down. We build these monuments to be "homes for God". We want them to be permanent but of course, we fool ourselves. God doesn't care about the buildings, only what happens inside them.

 "God time" is something that has always confused people. It sure confuses me and no doubt that is why this so often gets discussed in my sermons. Scripture is filled with references to God's intention to do this or that. Sometimes a reward, sometimes a punishment. Today we heard God say: "I will fill this house with splendor" but what does that mean?

We also heard the author of our Epistle chastise the community for sitting around just waiting for Jesus to return. Maybe he wasn't coming so soon they were told. God Time and Human time are different and there is more to it than simply setting one's watch a few hours ahead! Clocks won't even do the job because "God time" isn't linear.  Christ may come at some "end of the world moment" but hopefully He also will at today's Eucharist. God time is now AND always.

Making peace with living one's life in God time is at the heart of what it means to live a Christian life. There are times, like in today's Haggai reading, when it seems God sees time in the linear way we understand as we go about our affairs. God says, "Don't worry that today this place looks lousy, sometime soon, "I will fill this house with splendor..". just you wait...

Yes, there is a time and a place for waiting. We call it prayer. We need those moments of silence and inaction sometimes to understand what to do next but sitting around, waiting for things to happen is a bad way to live one's life. So much better to get up, take a walk or go for a swim and do what we can to honor our own "temples" if we are not sure what work God is calling us to do at that moment.  God tells us  "Take courage, all you people of the land... work, .. I am with you." "Work, for I am with you".  Work, never stop working! Have courage! God tells us. Our Gospel tells us to ask because it shall be given. Search, because only by searching will we find. Knock and the door will be opened.

What great texts for this day when we gather to reflect on what is required of us to maintain this "temple", our Trinity Community. Take a moment now and look around this grand space we sit in. Think about why you are sitting here right now. Look at your neighbor, why do suppose they might be here too?  Does it seem just a bit "full" in this space this morning? Having been away for almost three years, one thing that stands out (perhaps more for us because we have been away), is that there are so many more of us here than there were three years ago when we left for New York. We are not quite crammed in" but it is getting close!

 I guessed there were 20-25% more people here on the average Sunday than there were when we left but I was hesitant to guess so I asked Elizabeth.  "Your instincts are right, but you are "low" and she supplied me with lots of statistics: As most of you know, our Rector is thorough. It turns out that our headcount is up more like 37% over the past three years! Collections are up too (20%)- people come before their money does. You know how remarkable that is right? Churches are supposed to be dying, particularly "mainline denomination" churches like ours. Many are too. Attendance is down 47% over the past decade across our own Diocese and yet here are our numbers! What's going on here? Work, that's what!

Spending as much of our time in France as we do, I can confirm that most churches there (if not already officially dead) are dying too. Most that remain serve a shrinking group of old people. But like Trinity, there are exceptions. Two weeks ago, I presided at one of our Episcopal Churches in the small city of Clermont Ferrand. That building is a smaller structure than this one is but it was pretty full too. It wasn't the same kind of congregation I have gotten used to seeing when I go to the local Roman Churches or for that matter, my old Parish in New York. There I am always one of the younger people in the room.

In Clermont Ferrand, I would guess half the people there were under 35! That might be true of us today too! Well, maybe 1/2 under 50?  Moreover, it wasn't just relatively affluent white people. Our churches in Europe draw from all over the world and most have one thing in common; they feel disenfranchised. They are the wrong color, or they love the wrong people, or they don't make enough money, or their politics are unpopular.  People find that little church tucked behind the Post Office on Sundays because they are hungry and most days, they leave sated. Does this sound familiar? It should because we leave this place sated too. Work is being done.

There is a magic ingredient at work in both places and you know what it is. Who can tell me? Hint: Jesus talked about it all the time.  [anyone] "Love". Isn't that what we feel when we have had a great day at Church? God's love filling us. As it begins to overflow, we see the other so much better. We hear the other better, understand them with new insights. We become aware that this or that needs to change in our own lives. We are reminded anew of how grateful we are for all of life- the gifts and the challenges. All the work that remains to be done. With our clocks reset to "God time", we are better able to face what comes next in a world that feels so ugly these days.

Each of us has so many other things we could be doing right now yet something has drawn each of us here. This community and its' inspiring leaders (and here I mean Elizabeth and Sarah of course but also all the rest of us too) offers something that isn't found on the golf course or at the brunch table and it leaves us sated, ready for the week ahead.

Having just come from our Diocesan Convention I am reminded that there are quite a few inspiring preachers out there and lots of good managers too. Yet many of them are laboring in dying churches. Formally designated church leaders need these qualities but even more importantly, they need the gift of knowing how to empower others and that is a much rarer commodity. We are blessed to have that here and I am convinced this is why we are up 37% over the past three years.

We are doing this work together so as we gather after church, look at the crowd and give yourself a little pat on the back- you are doing God's work! Keep that loving going! Amen

The Collect

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament

Haggai 1:15b-2:9

In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

The Psalm

Psalm 145:1-5, 18-22

1 I will exalt you, O God my King, *and bless your Name for ever and ever.

2 Every day will I bless you *and praise your Name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; *there is no end to his greatness.

4 One generation shall praise your works to another *and shall declare your power.

5 I will ponder the glorious splendor of your majesty *and all your marvelous works.

18 The Lord is righteous in all his ways *and loving in all his works.

19 The Lord is near to those who call upon him, *to all who call upon him faithfully.

20 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; *he hears their cry and helps them.

21 The Lord preserves all those who love him, *but he destroys all the wicked.

22 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; *let all flesh bless his holy Name for ever and ever.

The Epistle

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

The Gospel

Matthew 7:7-11

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!