Solomon is certain he has built a place worthy of being God’s dwelling place forever. … Forever is a long time: building a permanent dwelling place for God strikes me as an attempt to create boundaries for God that work for us, but perhaps not for God. God’s former home was that tent made out of cloth, and skins, not stone. It was not a permanent dwelling. And so I think of that tent as representing how our Faith is a journey, not an endpoint; a path we must walk. We might stop occasionally to dwell for a time, but we always move on. A tent is not a monument.
Lord God, may your peace and Holy Spirit fill this place. Open your scripture to us, and may I clearly communicate that which you intend us to receive. May your Word take root and flourish within each and every one of us; and through it may we be strengthened and transformed by your unconditional, living, and limitless love for us and all of your Creation.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
Tom texted me yesterday and asked if I would fill in for him this morning. I immediately said yes, certain I had a sermon somewhere in my archive that would provide a good starting point for a meditation on this morning’s scripture. Oops. It took a lot more work than I thought; which is probably a good thing, actually: because if it wasn’t a journey to write this sermon and prepare for this service, then it probably wasn’t worth doing.
This morning’s reading is about Israel redefining its relationship with God in the time of Solomon the Wise. The old tent that long housed the Ark of the Covenant no longer seemed fitting to them, for their prosperous and peaceful Kingdom.
At the end of our reading, Solomon is certain he has built a place worthy of being God’s dwelling place forever. …Forever is a long time: building a permanent dwelling place for God strikes me as an attempt to create boundaries for God that work for us, but perhaps not for God. God’s former home was that tent made out of cloth, and skins, not stone. It was not a permanent dwelling. And so I think of that tent as representing how our Faith is a journey, not an endpoint; a path we must walk. We might stop occasionally to dwell for a time, but we always move on. A tent is not a monument.
Also, for a while now, I’ve been pondering how Faith operates in and through us on our journey through life.
For example, we saw Faith at work last week here, at our Special Congregational Meeting – a major stepping stone in a long period of our congregation evaluating what works, what doesn’t, what’s broken, and what needs to be replaced or rethought. We were asked to commit ourselves to the next step in that journey in the form of a Capital Campaign, to prepare our church’s infrastructure for the future.
That meeting, just like this worship service, and so many other things that we do – either individually or jointly – are all expressions of faith.
On the other hand, our news and media feeds are filled with the words and actions of those who claim to be faithful, and yet are saying or engaging in truly vile and hateful things. They often use snippets of Bible verses to justify their actions. And, many of them and their enablers seem to rely on hubris, hearsay, and hate to the exclusion of science, fact, and love. Is that Faith?
It seems to me that we need to understand what Faith is; since what it is, is central to who we all are as people of faith, and therefore critical in our discernment and pursuit of God’s Call throughout our life journey.
Faith frames how we see ourselves, who (and what) we choose to have relationships with, and what we envision our purpose and the purpose of Creation, to be. Faith helps us make sense of the events and circumstances that shape us and our world. It defines a path for us to follow into the future. Faith helps us gaze into the infinite and unknowable, and find a place there for ourselves. It helps us appreciate, reciprocate, and share God’s fierce and unrelenting love. It enables us to wonder and rejoice in the vastness and glory of God’s Creation. Faith helps us survive in this world of uncertainty and change. Without Faith, we cannot Love; and without Faith and Love, Knowledge cannot be fruitful.
We talk about how important our Faith is to us. We admire those who have strong Faith, and we honor those who die for their Faith. We encourage Faith in others, and minister to them, out of our own Faith. Faith is a powerful thing.
We often say things like “I have faith in God” or “I have faith in Evolution” or “This (or that) strengthened my faith” or, “I have lost (or found) my faith.” We fret over whether our faith is strong enough. And yet, we don’t define what it is. It’s assumed we already know.
Now, we are certainly called to explore and expand the boundaries of our faith, to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be people of faith. We believe that God is still speaking, and still supplying new revelations: providing new ways for us to grow and to pursue our faith journeys.
Paul the Apostle wrote “’all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.” He says knowledge creates the illusion of greater faith; a puffed up appearance without substance; and that we cannot build our faith solely through the accumulation of knowledge. In fact, many of those who criticize our own faith say that we rely too much on knowledge, and not enough on faith. I disagree. But, they also say that we are “elites” who don’t understand the realities of this world.
We value intellect and learning, and rightfully so. But they might have a point: knowledge is not a substitute for faith, it cannot transform us into the faith-filled people we must be.
Faith can grow through expanding our knowledge, but without love guiding it, that expansion is merely that puffing up that Paul spoke of: achieving an inflated sense of the greatness of our own faith because of the knowledge we possess. I see this in Solomon the Wise’s words and actions.
But when Love guides our faith, we do not lay claim to knowledge, because we know that knowledge has no value apart from faith. Knowledge and Love must work together for Faith to be meaningful and fruitful. Knowledge without Love can only bring harm and oppression.
If we had perfect knowledge, we would not need Faith at all. In First Corinthians, the so called “Love Chapter”, Paul says “if I … have … all knowledge, and if I have all faith … but do not have love, I am nothing.”
The Gospels begin and end with Love – not Knowledge. Knowledge is finite; Love is infinite. Knowledge can be possessed, and can therefore be controlled or corrupted; but true love requires freedom and therefore is beyond corruption. Knowledge is a tool; Love is a way of living. And as I already said, Faith is not a possession or a goal, but a journey.
Faith does more than give us an identity and mission. Faith takes the hope given to us by those who came before and enables us to live with their hope active and present our own lives. Our faith impels us to then share that Hope with others. Faith binds us together in a longitudinal sense, across time – past, present, and future. It also binds us in a horizontal sense, with all those here in the present. And finally, it binds us in a vertical sense, with God.
All this is made possible through Love – not Knowledge. One can live a life full of what we would see as Christian virtue without ever knowing or hearing anything about the Gospel. However, it is not possible to be a person of faith without employing Love in the use of our knowledge.
Knowledge and Faith both begin from the same place. They both start with something unseen by the naked eye.
Knowledge is a useful tool, but it is one we cannot ignore (even though some try). Knowledge can help us see clearly where seeing was not possible before.
Faith is no different: like Knowledge, Faith finds meaning in the unseen, helping us understand that which we cannot see with our eyes. We observe the world around us and through our faith find purpose and meaning and hope in it.
Yet, Faith differs from knowledge in a crucial aspect. Knowledge is needed for control and power. Faith has nothing to do with control or power (at least not our power). Faith is about Love.
Knowledge is about the How and the Where and the When of things; not about the Why. Faith is about the greater purpose, meaning, and direction of Creation, and of our own lives and communities.
When folks dismiss the value of Faith, it is often because they believe knowledge is sufficient. This saddens me, because they are not seeing the value or action of Faith in their lives, even though it is there. They are confusing Fact with Truth…
Knowledge tells us what is and how it came to be.
Faith tells us why, and that Creation itself is an expression of God’s nature and Love.
Knowledge tells us how the world works.
Faith tells us why life is worth living.
Knowledge helps us identify all the wavelengths of light that are to be found in a rainbow.
Faith tells us the Rainbow is beautiful, and how it is an example of God’s love for us.
Knowledge helps us understand and exploit the World around us.
Faith helps us find hope and purpose within it.
Knowledge tells us what we are, and what they are; and how we differ.
Faith tells us who we are, and who they are – and that we are all beloved creatures of God.
Faith without Knowledge is a dangerous thing – rootless, not grounded, weak, easy to misdirect or undermine; and can cause just as much harm as Knowledge without Faith.
Faith must be grounded in reality[1]. It embraces the need for us to love and care for God’s Creation, as we are commanded to do. Without Faith and Love, we have no reason to build God’s Kingdom here on earth. Without Knowledge and without Love, Faith cannot connect with reality, and cannot change the world for the better. In fact, it may well change the world for the worse.
If we reject the importance of Knowledge and Love, working together to make our Faith operative and real, then all the knowledge we possess will be no more substantial than the wind. We would be oblivious to the spirit of God moving around us and in us, like the very air we breathe, constantly seeking to inspire and fill us with God’s Love.
Solomon was right: there is a dwelling place for the Eternal; but that place is not in a house of stone and gold, it is in our hearts.
Amen.
[1] A dear (and wise) member of our congregation, Karen Ross, came up to me after the service and pointed out that this statement is problematic, as it suggests that Faith must be subservient to reality. She is correct in her criticism: Faith cannot be limited by reality and often must challenge reality (but it must also engage-with and respect reality).
Scripture references and readings
1 Kings 5:1-5; 8:1-13 [The Voice]
Delivered at Memorial Congregational Church UCC in Sudbury MA, October 26th, 2025: (Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost)
Copyright 2025, Allen Vander Meulen III, all rights reserved.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The Here and the Hereafter 