Worship

Beyond Temple Walls… to a Greater World

Pastor JonAlden Pedersen

In our newsletter Beside Still Waters this month, Rachel Lonetti writes a lovely article about rest, forgiveness, and freedom. Please read it yourself, but one moment in her article she writes that our expressions of love and gratitude for all Christ has done for us can never be confined within the four walls of a building. I was just impressed when I read that because that really is the whole point of this sermon series that we’re finishing today. There will never be a building made by human hands, whether it’s Salem, St. Peter’s Basilica, or the tower of Babel, has enough room for the Spirit of Christ because it simply goes beyond temple walls. And the amazing truth touched on last week and I pray God gives me the opportunity to dive deeper into that topic with you in the future is that you, brothers and sisters, are the temple of the living God. That’s what Jesus says throughout John’s Gospel, and what Paul and Peter say in both of their letters. It’s also the case that Pastor Enter brought to you last week, that the soul and the body are connected, neither to be neglected, because the body is a gift. So we have to be careful not to, like the Corinthians in Paul’s first letter, disconnect the soul and body and at the same time we have to be careful not to, like the super-apostles in Paul’s second letter, over emphasize the physical training of the body. There’s a challenge for us to balance our physical and spiritual wellbeing. That challenge very much carries over into this week as we look beyond the temple walls of religious institutions, beyond the temple walls of our bodies, and focus our attention back to God’s original vocation for humanity: to be stewards, or caretakers of God’s creation. 

“Then God said,’Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the ground.”

Now as you keep reading through Genesis—especially through chapter 11—you’ll see how far humanity drifted from God’s original vocation. It begins already with Cain and his line. Instead of exercising dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth, they turned that same impulse toward one another: ruling over, subduing, and even killing other image-bearers. Cities then emerge as the man-made byproduct of this rebellion—places where builders and tyrants could gather to compete or conspire for power, forcing the rest of the people into physical or psychological slavery so that they might work for the benefit of other men. And no, you do not need a degree in political science or social engineering to recognize this pattern. It is spelled out with remarkable clarity in the biblical library itself.

But you don’t need to look only at the biblical library to see men ruling over other men today. Before you sit down and enjoy a little rest and entertainment tonight, I implore you to look at Project Jubilee and see generational slavery impacting families in Pakistan, or look up Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo and consider whether upgrading your phone once more is worth it. These people, made in the image of God like you and me are held subject by other men and they are under generational debt slavery, some of them to produce the very products we could not imagine life without. I say these things not to burden you with guilt or unrealistic responsibility, but to emphasize how miraculous it is that you happen to be here, when you could have been anywhere else in all of creation. 

And so, in this part of God’s creation, how will we fulfill His original vocation? This is where we must come together as brothers and sisters in Christ and have an uncomfortable conversation. Do we worship the creation itself at the cost of subjecting other men and women to frustration and futility? Of course not. Do we neglect the creation so we can engineer our own Tower of Babel—one designed to satisfy every itch and every desire? Of course not. If either of those extremes sounds laughable to you, hear me carefully: there are men and women beyond these walls right now who are pouring out their entire lives toward one or the other of those ends. And just as Lamech, descendant of Cain, boasted that he would kill anyone who would wound him or hinder him, there are authorities in our day who would do the same to you and to me.

Especially with a message like ours, right? A message that includes not only that original commission by God to be stewards of the earth, but also the primary commission, the Great Commission to go and make disciples. To go out into the world as crazy and satanic as it can be, with a message of repentance and reconciliation. To tell mother earth worshippers and the tyrant alike to repent and be reconciled to God, what an adventure Christ calls us into! But he also equips us thoroughly. Jesus goes before murderers and slave owners, before hypocrites and mockers, before the ultimate evil forces of Satan and his minions, and like an uncomplaining lamb lays down his life for you. To show you need not be a slave again to sin. After three days he rises from the dead to show you need not fear death, because there is no condemnation for you, baptized into Christ Jesus. No amount of suffering can remove the Spirit of Christ that lives in you, that will resurrect you from the dead. It’s the same Spirit that causes a slave in Pakistan to sing, the same Spirit that causes the Apostles to lay down their lives, the same Spirit that brings us together each week, may it never be made secondary especially when we’re talking about challenging issues like we have been in this series. As the temple of the living God, no amount of suffering whether you’re suffering for your physical health, or suffering with your own version of debt slavery, or suffering with grief, nothing will separate you from the love of Christ. 

Now, keeping our primary commission in mind, let’s return once more to this topic of stewardship. We have a special opportunity. We at Salem have an opportunity to live out and practice God’s original vocation for men and women, both within these walls and beyond these walls. Let’s start within. I love this building. I love the gymnasium, I love the fireside room, I love the offices, but more than this building I love Curt Richter, Bonnie, and his children. Curt is our chairman in charge of the building and grounds here, and I wonder if he, or Gordy, or Quentin, or Al, share my same loving sentiment for this building. You see, the big expensive AC unit was only one piece of the puzzle to keeping this sixty plus year old building operating, and I haven’t found a single person who has put in more working hours than this man who already works full time as the director of building and grounds at St. Croix Lutheran Academy. Please, unless you’d like to worship in tents at Salem Oaks, reach out to Curt or sign up to clean near the office, or talk with me or Pastor Wolfe and we can get you connected with buildings and grounds and use our talents to keep this building ship shape for the next sixty years. 

Beyond these temple walls we also have a special opportunity to be stewards at Salem, did you know not five miles away from here Salem owns 70+ acres of land? At 6660 N Manning Avenue we own 77 acres of land, both farmland and forest, both swamp and slew. We lease about 45 acres of farmland to Axdahl farms, although council has not officially leased them in 2027. In the past we’ve thrown the idea of a building project there a number of times but have been running into issues with the council of the township of Grant. We would have to pay a substantial amount of money to have proper plumbing there, and people don’t really seem keen on using that old rundown outhouse… so… There are plenty of challenges when talking about Salem Oaks! But I say confidently today after keeping my mouth shut about it for the last year that equally or even greater than the challenges that come with this piece of God’s creation are opportunities. Opportunities to be quick to listen and slow to speak, opportunities to grant members of Salem the space to use their talents and gifts in a collaborative and even playful manner, opportunities to lead and be led by faithful and discerning brothers and sisters, not tyrants or tree-huggers. 

What a gift from God we have been given! But just like a newborn child, this gift is also a substantial responsibility, and just like parents can disagree on how to properly discharge their responsibility as mothers and fathers, so it has been proven already that we can differ in opinions on how to use this gift, this land, responsibly. It is a responsible opinion to see the issues that we are currently facing in this facility, from a leaky roof to a financial deficit and think that selling the land is the proper solution. It is also a responsible opinion to see this land as a sort of inheritance for the next generation, and that we ought to maintain and take care of the land until one of the sons or daughters of Salem comes up with the right use of Salem Oaks. 

Those are two of many very different but equally responsible opinions. But since this gift is so substantial, and every person can immediately think of a dozen different, responsible ways to use this gift, it requires each of us to think deeply not only about this land, but also about the world around us, the sort of economical and political environment we face and our children will face, as we have only begun to do today.

There is not doubt in my mind, especially because I witnessed it at the very first council meeting I attended, that we will suffer in our mission to come to a consensus on this challenging, yet opportunistic quest regarding Salem Oaks. Yet frankly, dear brother and sisters, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Yes we are called to take care of a creation that is doomed to decay just like we are called to take care of our bodies that are doomed to decay, but let the Spirit of Christ guide us and together we will see glory revealed beyond the temple walls. Amen.