1 St. James United Church Psalm 90 & 1 Peter 2: 1-6, 9-10

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Bartholomew Wilson
5 years ago
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1 1 Prayer: God, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. Illumine for us the good news of your love revealed to us in Jesus Christ and show us the path of righteousness. Amen Sermon: How many people here like history? I have to admit I am a history junkie. I love hearing stories about how people lived and what was happening in the world in times past. Not just facts names, dates, places, but stories about people and their experiences in the world. Stories; of courage and sacrifice, perseverance and hope. They can teach us much about living in the world today. Here is a story about one such community, a people and their church; a very old church; the cathedral in Cologne, Germany. (SLIDE 1) The cathedral sits on what has long been a site of religious significance. Built upon the ruins of and ancient Roman temple this has been the site of a Christian place of worship since the 4 th century. This is the 2 nd cathedral to stand here. The first church, known by locals as the old church, was built in 818 and burned down in the year What makes this church, the one they call the new church so special is that it took over 700 years to build. The cornerstone was laid on August 15, And for 7 centuries each succeeding generation of the faithful has carried on that work of building and equipping the church for the glory of God. By looking inside we can see evidence of the contribution made by each generation both to the building of the cathedral and also to the building of the Christian faith. 1) The Gero Cross; a life-size crucifix commissioned by the Archbishop of Cologne in the year 965. Made of oak, painted and partly gilded with silver and gold, it reflects the Romanesque style (eyes cast down reflecting the humility of Christ) and is the oldest

2 2 sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the alps. It is a surviving piece of the old church, a piece of their heritage carried forward into the new. 2) Shrine of the 3 Kings: IN 1164 Archbishop Rainald of Dassel acquired the relics of the 3 Magi which had been in Milan since year 344 and in Constantinople before that. In the hopes that the relics would attract pilgrims to the church from all over Europe, in 1181 the artist Nicholas of Verdun was commissioned to build a shrine to hold the holy relics. It was completed in Wood gilded with gold and silver depicts the prophets, the apostles and an image of the adoration of the magi. 3) Milan Madonna: this gothic statue was created in 1280 by artisans of the cathedral workshop (fix-it team) to replace the one brought to Cologne along with the relics of the 3 kings and which was destroyed by fire in Mary s style of dress and colourings reflect the French influence popular in German art and architecture in the 13 th century. 4) Petiosa Bell: petiossa meaning precious one. Reflects the importance of music in drawing the faithful to worship. The bell cast in 1448 weighs kg and is one of 3 bells cast in the 15 th century to honour the 3 kings. It plays G and together the bells sound a single g-major chord. 5) Medieval church: the eastern arm of the church was completed and consecrated in Then began work on the western portion. But they ran out of money and construction was halted in 1473, leaving the south tower only half done and crowned with a medieval crane (c. 1350) that was to remain in place for 400 years. It was not until 1842, with the surge in romantic enthusiasm for the middle ages (swinging back toward tradition) that work on the tower began again and completion of the tower was celebrated in ) Pulpit: In the year 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Whittenberg, Germany, and thus began the Reformation. IN response to reformist elements (contemporary worship), the increased authority of scripture, and the importance of proclamation of the Word, this pulpit was installed in It reflects the renaissance style, is made of oak, and its carvings

3 3 depict the apostles and the coat of arms (political influence of the state in religion) 7) Pentecost Window: depicts Mary and Peter seated, surrounded by the disciples, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. This is one of several windows signifying the importance of scripture and was installed in celebration of the cathedral s 600 th birthday. 8) Mosaic Floor: In 1886 a competition was held to select a design for the much-needed new floor in the cathedral. The winner and designer of this mosaic was architect August Von Eissenwein. Utilizing new techniques in ceramics this floor is not mosaic inly but rather ceramic pieces with a painted picture surface. The floor is 1350 square metres and was produced by Villeroy and Boch of dinnerware fame. 9) WW2: Cologne was heavily bombed during WW2, but the cathedral, a source of strength and spiritual comfort for the community sustained relatively little damage (divine intervention the locals believe). 10) New Organ: In 1948, in celebration and in gratitude to God for the war s end, and as a symbol of hope for the future, a new organ was built that the people might once again praise God anew through music. 11) South Transept window: old stained glass windows shattered during the war were removed and replaced with clear glass. In the decades that followed the war these were slowly replaced. The newest one is the window in the south transept. Created by German artist Geerhardt Richter and dedicated on August 25, 2007, this window reflects not only light, but use of contemporary technology. 113 meters square in size it contains pieces of identically shaped coloured glass resembling pixels, arranged randomly by computer. For almost 800 years people have worshipped in the cathedral at Cologne. Over the centuries each generation has received, in trust, the inheritance of faith passed on by their ancestors. And each generation has built on what they received; adding to it, reshaping it, to reflect their faith in their time.

4 4 They in turn, in trust and in hope, passed the faith along to the next generation knowing that, while they would never see their work completed, that having struggled for the faith, having offered their best in praise to God, that God would prosper the work of their hands. Cologne Cathedral is still not complete. It is still a work in progress that will continue to be built and rebuilt by the generations to come. It stands today in all its splendour as one community s testimony to the glory of God, and as a symbol, a reflection of the spiritual temple that is being built by the faith of all generations, and that includes us. Here at St. James we have inherited this beautiful place of worship, only 55 years young. But sitting here in this sanctuary it is hard not to feel the love and faith that were poured into the building of this church by its founders, along with the concrete. And since that time this place has been a spiritual home for many people for some it has been a long-time home, and for others this has been a spiritual resting place on their way to somewhere else. But each person who has come here over the years has left their mark on the faith and life of this church. And it is this gift of place and faith that we have inherited by grace. It is a treasure indeed; a gift to hold lightly in our hands, for it does not belong to us (any f us), but to God. It has been entrusted to us only for a while, and in time we will be called to pass it on to others. But for now the gift is ours to claim, to celebrate and to share. And while we hold this gift of place and faith in our hands, we are called to do something with it; to put out mark on it, to take what we have received and make it our own, to shape it, using the gifts and abilities of our time/people, into something beautiful and meaningful, something that reflects who we are, what we believe, something that calls for the best in us as disciples in our time, because it is being created for the glory of God.

5 5 In 1 st Peter it is written, Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. We are living stones, tiny little fragments of matter created by God and shaped by faith. And if time were to stop right now, and God were to gather all the tiny little stones present here on earth and to cement them together, there might be enough of us to make one brick, one little brick for God to set in place in the building of his spiritual house. For you see, God s spiritual house is cosmic in scale. Construction started in the beginning and only God knows when the work will be done. We do not know what God s great and grand cathedral will look like, in the years to come, or when God s kingdom has finally come and the work is done. All we can know is that we of every generation are called to do our part; top give our best to God, and to the work of our faith, and in giving all glory and praise to God, God will prosper the work of our hands, and the prayers of our hearts. As we seek to discern what it means to be faithful in our time, to test our faith in the light of lived experience, to question the traditions we have inherited, all the while seeking and praising god, we are being shaped into living stones, that God will use to build his holy temple a place of love and justice and peace. We may not know what it will look like when it is done, but scripture gives us a pretty good idea of what the party will be like when the building is finally done and the celebrations begin all God s children will be gathered together, feasting at a heavenly banquet of God. Until then, I like to remember the image of that medieval crane sitting, waiting for 400 years atop he cathedral at Cologne a reminder that we are part of something bigger than ourselves and that when it comes to the work of building God s house, there will assuredly be others to pick

6 6 up where we leave off, and who will continue in faith the work of building for God s glory. Thanks be to God!

WORLD HERITAGE LIST Cologne Cathedral NO 292rev

WORLD HERITAGE LIST Cologne Cathedral NO 292rev WORLD HERTAGE LST Cathedral NO 292rev dentification Nomination Location State party cathedral Land Nordrhein-Westfalen Federal Republic of Germany Date 18 August 1995 Justification by State party n the