In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
It is not by our design that this Temple, dedicated to the Mother of God, is being dedicated today, on this particular day, the Feast of her Protection. This has to do with God’s design, because everything happens according to His will. If we had tried to prepare to come to this point on this particular day, it never would have happened. As always, if we try to leave God in charge of our lives, in charge of our affairs, things work out with a much deeper, much more positive, much more life-giving logic than we could ever invent.
These words, underlining the fact that God is protecting and strengthening His people, are not only words for this congregation, but words for the whole Orthodox Church in this city and in this country. Now that we are in this new (to us) Temple, there are some things which this congregation must remember and keep in mind about where we have come from. We have to remember that the process of building the Church is always difficult. It is always full of temptations, and all the people who are doing the building are always subject to feeling discouraged (even when there is nothing necessarily evident about which to be discouraged). The feeling comes because the Tempter is always at work, trying to undermine the resolve of the Christian faithful people to do God’s will.
The cost of this building, and undertaking the huge responsibility that goes with it, was daunting for us. It was very daunting, because there is such a contrast, as you can see, to our previous tiny cathedral. It was very daunting in a lot of ways because that little building was like a womb which enfolded us, and kept us warm and all squashed together. It was hard for people to think about making that move, except that there were so many evidences that it had to be. Where it would be, no-one could know for a long time. It was only by God’s providence, and I have to say (because of things that have happened since) the direction of the Mother of God, and her direct involvement in our affairs, that brought us to this place, to this day, and to this responsibility. When the people who bought the other building from us were having it inspected, it was discovered that the building was full of mould. There were cracks in the foundation. The main beam of the floor was weak. The wiring was deficient. The people who have gone into that building after us have to rewire, clean up, repair cracks, and shore up the main beam.
These things say to me very much how God has been protecting us. We could easily have burned down that building with that sort of electricity, considering how much we were using the power in that building. The mould might have made people sick, but it never happened. So many times that church was over-packed with our generously-proportioned people, and it is a wonder that the floor did not somehow fall in. I really take seriously the fact that we got out of that building with no harm to anyone or anything. On top of that, the people who bought the building were still willing to pay a reasonably good price according to what we needed. It was enough for us to get a foothold on this building. We have a long way to go yet, but still it is by God’s mercy. He will support us. He brought us here. He has established us here. He will show us how we are to use this building to His glory, and also to fulfil our responsibility to those in this city who are in need in one way or another.
As before, we are hidden. This is not a super-obvious place, but it is good for us. We are at least findable, much more than before. The other thing that is important for us to remember is that when the large icon of Christ (once hanging behind the Holy Table in the other building) was taken down, it left behind it a very dirty wall, because it had been hanging there for forty years or so. However, there was one spot which was completely white, completely clean, and that was (and it was determined by measurements afterwards) exactly where Christ’s right hand of blessing was on the icon.
It is important for us to remember these things. God was blessing and protecting us where we were. He is with us now, even if we face challenges and difficulties in growing into this new building. God is with us even now. He is continuing to nurture us. The Mother of God is with us also, even now, and she is nurturing us. As she always does, she points us to her Son. She directs us to her Son, and reminds us in the case of this building itself that it is to Him that we must turn, and that it is in Him we must have our hope. We do not understand all the meanings of this blessing. We do not understand, now, everything that is going to be. We do not even know yet what it is going to look like here in the next year or so. It has only been three weeks, and it cannot look like this for too long, because things get in the way of our proper behaviour (like having only one staircase). There is work to do.
There is work to do. We need patience, because all this takes time. We have to learn how to sing differently in this building. We have to learn how to serve differently in this building. Those are details, small details. The main thing that we have to be reminding ourselves of as we unpack is how are we best to serve Christ in this Temple. How are we best, in this Temple, to be the Orthodox witness with our brothers and sisters, and other Orthodox congregations in this city ? How are we, together with them, to be an Orthodox witness for this city, which needs our Orthodox Faith very much.
It is important for us, as we are growing up here in this building to take every opportunity – it is our responsibility in this building – to be doing as much as we can to offer assistance, and mutually support our other Orthodox brothers and sisters in this city. Precisely how we are going to do this, no-one knows yet, but we have to remember that this is our purpose. We are not given this responsibility for ourselves – we never are. It is part of our being salt and yeast in this city (see Matthew 5:13 ; 13:33).
Taking the last verse of the Gospel today seriously, let us remember that when the woman said to our Saviour : “‘Blessed is the womb that bore you’”, our Saviour corrected her. He corrected her, not by putting down His Mother (as some persons like to think) when He said : “‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” Clearly, our Lord was saying this about His Mother – that she hears the Word of God, and keeps it. She is thus the example of how to live the Christian life. It is important for you and for me to remember that the Lord’s blessing is upon those who hear the Word of God and keep it. That means not holding on to it, but doing it. Not defending it (because Christ defends it) but doing it. This is our responsibility : to live the love of Jesus Christ according to the pattern of the Mother of God, who is our most perfect example. With her, let us glorify our Saviour, Jesus Christ, together with the unoriginate Father, and the all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.