In our reading today, in the best version of the reading for today, the slightly abridged version that we read, Solomon is using all of his resources to build a temple to God–a temple that will represent the Creator of the Universe, God who is both mysterious and present, awe-inspiring and visited with the matriarchs and patriarchs, overwhelming and granter of comfort.
What could you build that would be sufficient for all that, for that God. It can’t be small, it can’t be simple, it can’t make God seem like less than the other gods of the times.
So the temple that Solomon built, or had built, was grand, pointed to God, made space for the glory of God to settle in, to be present. The best reading is that this temple was for God, for the people, for the glory and worship and honor of God by the people of God.
LIFE STORY: God’s Architect
By the time of his death in 1926, the Spanish builder, Antoni Goudi, was known the world over as God’s Architect. Goudi was called God’s Architect because over his career, he oversaw the building of so many chapels and cathedrals which he imbued with his unique creative vision and because he was known to be a man of deep Christian faith.
When Antoni Gaudi graduated from architectural school, the head master said, “He is either a fool or a genius; time will tell.” It didn’t take time long to decide. Gaudi immediately made a splash on the architectural scene with his increasingly grand projects.
It was his early fame that led to Gaudi being put in charge of overseeing the construction of a new cathedral in Barcelona: Il Temple de la Sagrada Familia… The Temple of the Holy Family.
When Gaudi took on Sagrada Familia in 1883, there was already a foundation and existing architectural plans. But Gaudi took the modest plans and threw them out. He redesigned the project to be something far more ambitious that would become his life’s work: he wanted to build the perfect temple that would reflect the glory of God.
His new plan had three facades with complex archways and intricately carved sculptures: one for the Nativity, one for the Passion, and one representing Christ in Glory. Each of these facades would have a grand stair-cased entryway corresponding to faith, hope, and love.
The interior of the temple would take its inspiration from the patterns found in nature. Columns would rise like trees to the vaulted ceilings whose white stonework would be given a heavenly glow by the beautiful stained glass windows below.
The temple would have 18 towers: 12 for the apostles, 4 for the evangelists, 1 for the virgin Mary, and 1 for Jesus Christ. The towers would vary in height based on their importance. The greatest, the Jesus tower, will reach a height of 564 feet (just shy of a nearby mountain so God will not be eclipsed), which will make the Sagrada Familia the tallest church in the world.
I say will because the Sagrada Familia is not yet finished. In fact, it is currently the world’s longest running construction project. The temple began construction in 1882 and has been worked on continuously ever since (halting only briefly for the Spanish Civil war and again for the COVID 19 pandemic).
Gaudi devoted 43 years of his life to the temple and was buried in its crypt upon his death. It is considered his magnum opus.
But the whole time Gaudi was working on God’s temple, God was working on Gaudi. When Antoni Gaudi began the project, he was not the man who today is under serious consideration for sainthood. Gaudi was cold, self-centered, and worldly. He had a taste for gourmet food, fine suits, and frequenting operas. He was known for putting on airs— even showing up at his projects in a horse-drawn carriage! He was harsh and seemed to consider others beneath him.
There was no sudden conversion experience that led to Gaudi’s change. God worked on him slowly over the decades through his relationships, his experiences, and his ever deepening commitment to his faith. You could say that God had the patience of a master builder: raising up upon the original foundation of his life, a new vision of who Goudi could be. God worked on Goudi brick by brick, stone by stone, and slab by slab.
And by the time of his death, Antoni Gaudi was an entirely different man. His friends knew him to be warm and caring. He preferred quiet walks and time spent in prayer to the theater. And because he fasted so often and dressed so humbly, he was often mistaken for a beggar. One day in 1926, Goudi was on his way to a chapel for morning prayer, when he was hit by an oncoming tram. Because he looked like a vagrant lying by the road, he went hours without the medical attention he needed, and died soon after.
After his funeral, the temple project was placed under the care of one of his disciples, who eventually handed it on to someone else, who handed it to someone else, and so forth. Hopes are that the Sagrada Familia will be officially completed in 2026 in time for the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.
Who knows if, when the Sagrada Familia is completed, it will be the perfect temple that reflects the glory of God. But it will certainly be a lasting testament to a man transformed by grace.
When someone once asked Antoni Goudi when the temple would be finished, the man who had come to be known as God’s Architect smiled and said: “My client is not in a hurry…”
Antoni Goudi designed and starting building a cathedral that pointed to God, but in time, the cathedral he was building him, too.
We are built by the church, too. Not the church building but by the church, us, the people. We shaped by our learning and growing together. We are shaped by our ministry and missioning, evangelism and story telling, together. Our values, our ministry in the world, our work, how we live together in our families and as a family.
And together, we build the church, the church that is the people and the community, the ministry and mission together.
WISDOM STORY: The Bricklayers
A pilgrim traveling through medieval France happened on a work site where some bricklayers were busy working. Curious, the traveler stopped to ask the bricklayers about the work they were doing.
The first bricklayer he approached was muttering under his breath.
“What are you doing?” the pilgrim asked.
“What do you want to know about it?” the stonecutter replied, scowling. “I do nothing but break my back all day, slaving over these bricks. All day long, I wheel them and stack them. I do it without any thanks and for very little pay. Then I go home to my nagging wife and my complaining children. I go to sleep with an aching back and wake up in the morning and do it all over again!”
The pilgrim quietly backed away, so as not to offend the fellow any further. He saw another bricklayer whistling as he worked.
“What are you doing?” the pilgrim asked the second bricklayer who looked up and smiled.
“Just working to make a living. I wheel and stack these stones all day to support my beautiful wife and family back home. It’s not exciting work but it’s honest and it puts food on the table. I know many able bodied men who struggle to find work and this job pays regularly. I feel very blessed to be a bricklayer.”
The pilgrim was about to leave when he noticed a third bricklayer. This one was working quietly and intensely. His hands were quick and precise.
“What are you doing?” asked the pilgrim.
The third bricklayer was so engrossed in his task that he didn’t even hear the pilgrim.
“What are you doing?” the pilgrim asked, louder this time.
The third bricklayer looked up to the heavens and whispered, “I’m building a cathedral.”
–Traditional Parable
We are building a cathedral, a church together, with our love and hope and actions, and missions, and community. By sharing the love of Christ in this world by caring for those who God loves, for being part of creative endeavors and caring for creation.
That’s what we celebrate today, how the church has made us, and how it has influence who we are, what we do in ministry of this church, in our families, and in the world. How we live the love of Christ beyond these doors. How we are the church, building up each other
And how we are building cathedrals, that we are the cathedrals that point to the glory of God.