Dedication Sunday

Thought for the parish pewslip - Sunday 18th October 2009 - Dedication Sunday

Readings: Genesis 28: 11-18 1 Peter 2:1-10 John 10: 22-29

On Dedication Sunday we give thanks to God for our church buildings.
In our reading from Genesis, Jacob has a dream and says, “How awesome is this place. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” This is how we want our church buildings to be.
In our epistle reading Peter makes a comparison between building up the Church (by which he means the holy nation, God’s own people) and the building up of a house. God is the builder. Each of us is a “living stone”. Christ is the chief corner stone, and the apostles are the foundations (see also Rev 21: 14 and Eph 2: 20). We have to allow God to cut us into shape, and to set us in our destined positions, alongside all the other stones, for the benefit of the whole building.
In our gospel reading the feast of the Dedication and the splendour of the temple buildings remind the Jews of the greatness of their calling and their need for a Messiah, an anointed, one to raise them up. Jesus was the Messiah, but his salvation was more personal, secure and more all encompassing than they could understand.