Sermon
delivered at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Calne, Wiltshire to the Wiltshire Provincial Grand Lodge of
Freemasons and Royal Arch Companions – Sunday 25th October 2015
Ezra 1:1-11; John 2:12.23
May
I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words be a
blessing to all who hear them. Amen
First of all, let me say how wonderful
it is to see so many of you here present at the Annual Church Service for the
Wiltshire Craft and Royal Arch Freemasons at Calne and what a lovely setting it
is too. It is especially lovely to see
so many of the brethrens’ and companions’ spouses, partners and guests here as
well.
Today’s two reading were chosen with
great care and for many Royal Arch Masons present, the first of those readings,
the Old Testament reading from the Book of Ezra, will be very familiar indeed,
as part of it is incorporated into the Royal Arch Chapter ritual. It was, therefore, very appropriate that it
should be read by our Grand Superintendent.
Ezra is believed to have been a
chronicler of the times of the great Exile of the Jewish people in Babylon when
there was a kind of ethnic cleansing in reverse. On the occupation of Judah by the Baylonians,
who sacked the Temple at Jerusalem, they took into captivity in Babylon (modern
day Iraq) all those who were educated or powerful leaving behind those less
fortunate to maintain the land with hard labour. King Solomon’s great Temple
was left to fall into ruin. They actively recruited and integrated the elite
classes of the Jews into Babylonian culture and we read much about this in the
Book of Daniel. Ezra was from this elite
class who found himself working for the Babylonians in exile in an
administrative capacity.
Eventually, in its turn, the
Babylonian Empire was itself overrun by the great Persian Empire of Cyrus the
Great and Ezra, the great chronicler and administrator records in this first
chapter of his book how God spoke to Cyrus telling him to let some of the Jews
in former Babylonian captivity return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.
There may have also been a very practical and political reason for doing this –
the Temple was all important to the Jewish Faith and its destruction and their subsequent
exile away from it might well account for unrest and lack of co-operation with
the new Persian masters. Therefore, by selecting certain families loyal to the
regime to return, the Persians could continue to control Judah with content and
compliant collaborators. One only has to think of Vichy France during the last
World War as a parallel.
This return, and consequential rebuilding
of the Temple forms the backdrop of the Royal Arch ritual which teaches us much
about loyalty and faithfulness within the context of the Jewish faith and as a
pattern to imitate. As we read further on, in the Book of Ezra, we see how Ezra
later organised the people into groups to do the work; but also read how he had
to admonish them when they saw the rebuilding of their own homes as having
priority and the building of the Temple fell further and further behind
schedule. They had, after all, managed to continue with their Faith with the
absence of a Temple for over 70 years. What they craved was to live comfortably
in their native homeland.
Our second reading, from the New
Testament, is in contrast to our first because it talks not about the building or
rebuilding of the Temple, which by then had been substantially extended by
Herod the Great, from the more modest affair in Ezra’s time, but about its
ill-use and destruction.
Jesus’s outburst in the courtyard of
the Temple, occurs, according to the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke,
during passion week but here in John’s gospel it seems to occur much earlier on
during an earlier visit of Jesus and the disciples to Jerusalem for Passover.
Jesus is angry because instead of
being a place of holy pilgrimage, as built in Ezra’s time, it has become a den
of swindlers and moneylenders. The Temple was important to the Jews because it
was where the High Priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement, would intercede
with Yahweh, God, on behalf of the people in the sanctity of the Holy of Holies
and the people would sacrifice animals as personal offerings for their own sins. The currency used at that time in Judea was
that brought in by the Roman occupation but in the Temple, as a concession,
Jewish or Temple currency was used. This meant that the money changers could
exploit the ordinary people by using excessive rates of exchange in order for
them to purchase their offerings.
In our reading, Jesus refers to the
Temple being destroyed and then being rebuilt in Three Days. In fact, as John
explains, Jesus is not referring to the building at all but to himself as being
the Temple through which the people should worship God and seek atonement - and
that he would rise again three days after his death on the Cross. In fact, the
Temple continued to exist for a further 40 years but was totally destroyed in
AD70 by the Romans under Titus following the Jewish Revolt and has never been
rebuilt.
Both of these stories, from the Old
and New Testament are very familiar to us all but what do they teach us in
today’s modern day.
Many people (including many
Christians) have sought to deride Freemasonry and have put so many false
stories on the Internet about what we do and why it is not compatible with
Christianity, yet, the more I read of the bible and the more I see of the
workings of Freemasonry, the more I see the utmost compatibility between the
too – indeed, many of the origins of Freemasonry are grounded in fundamental Judeo-Christian
beliefs.
The Jews asked Jesus, in an attempt to
trap him into committing blasphemy, what he thought was the most important of
the Ten Commandments handed down to Moses. His answer, as we heard read out at
the beginning of this service, was to say that there were two commandments
which are the most important and if those are followed, nothing else mattered –
the others necessarily follow on. Those are
Love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your
mind.
This he stated was the first and greatest
commandment, followed by:
Love
your neighbour as yourself.
(Matthew 22:37-39)
How closely these resemble the tenets
of Freemasonry – a belief in and a love of the Great Architect of the Universe /
the Living God Most High and displaying brotherly love relief and truth.
In his response to the Jewish elders,
Jesus is saying that it is not a matter of strict adherence to the Jewish law,
the rituals surrounding the Temple or indeed the Temple itself – it is through
Him, the Christ the anointed on - the one who is the Temple of God – his body
is the sacrifice for all our sins.
Likewise, Freemasons, as brothers are expected and pledged to love one
another and support each other with that same love and affection which is expected
of all Christian brothers and sisters.
Whenever somebody challenges me about
Freemasonry and asks me whether I find my Christian belief and role of church
minister compromised by my membership of the Craft, I easily answer this by
pointing out many of the tangible things which we as Freemasons do for and in
the Community. We, quite often silently,
go about helping to relieve poverty and suffering - not only in our local
community but also worldwide – often contributing funds and equipment to parts
of the world affected by war, famine, flood and other natural disasters. Quite
frequently even before official relief funds are launched. Both the Church and Freemasons are there to
assist the population at large. Archbishop Temple famously said that the Church
is one organisation which is there principally for the benefit of people other
than its members. As Freemasons we are
increasingly becoming involved with community projects and extending our
benefits well beyond our own membership. Jesus was asked, following his
statement about loving your neighbour, “who is my neighbour” and he answered
with the parable of the Good Samaritan – a story I think we all knew very well. It is
no coincidence that the Masonic Relief Fund to which every lodge and chapter is
contributing is called the Masonic Samaritan
Fund.
Jesus was rightly angry to see the
Temple being used in a manner contrary to that which it was intended when Ezra
set out with the returning exiles to restore it; but equally he was right to
say that the Temple was actually him. We
use our Temples or Lodge Rooms, as I prefer to call them, for our meetings and
enjoy the ritual which teaches us the discipline to live good, sober and
upright lives. On becoming the chairman or master of the lodge there is a beautiful piece of text
which calls upon the newly installed master to “live respected and die regretted.” It is a a lovely piece of
poetic writing which I have often quoted to those who would challenge the worth
and good or Freemasonry.
However, just as the early Christians
did, it is often in the dining room afterwards when we sit down to eat together
that the true companionship and brotherly love reveals itself. When and where we
talk about everyday things and get to learn more about each other and our lives.
Where we raise money for charities often outside those of Freemasonry. Just as we enjoyed each other’s company over
lunch today so when we meet together we can feel that wonderful warmth and love
which Jesus talks about. It’s a place
where we can sit down as equals - just as God sees us irrespective of rank and
fortune.
Ladies, many of you I know are quite long
suffering - having your husbands out several nights a week. Maybe to some it is
a blessing! We bless you for your
support and it is important for you to know that within the context of the
meeting and its rituals God’s work is being done.
St. Paul referred to us as all being
priests – the priesthood of all believers, and by our service to our fellow
human beings and being just and upright members of society we can indeed feel
assured that those two commandments are indeed being followed just as Jesus
intended.
Amen
MFB/65
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