Fourth Sermon for the Dedication of a Church: On the Tabernacles, the Courts, and the House of the Lord

“ How lovely ave Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. ... Blessed ave they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord ; they shall praise Thee for ever and ever.” —Ps. lxxxiii. 2, 3, 5.

Brethren, we are keeping this day with devotion and praise and we honour it with joyous festivity. But inasmuch as it is neither expedient for us as religious men, nor becoming in us as wise men, to be ignorant of what we venerate, or to celebrate what we know not, we have to inquire: in commemoration of what holy object or objects has the present solemnity been instituted ? I think I ought not to presume to answer this question of myself. At least, let another speak first whose testimony is greater (I John v. g) and shall appear to you more credible. Perhaps you are wondering why I commence the sermon in this manner, since you have plainly before your eyes this material church of ours, the anniversary of the dedication of which we are now celebrating ? For wherefore should we fear to call holy these walls which the consecrated hands of the bishops have sanctified with rites so solemn? Yea, and from that time forward even until now they have been constantly listening to the sound of sacred reading and to the pious murmurs of devout prayer; they have been honoured by the blessed presence of holy relics, and,

THE TABERNACLES AND THE COURTS 407 as we believe, they have been protected by the unwearied guardianship of heavenly spirits. Someone may say to me now, “ The other points, I admit, are evident enough: but who pretends to have ever seen these angelic sentries ?” I answer that even though we cannot see them there is One Who can and does, the Same Who sent them. And Who is He? The Same Who announced by the Prophet, “ Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen ” (Is. lxii. 6). There is indeed a second ‘‘ Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is our mother ” (Gal. iv. 26). But I cannot believe that there are any watchmen appointed upon its walls, since in celebrating the glories of that Jerusalem the Psalmist sings, “ He hath placed peace in thy borders’ (Ps. cxlvii. 3). However, if this does not satisfy you, listen to what follows in the testimony of Isaias : “ All the day and all the night,” he says, “ they shall never hold their peace ” (Is. lxii. 6). From these words, at any rate, it ought to be plain to you that the Prophet is not speaking here of the same Jerusalem of which you have read, “ And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day; for there shall be no night there’ (Apoc. xxi. 25). The heavenly Jerusalem, therefore, has no vicissitudes of day and night and no need of watchmen. But we do require sentinels to guard us during our days and nights. Hence it is of our earthly Jerusalem we are to understand what is written, “‘ Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen.” How kind Thou art, O Lord, my God! For not content with the poor defence of our mortal walls, Thou hast appointed over the human superiors of Thy human, creatures a second guard, a guard of holy angels whose duty is to protect the walls themselves as well as those that are encompassed by the walls. “Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed good in Thy sight” (Matt. xi. 26), and so it is necessary for us. For our ministry is altogether insufficient unless the “‘ ministering spirits” are sent by Thee to minister with us and for us, so that we may “receive the inheritance of salvation”’ (Heb. i. 14). What matters it that we do not actually see them serving us, so long as we experience their help? What matters it that we are not accounted worthy to look upon them, provided we are allowed to feel the effect of their presence? At any rate we are taught even by this fact alone that things invisible should be preferred to things visible; ‘‘for the things which we see are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal ” (2 Cor. iv. 18). In effect, the cause of the visible is found in the invisible, so that, in the words of St. Paul, “‘ the invisible things of Him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made”’ (Rom. i. 20). Thus of old, when the Jews blasphemed the Holy One of God (Ps. xv. 10) on account of justification from sin invisibly accomplished in the paralytic, He refuted them by the visible miracle of a bodily cure. So we read, “ But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins (He saith to the man sick of the palsy), I say to thee: Arise! take up thy bed and go into thy house” (Mark ii. 7-11). Thus also, when that proud Pharisee murmured against the Divine Physician of souls Who was engaged in the work of healing, and waxed indignant with the poor patient whose spiritual health was being restored, he was confounded by sensible evidence, the Lord enumerating the services ren-

`

THE TABERNACLES AND THE COURTS 409 dered to Him by the woman (Luke vii. 36-48). For he erred in abhorring, as if she were still a sinner, her who, clinging to the Feet of God, washed Them with her tears, wiped Them with her hair, covered Them with her kisses, and anointed Them with her unguent. For why should she be accused of faults already pardoned ? Why should she be blamed for touching her Saviour ? Why should she be accounted still a sinner, whilst by deploring her past transgressions she shows her hatred of iniquity, and shows her love of justice (Ps. xliv. 8) by embracing the Feet of Christ ; whilst she proves her humility by wiping those Feet with her hair, and manifests her meekness by anointing Them with her precious spices? Is it possible that sin should reign (Rom. vi. 12) in a contrite heart and in an afflicted spirit? Or is it not true that “charity covereth a multitude of sins ” (1 Peter iv. 8)? ‘“‘ Many sins are forgiven her because she hath loved much” (Luke vii. 47). Therefore, O Pharisee, she no longer deserves to becalled a sinner, as thou supposest, but rather a holy disciple of Christ, from Whom she has already learnt in so short a time to be “meek and humble of heart’’ (Matt. xi. 29). This is an instance of that truth which thou hast read in the Prophet, but perchance hast forgotten, “ Change the impious and they shall be (impious) no longer ’’* (Prov. xii. 7). It is thus, most dearly beloved, it is thus the ancient “‘ accuser of the brethren ” (Apoc. xii. I) reproaches you with your past sins “of which you are now ashamed” (Rom. vi. 21). But whenever this occurs, do you give ear to the Apostle who offers you magnificent consolation where he says, “ And such some of you were; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (r Cor. vi. 11), and also, “ Now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting ” (Rom. vi. 22). In another place he expresses himself still more boldly, saying: ““ The temple of God is holy, which you are ” (r Cor. iii. 17).

This, my brethren, is the witness from whom, out of reverence for his authority, I declared—when at the beginning of this sermon we were inquiring as to the objects or persons whose sanctity is honoured to-day —that I would derive my first testimony. For although these walls may becalled, and have in truth been made holy by their consecration at the hands of the bishops, by the daily reading of the Scriptures within them, by our constant prayer, by the presence of sacred relics, by the angelic guardianship: we must not believe, nevertheless, that even holy walls are worthy of honour for their own sake since it is certain that not for their own sake have they been made holy. This house is holy because of the bodies of you who frequent it, your bodies are holy because of your souls by which they are animated, your souls are sanctified by the indwelling Spirit of Gody That such is the case cannot be doubted, since of the Spirit’s invisible grace you are given a visible “ token for good ” (Ps. Ixxxv. 17). I allude to the miracle whereby you have arisen like the palsied man in the Gospel, whereby you have so easily taken up the bed of your body, in which you previously languished, and whereby,

THE TABERNACLES AND THE COURTS 411 lastly, you are now going into your house, into that house, I say, the very thought of which fills you with joy and makes you cry out with the Prophet, “ We shall go into the house of the Lord ” (Ps. cxxi. 1). O admirable house, worthy of being preferred both to the “lovely tabernacles ” and to the “ desirable courts ” ! “ How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts ! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord ” (Ps. Ixxxiii. 2, 3). Blessed indeed are the dwellers in these tabernacles and these courts, but far more “‘ blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord; they shall praise Thee for ever and ever ” (ibid. 5). For “ glorious things are said of thee, O city of God ” (Ps. Ixxxvi. 3). The tabernacles resound with the lamentations of penance, a foretaste of heavenly gladness is experienced in the courts, but in thee is enjoyed the fulness of glory. Here on earth we have the tabernacles which are the lowest of these spiritual dwellings and “called the house of prayer” (Matt. xxi. 13); the courts constitute an intermediate place, the place of expectation; whilst thou art thyself the home of thanksgiving and praise (Is. li. 3). Happy, therefore, the man who in the tabernacles “‘declineth from the evil—of sin—and doth good” (Ps. xxxvi. 27), so that in the courts he may be delivered from the evil of punishment, and receive in thee the good of eternal glory! In the first dwelling-place are found “ the first-fruits of the Spirit’ (Rom. viii. 23), in the second the riches of the Spirit, and in the third all the fulness of the Spirit, where, namely, that ‘‘ good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over they shall give into your bosom” (Luke vi. 38). For men are made saints in the first, they find security in the second, and complete happiness in the third.

The “ first-fruits of the Spirit ” which are bestowed upon us during our earthly existence whilst the war is still in progress, consist in holiness of life, purity of intention, and valour in the conflict. By holiness of life understand the fruits of penance and the visible observance of all the commandments of God. But inasmuch as this observance cannot be simple unless the eye also is simple (Matt. vi. 22), it is necessary to have piety in the intention and purity in the heart, lest otherwise we should be actuated by the ambition of honour or the desire of praise; so that He alone may be the object of our desire Who alone is able to satisfy our desire (Ps. cii. 5), and that all the graces which we receive may be referred back to Him Who is their Source and Origin. Remember, however, that of all the virtues none but perseverance obtains the crown, and that perseverance is extremely difficult amidst so many dangers unless we are endowed with a many-sided virtue to sustain us in our multiform fight. So much concerning our sojourn in the tabernacles.

But on quitting this mortal life, with its painful conflicts, we shall bewelcomed, full of joy and gladness, into the courts of the Lord. There we shall enjoy the riches of the Spirit, rest from our labours (Apoc. xiv. 13), freedom from solicitude, peace from our enemies. For “from henceforth now, saith the Spirit, they may rest from their labours ” (ibid.)—the same Spirit Who has been accustomed hitherto to forbid rest with so much strictness and to enjoin labour. He will then withdraw us from care and set us free from all solicitude Who now “giveth counsels in our souls ” (Ps, xii. 2)

THE TABERNACLES AND THE COURTS 413 and causes us to be “troubled about many things ” (Luke x. 41). He Who keeps us on the alert and ready girded for battle so long as the lion still rages (1 Peter v. 8) will then, when the victory has been won, allow us to slumber sweetly “in peace in the selfsame ” (Ps. iv. 9). Nevertheless, in these courts, as I have already remarked, we shall find rather deliverance from evil than the reward of good: although indeed the cruel experience of our own miseries compels us in a manner to regard the absence of evil as the greatest of goods, just as our conscience is apt to consider freedom from great guilt as the very height of sanctity. This fact enables us to realise how far removed we are from the Sovereign Good, who thus esteem as justice immunity from sin and as happiness deliverance from woe.*

God forbid that anyone should consider the same to be true of “ the plenty of His house ” and of “ the torrent of His pleasure ” (Ps. xxxv. 9) and of all those other good things—whatever their nature—“ that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for them that love Him” (x Cor. ii. 9)! Therefore, O man, harbour not the hope that thou shalt hear now from me what human ear hath never heard. Seek not from a man that which is invisible to human eye and incomprehensible to human understanding. However, I will not, because of such ignorance, pass over this part of my subject in complete silence, but, so to speak, I will salute the home-land from afar. It seems to me, then, that I inhale a threefold odour of our heavenly country in the threefold promise of power, of magnificence, and of glory. For a man was he like ourselves (James v. 17) and a son of this captivity (Dan. v. 13) who said, “I will enter into the powers of the Lord ” (Ps. lxx. 16). We can conceive well enough what it is to be free from infirmity, because we are ourselves surrounded with infirmity: but what it means to “ be endued with power ” (Luke xxiv. 49), to “enter into power,” and not alone into power but into a multitude of powers, perhaps even into omnipotence—this, my brethren, it is impossible for us to understand during our mortal life. The faithful witness who has already borne testimony further informs us that “ whom He (the Lord) justified, them He also magnified ”* (Rom. viii. 30). But,that magnificence, especially as it ought to be worthy of the greatness of Him Who bestows it, Whose greatness is without either end (Ps. cxliv. 3) or number (Ps. cxlvi. 5): that magnificence, I say, we are not permitted to appraise. Would to God it were allowed us, despite our littleness, to hope for it! Nor is there any cause to fear or to suspect even the promise of glory. For then we shall be able to enjoy with equal bliss and security that very glory from the desire of which we have now to be restrained by many menaces. ‘‘ Then shall every man have praise from God ” (x Cor. iv. 5), praise secure and sempiternal, without end as without danger, praise such as the Psalmist describes as ‘‘ good,” “joyous,” and “comely ”’ (Ps. cxlvi. 1).

Therefore, dearest brethren, whilst we live here below in the tabernacles, let us serve as gallant soldiers, so that after our death we may slumber peacefully in the

THE TABERNACLES AND THE COURTS 415 courts, and be at last divinely glorified in the very home of God, when “that which is at the present momentary and light of our tribulation shall work for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory ” (2 Cor. iv. 17), when “in God we shall bepraised all the day long ” (Ps. xliii. 9), not according to vanity but according to truth.