Let us pray: A blessing may my words be, and the silences between them. May they tell of you, O God, and may your word be in them. Amen.

We missed Mike Holmes visit to Yellowknife by a half day or so. It wasn't his visit that gave rise to the title for this reflection, but even so, I did a little Google search to find out a bit more about his visit – because in Canada it seems you can't talk about building a house without his name coming up. According to the articles I found online, he spoke to students at St. Patrick's High School on the third of February with the message – do what you love. It's a pretty good message, and even if it was not my original intention to mention him, it is in keeping with some of what I wanted to say today. And finally, just before I leave Mr. Holmes for the things I really wanted to speak about, let me commend his work with SOS Children's Villages. One of the items I read about him is that he is a construction and renovations expert with a social conscience.

The scripture passages in one way or another all talked about housebuilding. The most obvious of this is the passage from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, but I trust you will follow me as I make connections with the other passages as well. At first, Paul's purpose in this particular passage is to help the Christian community in Corinth to do some discernment and centring. It seems that factions among them have sprung up with different groups wanting to follow different of the apostles or teachers who have come to spend time with them. It's an understandable human trait – to align with those who appeal to us, but even though Paul names himself as one of the people with whom people are aligning, he says that this is misguided. He and Apollos and Peter are all people with different skills, but their work is dedicated to building on the foundation which is Jesus Christ.

But that's not all, Paul goes on to use the metaphor of a building to describe each person. This is more than just a building, this is a special type of building. You realize, don't you, he says, that you are the temple of God and God is present within you. I've always been attracted to that description as a positive statement about the way in which God is present in us, and as a way of imagining the creativity that Creator God has invested in us. A temple is where people gather in the holy presence, a place where God is sought, a place where mystery can be regarded. Perhaps we can even come close to touching mystery in a temple. It's not that these things can't happen in other places, but the temple is a place designed, set aside and reserved for connection with the holy. So for Paul to use that idea and place it within us is an intimate statement about the presence of God within us. I've also seen that description by Paul as a reason for treating our bodies well. At least I've always considered it as a goal for which to strive, and a helpful perspective to think about the body we've been given as a gift of God.

As was mentioned in the introduction, the book of Leviticus is one that can be easily glossed over, because there are so many places where it seems irrelevant. A case in point would be the verse that follows the ones that were read this morning – a prohibition from cross-breeding livestock, cross-pollinating different kinds of plants, and probably against every piece of clothing that we are wearing today – namely those woven from two different kinds of cloth. Of course, the context in which these laws were created is important, but that's a whole other story for another day. However, there is also a timelessness to some of what is written in the book of Leviticus, including the verses we heard this morning. A summary of the reading is this: How to live a holy life. It reads like a condensed or abridged version of the ten commandments, with an emphasis on justice – making sure that others have a chance to reap from the year's crops, making sure that people are treated fairly and without favouritism. Perhaps another name for this passage could be as a course title: Personal Temple Building 101. In other words a holy life is one that is built upon care and concern for the other, as a response to the blessing that God has given us in life. The question that this passage extends for us is what does it mean to live a holy life in our current context. What does it mean to treat ourselves and our bodies as God's temple. In part I think it means honouring who and what we are as God's unique creations. Mike Holmes says, do what you love, and in so doing I think we honour the skills and abilities that God has invested in us.

The passage from the letter to the Corinthians had guidance from Paul with regard to building from both a community and personal point of view. The instructions from Leviticus contribute to the personal, inviting us to reflect and act on the call of God to live a holy life – a life that honours the presence of God in us, but also with connections with the community – community is strengthened when acts of generosity and compassion help to spread the abundance which is given to us by God. When some of the harvest is left for others to gather, when people are treated with equality and without favouritism, we all know deep down that the bonds of community are reinforced.

The gospel passage goes even further as a guide for community building. In these most famous sayings of Jesus as upside-down and backwards kind of thinking we are invited to think expansively about what it might do for community to live generously and graciously, to resist revenge and retribution and replace it with the shock and surprise of unselfishness and altruism.

I could not end this reflection without saying that I struggled with what I've said so far, in that in my mind it sounded more preachy than I am used to. In responding to this concern I am reminded of the old saying that the best sermons are the ones that one preaches to oneself. Point taken, but there is another old saying that says that if what you have to say speaks to at least one person, then it probably speaks to others as well.

And finally, I want to connect all of this with something that has been much on my mind for the past number of months. In November, many people connected with this congregation were involved in house meetings to consider the blessings and challenges that are part of being a community of faith in this present time. As we planned for these meetings one of the issues we were keen on addressing was the issue of people who used to be part of this community but who no longer attend on a regular or even irregular basis. If we are going to talk about house building then we can't go too far without considering those who were once in the household but no longer seem to reside here. It's easy for ministers to feel a certain responsibility for this situation, but it is also simplistic to consider only one reason or issue as the reason why people don't come any more. Sharon and I had the opportunity to attend worship in a different place last weekend. It is always a helpful thing to be given the chance to consider ourselves in comparison to others. Certain things are very obvious right away. As I've always said, I've never met anyone from any church who said their church is not welcoming, but it takes only a moment or two for visitors to two different congregations to say which of them is more welcoming. Red Deer Lake United Church was described to me by the minister who is serving with them as a very welcoming church. Perhaps it was a bit because of the suggestion that they were welcoming, but I don't think so, because Sharon and I and Sharon's parents all experienced a place that was extremely welcoming – with many people going out of their way to be very friendly and inviting. Each congregation, just like each person, has its own personality and gifts. And my colleague in describing the congregation at Red Deer Lake United Church besides saying how welcoming they were, also had some things to say about other aspects of their community of faith.

The point I want to make in all of this is that just as the passages for today invite us as individuals to consider what it means to live a holy life as an aspect of Personal Temple Building 101, they also call us to do some soul searching as a congregation for the ways we are engaged in building a house as a community of faith? Does it express the message we sang about in the opening hymn this morning? Do the verses of that hymn say something about who and what we are?

Later today the Affirm Study Group is inviting us to take a step along a road which will publicly say how welcoming we are.

Let us build a house.... Amen.