How Firm

The Lotus Riverside building complex in Shanghai was a complex of 11 buildings by the side of a river. Imagine that. By June of 2009, the project was nearing completion, with most of the flats already sold off. Then the workers showed up one morning to find that one of the buildings had fallen flat over on its side, completely intact. It was like a giant toddler came by and just smacked it over for the simple thrill of the destruction.

The Embarrassing Failure:

It was all due to an underground parking garage, some rain and a terminal case of made in China.

The building itself was OK -- in fact, considering how well it held together after it "collapsed," we'll go out on a limb and say that it was pretty great -- but problems were all around and, more specifically, beneath it. When workers began construction on an underground parking garage next to the structure, they piled all the dirt from that into a landfill beside a nearby creek. Then they all turned on their jackhammers when a bevy of other engineers came by and repeatedly ignored their warnings about how bad of an idea it is to dam up a river right next to a new construction project. To the surprise of, like, maybe one guy who never got to play in mud puddles as a kid, the creek's banks collapsed and flooded the area. So when it rained soon afterward, the building was basically toast. Its foundations gave way, narrowly missing the neighboring structures, and just barely avoiding kicking off the world's most terrifying domino display.

A Solid Foundation

When you have a good solid foundation for anything, be it a building, a start up, a church, that thing can and will stand the test of time, looking at architecture from the ancient world that still stands is a testament to the importance of a firm foundation.  You can look at the pyramids in Egypt, the Wailing wall in Jerusalem, the list goes on.  These structures stand because of the foundation they were built on.  Churches that thrive and grow do so because of the foundation that they are built on as well.  

(HCSB) — 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. 

Jesus talks about the beginning of the church when he gives Peter his life’s mission.  But there is something that Peter has, that enables him to be the rock in the scripture above.  Paul talks about it in the passage we read earlier and in the following verses in Ephesians.

(HCSB)  17 When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. 21 The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. 22 You also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit. 

So what must our foundation have?

 The good news of Peace

The Gospel or Good news of Peace means more than good feelings.  When we read those who were far away and those who are near we begin to understand that knowing the words is not enough, and claiming ignorance is not a viable excuse.  (elaborate)

Access to God

(HCSB) — 50 Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. 51 Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. 

The sanctuary the Holiest of Holies was now accessible.  To put it into perspective lets look at the temple and veil for a moment. Solomons Temple was 45 feet tall,  Herod added to that making the temple he built 60 feet tall.  The Veil itself was constructed of very heavy costly material, embroidered and embellished for beauty,   Between one and two hundred yards of 4 inch thick fabric.  This is a heavy strong curtain, that would have been impossible to be ripped apart by human hands, the kicker being it was torn from top to bottom, from 45 feet in the air.  God was removing the thing that separated us from him, in a dramatic way.  The veil torn in 2 signaled the end of religious elitism, allowing us to personally connect with the God who loves us.

Christ as the cornerstone

Psalm 118:21–22 HCSB

I will give thanks to You because You have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

The Comfortable Jesus

The thing that must be in place in every one of our lives. That must be the cornerstone of our faith is the risen Messiah.  If we only remember the baby born, we leave a weak savior unable to care for himself, some are content to do this, preferring a baby in a manger soft and safe, unable to converse, or touch, or heal or speak words of hope but also words that make us search for the things in our lives that would separate us from God.  Keeping Jesus safely tucked in the manger does away with the one who stood between the religious leaders and the woman caught in adultery, who ate with sinners, who spent time touching lepers, who associated with the least of these on a regular basis.  

Some are happy to remember the death of Jesus, taking time to observe communion, keeping him in the Tomb, because a Jesus left in the tomb is not just meek and mild, he’s dead, unable to make a difference in our lives, to shower us with the peace that passes all understanding, to bring joy into our hearts, to prick our conscious to the sins that so easily entangle.  A dead Jesus is preferable to some because a dead Jesus is one that allows me to go about my life doing things my own way.

But some will dare to allow a living active messiah as the cornerstone of their faith.  This Jesus, when allowed into every part of our lives, will effect change some of these changes will be surface, some will be deeper, some easily seen by others and some only known by us.  When a living breathing Jesus is active in our lives, and in our church things will be different not because of anything we do, but because everything we do will be filtered through the calling he has given to any who claim to follow him.  The command to Love God, and Love People, to Go into the world and preach the Good news of Peace,  That God wants to be in communion with man, that he wants us to live and move and have our being in him.  

This Weeks Challenge

Write it down! This week I want us all to take stock of what the foundation of our faith really is.