Christ is the foundation of faith

February 23, 2014 1 Corinthians 3:10-11,16-23 (Matthew 5:38-48) Seventh Sunday After Epiphany Year A Christ is the Foundation of Faith The three little pigs Once upon a time there were 3 little pigs- they were siblings, they grew up together in the same house. They were very different personalities, yet their mother taught them the same values, the same lessons. One day their mother sat them down and told them all that it was time for them to go out into the world, to build their own homes and to seek their fortune. The mother told them that she had taught them well and that each of them had a mission – a purpose to fulfill their life, but it all began with building a house and building a life. The message of 1 Corinthians 3 Now we have all heard the story of the three little pigs. But we may not have realized that it had an important message for us as Christians. It is also a good story to talk about Paul’s message in chapter 3 of First Corinthians. This is the second half of Paul’s message from last week. Last week Paul talked about planting a field and trusting God to give the increase. He uses the metaphor of a field. This week Paul uses the metaphor of building a house. But his point – is about how our attitudes, and our behaviors can God has build up in the world. When we are united as one, when we support one another, when we work together, we are building up God’s kingdom. When we are divided, when we don’t support one another, and when we choose to do our own thing, then we are destroying all God has worked to build up. The little pigs get a mission Getting back to our story – and the first little pig – the first little pig went out into the world. He couldn’t wait to fulfill his mission and to get his life started. He was pretty proud of himself when he found a nice shady place right on the beach to build a house. He built a nice little house of straw. By the end of the day he was done with this mission stuff, he was relaxing in a hammock, sipping on ice tea. He had to pat himself on the back for a job well done. He worked hard, and no one helped him. Paul would say that is part of the problem. Being proud of ourselves for what we have done. And in our pride, we start to brag about our abilities. And we forget, that it is really not about us and what we were able to do. It is God who does through us and not us ourselves. When we brag on ourselves, we brag on nothing. If we are going to brag, we should brag about what God can do. Bragging and giving ourselves credit is one of the biggest threats of the church. Because it separates us from others, it disconnects what we have done from what other have done. When we are proud of ourselves and our supposed accomplishments – then we are really saying that we don’t trust in God. We have to rely on ourselves, because God has no power. Bragging on ourselves is a problem Paul wants us to know that we are everything, we can do anything, we are God’s gift to mankind. But not because of our spirit, but because of the spirit of Christ. Paul says that we are everything – because Christ is everything, because the spirit of God is in Christ. When we can give Christ the credit for what we have done – then we can take all of the credit for the work. What would have happen if the first little pig would have thanked God instead of thanking himself. We will never know, because in the midst of his boasting about fulfilling his mission – his house blew away and he had to start all over again. Second Pig builds a house of sticks The second little pig was excited to start her mission. She found a nice clearing in the woods and she built her house of sticks. She was proud of herself because she was wise. She had went to house building school and she had the knowledge to build a house of sticks. It took her a whole week to build her house. When she was done – she didn’t thank God – she thanked her wisdom. Our wisdom is God’s foolishness Paul has continually said that the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. No matter who much we study, we never understand the mysteries of God. Wisdom is a wonderful thing. But we shouldn’t put our trust in wisdom. We should put our trust in God. Our wisdom should not separate us from others. It should be used for the good of all, not for our own good. It took the second little pig a week to build her house and it took a week for it to fall down. You are God’s temple Paul says that you are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you. But Paul is not talking about you individually – but to the whole church. You is plural and it means all of us. the spirit does not dwell in one of us as individuals – but in each of us. when god gives us knowledge, it is for the good of us all, not just for one person. The mission is not about one of us, it about all of us. and it takes all of us to fulfill it. We all have a part, but not the whole. A builder is responsible and accountable You see Paul uses this metaphor of the builder to introduce an element of responsibility and accountability on the builder. Last week we learned that in planting a field, we plant and God gives the increase. But when build a house – if it is not built right- you can blame the builder. Pig #1 and Pig#2 each had a choice in how they fulfilled their mission. They chose the place to build, they chose what materials to build that house. When the house fell down they had no one to blame but themselves. Their mother gave them the mission. And they each interpreted it for themselves. Not realizing that mission is never about us as individuals,it is always about us as a people, as a body, as the church. A mission is not something that we can accomplish on our own, we need one another. We have to work together. We have to work together responsibly. Divisions destroy the mission of God Paul says If anyone destroys God’s temple God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy and you are that temple. How do you destroy God’s temple – by destroying unity. Conflict and strife can flare up at anytime for any reason. There is always conflict in our relationships. Sometimes conflict itself is not a bad thing. It is in how we use it. How we respond to it. A few years back I read the book "Firestorms." The author Susek warned about the danger, the destruction and the damage that firestorms can do to a church, an organization or even a family unit. He shared true to life horror stories of Christians acting like raging firestorms and leaving a path of destruction in churches, in communities, in families and in individual lives. He shared the tragic stories to warn us Christians, leaders, and pastors how to prevent firestorms in our relationship’s, he stressed how to put fires out quickly in relationships, and even how to rebuild relationships after a firestorm. Paul’s concern is that there is nothing in the world more destructive in a church then our personal opinions of ourselves and others. When we start to think that we are God’s gift to the church, there are problems. When we start to think that we have special knowledge that will save us, and not others – then the whole church suffers. Paul introduces this concept of building – to hold us accountable. The bible says in many places that there is a special place in hell for leaders who mislead. We will be held accountable for our actions. What we do should always be for the good of Christ and not for ourselves. I want to remind us that we are all builders, thus we are all leaders. All of our actions count in the body of Christ. Paul says let no one boast about human leaders – all belong to you (you being the church) and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. Once again – we are charged to do the work and God gives the blessing. Nothing that we do to build the kingdom is about us, it is about God. The three lessons of this text are to be responsible and accountable as leaders, that building the kingdom of God takes all of us, and that we should have confidence in God in all things. When we brag about ourselves – we are saying that we have no confidence in what God has done for us. Now we come to the story of the third little pig. Who went out on his mission and who built his house of brick. We all know from the story that the houses of the two other pigs didn’t just fall down – they were blown down by he big bad wolf. He huffed and he puffed and he blew their houses down. But when he came to the house of the third little pig – he huffed and he puffed and nothing happened. Build a house on a firm foundation But here’s the thing that made his house different from the other two. It wasn’t just the building material. The third little pig had taken the time to build a firm foundation for his house. And that my friends is the moral of this sermon. In order to build a spiritual house that will stand against the temptations of the devil – we have to build a firm foundation. Paul says that the foundation of our spiritual house is Christ. Let us look at 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 again. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master building, I laid a foundation, and someone else builds on, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one that had been laid. That foundation is Jesus Christ! Paul’s mission was to travel from church to church laying foundations, so that others could have the power and knowledge to build a firm house. He calls himself a master builder. It is only when we have a firm foundation that we can start to build a firm house. What is the foundation of your house? What is the foundation of this church? How are we being called to build upon it. The foundation of any church is Christ. Within the next weeks, as we embark on praying about our gifts and our commitment to the church- we have the chance to build upon that foundation. We have been given the tools to go out into the world and to fulfill God’s mission. Let this not be about our will, but God will. Let us pray for strength. Amen. Childrens Sermon… Be A Good Building Block by Wesley T. Runk Passage: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 • Lectionary: Epiphany 7 Item 1 of 5 | Back to Results Theme: Do you not know that you are God's temple. Object: A pile of bricks Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. How is everyone today? (Let them respond.) I'll bet you are wondering why I have this pile of bricks here! When I read Paul's letter for today, it made me think of brick and stone and all the things we do with them. What are bricks used for? (Let them answer.) Good. We use bricks to build all sorts of things, don't we? Fireplaces, houses, all kind of buildings, like libraries and banks and churches. Do you think that bricks are good things to use for a building, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) That's right. They are usually very strong. A house or building made with bricks would probably last a long time. Do you remember the old story about the three little pigs? (Let them respond.) Each one of them decided to build a house. Do you remember what the first pig used to build his house? (Let them answer.) That's right. One of them used straw. What happened to that pig's house? (Let them answer.) The wolf came and blew it all down. The second pig built his house with sticks. What happened to his house? (Let them answer.) That's right. The wolf came and huffed and puffed and the house fell apart! But the third little pig was smart. What did he use to build his house? (Let them answer.) Right! He used bricks, just like these. (Point to bricks.) And his house turned out to be safe and strong. Today we will hear Paul say that you and I are like the bricks that make up "God's building," the church. In fact, he says we are God's church! That means that we have to be very strong and sturdy parts of the building, don't we boys and girls? (Let them respond.) We can't be like straw that will blow away when the winds blow, or like sand that will crumble when a storm comes. We have to be like one of these bricks. How can we be good bricks in this church, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) That's right -- by coming to our worship service, listening very hard to God's word and to the sermon. We should also pay good attention to our Sunday school teachers and to our parents. Then we will be good, strong bricks for God's church. Will you try to do that, boys and girls? (Let them respond.) Good. God bless you. Amen. ___________________________________________________________________________ George W. Truett, a well-known Texas preacher, was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy oilman. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area. Pointing to the oil wells and punctuating the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it’s all mine." Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That’s all mine." Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, "They’re all mine." Then pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, "That too is all mine." He paused, expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success. Truett, however, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, "How much do you have in that direction?" (Farewell Ave. Christian Church) Practice What You Admire Once upon a time a prince was born physically deformed. He was known as the hunchback prince. His physical posture troubled him, because he knew a prince should stand tall and straight. One day he commissioned a sculptor to make a statue of him, not as he was but as he wanted to be. When the statue was completed, the prince had it placed in his private garden. Every day thereafter, he would stand before his statue and try to pull back his shoulders and stand tall. After some years, his physique matched the statue! It is obvious, is it not, that the principle involved in this story is that what we admire, adore, greatly respect, and worship, we eventually become. John Brokhoff, Old Truths for New Times, CSS Publishing Company Billy Graham tells the story about a little child the was playing with a very valuable vase. He put his hand into it and could not withdraw it. His father too, tried his best to get it out, to no avail. They were thinking of breaking the vase when the father said, “Now my son, make one more try. Open your hand and hold your fingers out straight as you see me doing, and then pull.” To their astonishment the little fellow said, “O no, dad, I couldn’t put my fingers out like that because if I did I would drop my dime.” Smile, if you will but thousands of us are like that little boy, so busy holding on to the world’s worthless dimes that we cannot accept liberation. Drop the trifles in your life. Surrender! Let go, and let God have His way in your life. FIRESTORMS I was at Boy Scout Camp when I discovered the terrible damage a fire storm could do to my life. It was a lazy afternoon very hot and dry. John and I were sent back to camp to start dinner for the guys. When I got back to camp, I discovered that the camp fire looked as if it had gone out. So I decided to rebuild the fire to get it ready for our meal. So I gathered firewood and placed it on the coals and tried to get it to burn. It would not start, so I decided to pour some kerosene on the wood, figuring it would help get the fire started sooner so that John and I could start dinner sooner for the troop. So I poured the kerosene on the wood, and all of a sudden the fire ignited. It then traveled up the liquid and into the can I was holding in my hand. Within seconds, the can exploded in my hand, sending burning kerosene streaming in every direction. Most of the burning fuel landed on my lower right leg, and it burst into flames. It was so surreal. I looked down as the heat started piercing through to my leg, and I began screaming. I was 12 years old, and my leg was burning out of control. I screamed for help and threw myself to the ground. I began to roll and roll, and the more I rolled the more the ground burst into flames around me. I rolled into a tent, and it caught on fire. I was screaming because of the pain and crying out for help. I started thinking, "This is it. I am going to burn to death," and right at that moment another Boy Scout came to my rescue. John had a blanket in his hand, and he grabbed me and wrapped it around my leg to put out the fire. Once he put out my leg, he then proceeded to put out the tent and the burning ground around us. I laid there in shock and disbelief with horrible pain throbbing up my leg. John held me and asked me to hang in there, because he was going to get me help. He ran like the wind for about a mile to the first aid head quarters in the park. I laid there all alone on the ground thinking, "Why did I do that!" Then the thought crept in: "Is this it?" It seemed as if I laid there forever starring up into the blue sky. The Park Rangers came and the troop leaders came as fast as they could. As they pulled the blanket off of my leg, part of my jeans and burnt flesh came off with it. They cut my jeans off immediately and started cleaning out my badly burned leg. I screamed in pain. I heard one man get sick and throw up and another say, "Oh my Lord!" I was burned from my ankle to just above the knee. I still remember the awful smell of burnt flesh rising off my leg. All I could do was moan and cry because of the excruciating pain inflicted from this fire. All I could do was keep asking questions, "What happened? Where did the fire come from? Why did this happen to me?" I was stunned by how quickly I had caught on fire. It took the troop leaders 4 hours before they finally got me to a hospital. It was a horrible 4-hour trip from the mountains to the hospital. As I rode in a truck, I just moaned as my driver, a Boy Scout leader, just encouraged me to hang in there. I remember he turned his air conditioning onto the floor section so that cold air could blow onto my leg. My flesh was hanging off, and I was wishing for a miracle as I looked at my deformed leg. I thought this could not be my leg. When we arrived at the hospital the doctors started to work on my leg immediately. They cleaned it up and put salve on it then wrapped with burn wrap. My mom showed up at the hospital in tears asking, "What happened?" The doctors informed my mom that I had second and third degree burns on the lower half of my leg. I remember the doctor telling her the importance of making sure that my leg did not become infected. So daily she would clean my leg off. I would not look at my leg – my mom said it looked horrible, almost like hamburger. But eventually I did heal. I often think about that day. It is etched into my memory forever. It was the painful day because I became a victim of a fire storm. I learned a few lessons that day that I will never forget: "Do not dump Kerosene on hot coals!" The biggest lesson I learned that day was not to be careless with a fire. I discovered the hard way that fire is hot and it burns very quickly and it does maximum damage in short amount of time. The firestorm I experienced lasted for minutes but caused major damage to my leg and it took months to heal. I still have scars on my lower leg from that fire storm. It reminds me as I look at that scar the danger of fire storms and how painful they can be. Firestorms happen in this world every day--firestorms in relationships flare up doing maximum damage in a short period of time. A situation or word is misunderstood and the fire ignites scorching and burning up everything in sight. Dr. Robert said, "No church is more than twenty-four hours away from a major conflict breaking out. In less than a year, it can destroy years of hard work and growth" (Firestorms, page 12). He spoke about the danger and the ferocity of firestorms. He warned us that once a firestorm ignites it causes damage quickly to the surrounding terrain and races off to burn up whatever is in its path. They move fast and quickly across the landscape burning everything up in sight. They are dangerous and destructive. They have even been known to be brief but so intense that they cause maximum loss in a short period of time. So we need to learn how to become fire fighters if we want to preserve our family relationships, our friendship relationships, our church relationships, our community relationships and our individual relationships. Firestorms come in many forms and can ignite in any type of a life situation. (From a sermon by Michael McCartney, Experience the Spirit in Conflict, 4/7/2011)