Our Fall Building Project

Pastor: 
Rev. Marcus Birkholz
Date: 
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sermon Text: 

(Eph 2:19-22 NIV) Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, {20} built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. {21} In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. {22} And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
            I would like to take you back to September 1962 here at Salem. How many of you can remember those days? In that year a massive building project was on its way. You could not have worshipped here. But you could have attended a service outside, because that is when the cornerstone of this building was placed. Only a few people and the Lord know how many hours and planning went into that building project. 
            I thought, then, it would be good as we kick off this new school year and fall season to start another building project. We are not ready to build a new facility here. Really we are always in a building project, the building the Holy Christian Church.  This is not the Lutheran Church or Salem, but rather invisible church, the gathering of believers where God knows the heart and faith of each of his own. This is the church where it says in the Bible: Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. So the Church is people. In the Bible we have various pictures of the church such as a building with a foundation and living stones built on it, or as the flock and Jesus the good Shepherd, or the body with Christ the head and each believer is part of the body.  We confessed that we believe in the holy Christian church, but what does that mean, what impact does it have on me in my life and where do I fit into that church?  Your pastors will be looking at various aspects of the church in the coming weeks. Today our focus is our Fall Building Project.
I. The Foundation
            No matter how many plans people may have, you finally have to start building. The most important part of the project is the foundation, whether the building will stand or fall. You can see problems some builders have as you travel around the world. The prime example is the leaning Tower of Pisa. Another one many might not know is downtown Seattle.   As you look at the streets and building nothing seems out of order. A few years ago I took a guided tour of downtown. Yet, do you realize that all the windows of the buildings were once the second story windows. What happened was when the city was being built by the shore, the founding fathers needed fill. Well they got a special deal from the lumber mills, you guessed it they filled the land with sawdust. That was to be the foundation. Then things started to sink. What a difference a sure foundation can make.
            When Jesus wants to start a church he uses the same type of picture of foundation. We heard Jesus tell Peter that on his confession he would build his church. This was the confession, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” The Apostle Paul speaks about the Holy Christian Church built on that foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, which would be their preaching and testifying about Jesus. During the summer we studied those disciples and how they went forth with the message and built the holy Christian Church. 
            Jesus has three building terms used about himself. He is called the foundation, the cornerstone which would line up all the other sides of the building and also the capstone which is the center stone of an arch that holds it all together. He also uses the picture of the one who builds on a rock or sand, pointing out that building on his Word is like building on a solid rock. 
            Our fall building project is like the apostles of old; here at Salem we have to lay a foundation for peoples’ lives. What do we use, nothing but the Bible, God’s inspired word.   Is this a foundation one can trust and build ones’ life on? Our preaching, our teaching, our Bible Classes, our Sunday school, and our Christian Elementary school has one purpose: to lay a foundation for faith and life in Jesus Christ. There is only one foundation that can be laid which will be a sure foundation. The foundation of faith is Jesus Christ, God’s Son the Savior of the World. He is the only one to build upon. Among all the gods of the world, he is the only living one. He is also the only Saving God. No other God so loved the church that he gave his life on the cross that we might live.  
            Some try building on the foundation of their own wisdom and then comes the day and they don’t remember who they are. Some try building on money only to find it is all gone, how many trusted a man named Bernie Madoff. Some trying building on their position only to find it was eliminated.   Some try building on popularity only to find what is popular one week you are in and the next you are out. 
            How important is Christian education? How important is laying a firm foundation for the children here? Remember no child is born with a foundation of Jesus. In fact just ask any parent, do you have to teach your child to be naughty. A good and solid foundation must be laid for this life and eternal life.
II.    The Construction
            It is one thing to lay a foundation as did the Apostles and prophets. After that comes the construction itself. I have come across some pictures that make you wonder, “what were they thinking.” You see stairways that go no where, porches with no way to get to them, decks built over railroad tracks. Are you left wondering? 
            In the same way our God might ask some of us, “what were you thinking?”   Jesus taught his disciples. The Apostles taught the next generation. We are continuing the tradition. But there is something to consider. The Apostle Paul wrote of his ministry: (1 Cor 3:10-13 NIV) By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. {11} For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. {12} If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, {13} his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.   Kind of reminds me of the three little pigs, building homes of straw, sticks and brick. Which one was going to last?  Adults have you seen lives in shambles because of no foundation or because of how they lived their lives?
            I want you think about how do children learn? As children we hear, we read, we see pictures, but we also learn by example. We have to be careful what we can expect from Sunday school, a Christian school, and confirmation class. Teachers, pastors can lay the foundation. But what happens after class? Does the learning stop? What do they learn on the school bus? From the Television? From text messaging? What do they learn at home? Do you as parents support and build by word and example what we are trying to accomplish here in our fall building project? You have asked the pastors to teach the Third Commandment, Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy? Do parents nullify my class room instruction on Sunday morning? Do you think a pastor can get frustrated when parents teach their children just the opposite of God’s word the rest of the week?   I think of children who are dependent on parents to bring them to church and communion after confirmation, but the parents never bring them or set the right example. Or the child that get dropped off and told you need this, but by example teaches them, you don’t need it as an adult. You can look at those construction pictures and wonder what were they thinking?
             For God’s people in Jesus’ day the temple was the picture that came to mind. Jesus the foundation, the cornerstone by which everyone had to line up their lives, the capstone that kept the arch from falling. Paul would write: In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. {22} And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Our building project this year is not of brick and mortar, but rather of people, building a faith on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and a life that is guided by the Holy Spirit.  This building project never ends. Together we stand as God’s people like the temple of old with each block building on the ones before as we rise to a holy temple to the Lord. Amen.