What's Your Foundation 1 Corinthians 2: 10-16 (1/8/12)

You folks know that I am also a lawyer. What you don’t know is that I also used to remodel houses. Sometimes I would sell them; sometimes I would keep them as rental property. I used to do a lot of the remodeling myself. I don’t do that any more.   Even before the economy went south, I had already stopped working on the houses myself. I liked remodeling. I enjoyed bringing something old and damaged back to life. I’ve always liked to use my hands. I like to learn practical skills.  I always thought it helped keep my mind sharp.

A couple thousand years ago, there was another preacher who was a carpenter by trade. Of course, he was the greatest preacher ever heard. I’ve got a feeling he was a much better carpenter than I am as well. I find it curious that Jesus was a carpenter. Maybe that was Joseph’s contribution to Jesus. We know very little about Joseph, but it’s reasonable to assume that Joseph taught Jesus the carpentry trade. So maybe while Jesus was growing strong in Spirit, Joseph made sure that he grew strong in body as well.

It seems fitting to me that Jesus was a carpenter. He built things with his hands before he built up people’s spirits. The Bible doesn’t tell us what kind of carpenter Jesus was, but it’s for sure that his trade has some parallels to his ministry. In his ministry, Jesus was definitely a re-modeler. He never got to do new construction on anyone. He just took them as they were, old and damaged, and turned them into works of art; works good enough to get into the kingdom of heaven. When it comes to the human spirit, Jesus is the master re-modeler.

When I’m looking at a house to consider buying it, the first thing I do is look at the foundation. I check the brickwork. I walk the floors carefully, looking for signs of settling. I crawl underneath the house to check for hidden defects. If the foundation and the floor joists have held up to the test of time, then the house will be worth considering. If not, it may not be worth it to invest time and money in it.

This brings us to the subject of today’s message. The Apostle Paul was a tentmaker by trade. He was no stranger to using his hands either. In today’s lesson, Paul talks about foundations; in particular, the kind of Spiritual foundation needed for Christians.

Let’s look at the Scripture. In verses 10 and 11, Paul says he “laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.” He warns each one to be careful how he builds. Paul says that “no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Wait a minute here. Paul says he laid a foundation, and in the very next verse, he says the foundation is already laid: that of Jesus. So how can he have his cake and eat it, too? He can’t. Look back at verse 10. Paul’s preface is “by the grace God has given me…” In essence, Paul is saying that he can do nothing except through God’s grace. And that grace, we know, comes from Jesus Christ. Now who is the “someone else” in verse 10? That’s the church. That’s the Corinthians. That’s the whole reason for Paul writing this letter. He needs to talk to the church. And who is the church? The church is you and me. That’s who Paul is talking to.

Back to verse 11. Paul says “each one should be careful how he builds.” Each one is each church, each Session, each Sunday school teacher, each Minister…each believer.  We should be careful how we build because there will be a day of reckoning, a day of judgment.  And on that day, Paul says, our work will be shown for what it is. It will be exposed to the light that is known to God alone, the light that knows nothing but pure, unadorned truth, the light from which we can hide absolutely nothing. Paul says that whatever materials we use will be tested with fire, and in such way the quality of our work will be revealed. If we build on Christ’s foundation with anything consumable, it will be shown to be just that, and the fire of God will consume it.

Well, that seems a tall order, and indeed it is. What building materials cannot be consumed by fire? Wood burns. Even steel melts when there is enough heat. Concrete can turn into so much more rubble and dust when enough pressure is applied to it. If there were ever any doubt of that, the vision of the twin towers of the World Trade Center tumbling into an unrecognizable heap of ash and dust during 9/11 made that clear to all of us. So, what are the building materials of the Church? What do we add to the foundation that is Jesus Christ?

Let me suggest three building materials for the Church.

First:     be a witness for Christ.

Second: build up your fellow believers.

Third:   live a Christian life.

          Being a witness means you’re so convinced that God is sovereign, that Christ died for you, that Christ rose again and reigns even today, that you are going to tell others of this incredible news. It’s that simple.

          Can you do Christianity alone? No. Being a Christian is all about relationship. Having a relationship with Jesus comes first. You can’t get it without the Holy Spirit in your heart, and you can’t keep it unless you release that empowered Spirit by sharing your Christianity with other believers. In this way, Christ can use you to help others, and to grow strong from that sharing.

          In using the first two building materials, you are using the third. Living a Christian life means there are lots of things you don’t do, but much more importantly, there are lots of things you do or do differently. As the Spirit of God grows within you, you become free to bask in the warmth of life with meaning; life with purpose.

          Let me share a story with you. David Culver tells of a time that a TV news camera crew was in southern Florida filming the widespread destruction of Hurricane Andrew. In one scene, amid the devastation and debris, one house still stood on its foundation. The owner was cleaning up the yard when a reporter approached him.

          “Sir, why is your house the only one still standing?” asked the reporter. “How did you manage to escape the severe damage of the hurricane?” “I built this house myself,” the man replied. “I also built it according to the Florida building code. When the code called for two-by-six roof trusses, I used two-by six- roof trusses. I was told that a house built according to code could withstand a hurricane. I did, and it did. I suppose no one else around here followed the code.”

          Mr. Culver’s story reminds me of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. You remember. The house whose foundation was dug deep into the rock withstood the torrent. Jesus says that that house was like the person who not only hears His words, but also puts them into practice. When the sun is shining and the skies are blue, building our lives on something other than the guidelines in God’s Word can be tempting. But there’s only one way to be ready for a storm.

William Barclay, the Scottish theologian, says that in Jesus Christ alone, we can find three things: 1) forgiveness for past sins, 2) strength for the present, and 3) hope for the future. Without the foundation of Christ, neither we nor the church will be able to find forgiveness or strength or hope for more than fleeting moments. But with that foundation, the grace of Jesus Christ will hold us together, no matter what goes wrong.

Let’s go back to Paul and verse 15. Paul says that if the building materials you use are inferior, they will be burned up, that the “builder” will suffer loss, but will be saved. What does this mean? I think it means that we get credit for good behavior. In God’s merciful plan, even the inadequate builder will be saved, because at least he or she tried to do something for Christ.

You know, even at our best, all our versions of Christianity are inadequate. We could save a lot of false starts and failures if we would first test our thoughts and actions in the light of the Cross. Whether we’re in a church meeting or at the checkout line, our response should always be framed like those bracelets we used to see everywhere: “What would Jesus do?”

So, to continue the metaphor that Paul uses in this Scripture, if we want to build God’s house, we need a good set of plans and specs. We can find that in God’s Word. We already have the perfect foundation in Jesus Christ. We need to use the Spiritual building materials of witness, fellowship and discipleship. And we need to build according to code. Jesus’ building code can be summarized in the Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…and love your neighbor as yourself. If we will follow that code, no storm of life can overtake us or the church of which we are a part.

What’s your foundation? The task of any builder is to bring in the work in a manner that will stand the test of time. The task of the Church, and that means you and me, is to continue to build upon the foundation already laid; that of Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation to every one who hears and believes. Let’s keep on building God’s house right here in this church and this community. And let’s do it according to God’s code!