From today’s gospel: Jesus said: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”
In one of my several previous professions I was an architect. In that frame of mind, I am amazed at how often building the church – the assembling of people to carry out Jesus’ teachings – is characterized in the same way you’d actually construct a brick and mortar church building.
In today’s gospel, Jesus tell Peter he’s going to build his church on him….on that rock. There is also the famous parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Both Matthew and Luke relate how Jesus talked of a foolish person who built a house on sand. When the storms came the house was washed away. But a wise person built their house on solid rock. When the storms came, that house stood and survived.
There are numerous hymns which tell us how our church is constructed. I fondly remember a hymn from my Methodist childhood:
(sing)
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
There are two hymns in both our 1982 hymnal and the Gather hymnal which talk about building the church from the ground up.
(sing)
Christ is made the sure foundation.
Christ the head and cornerstone.
(sing)
The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.
Today’s gospel, the parable, the hymns all use the imagery of building a brick and mortar building to describe how we are to build what goes inside an actual church building.
No matter what kind of building one wants to design and build, they all have to start at the same place – the foundation. Sure, high-falutin’ architects scribble fabulous museums on napkins or sketch a courthouse on the back of on envelope. But when it comes time to actually build that building. You must start at the bottom. You must start from the ground up. You must start with the foundation.
And of the utmost importance to the foundation is the ground on which the building is going to be constructed. One of the first things an architectural team must do is hire a geologist or a soil testing company to take plugs – drill holes into the earth and examine the substrate of the site for the new building.
It makes perfect sense. You don’t want to build on shaky ground…do you? Actually, today’s technology can allow us to build in the most unbelievable places – a sandy beach or a fault line. But technology can only guarantee so much. The best way to make sure your building will stand is to build it on solid ground.
Earlier this summer, there were videos from Texas of a million dollar home built on a cliff overlooking a lake. It had a magnificent view, I’m sure. But the after heavy rains, the cliff eroded and began to fall into the lake….as did the house. So while it was possible to build the house in that location, it didn’t guarantee it would stay in that location.
So here’s how a foundation works. You pour a concrete slab on the ground. But as we all know, the top layer of the earth is not always that steady. So the edge of the slab is turned down into the earth. These are called stem walls. The depth of the stem wall is determined by how far down you have to go before you hit something solid….like rock. And once you’ve hit that solid substrate, a big square of concrete is poured. That is called the footing.
That is how this church building is constructed. The same principal holds true if the building has a basement, that slab is just lower than the level of the ground.
I’ve described all of this to you because I know for a fact that St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church is built on solid ground – on a rock – and our foundation is safe and secure.
I’m not talking about this building where we are gathered today – although I’m pretty sure that is in good shape, too. I’m talking about the church – the people – the mission – the ministries of St. Michael’s. We are the church and we are on solid ground.
Jesus told us that he would build his church on a rock. That solid rock is Jesus and in today’s gospel we learn that Jesus recruited Peter to be that rock as well. And the hymns I mentioned said Jesus is the foundation of the church. Indeed, our Christian faith is founded on the belief that Jesus is the only child of God sent to the world to die for our sins.
But I always remember a blessing Fr. Daniel uses at the end of many services. It is adapted from a writing of Teresa of Avila:
Today, Christ has no body on this earth.
You are his hands, his feet, his eyes, his body.
So we are now the foundation of the church. We are the foundation of St. Michael’s.
I want you think about the horrific videos we’ve all seen of natural disasters. 24 hour news and weather channels bombard us with footage showing the aftermath of tornados, hurricanes, and floods. The devastation is often unbearable to look at. Homes and building are reduced to rubble or gone completely.
But there is one thing that always remains. You can always locate where those homes and building used to stand because….the foundation always remains in place. That slab on the ground or that basement is still there after the tornado, or the hurricane, or the flood, or the fire has leveled the part of building that was above the ground. But the foundation is still there and it is still strong. You can’t rip that foundation out of the ground. If it was built on solid ground and constructed properly, that foundation will last forever.
Here at St. Michael’s we’ve had our share of storms over the last couple of years, haven’t we? I was here at the CLAD retreat a few months ago. I heard of all the pain and loss suffered by the hits this parish has taken. I don’t need to remind you of the losses we have suffered. And just like a house or a building that might be battered by a storm, we may feel like we at St. Michael’s is a little worse for the wear.
But I tell you, my brothers and sisters, our foundation is completely sound. Our foundation is built on solid rock. There is no way that our foundation is going to be moved by outside forces.
And I know the foundation itself it solid because I am looking at that foundation right this minute. St. Michael’s – the very core foundation of St. Michael’s – is not made up one person. The foundation does not consist of one clergy member or one parishioner or one member of the vestry. Just like a brick and mortar building’s foundation is made of cement and sand and water and wire mesh and many pieces of steel reinforcing rod, our foundation is made up of all the personalities and hearts and souls and voices and hands and love of each one of us.
Nothing can shake this foundation. We are a strong and steady foundation built on the solid rock of our faith!
Yes, we have suffered pain and loss. We may feel hurt, disillusioned, sad…..scared. All of those are valid emotions during a time of rough transition. No one is saying we don’t have the right to feel that way. But today I invite you to pack up all those emotions. Put them in a duffel bag, a plastic grocery sack, your carry-on wheely suitcase and bring them along. You can carry that baggage as long as you need to. You can bring it out and unpack it as often as you want. You can share it with the rest of the church and we will all discuss it and help you deal with it.
I recently heard a statistic. 75% of all households have the same item in them – two cardboard boxes that have never been unpacked since the residents’ last move. Perhaps that goes to show we often carry things around with us that we actually don’t need.
St. Michael’s foundation is strong and secure. While we may feel a little battered, there is a world out there much worse off than we are. Jesus provided the rock and helped us build this foundation in order that we might carry his message to that world which so desperately needs to hear it. Let’s continue to build on this foundation and do the work God has given us to do – to love and serve God as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
In one of my several previous professions I was an architect. In that frame of mind, I am amazed at how often building the church – the assembling of people to carry out Jesus’ teachings – is characterized in the same way you’d actually construct a brick and mortar church building.
In today’s gospel, Jesus tell Peter he’s going to build his church on him….on that rock. There is also the famous parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Both Matthew and Luke relate how Jesus talked of a foolish person who built a house on sand. When the storms came the house was washed away. But a wise person built their house on solid rock. When the storms came, that house stood and survived.
There are numerous hymns which tell us how our church is constructed. I fondly remember a hymn from my Methodist childhood:
(sing)
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
There are two hymns in both our 1982 hymnal and the Gather hymnal which talk about building the church from the ground up.
(sing)
Christ is made the sure foundation.
Christ the head and cornerstone.
(sing)
The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.
Today’s gospel, the parable, the hymns all use the imagery of building a brick and mortar building to describe how we are to build what goes inside an actual church building.
No matter what kind of building one wants to design and build, they all have to start at the same place – the foundation. Sure, high-falutin’ architects scribble fabulous museums on napkins or sketch a courthouse on the back of on envelope. But when it comes time to actually build that building. You must start at the bottom. You must start from the ground up. You must start with the foundation.
And of the utmost importance to the foundation is the ground on which the building is going to be constructed. One of the first things an architectural team must do is hire a geologist or a soil testing company to take plugs – drill holes into the earth and examine the substrate of the site for the new building.
It makes perfect sense. You don’t want to build on shaky ground…do you? Actually, today’s technology can allow us to build in the most unbelievable places – a sandy beach or a fault line. But technology can only guarantee so much. The best way to make sure your building will stand is to build it on solid ground.
Earlier this summer, there were videos from Texas of a million dollar home built on a cliff overlooking a lake. It had a magnificent view, I’m sure. But the after heavy rains, the cliff eroded and began to fall into the lake….as did the house. So while it was possible to build the house in that location, it didn’t guarantee it would stay in that location.
So here’s how a foundation works. You pour a concrete slab on the ground. But as we all know, the top layer of the earth is not always that steady. So the edge of the slab is turned down into the earth. These are called stem walls. The depth of the stem wall is determined by how far down you have to go before you hit something solid….like rock. And once you’ve hit that solid substrate, a big square of concrete is poured. That is called the footing.
That is how this church building is constructed. The same principal holds true if the building has a basement, that slab is just lower than the level of the ground.
I’ve described all of this to you because I know for a fact that St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church is built on solid ground – on a rock – and our foundation is safe and secure.
I’m not talking about this building where we are gathered today – although I’m pretty sure that is in good shape, too. I’m talking about the church – the people – the mission – the ministries of St. Michael’s. We are the church and we are on solid ground.
Jesus told us that he would build his church on a rock. That solid rock is Jesus and in today’s gospel we learn that Jesus recruited Peter to be that rock as well. And the hymns I mentioned said Jesus is the foundation of the church. Indeed, our Christian faith is founded on the belief that Jesus is the only child of God sent to the world to die for our sins.
But I always remember a blessing Fr. Daniel uses at the end of many services. It is adapted from a writing of Teresa of Avila:
Today, Christ has no body on this earth.
You are his hands, his feet, his eyes, his body.
So we are now the foundation of the church. We are the foundation of St. Michael’s.
I want you think about the horrific videos we’ve all seen of natural disasters. 24 hour news and weather channels bombard us with footage showing the aftermath of tornados, hurricanes, and floods. The devastation is often unbearable to look at. Homes and building are reduced to rubble or gone completely.
But there is one thing that always remains. You can always locate where those homes and building used to stand because….the foundation always remains in place. That slab on the ground or that basement is still there after the tornado, or the hurricane, or the flood, or the fire has leveled the part of building that was above the ground. But the foundation is still there and it is still strong. You can’t rip that foundation out of the ground. If it was built on solid ground and constructed properly, that foundation will last forever.
Here at St. Michael’s we’ve had our share of storms over the last couple of years, haven’t we? I was here at the CLAD retreat a few months ago. I heard of all the pain and loss suffered by the hits this parish has taken. I don’t need to remind you of the losses we have suffered. And just like a house or a building that might be battered by a storm, we may feel like we at St. Michael’s is a little worse for the wear.
But I tell you, my brothers and sisters, our foundation is completely sound. Our foundation is built on solid rock. There is no way that our foundation is going to be moved by outside forces.
And I know the foundation itself it solid because I am looking at that foundation right this minute. St. Michael’s – the very core foundation of St. Michael’s – is not made up one person. The foundation does not consist of one clergy member or one parishioner or one member of the vestry. Just like a brick and mortar building’s foundation is made of cement and sand and water and wire mesh and many pieces of steel reinforcing rod, our foundation is made up of all the personalities and hearts and souls and voices and hands and love of each one of us.
Nothing can shake this foundation. We are a strong and steady foundation built on the solid rock of our faith!
Yes, we have suffered pain and loss. We may feel hurt, disillusioned, sad…..scared. All of those are valid emotions during a time of rough transition. No one is saying we don’t have the right to feel that way. But today I invite you to pack up all those emotions. Put them in a duffel bag, a plastic grocery sack, your carry-on wheely suitcase and bring them along. You can carry that baggage as long as you need to. You can bring it out and unpack it as often as you want. You can share it with the rest of the church and we will all discuss it and help you deal with it.
I recently heard a statistic. 75% of all households have the same item in them – two cardboard boxes that have never been unpacked since the residents’ last move. Perhaps that goes to show we often carry things around with us that we actually don’t need.
St. Michael’s foundation is strong and secure. While we may feel a little battered, there is a world out there much worse off than we are. Jesus provided the rock and helped us build this foundation in order that we might carry his message to that world which so desperately needs to hear it. Let’s continue to build on this foundation and do the work God has given us to do – to love and serve God as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
