God's Buildings

Brothers and sisters: You are God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. (1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17) 

At our baptism a foundation is laid, a platform on which we stand – Jesus Christ. We are to build on it.  Unfortunately, as babies totally dependent on our parents, the buildup is not up to us.  Therefore, if our parents are not careful about how they build on the Christ-created foundation, we have a house of cards that can be blown down.  

The temples of God – each one of us – can be toppled like the building columns brought down by Hercules unchained.  When we are “unchained,” no longer constrained and living by Jesus’s commandments and his Way, we resemble what is left of buildings devasted by hurricanes and flooding. Foundations are left but are buried under rubble and twisted metal.

After our baptisms we need to grow in faith by careful laying of bricks and mortar by our parents to house the Spirit of God in us where we become a “safe” place for God to dwell.  Later after confirmation we lay our own bricks while being careful not to adopt a lifestyle and behavior (such as drugs and/or alcohol) serving as sledgehammers to undo all the good done by our parents and ourselves.  We are all holy - God's buildings.  So, let’s treat ourselves that way.

Deacon David Pierce