From The Manse Window
From the manse window
THE first time I went to Paris my plan was not to go shopping or explore museums; it was to look at the architecture, particularly the baroque from the time of Louis XIV.
I’m fascinated by this French king, and the highlight of my visit was a trip to Versailles. I’ve been back a couple of times since.
In that palace you can believe you’ve gone back in time and are walking the corridors of power. Such buildings have stood the test of time.
The Apostle Peter writes: “As you come to him, the living stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Jesus is the cornerstone, the most important, essential part of the building. We are stones, too, but a stone which sits alone can never be of any use; its purpose is to be part of a building.
Some Christians want to be alone and don’t go to church any more. Maybe they’ve been hurt, or church isn’t the way they want it to be. Yet our purpose is to be built together into a place where God is at work.
We know from Paul’s letters that the church in the New Testament wasn’t perfect; he had to deal with division and hurt and wrong teaching in many of the local congregations, but he didn’t say, “Walk away and forget it.”
No, these were to be where God was at work to build people into what he wanted them to be – a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.
We may pray for patience, love, kindness and all the other fruits of being a Christian, but these qualities are produced in and through relationships.
If we want patience God will put us in a situation which encourages us to use patience, and the first place that happens is within the church, where we learn to grow together.
We are all single stones, part of what God is building. His intention is to make something beautiful as broken, tainted people are brought together to show his glory, to be a witness to his love and faithfulness.
Yes, it’s true that salvation begins with the individual
– we are all called to meet with Jesus on that basis – but the goal is for us then to be part of the building that God is creating.
It is God who is the builder and he allocates our place as single stones within the building.
A stone does not decide, “I don’t want to go in the wall at the back, I want to go in the wall at the front.”
It’s up to the builder to decide and select the right stone for the right place.
For years I felt I wanted to be leading Bible study or giving talks in my local church but I was never asked. God didn’t want me in that position then (but subsequently I was ordained when the time was right).
There have been difficult periods when I’ve considered moving to a livelier church. On those occasions God told me to stay because I was where he wanted me to be.
Alone, we are just nondescript, pretty useless stones. But with other stones, in the hands of the master builder, we become something magnificent for the kingdom.