Bricks | Wayfarer

The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
Psalm 118:22 (NIV)

When constructing a building made of bricks and mortar, the cornerstone is the most important brick of the entire building. The cornerstone is the first brick placed on the foundation. All other stones are placed in reference to the cornerstone and the placement of the entire structure is derived from the position of the cornerstone. Since ancient times, the cornerstone has had metaphorical resonance in multiple ways.

We build our lives day-by-day. Our thoughts, words and actions are bricks with which we give structure to our lives which others see and which influence those around us. In the end, the whole becomes a legacy of who we were. Every brick in the structure of our lives is derived from a cornerstone. If my cornerstone is self, then my life will reflect my own self-centered desires and intentions. If I choose to place Jesus as the cornerstone of my life, then my thoughts, words, and actions will ultimately reflect the cornerstone from which their placement is ultimately derived.

This morning, as I prepare to spend a week on the road serving clients, I am thinking about the thoughts, words, and actions with which I will serve, and coach, and consult, and train this week. I think about the thoughts, words, and actions with which I will interact with my employees and team members. I think about the thoughts, words, and actions with which I will interact with family and friends from afar. What will they say about cornerstone I have chosen for the placement my life?

An additional thought:

The lyric above, from an ancient songwriter, became an important prophecy to Jesus and his followers. Jesus quoted it in reference to Himself. Peter quoted it when giving testimony in front of the religious leaders. Both Peter and Paul quoted it in their letters. I love the on-going theme in God’s story in which God uses the rejected, the broken, the youngest, the least, the overlooked, and the weak to accomplish His special purposes.

Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem,
for the Lord our God is holy!
Psalm 99:9 (NLT)

I have a bit of a rebellious streak in me. I quickly get irritated by senseless rules and misplaced religious orthodoxy. We as humans tend to want to wrap rules around principles and attach sacred meaning to silly things. I remember a crotchety old fart who got mad at me for letting children run and play in the church sanctuary instead of getting mad and giving them a stern rebuke. In his mind the kids were desecrating the holiness of the room. I told him that the sanctuary was nothing more than a gathering place (adding that I’d be happy to prove the point scripturally) and the sound of children laughing, running and playing where we met to worship was music to my ears. If there are a lot of kids having fun in the place the church just might have a future.

He didn’t like me very much.

In the ancient days when the psalms were written, there was central place where God was to be worshipped in Jerusalem at the temple. One of the things I love most about Jesus is that he blew away old rules and established radical new paradigms. When a woman asked Jesus about worshipping in Jerusalem, Jesus said, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem….But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

In the new paradigm that Jesus ushered in, those who believe are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit and we ourselves become God’s temple. We don’t go to some church building that is somehow special, holy and sacred – we ourselves – our bodies – are the temple. We are made special, holy and sacred by God. We don’t go to church. We are the church. It’s not bricks and mortar. It’s flesh and blood. Every time I hear a pastor telling me to invite my friends to church I shake my head and groan. Jesus’ intention was never for believers to bring friends to a central location to worship Him. His intention was that believers would worship Him by spreading out into every neighborhood and loving people.