Isaiah 28:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-11
Introduction: Skyscrapers of Stone
By all accounts, the cathedrals of Europe are magnificent structures. When you walk in your gaze is drawn up, up, up, along the columns and arches to the vaulted ceiling overhead–where the stones seem weightless–as if the whole thing is reaching for heaven.
These “skyscrapers of stone” are incredible feats of engineering, ingenuity and skilled craft. They consumed the labour of whole towns over generations. Some cathedrals took more than 100 years to build. People planted oak groves nearby at the beginning of construction so that in 80-100 years, as the cathedral gained greater heights, the oak trees would be big enough to provide sturdy wood for the scaffolding that was needed for the next levels of construction. Rival towns and cities competed to build the tallest and most luminous structures, pushing the limits of technology in their day.
The earliest Romanesque style cathedrals, going back to the 12th century, were bulky and dark, with thick walls, where the sheer weight of the stones kept the walls in place. But over time, and several engineering innovations, it was possible to build higher and higher, with arching ceilings, slender walls, even “walls of light”, where the sun streamed in through massive stained glass windows.
These Gothic cathedrals become monuments to hope and joy. They lifted minds out of the dirt and darkness of daily toil. Few people could read or write so the colourful glass windows depicted stories from the bible, written in light. To enter a cathedral was an other worldly multi-media experience of sound and sight and aroma. A feast for the senses. A taste of heaven on earth. With their perfect proportions they pointed to God’s divine geometry in creating the world and its foundations.
Where do you see God’s “divine geometry” in the world? Where do heaven and earth meet in your experience? Where do you meet God?
Temple Language Echoes Throughout the Bible
Buildings of this grandeur and magnitude surely require strong foundations. In our summer of exploring stones in the bible, we come this week to foundation stones. Stories about building and construction abound in the bible, from the Tower of Babel in Genesis, to the New Jerusalem in Revelations. There are roughly 80 references in the bible to “foundations.”
Many of them refer to the Sovereign God who laid the foundations of the world. Like Isaiah 51:13 where the writer pleads with the people not to forget “the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.” And Proverbs 8:28-29 tells how God “established the fountains of the deep…assigned to the sea its limit…[and] marked out the foundations of the earth.” For people whose world view did not include a round earth orbiting the sun, the earth really did need solid, unshakeable foundations, sometimes also called the “pillars of the earth,” and it was the sovereign God who set those in place.
Most other references to “foundations” in the bible have to do with building or rebuilding the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.
Foundation and temple images echo throughout the bible, even as far back as the creation story:
- Creation
In Genesis 1 & 2, God undertakes a building project, to create an ordered world out of a formless void. By the end of the project, God’s presence fills creation. All of creation is God’s temple. And the Garden of Eden becomes a temple where God and humanity meet.
- Tabernacle
In the Exodus story, Moses and the people build a Tabernacle–a portable tent to hold the Ark of the Covenant and serve as the dwelling place for God during the 40 years in wilderness. It was a place to meet and communicate with God. It signaled that God was actively living and traveling with them.
- First Temple
The first temple was designed by King David, and built by his son, King Solomon on the highest point in Jerusalem in the tenth century BCE. This beautiful structure was built as a permanent dwelling for the Ark of the Covenant. There were echoes of the Garden of Eden in its construction. Of course the temple could not contain God’s universe. But it was filled with imagery of plants and flowers, with the Menorah representing the Tree of Life, pointing to all of creation as God’s temple. The temple was dedicated over 7 days, with 7 speeches echoing the 7 days of creation. Priests and Levites were given the task to “tend and keep” the temple, the same words, the same task given to Adam & Eve in the garden. The first temple stood for roughly 400 years until it was completely destroyed by the Babylonians’ during the siege of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.
- Second Temple
The second temple was built after the Jewish exiles returned from Babylon, and finished in 516 BCE. Later, Herod the Great, who was into massive building projects, (several of which still stand today) overhauled and enlarged the second temple (20-18 BCE), which stood until it was destroyed by the Romans when they conquered Jerusalem in 70 CE. It has never been rebuilt. Only part of a retaining wall holding up the massive Temple Mount platform survives as a sacred site for Jews to this day.
When we turn to the New Testament we also see many more references to foundations and temples.
- Jesus, the True Temple
In John’s gospel Jesus is described as “the Word” which Richard Rohr suggests we translate as “blueprint.” Jesus is the Word, the blueprint, through which “all things came into being” (John 1:3), at the foundation of the world. And Jesus “tabernacled” or “dwelt” among humans (John 1:1, 14). In other words, pitched his tent, and camped out with us. And through him, like in a temple, the grace, truth and glory of God has been made known to us (John 1:15-18).
Jesus also teaches about strong foundations. He ends the Sermon on the Mount with his parable about the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7: 24-27). The one who hears his words and acts on them is like a wise builder who builds a house on the rock. During the storms of life that house did not fall because it was built on the rock. Unlike the house of the foolish builder, who built on the sand, and when the storms of life came it fell with a great crash.
In John’s gospel, after clearing the temple Jesus’ authority for doing such a thing was challenged. He replied, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19), speaking metaphorically about his own body.
And in Matthew’s gospel, when Jesus’ disciples are criticized for plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath to eat, Jesus reminds the Pharisees that David and his companions “entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which…was not lawful” (Matthew 12:4). And then Jesus says, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6).
All of these examples point to Jesus as the true foundation, the true temple.
Temple Meaning
Which leads us to our texts for today. In Isaiah’s writing, God is laying a foundation stone, a sure foundation–whoever trusts need never be shaken (see Isaiah 28:16). And in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Both texts echo and re-echo all of the “foundation” images that have come before. Why does this theme keep echoing through the bible?
The temple was the symbol of God’s presence among people. The dwelling place for God. The sacred space where heaven and earth could meet, where God and humanity could commune. For the Hebrew people it was the unifying centre for their 12 tribes. It was the focal point for worship, for festivals and pilgrimages. It was here that the covenant with God was renewed through offerings and sacrifices, where individuals and the community could seek atonement for sins. Its destruction was devastating. So when Paul, and even Jesus claim that Jesus is the true temple, the replacement temple, those claims would be startling and unsettling, maybe even offensive.
The temple in the bible, much like the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, speaks to a deep longing in the human heart. For all these centuries of human history we have searched for ways to connect with God. To express our honour and worship. To offer the first fruits of our lives in thanksgiving. To express our sorrow and our sins. To seek forgiveness. To be restored and reconciled. To find atonement and be made whole. We have longed to find a God we could trust. Sometimes we approached in fear. And so we have tried to appease God, or please God. Sometimes we have tried to tame God. Or fashioned a God that looked like us. Or proclaimed a God that would fight for us.
In the Garden of Eden. In the Tabernacle. In the temples and cathedrals and in our churches today people express a longing for God. To be seen and heard by God. Known and loved. Accepted and blessed. And have we found God?
What is the deepest longing in your heart? How do you approach God? How have you experienced God?
Jesus as the True Temple
Paul claims that in Jesus we have found God. Jesus is the fulfillment of all that human longing. He is the foundation, and the temple where we encounter God. Where we learn to know and trust God, the creator of the universe.
As if that isn’t audacious enough, Paul takes this metaphor a step further. After claiming Christ as the true foundation, a few verses on he continues, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). I don’t know about you, but I remember as a young teenager, I felt like I needed to take this verse very seriously. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that temple is holy.” I felt like I had to be pure and good and holy. I lived in fear of damaging that temple. I knew I should never smoke or drink alcohol or be a glutton of food. All of that would “defile” God’s temple. And of course, the big taboo was any sexual activity outside of marriage. It was certain to damage God’s temple. And so I learned to live in fear of my own sexuality as well. Someone wise recently said that one of the most important things we should be doing in the church is healing our harmful images of God. This might be one of them!
It was something of a relief to learn, later on, that the word “you” in that verse is actually plural. Paul is not addressing the individual. He is addressing the church. “You” as in the church in Corinth, you are God’s temple, and God’s Spirit dwells in you. I didn’t feel quite the guilt and weight and shame and pressure to be pure and holy, personally. Although transferring that pressure to the church isn’t healthy either!
Perhaps it is helpful to remember who Paul is addressing in this letter. The church in Corinth, as we learned last week, was a bit of a mess! Amanda, had slide after slide with her sermon last week describing all the stumbling blocks in that church! Many that we can relate to. We, like the Corinthians, are imperfect, flawed, fickle, fearful and yet still called as a church to be a mini-temple where the Holy Spirit dwells. A temple where people can encounter Jesus, the true temple. This is a remarkable claim!
At the time that Paul wrote this letter, the Jewish second temple still stood in Jerusalem. Paul was a devout Jew. He knew the history and significance of the temple for his people. The city of Corinth was full of temples dedicated to various gods, so for Paul to declare that the assembly of Jesus’ followers is now God’s temple–that a small body of believers replaced the temple in Jerusalem–that was a radical claim about God and about the church! And for Paul to claim that Jewish and Gentile Jesus-believers made up God’s temple, that was groundbreaking!
The church in Corinth and Paul’s mission exist in the context of the great empire of Rome, so ruthless and cruel in how it treated its conquered peoples, funnelling their wealth and resources into the hands of the few who wielded power.
Paul is excited by an alternative vision: the kingdom of God, or the empire of God in contrast to Rome. It is the vision Jesus lived and died for. Paul feels called to plant communities on the foundation of Jesus Christ, communities that show a different way. Who refuse to oppress, mistreat, and abuse. Who refuse the tools and weapons of violence. But instead extend compassion and mercy to the downtrodden. Who seek justice and reconciliation and unity. Who non-violently oppose the oppressive and immoral and unjust structures and systems and actions of the empire. Who makes love an action word, as Amanda talked about last week. It is a high calling for the church.
How does Jesus Christ, as our foundation speak into our culture today? How do followers of Jesus speak to the empires of our day?
What Does it Mean to Have Jesus Christ as the Foundation?
So what does it mean to build on the foundation of Jesus Chist? To be a mini-temple in whom the Spirit dwells? Menno Simons, the 16th century Anabaptist, included this text on the title page of all his writings, as a way to lay all that he wrote on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This is a rich metaphor with many interpretations…all of them significant. Let me explore a few of them with you.
- For many Christians we start with “the foundation of Christian teaching” which
is “the proclamation of the cross” (Dan Nighswander, 1 Corinthians, Believers Church Bible Commentary 102). Just last week we noted the strangeness at the core of the gospel message, to the point that it can be a stumbling block. Paul writes to the Corinthians, a culture based on honour and patronage, “we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Chist the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). The self emptying love of God, reaches out to embrace, to transform, to reconcile all to God and to each other across all kinds of boundaries and differences. We share this conviction with Christians around the world.
And there is much more. Let me highlight a few.
- When we claim Jesus Christ as our foundation, as the Word of God–the
blueprint, we have a world view to build on, a set of Jesus coloured glasses with which to engage the culture and world we live in.
- To claim Jesus Christ as the foundation also means to claim the full extent of his
life and work and teachings. This is at the heart of our Anabaptist/Mennonite understanding of discipleship. To follow Jesus in life. To put faith into practice. Hans Denck, a sixteenth-century Anabaptist asserted, “No one can know Christ unless he follows after him in life” (Stuart Murray, The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith, Herald Press, 58).
- To know Jesus as the foundation, as the true temple, fills our human longing to
connect to God. Through Jesus we find a path to God. We have an opportunity to encounter God that doesn’t have to be mediated through the grandiose architecture of a cathedral, or through a priest or a pastor. In Jesus we meet God most fully.
- To know Jesus Christ as our foundation, is to experience the love of God in
tangible, embodied ways. We taste and see that God is good. Through the waters of baptism we are “baptized into Christ” (Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3), we are named “beloved” (Matthew 3:17), we belong to Christ, we become “one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28), and we die to self so that “we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). And when we share in the Lord’s Supper we encounter the bread of life that feeds us, the body of Christ broken for us, the love of God poured out for us.
What does it mean for you to claim and to know Jesus Christ as your foundation personally? What does that look like at SJMC?
Sadly, throughout our human experiences we have tried to build on other foundations. Even in the church we have tried to put our own foundations in place with our creeds, and confessions of faith, and bare essentials, our dress codes, our rituals and our practices, our biblical interpretation, even our visions and mission statements. Certainly these can be important tools for discernment and thoughtful reflection. But when they become absolutes we use to judge others, they become tools of division. Like the Corinthian church, our Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition has far too much of this kind of division.
What other foundations are there? What other foundations have you tried in your life? What divisions in the body of Christ do you experience?
César Garcia, General Secretary of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) recognizes that “our own DNA is deeply divisive”. But in the face of that “long history of fracture” MWC is calling us to go in the opposite direction. The MWC vision of unity remains constant. Garcia says, “At MWC, we affirm that unity can be maintained despite ethical and doctrinal differences, as long as we keep Jesus at the centre of our faith. That’s the only non-negotiable.” Such unity is “a miracle, a gift that the Holy Spirit gives to us. We cannot create it. We can only receive it and preserve it.”
(Global Anabaptists Address Crisis of Unity, Will Braun, Canadian Mennonite, December, 2025). https://canadianmennonite.org/mwc/
How can we keep Jesus at the centre of our faith? How can we receive the gift of unity despite our differences? How can we heal our divisions?
In Jesus Christ God is giving us a foundation stone that is safe to build on. Can we trust, and never be shaken? I hope so! AMEN