There are sometimes when God gives us a scripture that calms our heart, but there are sometimes when a scripture challenges us deeply. Today, 1 Corinthians 3 has done the second for me. As I contemplate this new semester and what it brings for my life, I am challenged by what God wants me to do, what kingdom work He has for me. What can I do? How can I be faithful to His call? What work does He call me to?
This scripture guides me and reminds me, rather curiously, of the tradition of quilting in the old Brethren church... the piece work, care, and living art of quilting.
Piece Work
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. ~1 Corinthians 3:10
It is a blessing to be able to do the work that God calls us to, whether that is teaching or studying or helping a friend. But, it is a shame to feel that all of that work rests on our shoulders. It hurts to hear some talk of the great sacrifice without mentioning the accompanying "grace" and blessing in our service. That we could somehow be God's hands and feet is a beautiful gift! Imagine assisting your most respected professor on a very important project. That's what God invites us to do. To think that it's all our work is to neglect the fact that God is working in the world and in our lives. We are only building upon the foundations of many other wonderful Christians who are building on the foundation of Christ.
Sometimes I have the "save the world" complex, I admit. I think that so much rests on my shoulders, so much depends on me. And who can handle all that pressure? When my course schedule conflicted with watching my neighbors' son, I felt disappointed and wished I could change things. Instead, I should've realized that God will provide for them, just like He provides for all of us... and my job is only to complete a small piece of the beautiful quilt.
Care
But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. ~1 Corinthians 3:10-15
These verses were hard to read this morning, and now you are probably starting to understand why. Our foundation must be Christ. We must seek to be Christlike in all that we do for the Lord. Now, this seems easy enough at first. Yes, I believe in Christ, that's my foundation. But think once more about every moment in every day. Do you wash dishes thinking of Christ? Do you drive thinking of Christ? Is all that you do, the energy that you give in the church, is your service for the glory of the Lord? What little piece are you contributing to the quilt, and is it what the Lord would have us do? Is it being done with all your heart, soul, mind and strength in order to praise our Father in Heaven?
Brad and I had a conversation last night, determining that we would not be working with the church start any more... but would possibly work at it as a bible study during the week at some point. This morning I asked Brad, "Do you think we made the right choice? Do you think that is what God wants?" And Brad said, "We made the best choice we could at the time." I suppose that is all we can ever do. We keep praying, we keep seeking, we keep discerning the place where God would have us work. Hans Urs von Balthasar in "Prayer" writes about this seeking processes:
"We contemplate Christ, his world, his truth, in order to encounter God and 'see' him. We do this with the eyes of faith, but they are genuine, objective eyes; and they are the eyes of our mind and senses, but they have been enlightened interiorly by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us."
We seek His will for our lives, what God would have us do, with great care, knowing that our work will one day be tested with fire... but also assured that if we seek with "eyes of faith", He will save us even if we have made a mistake. All we can do is keep our eyes fixed on Him and make the best decision that we can at the time. This care is even like making a lovely quilt, which itself requires great diligence and great eyesight to attend to the intricate stitching details. Sometimes the stitches may stray off the mark, but on the whole, it still makes a lovely quilt.
Living
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. ~1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Though I know that we are God's temple, I always find it beneficial to read and re-read such verses. It puts everything back into perspective, and we when read Corinthians 3 all together, we read that this "building of the temple" does not relate only to a physical building or helping with programs or even growing the church in number. Though it probably relates to several of these things, it also speaks of building our spiritual lives. "You yourselves are God's temple!" We need to care for and build up what work the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives.
And Paul mentions that our temples are sacred, holy spaces. We often care for our beautiful church buildings, but how little time and attention goes to our prayers, our quiet times, our devotions. Worry, from yesterdays readings, is like a hurricane that can wreck havock on the beautiful sanctuary of our own spiritual lives. We must carefully sweep out the bad and gather in the good so that we may only be filled with praise for our Father. And then, Paul also refers to the temple as "you together." The church is a community, and we must care not only for ourselves but for each other. Pray for those who sit next to you in church, even if you don't know their name. Offer thanks to the music director this Sunday. Help out with an unexpected weekly church duty. The temple, as a community, is living.
Our kingdom challenge, then, is not a fixed task to finish, a number of attendance to reach, an accomplishment that will change the world. Our kingdom challenge may be living... living and learning how to be a Christian, living and learning how to be Christian to others and share His love with the world. After all, one requires the other.
Though our image of a quilt may appear to unravel here, it doesn't seem so to me. To me, a quilt is living, especially those lovely old patchwork quilts. Scraps of fabric from old wedding gowns, baby blankets, favorite t-shirts... the memories and the individuals that fit into that one quilt are very alive... and yet they meet together and work together to warm the individual. With such unity in our own spirit and our churches, we can warm the souls of many.
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