1 Corinthians 3:9-17
12th Sunday after Trinity
Pastorin Kornelia Schauf
1 Corinthians 3:9-17
9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. 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 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.
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.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
Dear congregation,
On Tuesday we welcomed visitors here from Geneva, Zimbabwe, Congo, Estonia and South Africa: a delegation from the Lutheran World Federation was our guest. Our NELCSA is one of the 153 member churches. Our Bishop, Theo Jäckel, and the President of our Synod, Henning Springer, introduced the NELCSA. As well as meeting with the church leadership, the delegation visited various NELCSA congregations: first our Johannes Congregation, then the North Rand Congregation in Bryanston, and finally the Friedenskirche in Hillbrow.
When and how did our church come into being? When was the foundation laid? That was in the 19th century. The Kandaze docked in Durban on 2 August 1854. From a historical perspective, two movements led to the founding of the church that is now known as the NELCSA: the German immigration movement to South Africa and missionary work.
Paul, too, called at a port city during his missionary journey: Corinth. And there he founded a church. He preached about Jesus Christ, and so Jesus Christ became the basis and foundation of the church in Corinth. Every church has a founding story: a reason why the church was established; and it has a foundation: hopefully, that foundation is always Jesus Christ.
In his Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul reflects on the fact that church congregations are constantly changing. It is not only in the port city of Corinth or in what was then Durban that people have come and gone: this is part of the experience of every church congregation. Even in the short history of our Johannes congregation, there is an original reason why, back in the early 1990s, a new church was to be built and the congregation in Pretoria split. Our foundation is the same as that of the church on Skinner Street, in St Peter’s: Jesus Christ.
Paul naturally recognises: We are at work in this congregation. We, the staff, see ourselves as farmers or builders. And you, the congregation, are shaped by us: encouraged as you grow, supported as you reap the harvest. You are a magnificent edifice. A work that is constantly changing.
Yes, and time and again – whether at the start of a congregation, after a few years, or when there is a change – the question arises: What happens next?
The guests from the Lutheran World Federation shared this question with us. Anne Burghard, the current General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, said: ‘All member churches are faced with the question: what will church and parishes look like in the future? Why do people need churches?’ Whether in Latin America, the Baltic states, Europe or on the African continent: churches are always part of the contemporary history of their respective regions, and those who work within the churches are searching for answers. Neither the Christian congregation in Corinth nor NELCSA are today as they were when they were founded.
Yes, dear congregation, the significance of churches and their very existence are changing. The way in which we function as a Christian congregation and as churches is constantly evolving. Paul expresses this in figurative language: some build with gold, some with silver, some with precious stones, wood or straw. Anyone who has travelled the world and visited churches is struck by the diversity of church buildings and the different ways of being a church. From St Peter’s Basilica to a tent pitched in the desert, from a small wooden church on stilts to underground chapels: it is fascinating and liberating to see how differently Christians live out their faith and create spaces for it. A great treasure and a fascinating picture of the Church.
What happens next? The image shown in today’s PowerPoint presentation was taken three years ago. The church in Leopoldshöhe was completely covered in scaffolding. The floor had to be excavated: an excavator was driving round inside the church, digging its teeth half a metre deep into the ground. It all looks like destruction and transience. Yet beneath everything we change and renovate, our foundation remains.
Paul reminds us that no one can lay any other foundation: yes, the Church’s buildings may have fallen victim to the ravages of time, but the foundation is, and always will be, Jesus Christ.
We, as the Johannes congregation, are currently considering our buildings and the question: what does the future hold? Where and how do we want to renovate and build? Yes, Paul observes, just as we do, that church congregations change. With every new person – be it a pastor or a church warden, a children’s ministry worker or a choir director – things change slightly. And Paul advises the congregation in Corinth: Do not argue about who is doing it better. It will become clear what endures and what does not. The far more important question is: What is your divine calling?
Paul uses the image of the temple of God to illustrate this.
We sang about this earlier: ‘Jesus wants to build you into a temple, a dwelling place for the Holy God. This house of the Lord is the church, the pillar and foundation of truth. Like precious stones, beautifully shaped by His grace through the Word: when we love and trust one another, the temple grows ever on and on’.
The question of the future of a congregation or of the future of the churches is the question of where God can be experienced in this world. The Temple of God: that magnificent building in Jerusalem – yet it was destroyed. With its destruction came the question: Is God still with us? And that is the question people ask when they have to sell their church, or no longer have a pastor, or face other problems.
Paul offers comfort: God’s presence is not bound to these stones. God does not dwell solely in a particular building. His Spirit dwells in his church – in the people who believe, hope and love one another. That is why we need not argue about who builds better. The church does not belong to us.
Paul is addressing a dispute within the church. Who is the better builder? Who has had a greater influence on the church – Paul or Apollos? And Paul makes it clear: that is not the point. Indeed, these words also contain a serious warning: the church is not our property. Whoever destroys God’s church is attacking something sacred. Paul makes it clear: God Himself cares deeply about what happens to His church.”
Paul directs our attention away from the dispute and towards the mission; away from human judgement and towards God’s work. What is allowed to change – and what must not be lost? Paul’s answer: The forms may change, as may the meaning of the Church. But the foundation must not.
The Temple of God: the churches of Jesus Christ: they continue to be built. Here and there a church may close, yet elsewhere faith is growing. Here and there trust in God may wane, yet elsewhere hope, love and faith are growing. What this means for us: we face up to the challenge of change. We take seriously the realisation that nothing stays the same.
We do not know what the Church of the future will look like. We do not know what our Johannes congregation will look like in twenty years’ time. What people need from the Church is changing. Perhaps some things that we take for granted today will have disappeared. Perhaps other things will emerge that we cannot even imagine today. But one thing we do know: the foundation remains. Jesus Christ.
And we can trust that God’s Spirit remains with his Church. Not bound to our buildings, not bound to our plans, not bound to any particular form of church. We may build. We may change. We may dare to try new things. And we may trust that God himself sustains his Church. For the building does not belong to us. It belongs to God.
Amen.