11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)
Corinth was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire at the time Paul planted a small fellowship of believers. He wrote this letter to them to talk heart to heart about the disunity he had heard about in the group. There were “cliques” based on followers of favorite evangelists. We know about cliques and how divisive they can be. Paul first uses an agricultural image saying we each have our assigned task in the harvest work, we each have a talent, but the credit goes to God who gives the growth.
Paul now switches to an image of building. The foundation of our faith, of our lives, is Jesus and then we all build on that foundation. The foundation is the same for all people. Paul continues with a statement that I have heard used in many different ways, often manipulatively. He says we all build our houses using many different types of materials but when Jesus returns, on that Day, the truth of our work will be revealed. Let’s consider that how we build depends on our context. When we lived in a famine relief camp in Africa, people begged our cardboard boxes to cover their houses. It was a desert with no wood, no clay and little to build with. The context of our lives so deeply impacts how we are building. As a grieving widow, I handle life so differently than I did as a newly wed headed to the mission field. My building materials now feel like straw rather than gold and silver.
I think maybe our lives are like that. My college education might be considered a solid building wall and a lost lover I am prone to see as a frivolous investment of energy in retrospect, like straw. We didn’t know at the time. We live trying our best given the circumstances we envision we are dealing with. Only God knows the big picture. Paul says that on the final day when Jesus returns, it will become obvious to us if we built with gold, silver or stones and also if we built with wood, hay or straw. It reminds me of the three little pigs building their houses and the wolf came along and threatened to blow their houses down.
When Christ returns justice will be given for all the victims of terrible evil and we will see clearly through the eyes of a God who loves us and walked with us through the good times and through the rough times. I do not see that this verse is threatening us to give more to the financial campaign so we will have invested in eternity nor that somehow God is keeping a record of our good deeds for rewards in heaven. Most importantly I see a consistent theme in the Bible that God is watching, is walking with us, and will make all things right in the end. Paul is pleading that we not make a pecking order in this world based on which preacher we like or based on which person does deeds we value.
It is easy for me to reflect on the times in my life when I feel like I was building with straw. Nehemiah of the Old Testament was about the fourth generation of Jews carried into exile when he heard a report that Jerusalem still laying in ruins while he served the king. It tore his heart apart and he grieved about his past. Nehemiah 2 tells how Nehemiah served wine to the King who noticed his downcast face and asked for an explanation. He realized Nehemiah was suffering from sadness of heart, not from late night movies. He asked Nehemiah for an explanation. Nehemiah had no time to write out a flowery explanation. The Bible says, “Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it. (Nehemiah 2:5)”
Sometimes we only have time to shoot a “stubby”, short prayer to heaven. Help! Thanks! Hallelujah! What! Whew! When we find ourselves overwhelmed with grief, anger, jealousy or even joy and happiness we need not find a quiet place or go on a big retreat, we can shoot a prayer up to God. When the Evil One brings up those bad memories that seem like straw, we can pray, “forgive.” We need not linger in the past for Jesus has our back and walks with us into our future. Our foundation is Jesus, not our works. Blessings as you face this week.
On the Way to Wonder 