Building A Temple for the King
The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy was going to fall over. Scientists traveled each year to measure the building’s slow descent. They reported that the 179-foot tower moved about one-twentieth of an inch a year, and was once 17 feet out of plumb. They further estimated that the 833-year old tower would have leaned too far and collapsed onto the nearby ristorante unless drastic measures were undertaken. Several metric meters of soil from underneath the raised end were eventually removed and this action moved the tower one inch towards the center. While this does not seem like a major stride, the action makes the tower stable for at least another 300 years.
Quite significantly, the word "pisa" in our leaning Tower of Pisa actually means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed. Also--its foundation is only 10 feet deep. No wonder why the building never stood entirely erect, the foundation was flawed from the beginning.
Just as the building’s foundation is important to a building’s long-term sustainability and strength, the foundation of our faith is equally important to the viability and quality of our soul. Even though we may be teachers, accountants, firemen, lawyers, or restaurateurs, the bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 that we are all builders. Each of us is involved in a life-long construction project building a temple for the Holy Spirit. Today we are going to learn how to build a first-rate temple for God.
Foundation
Every construction project begins with the foundation because the foundation is the key to the building’s stability (remember the Tower of Pisa). Jesus Christ and His Gospel are our foundation. Once we have accepted the basic message of the Gospel, (that Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to save sinners like us) we can build upon this foundation. As we mature in the faith additional stories can be added to the foundation.
Other people in the world have other foundations for their lives. We see people all the time proclaiming that their motto is sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, or they place their belief in science or in man’s ability to solve its own problems. Still others place their trust in the government, their own abilities, and still others have no foundation for their lives whatsoever. All people who have built their lives on a foundation other than Jesus Christ are doomed to failure because all worldly values, systems, and ideologies are imperfect. Only God is perfect, eternal, and capable of satisfying the desires of our body, mind, and spirit. Keep in mind that we can only develop our faith if Jesus Christ and His Gospel are our foundation. Any other foundation will crumble under the pressures of the world – only Jesus Christ can hold firm.
Architect and Designer
Before any construction begins, all buildings require an architect so that they are both functional and pleasing to the eye. St. Paul states in today’s passage that he is a skilled master builder or the designer of the human temple dedicated to God. St. Paul is pointing out his unique role in the spiritual development of the Corinthian Church. It was through his guidance that many Corinthians came to know Christ and through his instruction they grew in faith. Many of us can attribute our spiritual growth to the influence of other people. Our faith didn’t happen overnight – other master builders helped in our own spiritual development. For example, our Sunday School teachers, clergy, and many other godly people helped us mature spiritually through their encouragement, example, and teaching. St. Paul recognizes that godly people are needed to help people build their faith upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and His gospel. These are the architects of faith.
Building Materials
No building can be built without materials. General contractors and even the home improvement specialist know that there are different grades of materials. Some materials are superior to others for certain tasks. This is why municipalities have building codes so that homeowners and commercial business owners can have reasonable assurance that their building will not cave in on them or catch on fire due to negligence. This reminds me of the movie called the Towering Inferno that was filmed in the 1970’s. The Towering Inferno was built with sub-par materials in order to save costs. The building caught fire on its opening day due to overloaded circuits. People were trapped at a penthouse party and several lives were lost. Penny-wise, pound-foolish is an adage that applies here. The contractor may have saved money by scrimping on safety features but that decision resulted in the loss of lives and property. In hindsight, it was an unwise decision.
People can be unwise builders of their temples because they also use sub-par materials. St. Paul makes the distinction between two types of building materials. Each group will later be tested to whether it is fire resistant. Superior materials include gold, silver, and precious stones. They are all considered good materials and can be used for different purposes because of their different properties. As we strive to build our own temples to God here are some of the basic quality materials that should be included in our construction. Our first building material should be the knowledge of Holy Scripture. Without a keen awareness of God’s commandments and an idea of what is expected from us we cannot progress in the faith. Holy Scripture also gives us examples of holy people who lived virtuous lives that we can emulate. Virtuous living, good works, partaking in the sacraments (including confessing our sins to God), serving our fellow man, and a willingness to do anything for the sake of the Gospel are other items that help us build on our foundation. All of these actions will result in the creation of a beautiful temple for the Holy Spirit. Good materials also complement one another. A good builder will fuse or join the materials together in such a way that the building will both be structurally sound and pleasing to the eye. A soul that dedicates itself to unconditionally serving God radiates inner beauty and it can also withstand any temptation. It is interesting that all of the good materials I spoke about have a way of complimenting each other and creating synergies. The builder who serves God with respect and humility will raise the most magnificent temple.
St. Paul also spoke about temples that were created using inferior materials. They are listed as hay, wood, and straw and they will be entirely consumed by the test of the fire. What distinguishes superior materials from inferior materials? Our conduct, motives, and service determine the types of materials that we are using. Giving to the Church or to the poor is considered a good action, one possibly worthy of building our temple with good materials. In order to evaluate whether the giving passes the “gold” standard we need to ask further questions concerning our motives. Was the giving to God a measly share of our incredible abundance, or was it a thoughtful, prayerful gesture? Are we giving back to the Lord out of guilt, obligation, or to satisfy our conscience, or are we giving to God from our heart? Are we giving large amounts of money to be seen by others and to have our name inscribed on a plaque, or is our gift a prayerful response to a need? Our motive for giving determines the type of material we use for our house. Here is another example. Perhaps we serve God by teaching Sunday School. Our instruction is required to educate the faithful; but again we are judged by our motives. Do we like to teach because we like to be in a position of authority and we have a captive audience? How do we approach our religious education program? Do we faithfully prepare or do we leave everything to last minute? Are we prayerful in our preparation, or do we just try to get it done? Did we volunteer to teach because we feel called to share our spiritual gifts or were we forced into teaching because no one else volunteered? In other words, our motive, the quality of our service, and our conduct determine the types of material we use. Ultimately, we have the resources to use whatever materials we want for our construction, the question is: Are we shortchanging God? Are we being cheap with our resources? Are we choosing to “cut” costs and not go the extra mile? My advise to everyone, use the best material, because worthless materials will never pass the test.
Building Inspector
The ultimate building inspector - God, will evaluate both the quality of the materials and the workmanship. At the end of our lives, the temple of our soul will be tested to see if it can withstand the fire test. We are told that if any of work remains after it is tested with fire, then we will be rewarded. On the other hand, if a person’s temple is burned to the foundation, it indicates that a person did not live to potential. Let us live each day in joyful service by being diligent, hardworking, and resourceful servants of God.
Construction Workers/Builders
Workers are needed in every construction project. Through their skill the materials are fused to construct a wonderful edifice. Unfortunately, not all workers are the same. God will only reward the wise workers. The better construction workers are diligent, use the best materials, are skilled in their trade, and get the job done on time. St. Paul points out that we are each the builder of our own temple to God and we are challenged to become the wise builder. Since God will inspect our temple, we will each want to make sure that it will withstand God’s fire inspection. Shoddy builders construct their temple on the Gospel foundation with faulty materials and are careless in their work. Nothing escapes the keen awareness of God and God will burn their temple down. Each temple burned to the foundation indicates a Christian who declared his faith, but did nothing with it. These are Christians that just maintain the status quo. Their life is a wasted life because their motives, conduct, and service were internally directed. God was not first in their life; He was an afterthought. Although their temple was burned to the ground, these Christians will still be saved, but their conduct forfeited any rewards that may have received.
St. Paul makes another distinction between workers. He identifies the wise worker, and the shoddy worker, but also mentions the destructive worker who destroys people’s faith. Destructive workers pervert the Gospel, they drive people away from Churches, they encourage people to sin, and they cause diversion and disenchantment within the body of the believers. Destructive workers cause people to turn away from God and actively tear apart people’s lives. Without Christ, people’s lives are reduced to rubble and their triumphant radiant temples become abandoned, decrepit ghost towns. The punishments for the destroyers of God’s temple are harsh. They too will be destroyed and God’s warning is clear, “If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.” Our hope is to focus on serving God with our entire being so that we can help Him bring the knowledge of His truth to the entire world.
Conclusion
As I close my sermon today, I want to remind everyone that we are all the builders of our own temple to God. Since the quality of our workmanship has eternal consequences, we must undertake this building project with the most care and respect. The foundation of our building is nothing other than Christ and His Gospel of forgiveness and salvation. We are encouraged to find more mature Christians to help us develop in the faith and lead us on the right path. The construction of our temple should be undertaken with only the best materials using quality labor. The best building materials of our temple are found when our motivation is to serve God with our entire mind, heart, and soul. Since God is the ultimate inspector of our work he sees everything and knows when we are shortchanging Him or are working for others when we are on His building project. Therefore, we must pay attention at all times because if we are faithful, diligent, and obedient workers, our one-story temple that withstands God’s fire test will be greater and grander than the Taj Mahal. What can we do this week that will help us put up another fireproof room? Amen.
