As you come to Him, the living Stone- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him- you also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house….

The Kingdom of God is like a man who wanted to have an addition built on to his house. The owner Charlie, with no experience in these matters, found a young man named Adam who was full of promise and enthusiasm. He shared with him what he wanted, giving him some sketches and showing him some strings he’d stretched out in the backyard. Charlie leaving on a vacation, after all these additions create a lot of noise and dust, waved trustingly to his builder Adam. It is just best to come home after it is all done and you can have one of those “Trading Spaces, Home Makeover, ‘Oh, My Goodness!’” moments.

Shortly after Charlie left, Adam looked at all that was before him and he muttered under his breath, “sketches and strings, I don’t need no stinking sketches and strings. I know how it ought to look.” Before long Adam was building away with no regard for building codes or how Charlie had sketched it out - he even forgot exactly what Charlie wanted- so Adam built it like he thought it ought to look

At the end of two weeks when Charlie returned home you can imagine what he found. It wasn’t one of those happy “Oh My Goodness!” moments. No, it sounded quite a bit different. The foundation was faulty and didn’t support the floor, which dangerously sagged. The walls weren’t straight so doors wouldn’t close. The corners weren’t square so the roof wasn’t safe. None of it met code and it was all declared unsafe. It all had to come down.

Sadly Charlie had to start over, but not with Adam. This time he hired Joseph. He’s heard good things about Joseph. With much detail Charlie laid out for Joseph what he wanted. Joseph hired the surveyors to come and make sure everything got off to a good start. Much to Charlie’s dismay he was called out of town on urgent business. Joseph assured Charlie that everything would come out all right.

Everything might have gone okay except for Devin, Charlie’s neighbor. He’d seen the addition that Charlie was putting on and he was jealous of it and concerned that it might block his view, so after the surveyors left, Devin took matters into his own hands. That night he snuck over and moved the stakes and lines that defined the foundation.

The foundation was mislaid and Joseph’s crew arrived to build upon that foundation. It puzzled them that the elevations were off, the corners weren’t square, and the size didn’t seem to match up to their instructions. They even tried to call Joseph who was across town on another job. He arrived the next morning about the time Charlie did. They were both shocked to find a floor that wasn’t level and was sagging. The walls weren’t coming out straight and it was obvious the roof wouldn’t be safe, and the whole crew was scratching their heads. It didn’t take long to figure out the foundation was faulty and was not where it should have been at all. With a bad foundation nothing would come out right. It would all have to come down.

Poor Charlie was still without his addition. He couldn’t quit now for the back of his house was a gapping hole. It was then that Cal came by. He said to Charlie, “I couldn’t help but notice that your addition has gone up twice and twice it had to come down.” He came offering to help.

Cal produced his contractor’s license and list of references to a very skeptical Charlie, things neither Adam nor Joseph had had. Cal offered to build the entire addition at no risk to Charlie. Only after it was finished would Charlie have to pay Cal what he thought it was worth. Charlie skeptically agreed, and wouldn’t you know it Charlie was called out of town to the bedside of his desperately ill and aged mother.

Back home again the lines were laid out, and sure enough that night someone snuck in to move them. But the next day Cal looked it all over and knew immediately something wasn’t right. He personally and with a skilled eye restrung the lines. He made sure the foundation was laid level and square. Then Cal supervised every detail of the building guiding his crew, working along side them. Time and time again he consulted the blueprints. He checked and doubled checked everything. With Cal’s attention to detail everything was coming out better than Charlie could have ever hoped for.

A week later Charlie nervously arrived home, he was surprised- “OH MY GOODNESS!” - surprised for it was better than he could have ever imagined. As for payment, now that was a problem because Cal left town before Charlie could pay him. He left him a note saying, “Don’t worry about the bill it was paid in full, but I’ll be back one day to see you.”

After all he’d been through Charlie couldn’t believe it, and yes he’s looking forward to sitting down with Cal. Until that day he has told all his friends about Cal and how he builds better than you can imagine, something meant to last. That word of mouth advertising is the best advertising; Charlie has a lot of people wanting to meet Cal.

A few of you are scratching your heads saying nice story Pastor, but what is it supposed to mean. The first builder is like us. In our sinfulness we think we can construct a life that is pleasing to God, yet we do not have the skills, abilities, nor materials to do it. We don’t take the foundational measurements, nor any other measurements for our lives off of God’s Word. Instead we take them off of our sinful wants and desires. We build what we think would be pleasing to God because it is pleasing to us and those around us, and we are even surprised that it isn’t acceptable to God.

The second builder was deceived by the evil neighbor who snuck in and changed just enough so that no matter how hard they tried, it couldn’t come out right. This neighbor is Satan who seeks to get us to build on faulty foundations - crumbling foundations of: God only wants us to be sincere in whatever we believe, or Jesus was one of many holy men and prophets, or the Bible was a book for those people and that time but times and the conditions of men have changed, and the cross, well, it was for another time and place. It’s good works that count today. Satan visits these and so many more lies and mistruths upon us. They leave many people building lives on faulty foundations that will not stand.

The third builder was Jesus. He came to Charlie and He comes to us. He comes to us, for apart from the working of God we’d remain skeptical and reject him. He comes accredited to us by signs and wonders: the deaf hear, the blind see, the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached to the poor, and the dead are raised. (Matthew 11.2-6) He comes with great references: I Am the One Moses and all the prophets spoke of. (Luke 24.27)

This Jesus builds on the foundation of God’s enduring Word, for He is the Living Word. By that Word we learn we are all sinners, sinners who despite our best intentions are not capable of saving ourselves or of constructing anything that is remotely pleasing to God. Jesus came to save us from that sin and the deceptions of the evil one who comes only to confuse, confound, and destroy. To save us Jesus had to die on the cross, pouring out His life’s blood to wash away our sins. Three days later, having atoned for our sins, He was raised to life and some forty days later He ascended back to heaven but one day soon He will come back to meet with all the Charlies.

By and through the Spirit, He works in our lives taking down and casting out that which is mislaid, warped, splintered, and unsafe. With the tools of the Word and Sacrament He and the Holy Spirit are into renewal, renovation, and replacement in our lives. Now some people will insult you, jeer you, and even be hostile towards you for having Jesus and His crew renovating your life – ignore them, better yet, invite them to come and see what Jesus has done in your life.

The work is done at no cost to us but great cost to Jesus– the bills were paid on and at the cross. Even though you receive it free, I hope you will find yourself wanting to keep the property up by and through the maintenance of daily prayer, the study of God’s Word, and fellowship with other recipients.

Now the truth of Jesus - who He was and what He did are foundational. To those who reject Him or seek to build upon some other foundation, He will be the stone that causes them to stumble and fall eternally, but to those who believe this: that He is the only true, chosen and precious cornerstone stone, a stone upon which to build our lives. He promises that we like Charlie will be pleased today even in the midst of renovation and eternally when we see what He has prepared for us in the completed project.

All around are people who are trying to build their lives on false foundations and with faulty blueprints. Nothing they do will last nor will it be pleasing to God. They like us need to hear of the only One who can provide a proper and lasting foundation and upon that foundation provide us with a life that is pleasing to God. They need to hear about Jesus. Amen.