Dear Glen Mar friends,

I am not a good builder. I don’t do well with blocks or Legos or even Lincoln Logs. I think I just don’t have that spatial, visual ability. But when I have occasion to build with blocks (usually with an ELC preschooler), I am pretty selective about the blocks I choose to start with, to make the base. Solid rectangles. Sameness is good. Evenness is good. I would reject blocks that were too pointy, or unique, or disruptive. Those blocks are for the roof, not the foundation.

1 Peter reminds us that Jesus is the “stone that the builders rejected.” His message of radical discipleship, of true worship that looks like care for the poor, of love and service, of inclusion and faithfulness, was too pointy and disruptive to be a part of that building. I picture them holding the Jesus block – turning it over in their hands…feeling the pointy edges of what he is requiring of us …all that rendering to God that which is God’s…all that take up your cross and follow me stuff…all that eating with tax collectors and sinners …all that healing of lepers and forgiving of sinners – it made them reject that block out of hand.

But this is the stone that God has made the very cornerstone of the church. It is the faith statement of Peter, saying of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” It is the faith statement we all make in the Church. We may not agree on much, and we may be all different color and shape of block, but together God is making us into “living stones” and part of the “spiritual house” called Glen Mar. Together, we build our life on the oddly shaped, rejected stone called Jesus. We build our life on his Lordship in a world where so many others want us to worship them instead. We could build a life on the cornerstone of ego, or fear, or pride, or possessions. We could build a life on pursuing the brass ring or numbing our pain with substances, or even on anger and hurt. But that won’t make for a stable building at all. It’s the odd, cross shaped block that is Jesus Christ that is the right piece to build a life on.

I hope you’ll join us in church this Sunday, in person at 9:30 and 11:00, and Live-Streamed at 9:30.

See you in Church on Sunday!

Pastor Mandy