Mtr Kelli Joyce

Dear Friends in Christ,

This fall I've been taking classes online through Pima Community College, in pursuit of a certificate in carpentry. I've learned more about construction in the last few months than I could have imagined. So reading today's passage from 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul uses the metaphor of a building to describe the process by which we are saved, struck me differently this time.

"...no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ."

Foundations, as you might guess, are important. A perfectly-built house on an inadequate foundation will not last long. In fact, the design of every other element of a building must be carefully planned to ensure that all the load placed on the structure will be transferred efficiently and safely to... the foundation. A solid foundation is necessary, and what is built needs to keep direct connection to the foundation in mind at all times. This is not unlike what Paul says: "Each builder must choose with care how to build on it."

In both our beliefs and our actions, we build on the foundation of the saving work of Jesus Christ. And the best way to do that building is to make sure that the faith we proclaim and the good works we undertake can all be traced back directly to that foundation. As Christians, if the life we live is not connected back to the foundation that is the Incarnate Word, we are building on shifting sand. No amount of effort and no caliber of materials used can make up for failure to rest securely upon the foundation that has been laid for us. At the end, everything will be held up by Christ's strength alone. No matter how well or how poorly we build, the solid rock of Christ will stand firm, and we will be saved. "If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. "...fire will test what sort of work each has done. If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire."

I want to do justice to the great foundation that has been laid - I want to show gratitude to the stone that the builders rejected, which has become the chief cornerstone by building a solid life of belief and action, connected so closely to Jesus that it cannot be shaken.

In peace,
Mtr Kelli