The Rev Lezley Stewart describes the value of building on the foundation of Jesus.
AS a child I loved the story of The Three Little Pigs and their houses built out of straw, sticks and bricks.
The repetition of the wolf huffing and puffing to blow their houses down, was all part of the fun of this tale being read, but in the end the brick house stood firm and the third little pig won the day. Many years on I now live in a house built of red bricks, a little like the traditional cottage depicted in the old Ladybird books.
It’s a former miner’s cottage, and while there are thankfully no wolves around, it is strong and secure and stands up well to the wild winds of a Scottish winter!
Recently I read an article about the price of a humble brick.
Apparently a brick in an average house in the UK is now worth nearly £50, while variations in property prices mean that a typical brick in a London home is worth around £120, while a brick in a Belfast home is only worth £22.
Intriguingly of course, you can buy the same brick from a builder’s merchant for less than £1. So once you build the brick into a house, not only does it provide a strong and stable home, it becomes far more valuable.
Of course there’s lots of Biblical references to building and to buildings, and to what we build upon, and as Christians our firm foundation is Jesus Christ.
If we build upon his ways and his wisdom, what we build multiplies in value and has a greater purpose.
I’ve often found it reassuring in Scripture, that what on one hand is tasked as a great responsibility is also a great reassurance – that we are called to build for Christ and for his kingdom, but we are also building with Christ. With this strong foundation we find not only the source of our potential, but that which keeps us secure and strong.
The illustration of building on such foundations, brick by brick, step by step, also lends itself to so much within the Christian community, and the different communities we serve.
One person joins with another and another to become the church, the body of Christ, and where someone takes the initiative and others join in, even from small beginnings there is much that can be achieved.
Sometimes we might find it too easy to downplay the potential we have.
We maybe sit with doubts and value ourselves in isolation, whereas Scriptures reminds us and reassures us that we are part of something much bigger, and the value we find in community is so much more.
“I’ve often found it reassuring in Scripture, that what on one hand is tasked as a great responsibility is also a great reassurance – that we are called to build for Christ and for his kingdom, but we are also building with Christ.
The foundations are already laid for us in Jesus Christ, and he gives an eternal value to what we build.
So some will huff and some will puff, and some might try to blow our proverbial houses down, but if we keep building for the future on these strong foundations, we might discover beyond the bricks and mortar we have both value and security in God.
The Rev Lezley Stewart is Associate Minister at Edinburgh: Greyfriars Kirk.