In tonight’s reading from Corinthians we heard these words from the apostle Paul: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation “
It was a hard struggle but Paul managed it in the end. He successfully laid a foundation of faith with the people of Corinth. There were numerous problems along the way but the foundation he laid remained firm.
Each of us has a foundation to our faith. I wonder what it was that first brought you to Christianity. Who was it, what was it, that laid the foundation of faith for you? Can you recall the time, the people, the person, the circumstances that set you on the road to faith? For some it will be an individual that laid the foundation. For others it will be the Church itself.
Having thought about who, what and how the foundation of faith was laid for you think about another question. What state is it in now? What has been built upon the foundation? Indeed, have many different and changing things been built upon that first foundation? I suspect that with most of us when we think about this we’ll find that the life of faith we’ve lived since the foundations were laid has not been linear. Perhaps describing it as a cyclical movement would be more appropriate. There are probably some who have built progressively on the foundation and it hasn’t changed much over the years. But then there will be others who have built, found things crumble a little (or a lot), rebuilt and renewed over time. The foundation has remained but what has been built upon it has changed and grown as you have changed and grown.
Whatever the pattern there has probably been one or two people who have been instrumental in the development, rediscovery, deepening of your faith and helped you to build upon the foundations laid many years ago. For myself, people like Jean Vanier, Desmond Tutu, Anthony de Mello, Dostoyevsky, Carl Jung and St. Ignatius of Loyola to name a few, have helped me to build upon the foundation of faith set years ago. But there are others, more immediate and personally known to me who have had as great if not a greater influence. I think each of you could also think of individuals you’ve known–parish priests, spiritual directors, friends, enemies even– that have helped you to build on the faith.
Today is Dedication Sunday; the day in which we commemorate the anniversary of the date of the church’s dedication. In other words, it is the day we remember when this building became a foundation of faith for the people of Hampstead. Over the years it has been a place where the foundations of faith have been nourished and nurtured through the worship and community life that has taken place here.
On this Dedication Day let us remember those who have laid the foundation of faith in us. Let us remember the places, the people, the circumstances that have kept the faith alive in each of us. And let us most of all remember and be grateful for the foundation we have. For these people have been responsible for a wonderful thing: making us aware not only of God but of the blessings and love from him which have surrounded us from the moment of our birth. It is something especially important in a world that wishes to diminish human beings–that wishes to reduce us to cold facts and measurements and not see the soul in life. Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
In the 1930s a young traveller was exploring the French Alps. He came upon a vast stretch of barren land. It was desolate. It was forbidding. It was ugly. In fact, it was the kind of place you rush away from. During the first World War the area had been devastated and it left it a haunted and desolate place.
As he was looking at this the traveller stopped suddenly. In the middle of this vast wasteland he saw and old man bent-over and moving slowly along. On his back was a sack of acorns. In his hand was a four-foot length of iron pipe.
The man was using the iron pipe to punch holes in the ground. Then from the sack he would take an acorn and put it in the hole. Later, the old man told the traveller, “I’ve planted over 100,000 acorns. Perhaps only a tenth of them will grow.” The old man’s wife and son had died, and this was how he chose to spend his final years. “You see,” he said, “I want to do something that will make a difference.”
Twenty-five years later the now not-so-young traveller returned to the same desolate place. What he saw amazed him. He could not believe his eyes. The land was covered with a beautiful forest two miles wide and five miles long. Birds were singing, animals were playing and wildflowers perfumed the air.
The traveller stood there recalling the desolate area that once was and contemplating the beautiful oak forest that stood there now–all because someone cared.
He may have been infuriated by them but Paul cared about the people of Corinth and so he nurtured the foundation he laid. And each of us is here today with our faith not only because someone cared to help lay the foundations of faith for us but also, and more importantly, because God cares.
Amen.
Terrance Bell