Building for God - the People Priority

A few years ago, the Special Olympics were held in the city of Seattle. During that competition, nine contestants—all of them physically or mentally disabled in some way—lined up at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. As the gun sounded, they all burst from the blocks, not exactly like Donovan Bailey would maybe, but with the determination to run the race to the finish and win.

All, that is, except for one boy who stumbled out of the starting blocks, tripped over his feet, tumbled to the ground, and began to cry. The other eight runners heard the boy cry. They slowed down and came to a halt in their race to the finish line. A hush fell over the stadium. Then the eight runners all turned around and walked back to where the boy was sitting. Every one of them.

One girl who had Down’s Syndrome bent over and kissed him on the cheek and said “This will make it better.” Then they pulled the boy to his feet and all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line.

Everyone in the stadium stood. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And the cheering went on for 10 minutes.

Those Special Olympics athletes painted a picture of what I want to talk about today. In our hectic, competitive, performance-oriented world, with its projects and deadlines and bottom-line mentality, we sometimes forget the people priority. In our frantic race for that elusive finish line, we can often lose sight of the fact that people matter to God.

And that is something that we especially need to remember as a church in the midst of a building project. We need to remember that the most important building project at First Baptist Church isn’t what’s happening out there with the bulldozers and the mud and the excavation. It has nothing to do with building permits or blueprints or budgets.

No, the most important building project that is taking place at First Baptist Church is what Jesus Christ is doing in the lives of people. It is all about Jesus Christ at work building His church.

The Lehigh Valley is noted for its cement industry. For many years, the people here have taken a great interest in digging out and processing the kind of rock and stone that go into making quality buildings.

Did you know that there is the same sort of emphasis in the Bible? All the way through the Bible, from the Psalms through the OT prophets, to the Gospels and the Epistles of the NT, there is a spiritual theme about building. It has to do with building materials—with rock and stone and foundations—and it is focused upon the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

You see, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is a rock. He is the rock upon which the whole program of God for this world is built. Turn to Psalm 118:22. (You can find it on page

Psalm 118:22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone

Now the word capstone in Hebrew is an interesting word. It literally means the “head of the corner”. It may refer to a large stone that was used as the lintel over a doorway, holding the whole door assembly in place. Or it might refer to the keystone at the top of an arch—the stone which was the focus of all the structural forces. Or it might refer to a large stone that builders would lay down first at the corner of a wall, which would give shape and direction and foundation to the whole building.

Whatever the case, we understand this verse to be looking ahead to the Messiah. And it is interesting that in this verse, there is a rejection. The builders rejected this certain stone. They set it aside. They didn’t want it. They sought for something else.

But that rejection is followed by a vindication. The rejected stone becomes the capstone—the very stone that turns out to be essential to the whole building.

There is an old Jewish tradition about the building of Solomon’s Temple. In 1 Kings 6:7, it says that in the building of the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. They would cut and dress the stones at the quarry and when they got to the building site, the builders would just fit them into place.

Well, according to this old tradition, at the beginning of the project, a very large, fine-looking stone came up from the quarry, but the builders couldn’t fit it in any place. So they moved it off to one side. And because it was still in their way, and they were tripping over it and such, they moved it still further away, until they just pushed it over the brow of the hill and out of sight. And they forgot all about it.

But then when all the other stones had been fitted into place, they sent word down to the quarry “Send up the cornerstone.” The building was finished except for the cornerstone. But the workmen down at the quarry said “We sent the cornerstone up to you at the very beginning.”

Then they remembered that that was the stone they had laid aside. And so with a great deal of effort and struggle, they had to haul that stone back up the hill. But when they got it there, they found that it fit right into place.

And of course, I’m sure you see the spiritual parallel to the life of Jesus. When Jesus came, he was rejected. He came unto his own but his own received him not. The Jews didn’t want him as their Messiah. They rejected him. They kept looking for someone else.

And the world doesn’t want Jesus either. Last Monday, we took Carolyn’s parents down to Peddler’s Village. And there is a Christmas shop there filled with everything you could imagine having to do with Christmas. Christmas trees, ornaments, Santa Clauses, candy canes. But it dawned on me as I walked through that shop that there was not one manger scene. Not one depiction of what Christmas is really all about. The world wants Christmas without Jesus.

So it’s not surprising that when Jesus came, he quoted this verse—Psalm 118:22. And the Apostle Peter, when he defended himself before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4, quoted this verse. He said…

“Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead…is the very stone you builders rejected, which has now become the capstone.”

And again, when we go to 1 Peter 2:4, Peter writes…

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 to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” (Here he is quoting from Isaiah 28)

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” (Psalm 118:22) and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” (Isaiah 8).

And the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2:20 said…

Ephesians 2:20 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

He’s talking about the church. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Church. He is what gives the church strength and shape and definition and foundation. Without him, the whole thing falls apart.

Some people seem to think that you come to the church in order to come to Christ. But the reality is just the opposite—you have to come to Christ first in order to be a part of the church.

I fear that there are many people who may belong to a church all their lives. They occupy a pew on Sunday. They are faithful in attendance. They may be faithful in giving. They may even be faithful in serving in some capacity. But they have no real, living relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ is not the cornerstone upon which they are building their lives. Perhaps that might be you this morning? Have you ever really come to Christ? Or have you just come to church?

Peter says that you need to come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him. You can do it today by simply saying “Lord, I’m tired of building my life on a lie…on pretending to be a Christian when I’m really not. I want to come to Jesus. I want to know Him. I want to build my life on Him.”

If that expresses the desire of your heart this morning, I would encourage you to pray that to God right now, and receive Jesus as your Savior. Don’t go on rejecting him any longer. He wants to be your cornerstone.

Now, if you come to Jesus—the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—that makes you a living stone. Look at 1 Peter 2:5…

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house

That means that we are the church. The church is not a structure of brick and wood and steel. It’s a living organism made up of the people who have come to Jesus Christ.

Remember a few months ago, there was a great deal of concern in our nation over the burning of churches? In fact, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, in the past five years, over a hundred churches in 27 states have been the victims of arson.

And yet Pastor Larry Hill, the pastor of a black Presbyterian church whose building was burned down earlier this year, said “What the arsonists don’t know is that all they destroyed was a building. They didn’t destroy the church.”

Because the church is people. We are the living stones that Christ is using to build His church.

Think about bricks for a moment. A lot of buildings are built with bricks. But what can you do with one brick? I know some people who put a single brick in their toilet tank to reduce the amount of water they use when they flush. A lady once gave me a single brick with an embroidered cover to be used as a doorstop, or an extra-heavy-duty paperweight.

But when you get right down to it, one brick is pretty useless. Bricks, to be useful, need other bricks. They are useless alone. Same thing with Christians. We’re not much good alone. We need each other. We need to be together in order to become the building God wants us to be.

And that infers something else. It infers that we need to be ready to give up our cherished independence in order to commit ourselves to an even greater goal. You see, when you build a building out of bricks, you take one brick and you slap some mortar on it, and you place it next to another brick. And then you place another one and another one and so on.

Those bricks lose their individual independence and freedom in order to be a part of something far more significant than they could ever be on their own. And as Christians, we need to be ready to make the same kind of sacrifice in order for God to be able to build us into a spiritual house.

We need to be willing to make a long-term commitment to get side by side with other Christians and be, in a sense, mortared to them—attached to them. But how many Christians are willing to do that?

Nowadays, you see so many Christians floating around unattached, looking to plug into a ministry or a church only so long as their needs are being met. It’s an age of uncommitment. Personal freedom and autonomy is the altar we worship at. We’d rather be rolling stones than living stones.

What does God want to build us into? What is God’s goal? Peter gives us the answer in the next few verses…

God wants us to be a spiritual house. A house is a place of shelter and safety. A place where people can come and be nourished.

He wants us to be a holy priesthood. He calls us a royal priesthood down in verse 9. What qualifies someone to be a priest? Well, first of all, that person needs to be someone who has access to God personally. A priest is someone who can go into the presence of God.

Back in the OT, not just anyone could be a priest. Of all the Jews, only the tribe of Levi was eligible, and of the tribe of Levi, only certain families could be the priests. And of those certain families, only one individual could serve as the High Priest to go before God. And that High Priest could not go into the presence of God whenever he felt like it. He could only go in one day a year, on the Day of Atonement.

But when we come to Jesus Christ, our great high priest, we become priests ourselves. Each of us who names the name of Jesus Christ can approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. So being a priest means having personal access to God.

But it means something else. Being a priest means having the privilege of bringing other people to God. The old Latin word for priest was the word “pontifex” and it literally means “bridge builder”. A priest is a bridge builder.

Have you ever visualized yourself as a bridge builder helping your neighbors, your friends, your family come to God? A priest is a bridge builder.

And finally, a priest is someone who brings sacrifices and offerings to God. As priests, we bring our worship, our praise to God. And even more importantly, we bring ourselves to God.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

We are not only a spiritual house, and a royal priesthood, we are a chosen people (v. 9). The word choice is key.

Do you ever remember those times back in your childhood years when you and your friends would choose up sides for a game of baseball? For some of us, that was a painful experience, because we might not have been the first or even the second one chosen.

And as you waited for your name to be called, do you remember how you felt? And then the relief when they finally called your name? Finally, somebody wanted you! Finally, you belonged!

Listen, take that thought and apply it here. God has chosen you to be on his team. And he hasn’t chosen you in the later rounds—He chose you before the world began. We are a chosen people. We belong. We are on God’s team.

So that means that we all matter to God. We all have a job to do. As you look around you this morning, you’re looking at your fellow teammates—people whom God has chosen, just as he chose you, to be on the team. Let’s appreciate one another!

He has also chosen us to be a holy nation. That means that we now have a citizenship that is even more important and significant than our American citizenship.

We are a people belonging to God. We bear the marks of his ownership. You see, our value as human beings doesn’t derive from anything that is special about us. It’s who owns us that makes us special.

A few months ago, they had an auction in New York. They were auctioning off some of the household articles that used to belong to President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie. After Jackie’s death, the family wanted to dispose of some of these articles. And nobody really had any idea what kind of prices these things would go for.

It turned out that the bidding went far higher than expected. The most mundane things—a cigar box that once sat on the President’s desk; a locket that Jackie once wore around her neck—fetched extraordinary prices in the thousands of dollars. Not because of the worth of those things in themselves, but because of who they belonged to.

And so it is with us. We are a people belonging to God. So that makes us ordinary people with extraordinary value.

This is what Christ is at work doing in our midst. He is building His Church. That work is far more important and significant than our present building project. The building that we build might last for twenty-five years, or fifty years, or maybe even a hundred years should the Lord tarry. But that is just a drop in the bucket. The work that Christ is doing in building his church is going to last for all eternity.

So this year, as we build our building, let’s remember the people priority—because it’s people that matter most to God.