“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 – each piece properly fitting into its neighbor (Phillips) – and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2: 19 – 22)
Have you ever watched a house being framed?
From the lumber bolted to the foundation to the peak of the roof it is a vivid demonstration of structural interdependence. Vertical pieces of lumber form the walls. These are held together at specified distances from one another by horizontal lengths of lumber. Different length nails hold them in place. Metal braces are used to reinforce critical joints in the structure. Wood sheeting – paneling – along with diagonal lengths of lumber provide tensile strength for the walls. The roof frame is often pre-engineered trusses. This complex network of lumber in variable lengths gives strength not only for the building’s cover but the outer walls to which it’s fastened by metal braces. Over open spaces, such as windows and doors, headers – support beams – are fastened to bear the weight of additional stories, and the roof. Headers are also used to bear the load over open sections of the living space.
Paul uses this intricate model as an illustration of our “interdependence.” Just as the components of a structure are different from one another so we are diverse. For any problems we face together there will be a variety of opinions as to how we should meet those challenges. Not only are our opinions unique. We have varying strengths. Contrary to popular opinion these distinctives are not a sign of disunity. They’re evidence of an invaluable diversity. God’s creation is infinitely diverse. Why would we expect bland sameness in Communities of His Children?
A well constructed building is flexible. This is especially important in regions where storms and earthquakes can add to normal stresses. As we are “fit together” by the Spirit of God in us, a Grace like Our Father’s, is built into the structure. Understanding, deference, and patience with each other allow for the kind of adaptability that prevents us from breaking up and falling apart.
Structures that are well built are durable. Not only can they withstand the stresses of disastrous sudden events. They survive the “wear and tear” of time. For us so much of life’s strain does not come from those heroic moments when we’re called to be strong in the face of catastrophe. We’re more often worn down by the 24/7/365/52 “same old same old.” We are most durable when, over time in the mundane, we learn to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.
A man who’d lived for more than 80 years was standing in the Waiting Room of a Medical Clinic. The receptionist asked him if he’d like to be seated. He said he was anxious and preferred to stand. A Physicians’ Assistant asked what he was anxious about. He said he had another appointment. She looked at his Chart and realized she could attend to him. She invited him into an Examination Room and quickly took care of him. As she finished she asked him about his next appointment. Enthusiastically he told her that he would be meeting his Wife for Lunch proudly noting that they’d had lunch together for many, many years. Knowing him and his Wife the Assistant said, “But your Wife has Alzheimer’s. She doesn’t even know who you are anymore.” “Ahhh!” he replied. “But I know who she is.”
Delightfully durable people are those who know, tirelessly love, and respect those with whom they’re “fit together,” as the “House in which God lives by His Spirit.” They are the kind of people a person can count on.
