Sunday, August 22nd, marked the end of a couple of 45-year-old landmarks in Brevard County. The Florida Power and Light Company’s Port St. John Smokestacks were dynamited and crushed to make way for a new, more efficient power plant. It seemed like only the manatees, who basked in the warm outflow from the plant, were upset.
It got me thinking about a hymn we have:
Built on the Rock, the Church shall stand;
Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in ev’ry land;
Bells still are chiming and calling.
Calling the young and old to rest,
But above all the souls distressed,
Longing for rest everlasting.
Buildings come and go--even church buildings come and go. Yes, we worship God in those buildings and we give thanks for the beautiful building we have at Faith ‘Viera.’ But the foundation of our faith does not rest upon a building, church steeple, even the programs within its walls. The foundation of our faith is God’s Word; His presence in our lives as He comes to us in the Sacraments. Where does God dwell? The hymn goes on:
We are God’s house of living stones;
Built for His own habitation;
He through baptismal grace us owns;
Heirs of his wondrous salvation.
Were we but two His name to tell,
Yet He would deign with us to dwell,
With all His grace and His favor.
God dwells within us by the Holy Spirit. And when He does, there is no dynamite; no time and rust; no outdated technology, which can separate us from His love.
Since you and I are God’s “house of living stones,” let us use our feet, our hands, our voices, and our talents to serve Him and others in our daily lives!
In Christ;
Pastor Meyr