Episode #13 - Building A House

I was listening to another podcast yesterday where a friend of mine discussed a house he built years ago. He was getting sober, and this other brother in Christ invested in him when no one else would. He invited him to build something special because he believed in him. Well...Jesus has done the very same for you and me. In our struggle against sin, Jesus invested in us while we were yet sinners. Now he invites us to help build a spiritual home, his church. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

I hope that everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend, and that you were able to spend the day with loved ones, both friends and family. I am so grateful for all the men & women that have given their lives in the service of our country – that kind of sacrifice demands our respect, honor, and remembrance. Since I was not working yesterday, I wanted to take advantage of the time I had available to get a few things done. The next few weeks are extraordinarily busy, so I was not going to have time to do our big grocery shop for the month at any point this week, so I jumped in the car and ran up to Sam’s Club in Nicholasville. The drive from Danville to the Sam’s Club is around 35-40 minutes, so I fired up one of my regular podcasts that I subscribe to and listened along the way. It’s called “THE REAL DEAL” podcast, and it’s hosted by one of my dear friends Keith Stonehart along with his lifelong friend Scott Sellers. They cover just anything and everything on the podcast – spiritual discussions, music, personal stories, finances, etc. They are a ton of fun to listen to, but are also very challenging and encouraging, and I would encourage all of my subscribers here to go over and give them a listen. Anyhow, the most recent podcast was a little different because it was a solo episode by Keith. In this episode, Keith discussed the time of life that he was still getting sober and working hard to become the kind of husband, father, and Christian that he wanted to be. During this time period, a friend of his that worshipped with him at the time called him up and asked him if he would be willing to help him to build his house he had just started to build. Keith had already been working for another builder and knew what he was doing, so he gladly agreed to help – excited about the money that it would bring in. They worked hard, working nights and weekends to get the house done, and it was just stunning when it was all finished. As he shared this story, Keith started to discuss how much this job meant to him. He was still getting sober and had a lot of things to still figure out, and yet this brother in Christ reached out and gave him this opportunity that perhaps others would not have. Not only did he ask Keith to help him build his house that was going to be a great investment, but he invested in Keith as well. They spent countless hours together, talking and building one another up as they built this house. In a time where Keith desperately needed purpose and direction, a dear brother invested in him and asked him to help him to build something special. 

The podcast ended and as I was driving along I started thinking about how Keith’s story is actually our story as well. What do I mean? Well, let’s read the apostle Peter’s words in his first letter, beginning in chapter 2 & verse 4: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:4-10) All of us were fighting a different battle of sobriety, striving to become the kind of people that God wanted us to be, and yet we were sinners. Who could possibly love us? Who would come along and give us an opportunity to better ourselves after what we have done in our lives? It was in this moment, when we were our weakest and while we were still enemies with God that Christ died for us the ungodly. Jesus invested his very life into you and me, you were worth the shedding of his blood that you might be made new in him. While all others passed us by, Jesus stopped and saw promise in each one of us, he saw what we could be. Not only did he invest in us, but he has called us to help him build something spectacular. He has called us to build a spiritual house, his church, and it is you and me that make up this abode. We have become the dwelling place of God, and as such his church is more glorious than any temple or home that could ever be constructed by man. It is composed of those who were once darkness but now are light. It is built with the changed hearts of sinners made saints who now proclaim the glory of God. We have been given purpose and direction, and we who were not a people are now God’s people. Not only did he call us to help him build this house, but he has adopted us and called us to live with him. How beautiful are the words of the prophet Isaiah that have been fulfilled through Christ and the church he has built from you and me – “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:1-4) Jesus wants to invest in you, and he is calling you to help him build this house. The question that remains is this: will you answer his call?