Set in stone

Jonathan Fleming November 14, 2023 2 2

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John 15: 12-17 (NRSVA)

12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

For most buildings that have gone on to stand the test of time, it is their cornerstone that has set the trajectory for the rest of their construction. Today Christ, the Cornerstone, the stone that the builders rejected, lays down the foundation upon which we must build everything in our lives — love.

The love that Jesus is talking about in John 15 is not just mere affection, but rather the same selfless, sacrificial love in which Jesus went to the cross — a love that puts others before ourselves; a love that is gracious and forgiving; a love that never counts the cost; a love that seeks unity over conflict and division.

Not only are foundations a source of stability, but they are also a source of strength and integrity. With love as our foundation, we can have the stability to navigate the storms and struggles of life as well as the strength to overcome whatever life throws at us.

Foundations are also the key to a building both upward and outward. With love at the centre of everything we do, we can go on to be Christ’s hands, feet, heart and lips as we reach out to others, build new or strengthen existing relationships and shine like beacons of love in our community and our world.

We do not have to look far to see how divided our world is in many places. Today, we are reminded that with love as our bedrock, we have an opportunity to play a part in the restoration and rebuilding of places of brokenness and pain.

What part can we play today in making this much needed reconstruction a reality?

Let us pray

Good and gracious God

Help us to follow your Gospel blueprint

to build your church

with a foundation of love,

the cement of grace

and doors that are wide open to all…

So be it.

Amen.