Rock Solid

When architects and, builders and construction people design and choose a spot to erect a home, commercial building, and especially a tall skyscraper, they look for place that is solid, a place that has the capacity to support all of the weight. Whether the edifice is a bridge or a land based structure, the foundation has to bear the tonnage of the structure above and if the foundation isn’t placed on something solid, the entire building will shift and crumble.

As children, most of us has sung the song in church about the house built upon the sand and the one built upon the rock. The house built on the sand collapsed when the storms came and the house on the rock stood firm. I’ve said this to share Sunday’s message of grounding everyday life on Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone of salvation. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus reveals that He is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 28:16-17. Christ’s reply was to Peter who understood that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Christ was to be the Rock upon which the church was to be established.

The confluence of the message and the construction of Mt. Zion Community Church at the top of Kreinbrook Hill made me think of the several additions to the original building. Each time a project was planned, we had to consider whether to go up or down. Not because of the surface landscape, but because of the bedrock. The entire top of the mountain was rock. Huge slabs of tough, thick rock that was difficult to break apart to create the area needed for construction. Many long and arduous hours were spent in preparing each site for the expansion. Hours of back breaking work to reshape the land and to haul away the rubble for each project. The sanctuary, offices, social hall and the gymnasium are all on different levels because of the bedrock, not that we had to dig to find it, but to create level areas on which to build.