Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 – “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.” (NRSV)
2022 is just a few days away, so I ask you: what are you going to build in the new year? To help answer this question, I want to look briefly at Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, specifically when he talks about temples and foundations. Many people familiar with scripture will recognize Paul’s statement from chapter 6: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” This idea is often used as a justification for the importance of the human body as part of the religious life, rather than an impediment getting in the way of the spirit. As we approach the time of New Year’s resolutions, considering the body to be a temple helps us get ripped or toned or however we want to define our body in the future.
But this metaphor of us being a temple to God is mentioned earlier in chapter 3, where Paul says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” Here the temple is not the body, but the choices we make. In arguing for his teachings in the light of the arguments of the Corinthian church, Paul says that he laid down a foundation, a foundation which is Christ. “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.” It is up to the people as to how they build upon that foundation.
Paul mentions that people might build their “temples” with any number of materials: “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw.” You might recognize this as an ancient precursor to the story of the Three Little Pigs. God will judge the temples that we build, celebrating our good choices and forgiving our bad choices after they are judged.
So, I ask again: what are you going to build in the new year? You have so many choices and so many opportunities. 2022 may be the best year ever for you, or you may slip into destructive patterns. Getting “toned” is not just for the gym, but for many other parts of our lives. We have a chance in the new year to truly judge our own temples, how we have built upon the foundation and how we can improve upon our work in the time to come. God is always providing us with new beginnings, forgiving us through the consequences of our mistakes.
As you get your noise makers and champagne flutes ready for New Year's Eve, take a moment to not only to remember Auld Lang Syne, but also to consider your future, the choices you make, and how you will beautify your body and soul to please the Lord and to make the world around you sparkle with love.
Prayer: Dear God, give us the grace to discern your will and shape our lives to your purposes. Amen.
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