Best Christmas Present Ever!

I Corinthians  3:1-9/10-23

One of the best Christmas presents I ever received was the year when I was 8. The gift was for my brother, sister, and I….. all three of us would have to share it. It was a record player and three records…..my record was the Disney recording of the Three little pigs narrated by Sterling Holloway….anyway the story went like this.

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs who left their mother to build homes of their own. The first little pig built his house of straw. The second little pig built his house of sticks. The third little pig built his house of brick. And the pigs would sing; “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf. Tra, la, la, la la…..

Soon the Big Bad Wolf came to visit the three little pigs. When the little pig in the straw house would not let him in, the Big Bad Wolf huffed and he puffed until he blew that house in. When the little pig in the house of sticks would not let the wolf in, the Big Bad Wolf huffed and he puffed,,,,and then he huffed and he puffed until he blew the house in. When the Big Bad Wolf came to the pig in the house of brick, he huffed and he puffed, but he could not blow that house in. For his house was made of brick.

Old stories like this one endure from generation to generation because there is a kernel of truth in them that every generation can learn from. In our second reading from I Corinthians it says, “We are God's fellow workers, we are God's building."

Everybody has a house to build. Our houses hold our lives. Every moral is a beam; every window is a dream; every door is an opportunity; and every roof is protection from the storm. We all have a house that we have buil.

THE FOUNDATION IS CRITICAL

God, the master architect has given us the gift of Baptism as a foundation. Through baptism frail and weak humans are transformed with love, faith, hope, and grace. We use this as the foundation for our house of faith. As we live and grow, the foundation will built upon. We ought to choose with care how to build on it. Sometimes we do….sometimes we don’t. We are not perfect…

Jesus is a blueprint for life. the death of Jesus proved the redemptive possibilities of death. The resurrection of Jesus is the assurance that life wins. 

BUILDING MATERIALS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The first little pig built his house of straw. It was cheap, quick, easy and it did not take much effort. It worked on the bright. sunny, perfect days….it worked for awhile.

Perhaps the first little pig substituted luck for grace. maybe he  had never heard, or maybe he learned about it in Sunday School and forgot. Possibly he no longer believed in the grace of God. So consequently he gravitated to luck and took a chance that he would never need the strong house of hope.

The second little pig built his house of sticks. Sticks are not a bad building material. A stick house could offer security. It would keep the pig dry when it rained. It could stand up to some wind. But the dry sticks can burn easily. The second pig saved so much time, talent and energy….that he could easily collect all kinds of stuff. The second pig had all the latest gadgets and gismos.

Comedian George Carlin once said, “The essence of life is trying to find a place to put all your stuff," the cars, the boats, the houses, the land, the stocks, and the bonds. Life is more than stuff, even good stuff.

The third little pig built his house of brick and precious stones, he used some other strong materials like iron, granite, and gold. The little pig insured that he had taken his time to find land that was solid. He had made an investment in the foundation and building materials. He had found a treasure to use as building materials.

When we build faith we do so with the treasures of practices and disciplines. Faith practices of prayer, worship, inviting others into the community, encouragement, giving, service, study, and forgiveness.

Even when there is a strong foundation, awesome faith practices, and strong building materials, we can not prevent the wolf from coming….

Paul's writes in I Corinthians 13 “There are three things that abide. They are faith, hope, and love." Perhaps these things are the plaster and the nails that hold everything together……(pause)

These are three things that we live into and need to be attended to with and by the grace of God…faith. Hope. And love.

You all know that Last year I was diagnosed with cancer, worst day of my life…... a week later I went to the initial consultation with the oncologists. I have to admit I was afraid. I was confused, I tried rationalizing and minimizing the whole thing…… the word cancer had rocked my world and shook my faith and not in a good way.

Swirling around my head were a lot of questions such as, why me? How do I deserve this?

The doctors reveled the results of the tests, asked if I had any questions, and then came the words that silenced the room and sent me to the place of defeat…..The words were: “you have a 50/50 chance. I immediately thought about the question from philosophy class….is the glass have full or half empty?

I searched through the words to find the good news, it was going to be hard to find hope among all of the uncertainties. The room continued to be silent as all of us grappled with the reality of the glass could be half empty.

Until Dr. Benvarnsen (incorrect spelling) from Iceland spoke up and said the words that I needed to hear, the words that you need to hear when confronted by “the wolves of life”….he said:

”People who tend to do well in these situations are people who have three things.

1. They have a positive outlook about people and life.

2. They have a strong support system and relationships with people who love them.

3. And three, they are people who live a life of faith."

Building a strong foundation and using strong building materials is not going to prevent the Wolf from coming….Living a life of faith using faith practices is not going to keep the bad stuff from happening.

What faith does/ is allow us to reveal our part in God’s story. It allows us to find hope, to find love. It allows us to be in a relationship of a caring community of believers. 

And let us not forget, that it helps us to remember that things did not end well for the wolf….In the end, no matter what happens, if it turns out well for us, or not. In the end, God Wins!

And that allows us to live in the sure confidence of a kingdom that is here, but is yet to come.