Of Builders and Fire: A Meditation on 1st Corinthians 3

For we are labourers together with God: 

ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, 

I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. 

But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if any man build upon this foundation 

gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

Every man's work shall be made manifest: 

for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; 

and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: 

but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, 

and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; 

for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

St. Paul's letter to the church at Corinth is full of instructions and insights that make any reader uncomfortable, and the selection for this week is no exception.  As with all Scripture, the first thing the reader must do is seek the plain meaning of the words (a process formally called exegesis) rather than trying to pour meanings into the words the reader thinks should be there (a theological process called eisegesis which has long been fodder for turning many private opinions into heresies).  St. Paul was trying to communicate with the church at Corinth when he wrote these words, and when they were gathered into the canon of Prophetic and Apostolic Scripture, the Church throughout the world was pretty convinced that what St. Paul was saying to Corinth needed to be said to everyone.  Let us begin by assuming that St. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, was able to do just that, so that we might listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches.

First off, it is important to identify who the "we" and "ye/you" are in the passage.  Paul is continuing a teaching on the relative value of preachers and teachers in the Church of Christ, and so the "we" they are referring to is themselves (Apostles, preachers, teachers, pastors, and so forth) who are, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through Jesus' Word of Law and Gospel,  laborers with Christ in building His Church.  The "ye/you" are the building, the believers, the house of living stones, who stand by grace through faith on the foundation of Jesus Christ alone.  At this point, Paul begins to mix his metaphor a bit (while grammatically unsettling to modern readers, not uncommon in the ancient world) and note that the builders cannot lay any other foundation than the doctrine of Jesus Christ, but they can build upon that foundation doctrines of greater and lesser worth (the gold, silver, hay, stubble, etc.,) all of which will be tried by fire on the Last Day.  Without the foundational doctrine of Jesus Christ (all of what the Scriptures teach about Him, who He is, what He has commanded, what He has done to save mankind from sin, death, and hell, what He will do when He comes again, etc.,) there is no Church at all, since the only Christian Church that can exist is the one founded by and upon Jesus Christ.  The first and most reliable testimony to this sure foundation, is the Word Jesus gave to His Prophets and Apostles, which is why the Word of God is the first and highest rule of faith (the old word is canon, as in the canon of Scripture) and the infallible source of truth that we have from God Himself.  Beyond this, we have thousands of years of commentary and teaching on those Scriptures which are built up like theological edifices across history-- from the Rabbinical traditions of the Talmud written during the Babylonian captivity hundreds of years before Jesus, to the writings of the Church Fathers for a thousand years after Him, to the Scholastics and Reformation theologians of the 16th century, to the teachers and preachers of our own day.  Much of the argument which emerges between Christian fellowships is related to how they have judged the variety of traditions and teachings received across our long history.

Given the diversity and sheer quantity of the writings over all these centuries and across various continents, how does one make heads or tails of them?  How does one discern the relative value of the contributions of Chrysostom versus Augustine, Anselm versus Ambrose, Luther versus Calvin?  With St. Paul, we measure them and every teacher in the Church according to how they fit and comport with the Scriptural Word of God which establishes our foundation on Jesus Christ.  Some Church Fathers do a better job than others in keeping with their Scriptural foundations, and within the writings of each we find better and worse examples.  No one should try to live by every word that proceeded from the pen of St. Augustine, anymore than they should from the pen of Luther.  What we humbly receive from them as confessors of Christ in their own time and place, we measure against the sure foundation of Christ's Word in Scripture, treasuring that which is good and faithful, and setting aside that which is not.  Thus we receive the ancient Creeds not because of who wrote them or when, but because what they teach is in conformance with the sure foundation of Scripture.  Likewise we receive the reflections of the early Church Councils, various Doctors, Professors, teachers and proclaimers of Christ, but always in light of the Word of Christ.  This allows us to revere our elders in the faith without idolizing them, just as we would the elders of our family or our community, since they will be judged according to the same standard by which we will be judged.

And what is that judgment?  Fire.  Whatever anyone builds upon the foundation of Christ and His Word, will be judged by the living fire of Christ and His Word.  If such work is found to be in conformance with Him, it will be refined and perfected in that purging fire, leaving that person with the reward of his remaining good works.  If such work is found to be out conformance with Him, it will be burned away entirely, leaving that person to suffered the loss of his works, but himself being saved even through that same fire.  Lastly, if such work is found to be attacking the very foundation of Christ and His Word, defiling the temple of God which is the people for whom Christ suffered and died to save, that person will be destroyed by God as they are cast into the eternal fires of hell.  Whatever works of man they may be, they will eventually meet the fiery judgment of God, either to be refined, purged, or consumed.

This should help us add some humility and perspective to the works and teachings we pursue in our lives.  No one is so perfect that all their thoughts, words, and deeds, all the things they've done and left undone, will encounter that purging fire of God's judgment without the pain of recognizing how far short we have fallen from His goodness, love, justice, and holiness.  If we meet that judgment in the humility of faith and repentance, clinging to our Savior Jesus Christ as our foundation and salvation, we will receive His grace and mercy unto everlasting life, purged of all our sin and selfishness forever.  If we meet that judgment without faith and repentance, His fire will consume us.  Let no one be deceived-- the testimony of Scripture is that our God is a consuming fire.

While we can find nowhere in this passage a complicated system of penalties and merits, indulgences and penances, or some quasi-hellish place of torment where people suffer for thousands of years until their escape price is paid to the Vatican's Treasury, we do see the clear teaching that everyone will meet their Maker and be judged according to His Word.  Regardless of the life you have led and what you have believed, today the Word of Christ calls you to Himself.  His Law calls you to see your sin and error for the horror it is, and to repent by turning back to His path of righteousness and holiness.  His Gospel calls you to seek your salvation from the fires of your just judgment, in the love, compassion, forgiveness, and grace of Jesus Christ alone.  Jesus and His Word alone are the truth which have created, sustained, and will judge all things; just as Jesus and His Word alone are the salvation of all who will repent and put their trust in Him.  Wherever you are in your life today, let your eyes be opened to the imminence of your fiery encounter with God, and to Jesus who has come to save you from that fiery trial.  Hear Him, turn to Him, believe in Him, and live.  Amen.