“Building upon a solid foundation”

Written by Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Monday, November 29, 2021

2 Peter 1:1-11 (Forward, p. 31) CEV p. 1282

The whole premise of building upon solid foundations is one that has particularly hit home in recent months.  The church—meaning the building—which I pastored for many years and which I still attend, was found to have serious structural problems, problems with its foundations, to be exact.  Over the years there has been a number of floods which had weakened and seriously compromised the foundation walls.  Now they need to be repaired—or else.  The ‘or else’ is a little frightening to consider.  So far the foundation ‘rot’ has not affected the super-structure, but if not dealt with, is bound to sometime in the future.  So, building with solid foundations is very much on my mind.

It is that very concept that Peter touches on in today’s passage.  In verses 3-4, he speaks of the foundation that has already been laid:

“We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God.  It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness.  God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us.  Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.”

Let’s just unpack this a bit to discover what constitutes this solid foundation.  We are told that we ‘have everything we need’, everything we need to live lives that please God.  And how might that be?  A few phrases later, he tells us: by God’s power, we now have His own nature dwelling in us, actually part of our very being.  No wonder we can live lives that please Him and no wonder we can escape our own fallen natures and the influences of our world.  Christ in us: that is the answer!  And the foundation.

But then, this is only the start.  This is but the basement with the upper stories, the superstructure, still to be completed.  That is our task, our responsibility, in terms of the rest of our lives.  Conversion is only the start; we then have to go on and live the Christian life.  So, note what Peter then has to say:

“Do your best to improve your faith.  You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love” (verses 5-7).

And why is Peter so adamant about this?  He considers his readers to be a kind of ‘demonstration plot’, examples to the world of what faith in Christ is really like.  Here he is very much like John the Baptist in expecting—and demanding—the fruits befitting repentance:

“If you keep on growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful” (verse 8);

“My friends, you must do all you can to show that God has really chosen and selected you.  If you keep on doing this you won’t stumble and fall.  Then our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will give you a glorious welcome into his kingdom that will last forever” (verses 10-11).

Such are the benefits of having solid, dependable foundations to start with, and of building upon them solidly as well.  We can often think of the Christian life as a ‘completed work’ (and in some ways it is) but then it is also true that we are a building in progress, a joint building enterprise of both God and us.  He intends us, both individually and corporately, to be a holy Temple, fit for Him, but it isn’t quite finished, not yet.  So, let us persevere, taking that solid foundation and then building upon it the best we can.  Amen.

Forward notes: “For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness” (verse 5-6).

“I have never run a marathon and am certain I never will.  I admire those who have because I appreciate the constant training and exercise required to build up the body and the stamina to run a marathon.  The closest I came to running long distance was participating in cross country for a season in middle school.  I quickly realized that I didn’t have what it takes to be a serious runner.

“Deepening one’s spirituality is a lot like training to run a marathon.  The term spirituality refers to an individual’s personal practices and experience of their beliefs and religion.  The training or exercises consist of actions such as prayer, meditation, contemplation, and fasting.  Unlike marathon runners, we don’t know what our race looks like, and we don’t have to choose the same exercises to prepare for our journey.  But we do need persistence and stamina—a willing heart to intentionally and faithfully incorporate our spiritual exercises into our lives every day, without fail.:

MOVING FORWARD: “Which spiritual exercise needs a little more practice?”