Letter to the Congregations: 16th December 2023

Our Dear Brethren,

The builders worked on, day after day, placing one brick upon another, chipping away at some with their tools so each piece fit well. Piece by piece, brick by brick the walls began to grow. String ran along each wall at varying heights, helping the bricklayers keep the walls level and the lines straight. After weeks of work, the roof having been completed and the electricity turned on, the house was completed. The family who commissioned the home to be built began moving inside, filling the rooms with their possessions. It was a home that lasted many years, through many storms, through children and pets, through the moving of furniture and remodeling. It was a well-built, secure structure that was a benefit to all who lived inside it.

The family that God is creating with those who answer His calling is much like this home. It is built of many parts which are being shaped and molded so they fit together well. Each member of the family is like one of the bricks, essential for the entire structure, formed to fit together, each piece put in place so the whole might stand. And each one cannot stand on its own. A brick is made for a specific purpose and on its own it cannot serve that purpose. But with all the other bricks it can support the weight of a roof, lighting fixtures, appliances, and can weather heavy storms.

"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Just like the bricks of the solid house, we cannot be built upon ourselves. The Church of God is built upon those who came before, beginning with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. Only a house with a stable foundation can withstand what is to come. We can be grateful that God has called us and is shaping us so we fit into the entire structure. We can be grateful, and must remember, that we did not place ourselves within the structure of the Church of God. Otherwise the walls wouldn't fit securely and would definitely not be as straight and sturdy.

We must remember that we are part of the whole structure. How often do we think that we stand alone, or are of more importance than the other members? Each member is part of the whole and has been put together as God desires us to be so we might be able to work together. It is a struggle at times to remember this fact in moments of stress or when we feel offended by one another. The apostle Paul gives us a reminder, relating the Church to a body: "But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you.' No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary...that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Corinthians 12:20-22, 25-26).

Let's remember to patiently suffer with one another, and also to give honor to one another and rejoice together. Let's remember that we are one body, and that we are each part of the entire structure, carefully placed by God upon the foundation that is Jesus the Christ. We are not called to stand alone, but to stand together.

Our love is with you,

Lewis VanAusdle

Pastor, United Church of God

NYC, NJ, CT, Malawi, Zimbabwe