The Stones

The religious culture convinces us the church is a great organization to entertain, promote political agendas, and feed the egos of the guy at the front.

In God’s mind, a church is built not with brick and mortar. People make a church.

The church has the poor who may not eat. Others never think about food. The poor and the rich share pews. You find teachers, drug addicts, and those who wrestle with their demons.

This mix is for a reason. Just ask Henry Bacon.

The great work of this obscure architect tells a story.

A majestic monument stands at the west end of the reflecting pool in Washington, D. C. opposite the capitol and perpendicular to the White House. It is to the great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.

Bacon built the monument with his beliefs as much as the stone.

Most statues and monuments are made from stone from a single quarry. Not the Lincoln Memorial.

On the terrace level, the marble came from Massachusetts. The upper steps and outside façade are made of Colorado marble. Tennessee provided the marble for the floor of the chamber. Indiana limestone comprises the interior walls and columns, while marble from Alabama makes up the ceiling tiles.

The statue of Lincoln came from a Georgia quarry.

Such was the design for Bacon, who wanted to emphasize Lincoln’s conviction. The nation was a union, not individual states. Many are one, as the American slogan says.

No wonder God made his church like this.

From Pentecost, slave and master alike would worship together, as would men and women and Jew and Greek. Jesus died for them all.

Peter would reflect on this strange construction.

“you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5, ESV)

So, you have your place alongside those redeemed by the blood of Christ. All so different and yet all so saved. A union–out of many, one.