The hymn we just sang, “Built on the Rock”, was written by Nikolai Grundtvig and was first published in Copenhagen in 1837. “Built on the Rock” is a great favorite among Scandinavian Christians, second only to Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress." In 1909 “Built on the Rock” was translated into English and quickly became a favorite among the children of the Reformation living in America. The text and its accompanying tune are powerful and direct. Though buffeted by evil forces, the hymn proclaims the church’s defiant resilience due to its rock-solid foundation. It is a fun hymn to sing. “Built on the Rock the Church shall stand”… It feels like more of a battle cry than ballad.
Which is why I find it fascinating that the author of “Built on the Rock” was once plagued with reservations and doubts. Nikolai Grundtvig was the youngest of five boys. His parents, Johann and Catherine Marie were good Christian parents, in fact Nikolai’s father was a preacher; a Lutheran preacher to be exact.
Nikolai’s father was one of the few Lutheran pastors in Denmark who remained faithful to the reformation and the clear teachings of scripture. You see, the country and the clergy were struggling with a philosophy called rationalism. “Sapere aude!” “Dare to know” was the rationalist’s battle cry. Prominent Philosophers like Immanuel Kant asserted that, because of the limitations of reason, no one could really know if there is a God in heaven, and conversely no one could really know that there was not a God in heaven. So, apparently, it was “dare to know” that no one really knew. Young Nikolai couldn’t help but be influenced the philosophy of his day which is part of the reason he was plagued with reservation and doubt.
To make matters worse, the reservations and doubts that plagued Nikolai’s soul were physically represented by what was left of the ~600-year-old cathedral of Our Lady in Copenhagen. In 1807 the cathedral was burned to the ground after the British Royal Navy bombed it to oblivion during the Napoleonic wars. Nikolai was 24 years old when the mighty cathedral fell. He likely passed by the rubble and ruins of the cathedral on his way to classes at the university. By the time Nikolai graduated university, he had become so cynical about the faith in which his parents had raised him that he admitted he was, “without spirit and without faith.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a few of our young people are plagued with similar reservations and doubts. Even though they, like Nikolai have been raised by fine Christian parents, some of them even raised by preachers; Luther preachers to be exact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they struggle with doubts. After all our county and our clergy are still struggling with a rebranded version of rationalism called postmodernism. Postmodernism is a philosophy of skepticism that is suspicious of everything and rejects the notion of an absolute truth. Postmodernism doesn’t merely question the existence of God in heaven. Rather it suggests the God in heaven is whatever you imagine him, or her, or it to be. Our young people struggle with the idea that the God in heaven is whatever they want him, her, or it to be. Which is why you hear young people say things like “my God would never…”, or “my God is accepting of…”, or “my God understands we…”
To make matters worse the reservations and doubts that plague the souls of our young people are physically represented by the current state of organized religion. Over the last 500 years organized religion has fractured into an estimated 200 denominations in the United States and an estimated 45,000 denominations worldwide. The church as an institution has largely been dismantled by divisions and disputes. As our young people go off to college, they likely drive past Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal churches. By the time they graduate college I imagine many of them have become cynical about the faith in which we raised them, and I would not be at all surprised if many of them felt like they were without spirit and without faith.
So how do we help these young people who are plagued with reservations and doubts? How do we help them see the church the way the Nikolai who wrote “Built on the Rock” eventually came to see the church? I think it begins with an understanding that their faith cannot be founded on their parents. Yes, we parents are tasked by God to train them in the way they should go but we parents must never forget their faith must be exactly that THEIR faith. Further, we must help them understand that their faith cannot be founded on philosophy. Philosophies come, and philosophies go, after all philosophy is nothing more than a thought or an idea; philosophy has less consistency than a mist less substance than a vapor. Further still, we must admit that neither a religious institution nor a religious leader can be the foundation for their faith. Now don’t get me wrong. I love our religious institution and I pray that it always remains faithful to the reformation and the clear teachings of Scripture, but it would be naïve to think our institution is immune to division and dispute. As a leader in our religious institution, I want to be a pillar of faith for our young people and I need for you to pray for me to be so, but the truth is, even with all my effort and all your prayers, I am more pebble than pillar.
If we want to help our young people see the church the way the Nikolai who wrote “Built on the Rock” eventually saw the church, then we must show them a better foundation than parent, philosophy, or institution. Which is where 1 Peter 2:4-10 comes in. In these verses we are presented with the only foundation upon which we and our children can build our faith.
In verses 4-5 Peter writes, “4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…” Peter presents us with a foundation that is the “living stone”. This foundation is not some lifeless slab that grows brittle with age, He is living. Though He was crucified died and buried, He rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven, and He lives and will continue to live for all eternity without end. Long after the earth and everything in it has been destroyed, this foundation will continue to live.
In verse 6 Peter quotes the prophet Isaiah when he writes “6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone.” Today, the cornerstone of a building is mostly symbolic, in fact sometimes it isn’t even a stone but a plaque. The modern cornerstone often has the date when the building was built inscribed in it but really serves no other purpose. But, years ago the ancient cornerstone was the most important stone in the building. The dimensions of the cornerstone had to be perfectly plumb. If it were even a little bit off, the rest of the building wouldn’t line up. The whole building would end up crooked because the cornerstone was not perfect. Peter presents a foundation with a perfect cornerstone. Never a step out of plumb never failing to line up with the righteous requirements of the law; always loving the Lord God with all heart, soul, and strength always loving neighbor as self.
In verse 7 Peter quotes from the psalms when he writes, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone”. One of the major advances in architecture that the Romans developed was the arch. Once developed, it was used throughout their architecture in doorways and as decoration for the magnificent Coliseum. The key to any arch is the top-most stone, the center of the arch, called the capstone. Without the capstone, the whole arch would collapse along with the walls it was holding up. The capstone needed to be free from flaws and defects that might cause it to crumble when under pressure. Peter presents a foundation with a flawless capstone. If this capstone would have given in to just one temptation of the devil; had one evil thought, let one ugly word fly out of His mouth, take one wicked step it would have cracked under the pressure of temptation. But this stone remained flawless. He was tempted in every way just as we are - yet was without sin.
If we want to help our young people see the church the way the Nikolai who wrote “Built on the Rock” eventually saw the church, then we must show them a better foundation. Parents can only train their children in the way they should go but eventually those children have to go their own way. Philosophies provide a temporary distraction to a restless mind, but philosophies come and go. Institutions tend to last longer but even they are susceptible to division and dispute. Here Peter presents us with a foundation that is living, perfect, and flawless. Here Peter presents Jesus as the only foundation upon Whom we and our children can build our faith. Here Peter presents Jesus as the better foundation we need and then tells us “the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”. There is nothing that can destroy our faith or the faith of our children as long as that faith has Jesus as the foundation.
When Jesus is the foundation of your faith you see the church differently. You see the church as more than an organization that your parents belong to, you see the church as more than a way of thinking that competes with other philosophies, and you are able to look past the ruin and rubble caused by the division and dispute in human institutions. When Jesus is your foundation you no longer feel as though you are without spirit and without faith. Rather, you start to see the church the way the Nikolai who wrote “Built on the Rock” eventually saw the church and you might even be compelled to stand and sing with me the final verse of hymn 856 “Built on the Rock”. (sing verse 5) Amen.