Devotional: The Church is one Foundation
I am working on a different approach to devotions over the next several week. In a day, when we seem to write songs of worship that lack the theology and depth needed in your continued development as a disciple of Christ, I will be taking a historical and theological look at some our most cherished ancient hymns and connect them to scripture, so we can continue to grasp the theological depth of these majestic songs, while growing in our faith at the same time. Let me know your thoughts…
Devotion 1: The Church is One Foundation
One of my favorite hymns that tells the story of the faithfulness of Christ and His church, was written by Samuel J. Stone, The Church’s One Foundation. Read through these lyrics:
1 The church’s one Foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is His new creation,
by water and the Word;
from heav’n He came and sought her
to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her,
and for her life He died.
2 Elect from ev’ry nation,
yet one o’er all the earth,
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with ev’ry grace endued.
3 Tho’ with a scornful wonder,
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.
4 The church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord, to defend,
to guide, sustain, and cherish,
is with her to the end;
tho’ there be those that hate her
and false sons in her pale,
against the foe or traitor
she ever shall prevail.
5 ‘Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.
6 Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with Thee.
story of the hymn
As with many hymns, there is a story behind this hymn as well. The Church’s One Foundation was composed as a primary answer to the division within the Church of South Africa generated by John William Colenso, first Bishop of Natal, who denounced much of the Bible as untrue, and wrote a book in which he renounced some foundational tenets of the Christian faith. In his book, The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua, Critically Acclaimed (1866), that espoused source-criticism, an emerging scholarly method of biblical criticism for dating and establishing the authorship of Scripture.[i] This issue is referenced to within the fourth verse of the lyrics “Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed.” When Bishop Colenso was dismissed for his teachings, he pleaded to the higher religious authorities in England. Somehow if we fast forward to today in time, the story sounds all too familiar, except, we are no longer removing people from ministry over such false teachings, we are encouraging to continue, especially if they have people who fill their pews.
It was then, that Samuel Stone, a young Anglican priest, who was serving at New Windsor Parish Church, a poor district at Lavington, Oxford, in England, about twenty-one miles from London, who became included in the discussion. As a result of this heresy, it sparked him to draft a set of hymns based on the Apostles’ Creed in 1866. He titled it, Lyra Fidelium; Twelve Hymns on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles’ Creed. “The Church’s One Foundation” is based on the ninth article, “(I believe in) the Holy Catholic Church: The Communion of Saints.” “He has said that the hymn really grew out of the state of feeling aroused by the cc Colenso Controversy.” Bishop Colenso, of South Africa, had published a book denying the historical accuracy of the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch.”[ii]
The hymn itself is based on 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” This hymn, as well as others in this collection, was intended to serve pastoral, devotional, and catechetic purposes, according to hymnologist Albert Bailey, aiding in the “interpretation of the Apostles’ Creed for the benefit of certain cottagers in his Windsor suburb who were accustomed to repeat it as one of their private prayers”[iii]
Ultimately, the controversial use of the hymn overshadowed its pastoral intent. A skilled poet, Samuel Stone wrote a sarcastic “Soliloquy on a Rationalistic Chicken” in three stanzas that refutes any attempt to grapple with the scientific and philosophical views of his day. In the earlier stanzas, the chicken asks several questions: “How did I get in there?” followed by “Where was I of yore?”, and concluding with “Why didn’t I get out before?” The concluding stanza follows:
“I meet the notion with profound disdain;
It’s quite incredible; since I declare
(And I’m a chicken that you can’t deceive)
What I can’t understand I won’t believe.
Where did I come from then? Ah! Where indeed?
That is a riddle monstrous hard to read.
I have it! Why, of course,
All things are moulded by some plastic force
Out of some atoms somewhere up in space,
Fortuitously concurrent anyhow! –
There now!
That’s plain as is the beak upon my face.”[iv]
As we walk through the verses of this hymn, we can clearly see how Stone sees this claim of denying the authorship of scripture by Bishop Colenso as threatening not only to the Creeds of the church, the whole entirety of Christianity. To Stone, this could cause people to doubt the existence of God. If we look back at stanza three, it speaks specifically to the potential schism in the church because of different views of Scripture. To the author of this hymn, the church exists in a constant state of controversy and potential schism. In many ways, this text articulates feelings that are as fresh as ever. I remember when I was growing up and singing in the choir at our church. At that time, my family attended a United Methodist Church. One lady who was like a second mother to me, Mary Lee, started talking with me about how the hymnals were removing words like. “the blood,” “sin,” “Hell,” “atonement,” and any other word in the scriptures, that might appear in a hymn, and might seem to be offensive to the average person. I never really thought anything of it at the time. But now, as I have watched the Methodist Church where we now attend go through the disaffiliation process, and actually have to stand for the truth of scripture over the compromise with the world, I see how that was just the beginning of watering down the message of the gospel even the gospel message in our hymns.
More than twenty years after this hymn was penned, the popularity and influence of the hymn was evident at the Lambeth Conference, assemblies of the bishops of the Anglican Church that was held every ten years and convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Accounts indicate that it was sung with vigor at all of the major services of the Conference. Australian hymnologist Wesley Milgate records the effect of the hymn on those who sang it in A Companion to Together in Song: “Sung by a large congregation, some people say this hymn was really more than they could bear. It made them feel weak at the knees, their legs trembled, and they really felt as though they were going to collapse.”[v]
For those who might be concerned that a hymn might be written for the purpose of advocating one theological position over another, many people might call this “propaganda,” there is considerable historical precedent for the use of hymns in this method. “Except perhaps for hymns that cite Scripture exactly, all hymns promote the author’s experience and perspective in some way. It is up to the broader church to either validate or ignore that perspective in its choice to place a hymn in a collection and “to sing or not to sing” the hymn in worship.”[vi]
“Whenever we profess the familiar words of the Apostles’ Creed, we unite in our belief about the church. When we join in singing “The Church’s One Foundation,” we unite in affirming our belief in Christ’s church past, present and future.”[vii] Whenever we sing this hymn, the text should remind us that as long as the church builds itself on Christ as its foundation, we, like those believers of the ancient faith, will receive from the rewards which Christ himself promises, eternity with Him where there will be security in eternal glory. We will perpetually live in the presence of the worship of God. This is all due to our continued faithfulness and obedience to the one and only true foundation of our faith, Jesus Christ. Why not declare our message of hope and truth to the world next time we have an opportunity to sing this hymn.
devotional thought
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilledmaster builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
devotional thought
As we reflect on the scriptural text that was used to support this hymn, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, take a few moments and reread that portion of scripture. As we look at this portion of scripture, we can see that God had commissioned Paul through the act of grace, which made him an Apostle. Paul was a “skilled master builder,” who had clearly laid a right foundation.[viii] The word master-builder comes from the Greek root word for architect.[ix] There could be no other foundation for the church, except that of Jesus Christ. Why was that something that seemed to need to be stressed to the Corinthian church? Paul views his skill as an expert builder as being only possible through the grace of God. If we remember, Paul, who was Saul, was the lead Pharisee in charge of rounding up the early Christians and executing them. He was on a mission to Damascus to do just that, when on the way, Christ appeared to him and showed him grace. Paul’s specialty was designing and building spiritual foundations as we see in Romans 15:20, “and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.” The Apostle Paul was used by God to establish the groundwork for the churches in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Greece. While he laid the foundation, it was others, like Timothy and Apollos, just to reference two, who did the actual building of the churches from the foundations upward.
It is interesting as we look at this section of scripture, instead of talking about the details of the building itself, Paul turns his attention to the different kinds of materials that would be used to build the foundation. It is interesting that he doesn’t mention Brick, stone, or mortar, which would be the most common of items to be used to build a strong foundation. Rather he mentions, “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw.” When we think of the ancient temples in Rome and Ancient Greece, these buildings that were used for dedications to worldly gods, were made of the most precious of stones and most valuable metals. We can see the grandeur of this majestic imagery in Revelations 21:18-21, when John is describing what he sees in Heavan.
“18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”
As we can see in this imagery of what John sees in Heaven, there is a captured essence of purity: purity of doctrine, message, and life lived, all a reflection of the one who we are reflecting, Christ Himself. Paul’s belief was if anyone builds the church, it should be the believers who are called to build the church through faithful ministry. When we look at the “gold, silver, and precious stones,” Paul places these items as quality materials. These materials represent the dedicated, faithful, spiritual service needed to build the church. The “wood, hay, and straw,” simply represent inferior materials that imply shallow activity that has no eternal value. When it is all “revealed by fire,” the fire is representative of God’ discerning judgment. We see this in Job 23:10, Zechariah 13:9; 1 Peter 1:17, and 18; Revelation 3:18, take a moment and look at what these verses in scripture say about God’s discerning judgement. When we look specifically at 2 Corinthians 5:10, it indicates that the “wood, hay, and straw” are worthless things that do not stand the test of God’s judgement fire, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
“As disciples of Christ, we should be using: the materials of preaching the cross for salvation, building up believers, and living a life that is commensurate with that preaching.”[x] As disciples of Christ, having a purity and depth in our Christian teaching that corresponds to the life we live is crucial. In verse 14, it says, “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.”. All that has been done for the Lord in His power and His glory will survive the fiery judgment of God. Keep in mind, we are not talking about judgement for sin, Christ has already paid that price for us as believers, thus we have Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” So, the believer will not be judged for sin. This judgement is to determine our eternal reward, 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” These refer to the inner motives, thoughts, and attitudes of what was behind all we did for Christ. only God knows this. Since our final rewards will be based not only on our outward service, but also our inward devotion, only God can give the praise each one of us deserve.
When Samuel Stone wrote the Hymn, The Church’s One Foundation, he was calling out the false doctrine of a bishop who did not believe one of the core foundations in Christianity, God is the sole author of the Scriptures. Just as his hymn has stood the test of time, we need to make sure we as disciples of Christ, we also are continuing to stay true to the faith, in both message and deed. We need to make sure we continue to reflect Christ and His message in what we preach, what we say, and what we do. “Those Christians whose works stand the test of fire will be rewarded. Those whose works are consumed by the fire will themselves escape the flames (as if they were to jump out of the burning wooden structure they had built) and will be saved alone, without any works of praise to present to Christ.”[xi]
As we live out our faith as a disciple of Christ, does our message match our actions? Is it evident in how I live my life, that those who do not yet know Christ, are able to tell there is something different in the way I live my life? These are questions we must continue to revisit from time to time. We need to be honest about not only our outward service, but our inward motives. God knows our heart, and one day we will stand before Him to give an account for what we did in His name. Will it be evident that Christ was our firm foundation in everything we did?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to live my life both inwardly and outwardly, reflecting who You are to those around me. As I continue to grow as a disciple of Christ, may I never let go of my firm foundation, which is found in You, Jesus. May I continue to allow Holy Spirit to speak into my spirit, so that I know when I need to repent from any motive that would not reflect Your love and Your character being present in my daily life. Amen.
[i] C. Michael Hawn, History of the Hymns: The Church is One Foundation https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-the-churchs-one-foundation, 7.17.2017
[ii] Louis F. Benson, Studies of Familiar Hymns, Second Series, 278.
[iii] Albert E. Bailey, The Gospel in Hymns, 377.
[iv] Albert E. Bailey. The Gospel of Hymns, 376
[v] Wesley Milgate and D’arc’y Wood, A Companion to Together in Song, 335
[vi] C. Michael Hawn, History of the Hymns: The Church is One Foundation https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-the-churchs-one-foundation,
[vii] Howard A. Beverly, Hymn Stories: The Church’ One Foundation, 2022/16/08
[viii] Clarence T. Craig and John Short, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume X, The First Epistle to the Corinthians,47.
[ix] John MacArthur, The Macarthur Bible Commentary, 1569.
[x] W. Harold Mare, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10, 207.
[xi] W. Harold Mare, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10, 208.
