Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Lake of the Isles Church, I have been sharing stories that may have been either forgotten or overlooked in the written history.  The Lutheran congregation at Lake of the Isles was not formed until 1936, but the foundation was laid a decade earlier.  Today, I would like to conclude this story with the final iconic picture of the actual laying of the cornerstone on November 8, 1925.

On page 4 of the November 8^th  edition of The Minneapolis Tribune, the headline read, “Lake of the Isles Church Unit Opens.  Pastor Who Helped Gain Freedom for War Prisoners in Russia to give address.”  A picture of Pastor Louis P. Penningroth was included in a sidebar, in the copy, as well as a brief sketch of his heroic mission to bring back British and American POW’s  home alive.  The newspaper noted that an address was to be given by D.E. Purdy of the Minneapolis School Board and the Kenwood School orchestra would play.

The following week, a report was given on the cornerstone’s dedicatory ceremony. “Gathering in the lower auditorium at 10:00 am, Boy Scouts and officers of the church marched outside where brief ceremonies were held. The invocation was given by the Rev. Irwin Deer, secretary of the Minneapolis Council of Churches, and in the copper box which will rest in the center of the cornerstone were placed the records of the church and the names of the charter members. (After) Concluding the ceremonies at the cornerstone, the congregation marched back into the lower auditorium where a program was held.  Lotus D. Coffman, President of the University of Minnesota, spoke of the life of the church in the community, and he maintained that the construction of a new church should be considered as important as the establishment of a new industry.”

Since Biblical times, laying a cornerstone has carried significance in the construction of many buildings. Besides functioning architecturally as the first building block around which all other stones join, the cornerstone symbolized the integrity of the structure. Churches have traditionally dedicated the cornerstone in a ceremony held either at the very beginning of construction as the first stone is laid or, more commonly in modern times, during the building’s final dedication service, as a symbolic event. So it was rather an unusual ceremony  in 1925 to dedicate a cornerstone for a church that was far from completion. Look again at the picture. Where do the walls end? Truth be told, the ceremony was intended to launch the fundraising campaign to complete the second unit of the church, the sanctuary.  No doubt, that’s why there are so many puzzled faces in the crowd.

I am reminded of the schoolteacher who had arranged for a class photo. After the children had all been photographed, the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture to remember their studies.  She wasn’t very successful.  “Just think,” she said, “how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Jennifer, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael.  He’s a doctor.’” A small voice at the back of the room rang out, “And there’s the teacher. She’s dead.”

I do not fault the quizzical faces in the picture for the tragic circumstances of the Great Depression that caused many to lose heart and abandon the building they had raised. No, I believe that for the congregation at the time, dedicating the cornerstone was an act of faith. They trusted that in spite of the challenges they were facing, the loss of the old church, and establishing a new church on this new site, they were building on a solid foundation of Christ.

Laying the foundation that will last does not happen quickly. Jesus teaches us this lesson. The man who hears God’s word and acts on them is “like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house, but could not shake it because it had been well built.” The solid foundation did not spare the man from these storms, but the solid foundation protected n the midst of the trials.. There are occasions in life when the signs of disaster are clear, and where peril is expected.  And so we ready ourselves for these occasions by building on a solid foundation.  There are no shortcuts.  You have to build to last. That is what the early founders were doing and why they were standing in that picture. They were witnesses to Christ being the cornerstone.

My friends, every great life, as every great building needs a solid foundation. But choosing and setting Christ as your cornerstone is more than a Sunday morning confession. Setting Christ as the cornerstone is a fundamental structuring of your life, your words and actions.  It makes a difference in in how you greet a new day; it makes a difference in how you spend time with those you love; and it makes a difference in how you face the challenges of life.  For it is in setting Christ as the cornerstone for your life, that you also become a cornerstone for others.

The late actor Christopher Reeve, in his book, Still Me, talked about playing Superman, and the glib definition he had of what a hero was. In those days, he said: “A hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences.”  But later as a paraplegic he discovered that a hero is much more- it is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.

That is your hope as well. Those who hear God’s words and act on them, building on a solid foundation, may experience troubles and tribulations, pain and sorrow – but you dwell securely in a house built with the assurance that Christ is with you. That is what the founders of the church confessed as they stood along the cloister watching the cornerstone be set in place. They were setting the cornerstone for their lives anew. That is what we are prepared to do today as well – and every day of our lives. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understand keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  Amen.