Sunday, August 23, 2026

“We are God’s house of living stones, Built for His own habitation. He through baptismal grace us owns Heirs of His wondrous salvation. Were we but two His name to tell, Yet He would deign with us to dwell With all His grace and His favor.”

When King Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, he prayed: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). How could the magnificent new building contain the God who created the heavens and the earth? “Will God indeed dwell on the earth?” We know that He has done just that. The God whom highest heaven cannot contain was conceived in the womb of a virgin. He was born in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and laid down to sleep in a manger.

God Himself, who could not be contained in a building of wood and stone, “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14b). Although His ministry was one of teaching, healing, and compassionate love, God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, was the stone rejected by the builders. Like a cast-off stone, Jesus was taken outside the city of Jerusalem, the city that held His temple, and nailed to a cross. In death the Son of God had no finely carved stone tomb or memorial of His own. He was buried in a new but borrowed tomb. Yet He whom highest heaven could not contain could not be contained for long in a tomb. On the third day after His death, Jesus was raised to life. Sin, death, and Satan fell in defeat, powerless to do eternal harm to those who trust in Jesus.

Our crucified, risen, and exalted Lord then went to work building a house for Himself. This house, more magnificent than Solomon’s temple, is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus, the once-rejected stone, is the Cornerstone (see Ephesians 2:20; Psalm 118:22). The sacred scriptural foundation and the precious Cornerstone support some very unusual and costly building materials: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5a). We are living stones, purchased at great cost by the blood of our Savior. Unlike ordinary stones, we are living, breathing, moving stones, created as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Each one of us, each living stone, is carefully shaped and fitted into this spiritual house to serve the Lord by serving others. This temple of the Spirit, living stones shaped into one vast spiritual house, is present in big congregations and small communities of faith. In every place, great or small, the Lord whom highest heaven cannot contain has chosen to dwell among us.

WE PRAY: Risen Lord, lead me and my fellow living stones to live a life of service in Your Name. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “Built on the Rock,” which is number 645 in the Lutheran Service Book.

Reflection Questions:

1. Have you ever seen a house built from the ground up? What is the most important part that goes in first?
2. Though Solomon built a magnificent temple to honor God, how did God actually come to live among us? See John 1:1-14.
3. How significant is it that we are like stones being built into God’s temple? Does this encourage you to see yourself in a new way?

Today's Readings:

1 Chronicles 23-25
1 Corinthians 14:21-40

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