Education Sunday September 6-7, 2025
“Built To Last” Ephesians 2:19-22
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
The educational system in the state of Colorado is facing a monumental crisis. Almost 250,000 students in the state are chronically absent from school. That means that those students miss 10% or more of the days of instruction in their school.
In 2019 22.6% of students had chronic absenteeism. In this past school year that number has grown to 34.5%. This past year that number grew by over 3,500 kids. Susana Cordova, the Colorado Education Commissioner said, “These are more than data points. These are young people who are disengaged, disconnected and missing out on the critical learning experiences that they need to be successful.”
The article from The Denver Post, (August 28, 2025) adds, “Attendance matters because students need to be in school to learn. Elementary-aged students who attend school regularly are more likely to read at grade level by the time they are in third grade. Older students who are chronically absent are more likely to drop out and not graduate high school according to the education department.”
The impact of this problem will be felt by everyone. Certainly it will be felt by the students as they enter life in their 20’s and 30’s, but it will be felt by our society. Most of us count on people who are younger than us. They are the engineers, the medical professionals, those who fix our cars and homes, our teachers – we count on them to help us live a full life.
But they have to have a foundation. They have to receive a consistent education. They – we – need this foundation from the earliest years.
Arvin Michel is on our Board of Elders and one of his responsibilities is adding oil to our candles so they don’t go out. If any of our candles go out I know who to blame!!
Arvin, the past Saturday, was filling the oil in the candles but first he stopped in to see me. We got to talking about the changes we see in society. Arvin was born in Auburn, Nebraska and went to an American Lutheran Church (the old ALC Synod) when he was a kid. His congregation was quite strict. Old School. Vacation Bible School was 6 weeks long!! 6 weeks!! You memorized Martin Luther’s Catechism. Confirmation class and Sunday School had memorization of Bible passages and hymns. That constant learning shaped who he was and still is.
When he didn’t agree with his mom about something, and asked that question that every kid asks, “Why, do I have to do that?” She would answer, “Because I told you so.” It worked!! He remembered the fourth commandment he had long been taught, “Honor your father and mother.” He had a foundation that had been built for years. When he was tempted to lie. His mom said, “You will never lie to me, or to anyone else.” Oh, ya. 8th commandment. “Why can’t we have what they have?” 9-10th commandment. “Do not covet.” Someone laid a foundation in God’s Word that guided where he would go.
Having a foundation is essential in our schools, on the farm in Auburn, Nebraska and right here in Littleton, Colorado. If you don’t have a foundation your life will collapse.
Ephesians 2: 19-22 is God’s word about our foundation.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Buildings that are going to last have a solid foundation. Lives that are going to last and succeed have a solid foundation. I have driven past the land that will house the new Costco on Mineral, a few miles south of our church. Taking down the previous Lucent building, moving all the dirt, putting in utilities and sewer and water has taken months and, I bet, millions of dollars. What have they built so far? No walls. No windows. Not yet. But they are building a foundation that will last.
Do you know what we spend a lot of time and money around here on? On a foundation. Why do we have a preschool, an education ministry, confirmation classes, Vacation Bible School? Why do we spend so much money on kids? Why do I tell you about Bible Classes and encourage you to have regular devotions and be faithful in reading the Bible? Why? You must have a foundation. “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” It starts when you are young, and it keeps growing stronger each year that you live. A church not built on God’s word is a church in crisis. The connection we have with the apostles and prophets is found in what they have written, what they have said. Paul, also in Ephesians, would tell us what God’s word will do in our lives. He says, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)
We are built to last. We have a foundation that is strong and solid. That foundation is found in God’s word, the Scriptures. Following the giving of the 10 Commandments we read what God said to His people:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
This foundation is not just what we are supposed to do. This foundation is what Jesus Christ has already done for us. Our reading centers on Christ and what He does, “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” A cornerstone is laid first. It must be perfectly placed and then all the other bricks are built from the position of that first stone. Jesus Christ is that first stone. You and I are built upon Him. His coming in the flesh. His self-sacrifice for our sins. His invitation to receive grace and cleansing and a new beginning to our life. By faith in His death and resurrection we find our only hope.
In the hymn “In Christ Alone” we read:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand
This past Monday when the Powerball was at a measly 1.1 billion dollars I was behind a gentlemen at Circle K who had quite a few things to buy. After he got his stuff the clerk asked, “Anything else?” “Sure. I need 5 Powerball tickets with Powerplay.” Once he got them in his hand, he looked at the clerk and said, “Where can I go and get hope for just 15 dollars?”
I got a place. So do you. “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” In God’s word and by the completed work of Jesus we are built to last. Amen!!
