I'll bet you didn't realize that there is a reference to Pennsylvania in the Scriptures.

In fact, our second lesson for today refers to the "Keystone state". The word translated "cornerstone" in vs. 20 can also be translated "keystone". And when in the following verses the writer speaks of a dwelling place, that is a state of being. Thus, we have a reference to "that keystone state."

Okay, that may be stretching it a bit, but the passage does refer to a keystone and does suggest that Jesus is our keystone holding us together.

A keystone is a special stone fitted into the top of an arch. Properly installed, the keystone, by keeping gentle pressure on the other stones and by absorbing pressure from them, hold the whole structure together. I saw this in action some years ago at the Md. Science Center in Baltimore. They had a hands on experiment where you could build and arch of blocks. You did this in a special frame that allowed the arch to be build lying down and when you were ready you slowly brought the frame upright and then removed it. With the keystone properly in place the arch stood on its own.

In erecting a building with arches when the keystone fits in with the other stones of the arch, the arch can support the tons and tons of stone blocks placed on top of it to form a building. If you ever have the opportunity to visit a gothic style church or cathedral notice the arches with their keystones and consider the immense weight those keystones bear.

This is the role that the risen and ascended Christ is intended to take in our lives and in the life of the church. When we are built up into Christ, He is there to take the immense pressure of our lives - the stresses, worries, sadnesses, problems and pain of life - and absorb it into Himself, thus relieving us of the worst of it. He then sends the force of His love to and through us. With this we are held together even in the worst of times by His love.

But, this doesn't just come naturally, nor can we achieve it by ourselves. By nature we can't lean in or, like building stones without a key stone, we would just fall into a heap of rubble. As pain and trouble mount we lean further and further in. We need Jesus as the center - the keystone - of our lives to keep us up and together.

We can't wait for all of life to come pressing down on us either or we may find that the keystone is not set properly.

According to a note I read this week, when the great arch was being built in St. Louis there was a delay in placing the keystone. As a result when it was placed the two sides had, effected by weather and temperatures expanded in and the keystone would not fit. This can happen in our lives too. If we neglect to include Jesus in our day to day life we may not see how He fits when a crisis comes. We need Jesus to be our keystone from the beginning. Then our lives can be built into Him.

Today, we baptize Emma Elizabeth Snyder. This Sacrament is just the very first stage of helping her build a life in Christ that will sustain her through all the pressures she will experience in the future. As you bring her to church and Sunday school, as you teach her prayers for mealtime and bedtime, as you model for her Christian faith and life, you will help her grow into a person who knows that Jesus lives in and with her. As she comes to know this she will become a beautiful temple of God.

This awareness of God in her will become in time a state of being for her. Living in this keystone state, she will reach out to Christ automatically when the storms of life gather.

Each of us who has been baptized has this keystone in our lives. But, unlike a building of stone that is ultimately completed, we keep being built and we need to keep growing in Christ for this. We do this by continuing to learn of Him and by consciously making Him the center of our lives, seeking His guidance and support in everything we do.

We also keep being built up by joining with our fellow members in making Christ the center of our lives together. We accept the privilege and responsibility of the pledge we make in the Sacrament of Baptism to welcome the new member and help the parents of the baptized raise their child in the faith. We remind each other in love that we exist as a church to proclaim and serve Christ. We seek His will for us and for our church. We let Him build and mold our ministry to form a unique temple He can use in this time and place. We lean on and support each other as we continue to be built into a holy place where God dwells. Thus, we live in that keystone state both individually and as a congregation. And living with Jesus as our keystone we form a strong resilient structure that can't be destroyed by the storms of life.

If we do this, we avoid the fate of a castle built by Lucy and Linus. In this Peanuts cartoon they have built a huge detailed castle in the sand. Lucy says, "...and a thousand years from now people will look at what we have built here today and be totally amazed..." Meanwhile, Linus with an expression of worry is looking over his shoulder at some approaching storm clouds. Storm clouds need not worry us so long as Jesus is our keystone and we live each day in that keystone state. Amen