在美國大湍市的公園裡，有一座由英國藝術家設計的拱門（Grand Rapids Arch），這雕塑座落在路旁，猶如陪伴遊客並肩而行。藝術家用36塊蘇格蘭砂岩創作出5.5公尺高的獨立拱門，完全沒有使用黏合漿或釘子。每塊傾斜堆疊的岩石形狀各不相同，需要精心切割才能使連接面互相契合，並倚靠中央頂端的一塊楔形基石產生的壓力來保持完美的連接。這塊基石對維持整體結構而言至關重要，就像房屋的房角石一樣。

這座拱門令我想起，耶穌如何成為祂多元化教會的「房角石」（以弗所書2章20節）。被稱為外邦人的非猶太人曾「在以色列國民以外，在所應許的諸約上是局外人，並且活在世上沒有指望，沒有上帝」（12節）。但耶穌「使雙方合而為一，拆毀了隔在中間的牆，就是以自己的身體除掉雙方的仇恨」（14節，新譯本），使他們「成為一個新人」，並且「藉著十字架使雙方與上帝和好，成為一體」，讓「雙方都藉著祂，在一位聖靈裡，可以進到父面前」（15-16、18節，同上）。

基督建立我們成為教會，成為「上帝藉著聖靈居住的所在」（22節）。基督塑造我們每個獨特的個體，讓我們能藉著祂，與上帝、與人彼此相連，並且祂與你我同行。教會靠著耶穌得以互相連接。

Andy Goldsworthy’s Grand Rapids Arch sits on the side of a road as if striding alongside travelers. The artist created the eighteen-foot-tall, free-standing arch with thirty-six blocks of Scottish sandstone without using mortar or pins. The ascending angled stones, each one different and cut to fit together, depend on pressure created by a wedge-shaped keystone—the top center stone—to remain perfectly intact. The keystone is essential to holding the structure together, much like a cornerstone.

The sculpture reminded me of how Jesus serves as “the chief cornerstone” of His diverse church (Ephesians 2:20). The gentiles—all non-Jewish people—were once “excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). Jesus made “the two groups one” and “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14). He created “one new humanity,” and “in one body [reconciled] both of them to God through the cross,” giving them all “access to the Father by one Spirit” (vv. 15-16, 18). 

Christ builds us up as a church “in which God lives by his Spirit” (v. 22). He sculpts each unique person, connects us to Him and to each other through Him, and walks with us. The church is joined by Jesus.