5th Sunday of Easter.
April 24, 2005
1 Peter 2:4-10.
2:4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (NIV).
Living Stones not Rubble!
Does it really matter whether or not we have faith in Christ? Does it really matter whether or not we belong to his Church and gather to hear his word and receive his sacraments? Judging by church attendance it appears that many people would say no. Nevertheless, all three of the readings this morning testify to the serious nature of faith in Christ. First, Jesus told his disciples, that he was the only way to get into God’s house. If they wanted to get into the Kingdom of God—and they did!—they would have to follow him. Next, Paul proclaimed to the Jews of Thessalonica the good news that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they waited. But many of them rejected that Gospel and became literal enemies who tried to lynch Paul. Finally Peter speaks of Jesus as a cornerstone that either makes you or breaks you. Either you are a living stone built into the spiritual house of God or useless rubble.
In other words, the Scriptures are very clear that our relationship to Christ matters very much. Jesus is not some object which you can take or leave as you wish as if either choice were acceptable. Instead, Jesus is God’s chosen, living Stone that saves or condemns, blesses or curses us. The Good News is that God chose this living Stone to bless and save us! He wants to turn us into living stones, attach us to the cornerstone and build us into a spiritual house.
A construction metaphor is easy to understand. Surely all of us have constructed something. As a child you may have built a snow fort or maybe a dog house. As an adult you have probably redecorated, remodelled or replaced some part of your home. No matter what it was, you had to do some work. You started with some rough materials. You measured and selected the right pieces. You cut, shaped, sanded and painted and turned those pieces into some useful, maybe beautiful, object. But you also had rubble to clean up and throw away afterward, pieces you could not use: scraps of wood, bent nails, broken bits of concrete, paint spots.
In the same way, God takes people like you and me, very rough people who may have little sense of purpose and fulfillment in life, and makes something great out of them. He makes us into the people of God, people in whom he lives and through whom he acts, people who make a difference in the world. And he calls us a spiritual house, a temple.
After the time of King David, it seems that the single most important object in Israel was the temple. It was God’s house. It was the visible point of God’s presence, the place where heaven and earth converged so to speak. So long as the temple stood, Israel was assured of God’s gracious promise to save them from their enemies and bless them. One song that people sang as they went up to the temple said this. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. . . . The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. (Psalm 118:19-23). The stone was the temple, the work and presence of God.
However, God wasn’t always pleased with his people. Even though his temple was among them, even though he was present in that temple and received their prayer and offerings, many Jews didn’t love and trust God. They tried to use him. So God spoke of that stone turning against them. For both houses of Israel he [God] will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured. (Isaiah 8:14-15).
So God also spoke of a new time of restoration and a new temple. See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. (Isaiah 28:16).
Peter tells us that Jesus Christ was that stone, the presence of God in Israel. He gave the temple its value. Jesus Christ continues to be that presence of God in the world today. Through his Word and his Sacraments he is the point where heaven and earth converge. And just as he was either the saviour or the enemy of ancient Israel, so today he continues to be the Saviour or the Judge of all people.
For those who believe, Jesus is a precious cornerstone that brings honour and salvation. A building’s cornerstone is the stone that controls the design of the building. The other stones are shaped to fit with it. That is what God has done to us. He has remade us into the image of Christ. He has taken us, rough rocks that we are, and made us into living stones that fit with Christ. He is building us into a spiritual house, a new temple. That means that Christ’s life and glory will be our life and glory. As he rose from the dead, so will we!
The flip side of the coin however is dark. Like the rubble left over from your own construction project, there are people who will not let God shape them to fit Christ. They are like pieces of wood that are too short, like broken bricks, like spilt paint. It’s not that God doesn’t want to use them in his building and it’s not that he cannot transform them no matter how broken they may be. It’s just that they will not have Christ. He offends them, makes them stumble and fall, shatters them into useless rubble.
Why should that be? Because they refuse to believe and obey. Some of us just flat out reject Christ. We want nothing to do with him, with God, or any of those old suppositious beliefs. That’s fine for children, weak men and old women, but not for strong, rational people. As strange as it may seem, we do not like to receive mercy! Mercy implies a state of helplessness. We occasionally like to give mercy—a show of our own power—and we might like to receive mercy when we’re in real dire straights, but we would hate to have to admit needing it! To need mercy is a failure!
Others among us begin to believe in Christ but don’t let him shape us to fit into the building. We don’t want to be another brick in God’s wall. We think that we can somehow keep hold of Christ the cornerstone yet fit into another building apart from God’s temple, a building with a different cornerstone more acceptable to the rest of the world. And so we stumble and fall. My friends, it is only through Christ that we are living stones. It is only as we remain attached to Christ that we are living stones. Apart from him we are only dead rocks, rubble to be swept up and thrown into the fires of hell when the construction is over.
But how great it is to be living stones built into the Church, the spiritual house of God! You are a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Think of what it meant to be the people of God when Israel crossed the sea on dry ground but the Egyptian army drowned. Think of what it meant to be the people of God when Joshua and the people blew their trumpets and the walls of Jericho fell. Think of what it meant to be the people of God when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Think of what it will mean to be the people of God when Christ returns in power and glory and separates the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the living stones from the dead rocks. They will be banished into eternal death but we will go with Christ into eternal life! That is what it means to know the mercy of God!
Then think of what it means to be a holy or royal priesthood. Our lives and our work in whatever our vocation have value and please God! All that we do through faith in Christ is a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God.
For example, Paul said to the Church in Philippi, But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. (Philippians 2:17). I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. (Philippians 4:18).
In Hebrews it says, Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:15-16).
And in Romans, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1).
Brothers and sisters, the main point is that God is doing something very important with you. You are the living stones with which he is building his house, the church of Jesus Christ. You are the priests of God in this world. Don’t ever think that your faith, your life or your presence in the Church are of little value. Christ has made you the people of God. The Church needs you; the world needs you!