Living Stones

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In this Easter season we have been taking some time to talk about, and to see, some of the impacts that Easter in our lives. We have been discussing and seeing the difference that Easter makes and what it is to live as Easter people of the resurrection. Today that focus continues as we look at what 1 peter has to tell us about the church, and what the church is and does.

This morning I wanted to spend a moments working through the lesson from 1 Peter. Now this book has been the source, and will continue to be the source of the epistle lessons during this Easter season. But we haven’t spent any time with it. This is not because there is something wrong with 1 Peter or the contents of the book. That is just kind of the way it worked out. But I wanted to be sure that we didn’t let this pass us by, because there are some really good things here.

1 Peter is a letter written by Peter to Christians that are undergoing some pretty big troubles, sufferings and persecutions. So this is a letter of hope and comfort and strength. He is encouraging them to remain faithful and not to give up in the face of persecution. Whenever I consider this it brings about a couple of reactions for me.

First, it makes me thankful for what we have in this country. We don’t know what it is to really suffer for our faith the way that some of our brothers and sisters in the faith around the world do. Second, while we don’t have to worry about persecution we do have to watch that we do not become complacent or focused on ourselves. It is in keeping this in us in check that we can find some good application and benefits from 1 Peter.

These verse pick up at a place where Peter is writing about how to endure in the face of persecution. So he instructions us to long for pure spiritual milk like newborn infants. Now, I would like to clarify here that he is not telling us to act like babies. That is not what is going on here. No, instead he is telling us to crave pure spiritual milk in the same kind of way that newborn infants will crave milk.

Have you ever seen a hungry newborn? It isn’t a pretty picture. And they always seem to be hungry too. Every couple of hours you are getting up, and getting that bottle ready so that they can eat. In the same way we are to crave the pure spiritual milk because it is that milk that allows us to grow. So what is it? What is the pure spiritual milk? It is God’s word. It is the scriptures.

For us to grow into the people that God would have us be we need to have a good healthy diet of God’s Word. Think about it. Would parents think that it would be enough to give a baby a bottle only once a week? No. That would be terrible. So why would we try to do that with God’s word?

Now I don’t say this to make you feel guilty. I don’t say this so that you will say to yourself, “oh great. Well there is another thing that I should be doing and am not Now I can add this to my list of things that I feel bad about.” That is not the case at all.

Instead, I hope that in hearing this you will say. “Yeah. He’s right. God’s word is a really good thing. I am glad for it and want to make it more a part of my life.” And that is easy to do. It doesn’t have to be a lot. You can join a Bible study, there are lots of good ones around here. You can grab a bible reading plan and do a little bit every day and read through the whole thing in a year. You can pick one of the gospels and just read a chapter a day.

When we are in God’s word, the Holy Spirit is at work strengthening our faith. It allows our minds to be renewed and transformed. It allows us to understand who we are as God’s people, and what our relationship with our God is. There is all kinds of good stuff going on here.

As a people who are fed and nourished by God’s word, then we come together, actually we are brought together into this wonderful thing that is called the church. Now you know that the church is not just a building. But the image that Peter uses here is that of living stones.

The people of the world may not want much to do with us or the message that we proclaim, but even if we are rejected by them,, we have been and are chosen and precious to our God. We are living stones which are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Did you know that? Did you realize that this was such a big deal? This is who you are as the church. Now we have this, not because of anything in us. But we have this because of who our God is and how he chooses to work in our lives.

He is the one who chooses us. He is the one who deems us as precious. He is the one who builds us up as a spiritual house. He is the one who calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies this thing that is the church. The church is not a building, but the church is a community of God’s Easter people who are living stones being built into a spiritual house. The church is the community of faith that is formed by the Holy Spirit. The church is the community of faith that is led by the Holy Spirit.

Not only that, but these living stones are a holy priesthood. Now this is not some of the stones are part of that holy priesthood. It is the living stones that make up this priesthood. In other words, the ones who offer spiritual sacrifices are not just a certain few in the group. This is not the role of the professional Christians, or the professional rocks if you will. But this is the job of all of us together.

In our baptism liturgy a representative from the congregation welcomes the newly baptized into the church that together we might hear his word, receive his gifts, and proclaim the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. It is not just one, because the stones that make up this house are living stones. They are alive. They have life and have it in abundance.

You see this is the work of God in our lives. He chose us, he deems us precious. This is so because of what Jesus did for us. He fulfilled the law that we cannot. He took our sins upon himself on the cross. He destroyed the grave on Easter. He rules and reigns on our behalf that we might carry out the mission he has given to us. That is, we are able to offer up these spiritual sacrifices.

So what are those sacrifices? What do we as members of this priesthood do? We can pray for people. We can pray for one another. We can pray for the people in our lives. We can pray for our friends and family. But we can also pray for our enemies and for those who hurt us. This is no small matter. These words that we utter are not empty words. Because the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. And so we pray.

We offer our gifts and skills. We each have different gifts that we have been blessed with. And we can find opportunities to use those gifts in the lives of our neighbors, friends and family. I may be able to lead a bible study, but I am no mechanic. And if my car is broken down, then no amount of preaching is going to help. We all have different gifts that we can use to bless and be a blessing to others.

We offer our money. The arrangement that we make with our employers is that in exchange for money we will give the time in our lives. So in a very real sense the money that we have represents our lives. When we give our money to support what God is doing in our congregation and in our community and world we are literally giving our lives.

These are ways that we can fulfill our role as members of this priesthood. These are ways that we can be living stones, who are built into a living house. That together we may proclaim the glorious deeds of the one who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

As a reminder of this, each of you have received a rock when you arrived this morning. They are rocks that I picked up at the beach. No big deal. But as a reminder of our role as living stones and our membership in this priesthood, I want you to take this rock and write your name on it. Please write your first and last name on it. Then, after the service. I want you to exchange your rock with someone else. There is no limit to the number of times you can switch. You just can’t end up with your own. Then I want you to keep the rock for the week. You can have it in your pocket or purse. You may place it on your night stand or desk. Just keep it somewhere where it will remind you to pray for the person whose name is on that rock. And in so doing, you will be offering up a spiritual sacrifice that that is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Happy Easter! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen!