The reading from 1 Peter this coming Sunday contains a wonderful image of the Church.
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you 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” (1 Peter 2:4-5).
Jesus identified himself as the chief cornerstone, the one the builders rejected, and this is cited again later in 1 Peter 2 . When you think about it, there is nothing unusual about the rejected one becoming the cornerstone. Most innovations have at least a touch of this same pattern: the new idea or person is ridiculed and rejected; and once proven right, that same person is celebrated as a hero. Think Galileo, Alexander Bell, Steve Jobs, Tesla, and a host of others… What is unique about Jesus is he is alive! Though celebrated, all others are dead. But Jesus is alive for evermore. He is not only the cornerstone, 1 Peter 2 rightly identifies him as the Living Stone!
In coming to him, the Living Stone, we are:
Freed
God removes from us our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27). We are made alive in Him and become little living stones – chips off the old block! God breathes his life into us and we are set free – free from all that brings us death, and free to become the person God intends us to become.
Formed
God is at work shaping each one of us, and all of us together. God has a purpose and intention for each of our lives. God is using all that happens, the good as well as the bad, to form us more and more into his image. The critical questions for each of us are “What type of shaping process am I in?” “Am I aware of God’s work in and through my life?” “Can I rejoice in and participate in what God is fashioning me into?”
Fit Together
We were never intended to be a bunch of isolated living stones scattered about. God is the architect, and God has something in mind for us collectively. 1 Peter tells us God’s purpose is to build us into a Temple, a spiritual house. This means that God is at work fitting us together! God’s shaping presence is not only molding each one of us, God is molding us together in ways we can’t see. We are not all alike. Yet God is using the funny little angles and jagged places, the gifts and challenges each of us has to build something beautiful and lasting! We are being fit together. The church I served in Washington State was built in 1902. The builders hauled volcanic rock from the mountains 30 miles away by horse drawn wagon as material for the walls of the church. And there, the skillful stone masons took all the rocks of different shapes and sizes and colors to build the exterior walls of the church.
In coming to Christ, we also are made into living stones – each one of us is a chip off the old block. In him we are freed, and in him we are being formed and fit together. What a wonderful image of the Church. What a compelling way of thinking about what is doing among us at CTR.
Mother’s Day
Join us this Sunday as we recognize, thank, and pray for the mothers among us, and all moms who have been part of our lives.
See you Sunday!
