INTRO
I’m so proud of my baby girl. She's working on a project for the school’s science-fair by growing citrine-like, rock crystals in the basement. What normally takes thousands of years to do in nature; chemists have somehow been able to reproduce in a matter of weeks. I think this is kinda of cool.
Everyday with anticipation, we dash downstairs and observe the quartz growing before our eyes. It’s amazing to see the crystals getting larger and more defined with every passing day. It’s kind of like the citrine is alive and growing. The crystals are rising into something beautiful that speaks of God’s majesty. It’s as though they’re material expressions of living stones created by God so that his splendor can shine through for all to see.
Speaking of stones, here is an interesting factoid. There’s over 115 words in the English dictionary that end with “stone.” Here’s just a few: cobblestone, cornerstone, grindstone, lodestone and gemstone. However, what’s more interesting — I think — is that in all the lists I sifted through, not one listed the phrase “Living Stones.” But what is a living stone?
The Apostle Peter wrote about living stones in his first letter to God’s elect, whom he described as “strangers in the world.” Let’s open our Bible’s to the book of 1 Peter 2 and learn about these living stones. Because, oddly enough, these livings stones Peter described are somewhat like the crystals growing in our basement, with like qualities using the five words ending in stone I mentioned a minute ago. Okay, keep your finger on 1st Peter, because we’re going to read the text in just a few minutes.
OLD STONES
The Bible speaks over-and-again how God chose Jesus before the beginning of time as the foundation of righteousness. He is the cornerstone of civilization, and the manifestation of the word of God. He is the living embodiment of the Ten Commandments, the entire law, and the writing of the prophets.
You know, in a real sort of way, the Ten Commandments were like the first “living stones” containing the Word of God. They were precious in God’s sight, for the Lord himself used his finger as a grindstone to carve his law into the hearts of humanity. God said to Moses — as recorded in Exodus 24:12 — “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.”
Upon these ten laws, God inscribed 603 additional laws to serve as the cobblestone for the Israelites to navigate their lives. These laws were the means for the Jews to walk down the road God fashioned for them upon hewn stone, and towards his holy city, to worship his holy presence within his holy cathedral. Here’s what I mean by that. Like a castle and cathedral, God built the entire law to protect the Israelites from worldly danger, and to serve as means for them to come into his righteousness, and to be sanctified in his presence, and to be a light for others to do the same.
However, like many castles and cathedrals in Europe today, true devotion and worship to God crumbled under the weight of apathetic complacency. And, we in America and Europe too are suffering because of our apathy, just as did Israel thousands of years ago. Because of us —all people in all ages — God the Father sent his Son Jesus Christ to become the living stone that is more precious than all others, to attract humanity to the Father.
That’s why this message is so important for us today. Like Israel, we’ve allowed the precious and living stone of God to sit upon our mantels and gather dust. But, God is calling us to be his children who maintain our cleanliness so that Jesus Christ, as the bright son, can shine through us as living stones —in his likeness — so we can sparkle upon the walls of human civilization, and attract all people to God. However, if we keep ourselves hidden within a dark and crumbling castle and buried under an inch of dust on an old shelf of stone, then God’s light cannot shine through us as precious, living stones.
JESUS IS THE LIVING STONE
Okay, with that let’s turn to 1 Peter 2:4-7, and read his letter again. READ 1 PETER 2:4-7
Now, Peter said Jesus is the precious, living-stone, that the Father chose as the cornerstone of his kingdom. But why is this living stone precious? Let’s consider how Peter used the word “precious.”
First, Peter said that the blood of Jesus is precious. 1 Pe 1:17–19 says, “Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ.”
Peter was saying that Jesus’ blood is more precious than any worldly mineral. It’s precious because it has exceptional value, it’s infinitely costly, and that which needs to be honored, praised, and respected. Jesus’ blood is so precious because it is THE way —not a way —but the only way, we can come into God’s presence and to be washed of our sins. (John 14:6).
It is for that reason that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross serves as the foundation for our faith. Not only is HE the cornerstone, but so is his blood. His blood is more precious than any gemstone. His blood is that which gives color and brilliance to life, and like a precious ruby, he shines as a living stone for all to praise and adore. Moreover, the manner in which he lived his life and gave it for all was so that he could attract all people to God with the brilliance of a beautiful gem hanging in a window on a sunny day.
Okay, let’s look at verses four and six. The word precious in this context means that which is attractive, like the ruby or diamond. The Apostle John, in describing the New Jerusalem said: “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” He continues five verses later, saying, “The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first was jasper, the second sapphire — then moving to the end of the verse — and the twelfth amethyst. (Rev 21:19).
Through his precious blood, and with the splendor and brilliance of a living stone, Jesus is the foundational loadstone whom the Father sent to attract us to his splendor and glory. Consider for a second the manner in which Jesus either attacked or repelled people by his presence. Some people are magnetically drawn to him. Others, however, run as fast as they can from him, challenge him at every turn, and reject him.
Peter, quoting the Psalmist, said: “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.” I wish I could tell you why Jesus attracts some people, and why some are repelled at merely the sound of his name. Yet, as Peter said, for those who trust in him — for those who are attracted to him as the loadstone — they will never be put to shame. This is where I think it gets exciting.
WE’RE BEING BUILT TOGETHER IN HIS LIKENESS
Verse five says, “You also, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” As Jesus Christ is the living stone, God desires to fashion us into living stones in his likeness.
Consider Emma’s crystals. I’ve abbreviated the directions for our time, but let’s play with the analogy. The directions begin by saying, open the bags with the citrine crystal solution and set aside a few grains for later use. Then, mix the citrine solution and water, and pour it out into a container. Next, take a few grains of crystals from the first step, and sprinkle them into the citrine solution. Cover your container for twelve hours; and after that time, remove the cover to see the earliest formation of crystals. Watch the crystals grow over the next seven days as it bathes in the solution.
Like the citrine crystals Emma set aside for later use, God has set us aside — as his elect, —to build us into a crystal-like cathedral that shines and displays his glory. To begin the new era, the Father poured the precious blood from his son — his living stone —into the world. Then, to grow the new kingdom that shines upon the world, the Father takes his us — his set aside ones — and sprinkles and bathes us into the essence of Jesus, so we can grow in faith and become like him as living stones. As living stones, God desires to place us in the window where the radiance of his son can shine through us for the world to see his glory.
As living stones, God electrifies us to become loadstones that magnetically attract the world to his son. As loadstones, he’s calling us to build upon the foundation of his son to be a castle —with a cathedral at it center —in order to protect those seeking sanctuary, and to teach them the ways of ways of God. However, the Apostle Paul cautions us to not build God’s kingdom upon anything other than the foundation of Christ Jesus. He said, “each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” ( 1 Co 3:10–12).
As living stones formed in Christ, we are being built into a cathedral to be a holy priesthood, as living witness acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We must not take this flippantly. We cannot be as those who decide to sit upon shelf and gather dust. Rather, God desires we shine like the gems —holy in his sight. God is saying, “As living stones, keep yourselves polished, and place yourselves in such a places that my Son may shine through you, so others can be drawn to my holiness.”
Peter bookends this passage with a call to holy living. He begins Chapter two by stating, “rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. In like manner, he ends his thought stating, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
I have to tell ya, I am so grateful that God decided — before the beginning of time — to set us aside so that we could built into beautiful, living stones. I am grateful that he’s organically growing us into a crystal like stones that can shine for Jesus. Dear friends, Jesus laid down his life as the perfect cornerstone, so that we can be built up by God into a glorious crystal-like cathedral , so that all people in our valley can be drawn to God.
As Peter implores us, let us live our lives with such holiness, integrity, and humility that we keep ourselves polished. Let us be joyfully be willing to put ourselves in such places that Jesus can shine through us — like precious gems hanging in a window — so all people can be amazed at the glory of God.
There so much more building can wants to do here. Let us be willing to be built into a living cathedral for God, so that all people in our valley will be attracted to Jesus, and come into God’s holiness, and to be sanctified in his holy presence. Amen. Let us pray.
