Being Stoned
1 Peter 2:4-10
To Whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
In today’s language, the term “stoned” refers to being under the influence of drugs, usually illegal or abused drugs, especially marijuana. Back in the 1930’s, the term “being stoned” was used to describe the state of drunkenness. As drug use, and marijuana smoking, became popular during the 1960’s, the term being stoned was associated with the state being high; inebriated on drugs, the same as alcohol use. For whatever reasons, most likely those who drank alcohol wanting to separate themselves from those who used drugs, stopped using stoned to describe drunkenness and very soon stoned only applied only to those who use drugs.
In today’s reading, Peter referred to Jesus as a living stone and referenced Isaiah 18:16 in his writing; “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste”. God likened Jesus to the cornerstone of a building, and in doing so told us that everything the church is to be is based upon, aligned with, and comes from His Son, Jesus.
A cornerstone is the first stone, or brick, set in the construction of a masonry building. It is very important as all other stones will be set in reference to the cornerstone, and therefore determines the position of the entire structure. If the cornerstone is not set right, then the building will not be square with the rest of the property or have the proper positioning. Therefore the placing of this stone had to be done with the utmost of skill. Other names for the cornerstone are setting stone and foundation stone.
In doing this, we are being told there is nothing more important in the church, or in the believer’s life, than Jesus Christ. From Him we have our beginning; our beliefs, strength, and even our very faith begins with Christ. We are given our direction; we are put on the path God wants us on and He leads us to our destination. And we have our foundation; we stand on the solid Word of God and the truth that is given to us by God. With this nothing will be truer, nothing will be firmer, and nothing will be straighter in our lives!
The reading today let us know that the Cornerstone God chose and placed would be rejected; and we know this was the case. The Jewish hierarchy did not believe in Jesus as the Savior. They rejected His teaching and His testimony of Himself. They all saw the signs the Scriptures foretold of the coming Savior and ignored it, chose not to believe God was in their presence. They rejected the Chief Cornerstone and would not allow Him in their lives, and in doing so they rejected God. They were unbelievers and as we have been told the Cornerstone, Christ, would be stumbling stone and a rock of offense. The Jewish leaders were offended by Jesus and His chastising in their beliefs and how they worshipped God. They were confused and confounded with the truth He brought. They would not believe in the Living Stone, Christ.
The believers have also been identified as living stones as well. Following the illustration given, with Christ as our cornerstone, we are placed in the line based upon the alignment of Christ Himself and we know the alignment of Christ is perfect! Not only do we know the cornerstone, but we also know it was God Himself who placed us where we are in relation to the cornerstone. There should be no doubt in the believer’s mind that they are not exactly where God wants or needs them. With our cornerstone, or foundation stone, set in place and the believer placed in line by God, we know we have a solid base from which to work. With our placement by God, our direction given by God, our strength and knowledge given to us by God, and a solid and unshakable foundation to work from, and with all this in place we should not fail in any task given to us.
Unfortunately for the believer, God demands all work we do for Him is done perfectly, and we are not able to achieve this high level. We are imperfect, imperfect since the fall of man, and God’s high expectation is beyond our grasp. It’s not that we don’t want to, we cannot. We stand on the foundation God gives to us and we say “I don’t think this is solid enough God, I’ll build my own over here.” We notice our placement to the cornerstone and say “You know, God, I don’t think you have me at the right spot. I’ll go and set myself over there.” We look at the plans God has for us and we say, “This is a good start, God, but let me tweak these in a few places to make it just right.”
There is within each of us a desire to be in control. We don’t want to have anyone tell us what to do or how to act. In a sense, we all want to be God. Which is why it might have been so easy for Eve to give into the devil’s temptation, or at least it reads that way. We all believe that we can know what is best for us, and better than God knows. Even believers will seize aspects of their lives from God’s hands, just so we can have some say so in our lives. It is our arrogance, our belief in ourselves, that prompts us to this action, that causes us to overrule God and His decisions for us.
We know this is wrong, that we should accept where God has placed us, but we also it is not where we would have placed us. And like the Pharisees before, we too have rejected the Cornerstone. Certainly not in the way the Pharisees had done, but we cannot fully accept the Cornerstone if we reject our placement to Him. We are not truly rejecting God, just His authority over us. But this is still a sin.
All disobedience is a sin against God and his Word. All throughout the Bible we have been told what the Creator expects from His creation, these expectations are told to us in the Ten Commandments. When we go against the Commandments, we sin against God. Unfortunately for us, God also expects His people to be without sin; that is to say perfect. We have lost that perfection back in the Garden of Eden since each person born has inherited the sinful state of Adam and Eve. With each sin we commit, we move ourselves further away from God and our place in Heaven. God, in His perfection and holiness, must punish sin. That punishment is death and eternal separation from Him, where there is no love, no light, no hope; hell.
But this outcome is not God’s desire for His creation that He loves so much. He gave to us a Savior, the very same Cornerstone talked about in the reading. This Savior, Jesus, willingly took upon Himself the sins of the entire world, every sin that ever has been and will be committed He said was His sins. He then suffered the Father’s punishment for these sins; He suffered death and hell for us; He paid the price for our sins. With this sacrifice, we have been pulled out of the muck and mire of disobedience and our sins have been forgiven. God now sees us without sin and we are His once again, with heaven and eternal life and happiness offered to us.
Psalm 51:17 tells us “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Broken not in the sense of busted or out of order, but broken in the sense of a horse broken to the saddle. A horse broken to the saddle is no longer wild, but tame, and will accept a rider and their direction without bucking them off. God needs us to be tame to the Word and we will accept God’s direction in leading us without our desire to do what we want to do and end up bucking Him off. A heart and spirit broken to God does not want for self but wants for God. It is this type of spirit that will not dispute or change it’s where God has placed it but fully accept and trust God has placed is correctly with the Cornerstone.
It is for this reason that God has called us out of the darkness into His marvellous light. He wants us to be set perfectly to His needs and fully trusting in Him. He calls us faith, and in a sense, calls us to be His people. We are told that at first we were not a people but now a people of God. At first we were wanderers in the sinful world, people without a nation or home, we were nomads. But as God has called us to faith, we are a people, part of the nation of Heaven and the children of God. All believers have this citizenship given to them with faith in God through Christ Jesus. Out of faith we were enemies of God and therefore we would not be given mercy, we were under God’s wraith and punishment. But for those of us in faith, fully believing and trusting in the saving work of the Cornerstone, we have obtained mercy, undeserved kindness, from the Father. We are now under God’s grace and goodness, able to live in the Light of God and Heaven.
Having been granted mercy and a citizenship, Peter tells us we are a holy nation, holy in that we have been blessed and forgiven by God and no longer a part of this world, we are merely passing through on our way home to Heaven. Not a part of this world anymore, and standing against everything the world represents, we are going to stick out to everyone else who lives on earth. We cannot help it and we are called to not blend in. We bask in the Light of God and rejoice in His blessings, and these things are not seen by those who live in this world. It has become our calling, our duty, to bring God’s Light into the darkness, as Peter has said we are a royal priesthood. We are to be living testaments to God and His goodness. Our lives should reflect the goodness God has to offer and help bring the lost to the mercy of God. We are to be the living stones Peter has called us to be, set in place and faithfully following the Law and requirements God has set before us. In alignment with Christ, the chief Cornerstone, we remain set, strengthened by the Cornerstone and the other living stones, used to help build the Church here on earth.
As God’s people, we have been called to remain apart from this world, to stand against those things that are not in accordance to God’s Word. He uses us as stones to build with, and like all structures, all the stones strengthen each other, one is not alone in the support. As living stones, we find we are in a structure, strengthened by other stones and by the chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. Our foundation is secure, that being God and His Word; we are put in place by God Himself and thereby placed exactly where needed. For the believer, we should not have any issue with and should rejoice in being stoned. Amen.
