5.8.20 1 Peter 2:4–10
4 As you come to him, the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, like living stones, are being built as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will certainly not be put to shame. 7 Therefore, for you who believe, this is an honor. But for those who do not believe: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and, a stone over which they stumble and a rock over which they fall. Because they continue to disobey the word, they stumble over it. And that is the consequence appointed for them. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.
Dear friends in Christ,
In one of our evening vesper prayers there is a phrase which reads,
Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the silent hours of this night,
so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest upon your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In today’s prayer of the day we prayed,
Make us love what you command and desire what you promise, that among the many changes of this world, our hearts may ever yearn for the lasting joys of heaven; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
One of my favorite evening hymns, Abide with Me, says,
“Change and decay in all around I see, oh, thou who changest not abide with me.”
Now more than ever we need a foundation in life, and isn’t that one reason why Peter compares Jesus to a Rock? He’s dependable. He can hold up the entire Christian church. He is solid. His love endures through all generations. We need that dependability now more than ever.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Need to Stand
As you look throughout the history of the Old Testament, God used rocks as memorials and means through which He kept His people alive. Think of how Jacob was given a vision of heaven while he was sleeping with a stone as his pillow. He anointed the stone with oil as a memorial for the vision and promise God had given him. Think of the Israelites in the middle of the desert. They were starving and in desperate need of water. When Moses struck the rock, God had living water flow from this seemingly dead and lifeless thing. When the Israelites passed through the Jordan River, God had them carry 12 stones out from the middle of the Jordan and set them up as a memorial: to remember how and where God had brought them into the Promised Land.
Peter quotes Isaiah chapter 28 to talk about this solid Rock that we have in Jesus. See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will certainly not be put to shame.
Think about what a wonderful promise that is. When we believe in Jesus we will CERTAINLY NOT be put to shame. Why? Because Jesus died for all of our sins, and we are covered and completely forgiven in Jesus through our baptism and through faith in Jesus. Imagine that! No shame! No digging up of our sins on Judgment Day. No sweaty trials of embarrassment! All because God has put this wonderful cornerstone as the foundation of the church, through which the church is built.
Think of how much this must have meant to Peter! Every year we mention Peter’s denials of Christ in the courtyard of the high priest. We drudge up his sin and examine his denial for a lifetime of seeming shame. But on Judgment Day, Jesus won’t mention that to Peter at all. When Peter was ashamed and embarrassed over what he had done, Jesus went and sought Peter out. He reinstated Peter into the ministry when He said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” He took Peter from being worried and scared to being a solid missionary, confident in the faith once again. Jesus put Peter back on solid ground. He does the same for us by His death and resurrection.
Everything flows from Jesus and builds on Jesus. Why is this an Easter text? Because Jesus is ALIVE. He is a living stone! Now isn’t that an interesting thing! Rocks may be solid and dependable, but usually we consider them as dead as can be. It is oftentimes used as slang for an unintellectual person. “He’s as dumb as a rock.” When Stan Lee wrote the character called “the Thing,” who was a man transformed into rocks, he was powerful, but he was the least intellectual of the Fantastic Four. Jesus is far from that. He is the Living Rock, the wisdom from on high. In other words, not only do we have a solid foundation from which to build on, but also, when we are built onto Him, we also have LIFE flow from Him and through Him. Jesus also calls Himself the VINE, and we are the branches. So this isn’t a dead church. It is a LIVING church, where life and wisdom of salvation flows from Jesus, the Living Rock.
Imagine living in a very dry area where there was one well, built out of stone, in which the whole region would go for water: like Jesus with the woman at the well. That one well would be a well known area: the gathering place for thirsty people: the source of life. You would always know where to find water at that well. This, in a sense, is what Peter is trying to draw for us by comparing Jesus to a Living Stone. The readings for today talk about how we need Jesus as the cornerstone. Without Him, you have no church. You have no life. He is consistent. He is dependable. He is always found in the same place: in the Gospel in Word and sacrament.
The Jews of Jesus’ time were so used to finding God at the temple and through their sacrifices. And it’s interesting to note that the foundation of the temple, built by Herod, had huge stones that were heavier than a jet airliner. Yet even with such a foundation, the temple was torn down by the Romans. The Jews had either forgotten or were never taught that those sacrifices ultimately had a goal: a purpose: to lead to. Without a temple: without sacrifices or priests: they thought they really couldn’t have a church.
However, when Jesus came, He was the fulfillment of all of what they knew as church. Jesus pointed them to the waters of Baptism, the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, and the same Word to find Him and salvation. It was a big change for them, and yet it was the same promise, only fulfilled. Many of them stumbled on that stone. They didn’t want to believe that Jesus could be the fulfillment of all of those sacrifices and all of those priests who had come and gone. He was a stumbling block for them.
In reality, God hadn’t changed. He was merciful through the Old Testament sacrifices, and He was merciful through Jesus’ sacrifice. He was gracious through circumcision, and He is gracious through baptism. He didn’t get rid of the Word. He fulfilled the Word. God would still speak to them through the Word, fulfilled in Christ: explained through the apostles and the evangelists. Things were different, and yet things were the same: only clarified in Jesus.
Things would be similar and different for the Christians of Peter’s time. After Jesus came, instead of needing priests through which to come to God, now they were all a holy priesthood. They could all make spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Jew and Gentile alike would be considered as God’s holy and set aside people.
The same is true today. We are all God’s chosen people through faith. Faith in Jesus makes everyone look holy and gives everyone access to Jesus. Grace is the great equalizer. We are all built in the same church by the same grace and the same blood. Life flows to all people from the same Rock and in the same way. That being said, there is no other way to be saved. Life only flows from ONE Person and in ONE way: through Jesus in the Gospel. That’s it. All other ways lead to death and hell.
So think about this. If I want to stay alive: if I want others to be alive: I have to go back to the same well, the same Rock, the same Word: the same sacraments. This is it. I need the same thing my parents needed, my grandparents needed, Martin Luther needed, Peter needed, Moses needed, and Abraham needed. This is the ONLY place I can find life. This is the only place that I can grow and make sacrifices that are ACCEPTABLE to God, if I am doing them through faith in Jesus.
This was too much for many of the Jews. They wanted to be God’s special people because of their RACE, because of their TEMPLE, because of their PRIESTS, because of their sacrifices. They stumbled on the stone of Christ. This is too basic for people yet today. Jesus isn’t enough for them. They want MORE.
When I was growing up, we only used two liturgies for the first 23 years of my life. Page 5 and 15. I could say the liturgies in my sleep. It seemed strange to use the word “you” instead of “thou.” It felt disrespectful. I didn’t like the change, and yet in the same sense I needed the change. As I got used to it, I realized that we had the same Gospel. We had the same Word. We have the same sacraments. Some of the songs were easier to sing, and still had good lyrics. Some songs I liked, and others I didn’t. But Jesus was still there.
There has been a movement in the church which says “Change or Die.” Another one says “Church and change.” The Missouri Synod had a saying years ago that said, “This is not your grandfather’s church.” They wanted to change everything about church and leave all of their traditions in the dust. But then a new president was elected and they said, “This is your grandfather’s church.” They meant that they didn’t want to leave the foundations of the church. They instead wanted to build on them as life changed.
Life changes whether you want it to or not. It is beyond our control in many senses. I see my neighbor who used to be full of life and love to come and talk and help when I had projects going on. Now he can’t even walk and his speech has slowed because of a stroke. It’s sad to see. I don’t want him to change, but change he must. At first this change of church may have seemed like kind of a nice change of pace to some. I don’t like it. It’s not the way God designed it, to personally come together and sing and receive the sacrament physically TOGETHER. I want to get back to regular worship. But unfortunately I don’t have much choice in the matter.
Tough as it is, hopefully, through these worship services, you are still receiving the foundation of what you need to get through these changes in life. Hopefully you are being reminded time and again that Jesus is still alive. He is still in charge. He is still gracious and forgiving. And you can still come in on Thursdays and receive His sacrament if you so desire. This source of salvation is something that we don’t ever want to change.
It is easy to become afraid in uneasy times: to try to shelter yourself in for protection: to worry about the future. But when we go back to Jesus, the source of life: it enables us to realize that life can’t be confined by Covid-19. God didn’t call us to live in fear of death. He called us to live life sacrificially to the glory of His name. So we need to keep firm on our foundation to keep living life. As long as we are in Him we have LIFE. In Him we have IDENTITY. You ARE a holy priesthood. You ARE a royal nation. This is about what you have HERE and NOW in Jesus, when you ARE in the faith.
There’s a beautiful house that was built in San Francisco that towers above the other homes in the area. It was built out of cement. But one reason it is able to tower over the other homes is because of the way it was connected to the ground, with huge steel rods that go deep into the ground and intertwine in the walls of the house: enabling it to stand firm and tall. Without that foundation, the house couldn’t stand for long. It is a secret source of strength within the house.
Foundations are often hidden out of sight and unseen. The house inspector has to come in and look at the walls to make sure that the house is solid. The people purchasing the house are usually more concerned with the floors and the walls and the size of the building. But here we see how the things that are hidden are the most important when it comes to the Christian Church. Peter goes beneath the paint and the flooring and shows us the life and center of the church is in the Foundation: in Jesus: from whom all life flows and through which the church grows. No matter what is going on on the outside of the church, as our world refuses to rest, stay founded firmly in Jesus, where we have certainty, life, and salvation.
When He shall come with trumpet sound
O may I then in Him be found
Clothed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne
On Christ the solid rock I (need to) stand
All other ground is sinking sand. Amen.
