Sermon Manuscript, "Chosen & Precious: Like Living Stones" - May 10, 2020
Community UMC, Quincy
“Chosen & Precious: Like Living Stones”
Rev. Andrew Davis
May 10, 2020
1 Peter 2: 1-10
John 14: 1-14
I’m not exactly sure how we are already headed into the second week of May, yet here we are. Even though I’m not always sure what day it is these days, things always seem to roll along faster the older we get and am here wondering how 2020 is already almost halfway over. It’s certainly been an interesting year too!!
As we approach these next few weeks of the season of Easter, we begin a new miniseries this weekend, “Chosen & Precious.” In the series description by Rev. Dr. Derek Weber at Discipleship Ministries in Nashville, “this series is about Jesus and about us. It’s a celebration of the gift of Resurrection and the new life that it brings to us and to the world.”[i] Over these next few weeks, we will be delving into the Epistle of First Peter, Psalm 66, and John 16 before coming to the day of Pentecost and Acts 2 which marks the formal end of the Easter season and beginning of a long ordinary time until the season of Advent begins in December.
In our lesson from 1 Peter that Angela read for us, we hear from one of my favorite characters in the bible, the Apostle Peter. In the gospels, Peter is oftentimes a go-getter, a brownnoser with Jesus, opening his mouth and inserting his foot, even denying Jesus three times after Jesus’ arrest. Despite Peter’s flaws, oversteps/missteps, and public rebukes from Jesus, Jesus shows Peter mercy and grace after the resurrection. Peter ultimately rises to become one of the leaders of the early church which we see in this weekend’s lesson. Back in the gospels, Jesus tells Peter that he is the rock that Jesus will build his church on. Now, it’s Peter who extends that same call to all of us to be like living stones. In verses 4 and 5 of 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter says,
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2: 4-5, NRSV).
Peter is essentially telling us that as living stones, we are the church, with Jesus Christ as the foundation, and that we are the church together, despite being physically apart right now. In other words,
Come to the living stone. Come and let him build you into the house he’s trying to build. Be a stone, like him, a living stone, part of the foundation, part of the structure. Be a stone, a temple made of stone. Be a stone sanctuary; let worship take place in you. Make worship take place in you. We’re both the structure and the activity that takes place inside that structure. We’re the building and the worship that inhabits that building.[ii]
That’s saying a lot right there, yet we are the stones Jesus chooses and we are all precious in Jesus’s eyes. Each of us are called to be like Jesus.
As chosen and precious people, Peter is proclaiming in verse 9 that “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2: 9, NRSV). That seems like a very tall order, especially when we think about being a “royal priesthood.” Yet as “God’s own people,” we are called to do essential work around us (1 Peter 2: 9, NRSV). Such essential work that Jesus calls us to do is with the poor, the hungry, those who nobody wants anything to do with, as they are the same people Jesus ministered with even when getting pushback from those who opposed him. Likewise, we ourselves get pushback from others in our own day for who we may be in ministry with. Being like a living stone may mean getting in trouble or getting pushback at times.
Despite sometimes getting in trouble because of some of my core beliefs, how I interpret scripture, or my willingness to be in ministry with ALL people. Yet, It doesn’t mean that I dislike anyone I don’t agree with, or those who don’t agree with me. Being like a living stone means trying our best to let the love of Christ inside of us out, and the love of Christ outside of us in. And yes, there are times when it IS tempting to take stones and throw them at someone we don’t like or agree with. Instead, as New Testament professor Dr. Shively Smith points out,
the “living stone” imagery may invite us to consider resurrection as a site of repurposed life and reconstruction. Resurrection life creates the environment to house and honor the presence of God within and beyond Christian communities.[iii]
As resurrection people and facing a new normal in these days to come, now is the time to reconsider what it means to be a people of faith, repurpose our lives, and consider what it means to BE the church here and now like living stones. God’s presence is still among us, even while sheltered at home and through virtual worship. A new normal might be scary to think about and things will look different than they were before March. However, a new normal can be a good thing too, as we have new opportunities for growth in our church and in our own lives of faith by repurposing our lives and how we function as a church. When Peter talks of being like living stones,
[Peter’s] not giving advice to stone masons; he is helping to build the church. He’s bought into this faith thing. God doesn’t want dead weight holding down the pews; God wants living stones who will live and move and grow in their faith. [God] doesn’t just want a stone who will come and hold up the corner and that’s it. [God] wants a stone that will look for other places to shore up the walls, will learn other methods for framing doorways and paving paths, will discover more opportunities to be a trail marker or respite giver. The uses of a stone, a living stone, are beyond counting. That’s who Christ is calling for; that’s who Christ was.[iv]
Christ is calling on us and counting on us to continue his work in the world today. He’s calling us and counting on us to build each other up and help each other grow in faith. Right now may be a time where our faith is tested and right now, it might feel like we are dead weight from not being able to go anywhere except for essential activities. On the other hand, right now may be a time we see people turn to faith in God because they feel they have nowhere else to turn. What a great opportunity to grow in faith together. Even when we might be tempted to throw stones here and there, that’s when we need to repurpose those stones and use them for building each other up instead of taking each other out. As “a royal priesthood,” we are the ones who need to set the example as,
Christ chooses to let us be a part of the plan, a part of the structure to build a better kingdom. Come and be built. Come and be alive and participate in something bigger than yourself. Come and grow into something more. To be a priest is to be a go between. We can help usher someone else into a new way of living. We are privileged to partner with the king; that’s why we’re royal priests, not because we are special, but because he is special. We’re just like the ones stubbing their toes and knocking their knees. We aren’t better than they are; we’re just being used for a greater cause than we even knew was out there. It is his mercy that makes us worthy of being a living stone.[v]
While our hearts might be troubled at times, and with Jesus Christ as “the way, the truth, and the light,” the good news is that we are the living stones whom Jesus can continue building his church upon today. As we have learned these last few months, WE, God’s people are the church, not the building. We are all recipients of God’s grace and mercy, the same grace that Jesus extended to Peter. It’s the same mercy and grace that Jesus chooses us and declares us precious with. Let’s continue letting Jesus build on us like living stones, while working to build each other up. Let’s keep our faith and grow in faith together. This week, and in the comments of this video, how will you be a living stone for someone, in order to build them up? How will you live into your calling of being “a royal priesthood” that we are called to be as followers of Christ? Offered to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let the church say, Amen!!
[i] Derek Weber, “Preaching Notes: Introduction” in Chosen & Precious Worship Series (Nashville: Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church), 2.
[ii] Ibid., 3-4.
[iii] Shively Smith, “Commentary on 1 Peter 2: 1-10” in Working Preacher, Accessed 5 May 2020, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4455
[iv] Weber, 4
[v] Ibid., 5
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