SETTING THE CONTEXT

As I shared a couple of weeks ago, the first letter of Peter was written to Jewish exiles living among the Gentiles in the North and Western portions of Asia Minor that is in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. This is a community of Jewish and Gentile Christians who were suffering through persistent local harassment and persecution. The first letter of Peter is full of themes, quotations and allusions from the Old Testament. In the letter the church is envisioned as Israel, so when they read the Old Testament passages they think “Christian church” whenever they read about Israel.^[i] For example, just as God’s people were once exiles in Babylon, the readers of the letter are exiles in Asia Minor; just as Abraham was a stranger among the Hittites, so the Christians were strangers within the dominant pagan culture. As Biblical scholar David Bartlett says, “For 1 Peter, the Old Testament was not written to point to Israel but to point to Christ and through Christ to point ahead to the life of the church.”^[ii] The allusions come from Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16; Exodus 19:6, Isaiah 61:6, Hosea 2:23, Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 4:20, 7:6, 14:2; Isaiah 43:20-21 all woven into this passage. What is the author trying to communicate with all of these images?

Read 1 Peter 2:2-10

THE SERMON

How many of you have been hiking on set trails? When I was a Girl Scout many years ago, we learned about these trail markers called cairns. They are rocks piled on top of each other to show you which way to go when the trail becomes unclear. Although the rocks used are just like all the others lying around, you can see that they are different, placed by human hands. We were hiking on an unfamiliar trail last fall and when we hit the rock-boulder area those cairns became vitally important for they were our only indication that we were going the right way, those stones can be real lifesavers.

One of my favorite Godly Play stories is the story of Abram and Sarai who are later renamed Abraham and Sarah. God calls them to leave their home and then moves them four times. Each time Abraham and Sarah are afraid and wonder if God will be there in the new place. In each place, God speaks to them and they are so happy that God is with them that they build an altar, more than likely an altar of stone.^[iii] As I read the story, I envision these stone markers dotted around the countryside attesting to their encounters with God.

Ray Vander Laan is a Christian historian and teacher who leads many Holy Land tours. In his video series called, “That the World May Know”, he said that in the ancient world if something of a significant religious or political nature happened, the people involved would put up a standing stone or pillar. When people walked by the standing stone, they would know that something significant had happened there and they could be told the story.^[iv] Standing stones witness by their very presence. We saw this while we were visiting Ethiopia a couple of years ago. Near Axum we saw an early 4^th century stone pillar set up by King Ezana. There was this piece of carved stone in the middle of a field. The stone was inscribed in three languages Sabaean (the language of a people straight out of the Old Testament), Greek (the language of the New Testament) and Ge’ez (the religious language of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia.) The stone commemorated the king’s victory over some rebellious tribes. The stone also said that anyone who moved it would be cursed, so it was carefully housed in a small shack among a farmer’s crops. This stone continues to witness to a secular event, but as the writer of 1 Peter tells us we are to come to the Lord as living stones, stones witnessing to the power of God through Christ.

Being a living stone involves more than words; it involves a change of behavior. In the first verse we didn’t read, the writer gets very specific about behaviors to change. Rid yourselves of all malice and all cunning, insincerity, envy and all talk meant to smear someone else’s reputation. Faith is not just a matter of believing. As writer Len Sweet said, “Even the demons believed in Jesus.” Ninety some percent of Americans believe in God. Faith is a matter of obedience as well as belief. It is living a life that reflects Christ and glorifies God. We may look like everyone else around us, but when people come to see more of us they should see something different. They should see that we have been touched by the Divine hand. Being a living stone means having a life that points to the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus Christ.

Now before you think “too hard”, remember that these early Christians were getting beat up by many in the “outside” community. Many of these Christians were already in positions looked down upon; they were slaves and women. Certainly they must of wondered “what have I got to offer especially to God, I’m just a slave. I’m just a woman.” I love Rick Warren’s quote about that and about our other excuses for not being a living stone. He said, “If you’re not involved in any service or ministry, [and I would add, if you are not being a living stone] what excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan women had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service. He will use you, too if you stop making excuses.”^[v] Boy, do I love that quote! 1 Peter puts it in a little nicer way, “Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 2:4) Each of us, no matter what our circumstances are, is called to be obedient, to lead lives that reflect the way of Christ. We are called to be a living stone a sign of God’s presence and power to transform lives.

We do not remain however individual stones, but as the Scripture tells us we are built into a spiritual house whose cornerstone is Jesus the Christ. Our church is not all these blocks put together to make walls although they serve as a good metaphor (and a handy way to stay out of the cold and rain); our church is each of us joined together as living stones all offering ourselves”in order that we may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The whole building rests on Jesus Christ, the cornerstone and the whole building takes its design from him. This house is also a temple where sacrifices are given to God. Only priests could offer the sacrifices in Jesus’ day, but the writer tells us that we are all priests in Christ. We are all called to offer sacrifices, but not the sacrifices of animals; we are called to give our lives as an offering. Are we as a faith community, a house of living stones, crying out to the people of Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey and Humboldt something significant happens here? Are we like cairns pointing people to Jesus, the Way? “Once we were no people, just a bunch of individuals, but now we are God’s people” seeking to live God’s way and working for God’s purposes in creation.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on April 27, 2008.