Scripture: 1st Peter 2:4-8
Structure:
- Introduction
- Cornerstone
- Living Stones
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
When our kids were younger, and we were on a road trip somewhere, we often played the word association game. With the word association game one person starts by saying a word and the next person has to say another word which is related to the previous word and so on. The idea is to keep it going as long as you can without repeating any words.
So, for example, I might start with the word Milk and then you might say Cow and someone else would say Pasture. Green. Spinach. Dinner. Dessert. Ice-Cream. Sundae. Church. Chocolate fish. Birthday. Party… You get the idea.
Today we continue our series in 1st Peter, focusing on chapter 2, verses 4-8. Over the last couple of weeks, we have heard about the Christian believer’s personal relationship with God and other believers. This morning’s passage focuses on the church’s collective relationship with God.
One of the things we notice about today’s reading is the abundance of Old Testament references. It’s like Peter is playing a word association game, using only words and ideas from the Hebrew Bible. Peter associates Christian believers (collectively) with God, with the temple, with the Messiah, with Israel and with the priesthood. From 1st Peter chapter 2, verses 4-8 we read,
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being builtinto a spiritual houseto be a holy priesthood,offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Peter’s writing here has more layers than your nan’s trifle. As usual, there is so much going on. Two handles, to give structure to the message:
Firstly, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s new temple
And secondly, Christian believers, collectively, are living stones in God’s house
First, let us consider Jesus, the cornerstone of God’s new temple.
Cornerstone:
When you hear the phrase, “You are such a brick”, what do you think of?
“You are such a brick” reminds me of The Famous Five stories by Enid Blyton. I’m not sure if that phrase was actually used in the original Famous Five books but for some reason I associate it with them. “You are such a brick Julian”.
“You are such a brick” is a compliment. It’s a way of saying you are solid and reliable. A person of integrity and strength.
Possibly the saying originated from king Lycurgus of Sparta. The story goes that king Lycurgus was boasting to a visiting monarch about the walls of Sparta. When the visiting monarch looked around and saw no walls, he said to the Spartan king, “Where are these walls then?” And king Lycurgus pointed at his soldiers. “These are the walls of Sparta. Every man a brick.” [1]
This morning’s reading begins with Peter referring to the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him.
Then, in verses 6, 7 & 8 Peter continues his stone theme with three quotes from the Old Testament. The first quote comes from Isaiah 28:16 where the prophet says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
Before the time of Jesus, the stones in these Old Testament passages were understood by the Jews to be a reference to the Messiah. So when God says through prophet, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, he means, the Messiah is coming.
Peter picks up this stone metaphor. The living Stone, the cornerstone, is Jesus the Messiah, the Christ. Unlike an actual stone Jesus is living, for God has raised Jesus from the dead.
A rock or a stone is not a perishable thing. A stone is imperishable, lasting, permanent. To say that Jesus is the living Stone, implies his permanence. The life of Jesus is a resilient life; a life everlasting.
As well as being the living stone, Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s new temple. In ancient times the cornerstone was the very first foundation stone to be put in place. The cornerstone set the profile for the whole building. The angle and course of the walls was taken from the cornerstone. So it was important that the cornerstone was square and true, otherwise the building would not be level. [2]
If we read on into verse 17 of Isaiah 28, the Lord says, I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.
In other words, the Messiah (the cornerstone of God’s new temple) will be square and true. There will be no crocked-ness, no injustice in God’s holy house.
Jesus, the cornerstone, is described as precious to God and to those who believe. The word translated as precious comes from the Greek word for honour. [3] If we put our trust in Jesus, we will not be put to shame at the final judgement. In fact, we will share in Jesus’ honour.
As a result of becoming Christians many of Peter’s readers had suffered a loss in social status, a loss in honour, a loss of face. What an encouragement to them to be reminded that in God’s kingdom the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Those who suffer shame for Christ now, will one day share in his honour.
In verse 4 and verse 7 Peter faces the fact that Jesus (the Messiah) has been rejected by men but chosen (or elected) by God. In verse 7 Peter quotes from Psalm 118:22, which reads: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”.
The builders, in this context, are the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. The Jewish religious leaders believed they were building God’s temple, but ironically they discarded the most important building block of all. They rejected Jesus. But God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead and making him a living stone, the cornerstone of His new house, a temple not made with hands.
In verse 8 Peter goes on to retrieve another stone quote, this time from Isaiah 8:14. To those who do not believe, [Jesus is] “a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall”.
The point here is that there is no sitting on the fence with Jesus. You cannot be neutral when it comes Jesus. Jesus will either be a firm foundation on which you build your life or he will be a stone that trips you up.
In 1st Peter 2:8 the apostle writes: They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
This does not mean that God has predestined some people to disobey and fall. No. God wants everyone to be saved. If it was up to God, no one would stumble and fall. But God has given us freewill. And the choices we make come with consequences.
The parable of the two builders (in Matthew 7:24-27) informs our understanding here. If we build our house on the firm foundation stone of Jesus’ teaching. If we trust and obey Jesus, then our house will stand through the storm. We will not be ashamed on judgement day.
But if someone builds their house on the shifting sands of popular opinion. If they reject Jesus’ teaching, then their house will fall. Not because God decided for them, but because of what they have decided for themselves.
A number of commentators make the observation that Peter does not refer to himself as the foundation (or cornerstone) of God’s new temple. In fact, Peter does not give himself any sort of special place in these verses. This is interesting, especially when we remember what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18.
After Peter makes his confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus says to Peter: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
In this gospel story, Jesus gives Simon a new name, Peter; which means rock or stone. It’s sort of like Jesus is saying, “You are such a brick Simon”.
Because of tradition we tend to understand Jesus’ words to mean that he will build the church on Simon Peter. But I’m not sure that is how Peter understood it. Otherwise he might have named himself as the cornerstone of the church. It seems that Peter understood Jesus to be saying that the Lord will build the church on Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.[4]
If this is the case, then the rock on which the church is built is not Peter. The rock on which the church is built is the confession that Jesus is the Messiah. As people profess their faith in Jesus the church is built.
And that brings us to the second main point in our message today: Christian believers, collectively, are living stones in God’s temple. Jesus is the cornerstone and we, who believe in Jesus, are living stones aligned with him.
Living stones:
Let me tell you a story about a girl named Lucy. In fact, it’s probably better if I let Lucy tell you in her own words. Lucy says…
When I was a child I went to the local diocesan school for girls. It was a church school with borders and daygirls. I was a day girl. Being a church school, we started each morning with a chapel service. Nothing too fancy. Just two or three hymns, a couple of prayers and a Bible reading.
It was a nice way to begin the day. Some of the girls complained about religion being stuffed down their throat but it wasn’t like that. Actually the rhythm of daily worship was comforting, like sitting in a rocking chair.
The chapel services were led by the school’s chaplain, who also taught us religious instruction and coached hockey. He was married to Mrs Barry who taught home economics. They lived on site, so they would be available for the girls at any time.
Chaplain was a lovely guy and quite a practical man. He invited any of us who were interested, to help him during lunchtime, to make bricks for an extension to the chapel.
Making bricks was a bit like baking, except we did not cook them in an oven. Instead we had these wooden frames which formed the moulds for the bricks. The wooden moulds were oiled up (sort of like greasing a cake tin) so the bricks would slide out easier afterwards.
We shoveled cement and aggregate into a concrete mixer, added some water and let the mixer do the rest. When it was ready we poured the slurry into the moulds and let it set for a few days before releasing the bricks from the frames.
It was satisfying work. You saw something permanent for your efforts. We broke a few finger nails in the process but we also discovered meaning in doing something good for someone else.
Brick making is a slow process. I was at that school for six years. For the first five years we made bricks. It was only in the last year those bricks were used to build the extension to the chapel.
Although he had every opportunity, Chaplain did not try to draw out some life lesson from the making of the bricks. He let the experience speak for itself and it did, but not till many years later.
As I reflect back on my time as a brick maker (now a woman in my forties with a family of my own) I realise how God has formed us as living bricks in his house.
The concrete mixer has become a symbol to me of the rough and tumble of life. Life is not easy. Suffering turns us upside down and inside out, but the mixing process is necessary to build integrity and resilience.
I am thankful for the daily rhythm of chapel services. This pattern, of starting each morning by focusing on God, was like a mould holding me together until my faith firmed up. I still start each day with a devotion. It comforts me and sets my mind on a good path.
Now, in talking about brick moulds, I do not mean to imply that all Christians are the same. Yes, we come from the same tradition of faith, we believe in the same Jesus, but each of us emerges from that mould with our own unique imprint. What’s more, each of us is given a different place to serve in God’s house.
And then there is the silent work of time. Just as the bricks needed time to cure and to strengthen in the fresh air, so too my faith has cured over time. When we are young we are often in a rush to experience everything all at once. And in our hurry to prove ourselves, we grow up too fast. Usually we are better served by slowing down. Some things can only be properly appreciated with age and time.
Perhaps the most significant learning from my brick making though, was the day I dropped a brick, fresh out of the mould. It broke clean in two. I felt terrible and thought briefly about hiding what I had done, but in the end decided to confess my sin to Chaplain. Actually I didn’t say anything; I just showed him the broken pieces, one in each hand.
To my surprise, he was not cross. He smiled and said, “Don’t throw those away Lucy. Give them to me. I know just the place for them.”
In this way, Chaplain showed me that God is not angry. To the contrary, there is value in my mistakes. God does not waste anything. He can use my mishaps and my broken pieces in building his house. Nothing is too difficult for Him.
Returning to 1st Peter chapter 2. In verses 4 & 5 Peter tells us: As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by Godand precious to him— 5 You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We come to Jesus by faith, by believing in his resurrection from the dead. We become what we believe in. The pattern of Jesus’ life is the mould for the slurry of our faith. Just as Jesus is the living Stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, so too we become living stones precious to God. Collectively, we become solid and reliable, a people of integrity and strength.
We may suffer rejection in the concrete mixer of this world but that is only for a time. We need to keep the bigger picture in mind and remember that we are precious to God.
It may take some time for our faith to cure but one day we will share in Jesus’ resurrection to eternal life. We stand to inherit Jesus’ resilient life; life everlasting. In the meantime, our job, collectively, is to be living stones bearing witness to the reality of God’s presence in the world. Like the soldiers of Sparta, every woman, every man a brick.
Verse 5 says we are being built into a spiritual house, or a temple in other words. The word house has a double meaning. It can mean both a building as well as a household. [5]
Peter is not thinking of a literal temple building here but rather a group of people holding God’s presence in common. A holy priesthood, like the household of Aaron in the Old Testament.
Peter calls this household of God, a spiritual house. Last week heard about the Greek word logikos, which is translated in English as spiritual. In verse 2 of chapter 2, Peter says we are to crave spiritual milk. That is, we are to feed on that which is true to our real nature as children of God.
However, the Greek language has more than one word for spiritual and the word translated as spiritual in verse 5 (as in spiritual house and spiritual sacrifices) is not logikos but pneumatikos. Pneuma means air in motion, breath or wind. The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the pneuma or the wind or breath of God.
Spiritual, in the sense of pneumatikos, refers to something that we cannot see but is still very real. We cannot see oxygen but that does not make the air any less real. We can feel the wind on our face, for example, and we certainly notice when the air is removed from our lungs. Likewise, we cannot normally see the Holy Spirit, but we can learn to be are aware of His presence.
So the spiritual house (in 1st Peter chapter 2) is the community of Christian believers who, collectively, form a household filled with the Holy Spirit.
Likewise, spiritual sacrifices are not literal animal sacrifices, as Peter’s first century readers would have been familiar with. Rather ‘spiritual sacrifices’ refer to the many sacrifices (large and small) of a life lived in holiness and obedience to God, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Reflecting on Peter’s spiritual house metaphor; we in the 21st Century western world, have a tendency to think individually. In contrast, Peter’s household metaphor represents collective thinking. So, in the context of 1st Peter, it is not that each of us, individually, is a house or temple of God. Rather it is that collectively we are God’s household.
Another implication of Peter’s words here is that we do not need to travel all the way to Jerusalem to meet God in his temple. We simply need to meet with one or two other Christian believers.
Conclusion:
This morning we have heard how Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s house,
while Christian believers, collectively, are living stones in God’s house.
What Peter is getting at here is our identity and belonging in Christ.
We are not defined by the world around us. We are defined by God.
We are precious to God and acceptable to Him through faith in Jesus.
As living stones, joined to Jesus, we have a certain solidarity with one another.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
Play the word association game with those with you, starting with the word ‘Stone’.
What does it mean that Jesus is the living Stone and the cornerstone?
Many of Peter’s first century readers had suffered rejection and a loss of status for their faith in Jesus. How would Peter’s words, in these verses (2:4-8), have encouraged them? What encouragement do you take from Peter here?
Why do you think Peter makes no special mention of himself when talking about the building of God’s house? How does this help us to interpret Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18?
What life (or faith) lesson(s) do you draw from Lucy’s brick making story?
What does Peter mean by ‘spiritual house’?
Take some time this week to reflect on our collective identity and belonging in Christ?
[1] Refer William Barclay’s commentary on 1st Peter, page 231.
[2] Refer Edmund Clowney’s commentary on 1st Peter, page 84.
[3] Refer Thomas R. Schreiner’s commentary on 1st Peter, page 110.
[4] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 151.
[5] Refer Karen Jobes’ commentary on 1st Peter, page 150.
Tawa Baptist 