SCRIPTURE: 1 Peter 2: 2-10
TEXT: 5like 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. THEME: Stubbornly live Christ as our cornerstone but don’t be stoneheaded about it. INTRODUCTION Sometimes by the time sit down to work on the sermon; after Monday Night’s Bible study, condensing the essence of the passage into a story for preschoolers on Wednesday’s chapel time and coming up with a title for the sermon for the bulletin, I have forgotten what the title was. When I looked up the title ‘Amongst the Cornerstone’, the first word that came to mind was ‘Pa’akiki”. My slang Hawaiian translation of this word is ‘stonehead’. I have used this under my breath after a difficult conversation when the dominant culture was unsympathetic to my nonconforming ways, or When I have come up with another way of doing something but the old ways prevailed, or when my good humor, wisdom and experience was ignored for a less sensible way; “Pa’akiki” I said, under my breath, “Stonehead” I thought in fear that they would hear me, “Stubborn” that’s all there was to it. SCRIPTURE Today’s passage from 1 Peter is about taking our bearings, stubbornly from on Christ being our cornerstone. A cornerstone is place with precision, exactly where it needs to be for the rest of the building to be built. The rest of the stones are placed according to their function, shape, purpose, gifts, skill, talent, in relation to the cornerstone. At Preschool Chapel, we walked around the outside of this building looking at the different kind of stones that were used. I pointed out the cornerstone, square stones, rectangle stones, Key stone, oddly shaped stones, diverse but fit together for strength, endurance, beauty and the worship of God. Like the people who make up the church, not all of the same, but diverse, built into something strong, beautiful enduring for the worship of God. Living stones build together to form a community as a church. We all have taken the story of Christ in our own way and have adapted this story into our story. We are our own adaptation of how we live the Gospel of Christ. We are not finished (vs.2) but continue to learn, to be transformed, changed, edited, purged, built up, evolved, aged, matured, refined and created into the likeness of Christ. We take our bearings stubbornly from the cornerstone of Jesus and are creative in finding ways to build upon it in the world. Built into a spiritual house (vs. 5) of God’s people, are built into the Realm of God. APPLICATION On Easter, Mary Magdalene looked for Jesus in the tomb, but it was empty. The angel told her he is risen and to look for him amongst the living. 1 Peter’s encouragement is to see the resurrected Jesus in the lives of those who are “Pa’akiki” in living their lives connected to Christ. Measured by the cornerstone of Christ what are our lives like when Christ is our point of reference? In the middle of the cull de sac where I live, was a brass bench mark with the elevation, longitude and latitude coordinates imprinted on it. Since then, it has stolen. From this point of reference, a surveyor could find the various property lines of my neighbors, so we can all live peaceably within our boundaries. Christ as the cornerstone is the bench mark, the reference point from which our lives take their bearings. This is where this passage gets exciting because who Christ is influences who we are. Our identity is found in Christ as our cornerstone. Our relationship with God through Christ enables us to be closer to God than a priest is. We are children of God. A priest articulates a prayer, a request, a devotion, for a person to God. But as a child of God, we can go to God directly as a child does a parent. We don’t come to God to ask for favors, but we go to God for well-being, for fellowship, for insight, for presence, for comfort, for direction, to be held in loving arms. We align ourselves with God in the way we live for God, for ourselves and with our neighbors. God dwells with us. The language in this text uses the phrase” spiritual house” and “Zion”. These are places where God dwells (vs.5&6). It is interesting to note that God dwells among us. Earlier this week I was listening to a pod cast from Regent College interviewing Dr. Carmen Joy Imes where she addressed the passage from Exodus “using God’s name in vain”. The familiar interpretation of this is passage is not to use God’s name as a swear word. But it is more than that. If so, that would be in the realm of oath taking or lying, but as she looked at the Hebrew, she says that this has more to do with bearing God’s name in vain, as a representative or ambassador to the other nations. She sees, God’s name as something we carry, bearing the weight of God’s name to other nations. This theme, of caring the weight of God’s name is projected all throughout the Bible, even in First Peter. The chosen race is a mixed; made up of people from all ancestries. We are a Royal Priesthood, adopted children of God, who talk directly to God as a child does to their parent. A called People Holy because of our understanding of God and as ambassadors inviting other nations to join in. A nation not based on race, or on borders, but on our relationship with Jesus as the cornerstone of God. A Holy nation made up of many citizens from many nations called to be a people and recipients of mercy. CONCLUSION Cornerstone, made me think of those who were stoneheaded. We can get that way about what we believe about God and what it means to be a Christian. We are Pa’akiki about our belief in Jesus, the love of God for us, forgiveness, grace and the resurrected Jesus. This cornerstone of our lives is the bench mark that calls us to worship, build communities, pray for others, engages with God, grow our theology, follow Christ’s example and love others. In this day and age, theologians are looking at familiar scriptures with new eyes and discovering different ways for us to understand what God is saying through them. Like in Exodus, it is more than swearing, but how we carry God’s name that can be in vain. Our stubbornness is to follow Christ. There are some things that we thought we knew that we have to let go of in order to more fully align with Jesus’ words and example. Relationships are an important part of Christ as our Cornerstone. The practices of reconciliation; listening, forgiveness, grace, patience, self-control, compassion and caring are how we bear the name of God for all the world to see. We are not perfect by any means, but we are examples of graciousness as we live together, built as living stones into a spiritual house. Our transformed lives that make up the church and are a sign of the resurrected Christ living amongst the cornerstone.
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