The Scripture Readings this week are:
- Psalm 144:3-4, 12-15
- 1 Peter 2:4-10
The Sermon title is Living Stones
Early Thoughts: Stones. Living? Stones that live? Seems like an odd image doesn't it? But that is what the writer of this letter suggests, that we are Living Stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.
What does it mean to see ourselves that way?
I think it calls us to remember that we are part of something bigger. I think it also calls us to remember that we rely on a solid foundation and cornerstone --Christ. I think it pushes us to ask how we may be used by God in this act of construction.Certainly it reminds us that it is not all about us, that we do not proclaim our own actions but the God who is at work around, within, and through us in this act of construction.
Then comes the kicker. Once we were not a people, now we are God's people, recipients of mercy. There is a great blessing in that verse. I think there is also an obligation in that verse. If we see ourselves as God's people how might that change the way we see ourselves, our neighbours, the world. How might it change our actions and choices?
What is a living stone? Is it a stone that moves or simply a stone that is changed? How are we like stones? Are we hard and unyielding but able to be changed by the world around us? How are we a part of the structure that God is building? Are we in fact part of a holy, royal priesthood? A chosen race? God's people?
I seem to have a lot of questions this week. Maybe by Sunday I will have some answers too!
--Gord
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