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Living Stones - or that’s what I thought until some years ago when we were in Israel. We were staying one night in a motel/kibbutz accommodation which was close by the ruins of a fortified city which was used in the time of King Solomon – 3000 years ago. Next door to the accommodation where we were staying was a small museum displaying artefacts which had been recovered from the archeological digs on the site. And very prominently on display was a beautifully crafted and carved , full-sized stone leopard. The detail was magnificent, the surface was smooth, and it was so life-like as to give the impression that it would move at any moment. Stone cold dead was not a phrase I would use of that statue. It was almost alive! When St. Peter was writing the first of his 2 small letters to the Christian Church in Asia Minor, he also was thinking about stones. We don’t know whether Peter was looking out on some local public building – fashioned from stone, and admiring the craftsmanship, or whether he was thinking of the nickname Jesus gave him when he professed his faith in Jesus – the nickname - “Rock”! – but which ever it was – Peter turns this picture of dead and lifeless stone up side down , and applies it Firstly, to Jesus, and then to his fellow Christians. So, Firstly – in verse 4 (1 Peter 2;) he extends a strong invitation – He says - “Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless, but chosen by God as valuable.” Jesus Christ is that living Stone. And then, in verse 5, he refers to his fellow Christians – similarly – as living stones. – He says - “come, as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple where you will serve as holy priests..” There are three thoughts suggested by Peter’s use of the phrase “Living stones” 1. There is the thought of vitality. We don’t connect ordinary stone with life, but here is something totally different. These stones are living. And as Jesus is THE living stone, so we – as his disciples - are also living stones. These living -stones are alive, active, at work in the world. There are churches which mirror both these kinds of stones, just as there are Christians. Some a dead and lifeless, and some are living and vibrant. “Come to the Lord, the Living Stone” – is an invitation to a new life, an invitation to resurrection life, where what was formerly dead, is now alive. This word Peter uses – “Come” – means “keep on coming” – be continually coming to Jesus. It’s not something you do once and forget about. It’s a life-long process of drawing nearer to Him each day. Each day we are involved in a battle against the old sinful self, each day we need God’s grace afresh; each day we need to take another step forward on the Journey. So there is something vibrant and vital and life-giving about coming to Jesus Christ, the Living Stone. Each day is a new beginning when we step out with Him. 2. There is the thought of Stability. When David Livingstone died in Central Africa, he was held in such high esteem that his body was carried by African bearers six hundred miles to the coast, and transported to England, later to be buried in Westminster Abbey. On the occasion of the funeral, Mr. Punch, Britain’s national cartoonist and jester, laid aside his bauble, cap and bells , and to the memory of this famous missionary doctor paid this noble tribute:- “Let marble crumble, this is LivingStone!” There is nothing about Jesus which is unstable, which disintegrates, or wear out with time. The stone carving and statue of the leopard was in quite remarkable condition, considering its age, but it could also have easily been broken, smashed to pieces at some stage in the past three thousand years, had circumstances been different. These things are unique because they have lasted. But Jesus, the Living Stone, does not change, does not crumble, does not deteriorate with time. He is the timeless, the eternal, the changeless one. When we join our lives with His, we too become eternal and timeless, for in accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord we enter into eternal life. So Living stones, speaks of Vitality, it speaks of Stability, and it also 3. Speaks of Symmetry. Peter says “Come as living stones and Let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple…” Living stones must be shaped for their purpose. Standing on the Temple mount in Jerusalem, at the foot of what is known as the “Wailing Wall” gives a very real sense of the smallness of a human being. The remaining part of the original temple retaining wall is constructed from huge massive stones, each one carefully and accurately shaped and squared, fitting so close together than you can hardly force a folded piece of paper between the blocks. If that stone wall were constructed today, we would marvel at the size of it. Its almost incomprehensible as to how it was built just by manual labour nearly 3000 years ago. Stonemasons must have spent hours of work crafting each individual stone to fit precisely into its place. Peter is reminding us that God is the one who is at work on us, and in us, accurately crafting us, chiselling us, shaping us perfectly for His purpose as he builds each of us into His spiritual temple, the church, so that fitting perfectly together we might become the true temple through which God is glorified. Whatever is happening in our lives at this very moment God is using to craft our lives into a living stone which will be brought together to built His Temple. So Peter invites us, despite the difficulties of life, -or perhaps because of the difficulties of life – to “Come to the Lord, the Living Stone ….and to come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple.” Let us hear his word to us today. “Come!” |
