Sermon Synopsis for May 25, 2008

“Living Stones” 1 Peter 2:4-12

The Apostle Peter wrote to Christians during a difficult time in history. Jewish terrorist groups (zealots) had active cells throughout the region. The Romans had built up a large military force in the Middle East and were preparing preemptive action to maintain control over the area. The early church had been fractured and spread throughout the world. Christians were persecuted for their faith. Peter wrote his letters to be circulated among the believers, to encourage them in the midst of difficult situations, to remember in whom they believe and what Christ has made them.

For Americans, this is Memorial Day weekend. For most Americans it marks the official start of the summer vacation period. The holiday was established just after the US Civil War and it used to be called Decoration Day. It was a day to decorate the graves of those who gave their lives in war. It is a holiday that can provoke strong emotions. This is the 7th Memorial Day that our Country has been at war. Hundreds of American Soldiers have died in Afghanistan; thousands in Iraq. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. It is a sobering reminder of what war brings.

REMEMBERING IS GOOD

It is good for us to remember. It helps us to
- remember momentous events in the past
- see how far we have come
- avoid repeating the same problems

Memory is important: The loss of memory is considered a disease – Alzheimer’s.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (American Philosopher George Santayana, Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, page 284)

In spite of all the remembrance, in many ways, Americans continue repeating the past.
Monuments of stone are built to commemorate the wars, the fighting, the arguments, the disagreements – yet we continue to get into disagreements, arguments, fights and wars.

We are called to remember.

Families remember their past; we have photos, stories, grave markers (a memory set in stone)

MEMORIAL STONES

Masseboth, Hebrew for “standing stones,” were common throughout the ancient world (Stonehenge for example). Palestine and Israel has many of these markers yet standing (although for unknown reasons today). The Bible mentions masseboth (standing stones) 34 times. Often referred to in a negative way (Dt. 16:22), “You shall not … erect a massebah, which the Lord your God detests.”

Sometimes masseboth are referred to in a positive way:
- Jacob sets up a stone after he wakes from his dream of a ladder extending to heaven.
- Moses set up 12 stones at Mt. Sinai to commemorate the ratification of the covenant between God and Israel (Ex. 24:4)
- Joshua erected a “great stone” at Shechem (Joshua 24:26-27) that can be seen to this day.
- Joshua the the people of Israel erected 12 stones after crossing the Jordan River on dry land. (Joshua 4:1-9)

These were memorial stones – to remember an event, specifically something God had done in the life of humanity.

There are many classic gravestone markers
(See the post that follows)

SPIRITUAL ALZHEIMER’S

God’s people had a memory problem. (Spiritual Alzheimer’s)
They saw miracles – shortly thereafter they doubted God.
They experienced the grace of God – shortly they were making idols to other gods
They received God’s provision – shortly thereafter they were complaining of their needs.

Whydid they do this? Spiritual Alzheimer’s!

What does God want us to remember?
- God loves us and provides for us.
- God sent the Lord Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. (Salvation)
- God wants us to live as examples of God’s presence in this world: loving, caring, giving,

It’s when we’ve forgotten these things that we can repeat the mistakes of the past.

OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND THE CHURCH

Some of my free time in Bolivia was spent visiting Archaeological sites (known and unknown) – piles of stones that you know did not get there on their own. At some point in history, individuals gathered stones, shaped some of them, arranged them in a certain way and used them for a specific purpose.

Sometimes we would stumble across these stones.
From the stones we can learn (deduce) about how these people lived.

I remember my professor Michael Dever (during a dig in Israel) – he could see a pile of stones – in his mind he could transform them into a temple, palace, house, road, etc.

One thing is for sure – the people and cultures that occupied these sites no longer exist – we have to study about them.

Their existence helps us to understand the purpose they served.

LIVING STONES

Most important, we need to remember who we are! (Our existence)

Peter tells God’s people (2:5): “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.”

The church is no archaeological site – it is a living entity.

Soon after Peter’s writing, the Temple in Jerusalem would become a lifeless pile of rocks because of human conflict and war. (Josephus, Roman/Jewish historian, has a detailed account of the temple’s destruction) Peter wants the Christians to know that this is not what they are destined for. The Jewish temple became an archaeological site; God’s holy temple (the church) will never become an archaeological site.

We are to put our faith in Christ, the cornerstone of a new building – something that even the divisive energies of this world cannot destroy.

I introduced the children my pet rock, “Stony.”
Pet rocks were a fad in the 1970s (ask your grandparents).
Stony can do simple tricks like, sit, stay.
He needs help with the more difficult tricks like, roll over.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his followers to build their houses upon the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus is that rock. (The foolish man built on sand, the wise man built on rock)

“Stony” reminds me to build my life on the Lord Jesus Christ (a living rock).

PETER’S PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

Peter knew about putting his faith in Jesus, he had some practical experience in the area.

Maybe you remember the story from Matthew 14. The disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Jesus told them to go ahead; he’d catch up with them. Then in the middle of the night (rough waves, wind, etc.), Jesus came walking toward them. Peter recognized him, “It’s the Lord.” Jesus told Peter, “Come on out, walk to me.”
Peter tried – Peter sank – Jesus lifted him up.

Maybe things look bad (pain and disorder / war, conflict, hate, murders, etc.), but we shouldn’t concentrate on the waves around us.
Rather we need to keep our lives focused on JESUS.
To be God’s People, we need to keep our focus on Jesus.
Most of all, we need to remember Jesus.

Paul tells the church, they are something special. The King James Version (KJV) uses the words “A peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9).
It is Jesus who makes us “peculiar.”
We stand out in the world because of Jesus.

Our “peculiarity” can lead to peculiar actions.

BEING, NOT DOING

People have asked me – what should I do, what should our church do?

Here’s a story that has always moved me:
Back in the early 1940’s, after the Nazis had overrun and occupied Holland, there were some Dutch Christians who came to their pastor, a man named Hendrik Kraemer, saying “Pastor Kraemer we are terribly troubled by what is happening in our community. Jewish people, some of them our very own neighbors, are disappearing – taken away by the Germans to prison camps. We know we ought to do something, but we’re afraid. We could be the next victims, and we just don’t know what God wants us to do. You’re our pastor – tell us what to do......”

As I’ve heard the story, Pastor Kraemer was silent for a time, and at last he said something like this: “I can’t tell you what to do, but I will tell you who you are.”

And then he opened the New Testament to 1 Peter 2, the passage we read today. He began with the words “Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house........” And he concluded by reading, “You are chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

“I can’t tell you what to do,” he said, “but I’ll tell you who you are....... You are living stones built into a spiritual house. You are God’s people, called to proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.......”

The story continues … some of those Christians felt led to assist and shelter and hide their neighbors, at great personal risk and cost. Some of them lost their lives. No one could tell them what to do, but as they remembered their identity they were inspired to acts of courage and compassion.

People often ask me what they should do.

“Pastor, my marriage is in trouble, what should I do?”
“Pastor, my kids won’t go to church, what should I do?”
“Pastor, church people are talking behind my back, what should I do?”
“Pastor, there are divisive issues before the church, what should we do?”
“Pastor, my doctor says I have cancer, what should I do?”
“Pastor, my child has a disability, what should I do?”
“Pastor, my child died, what should I do?”

I can’t tell you what to do, but I can remind you who you are …

Peter tells us (1 Peter 2:9) – once you were nothing (sorry, the truth can hurt), but now you are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.”

Once you know who you are, I believe you will know what to do.

TOGETHER FOR A PURPOSE

We are LIVING STONES (v. 2:5)

We need to remember that it is God who puts us together. We have been built into a spiritual house. We are a community of faith, of living stones.

The Christ who said to Simon (Peter) – “You are the Rock, and upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), says to us – you are living stones, built together by God to be a reminder to the world that God is alive.

We do things because of who we are.
The things that we do, let others know who we are.

1 Peter 2:9b “that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Memorial stones stand as a remembrance (memorial) to a person who has died.

Jesus calls us to be “living stones.” We are to be a remembrance (memorial) to our living Lord.

I can be a living rock (a living stone), only because Jesus is the rock of my faith and life.