05.07.2023 - God's People

Anthony W. Franklin

Easter • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Scripture: 1 Peter 2:2-10

1 Peter 2:2–10 NRSV

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like 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. 6 For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” 8 and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a 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. 10 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.

God’s People

05.07.2023

The Farm That Grew Barbed Wire

Almost thirty years ago, my parents dreamed of retiring, moving out into the country, and building a house. They made plans, acquired a piece of family land, and began spending weekends working to prepare it. Unfortunately, the land had been out of regular use for several years, and some small buildings that needed to be taken down were in disrepair. It was a lot of work, but they had several years to plan and prepare for that big project.

I was finishing high school then and had no interest in farming or all the hard work required to keep the land out there. They spent weeks on the property doing nothing more than mowing, cutting out dead trees and bushes, and pulling out old fences. I was sure that the land was growing barbed wire and fence posts.

I learned quickly that growth is only good if there is purpose and direction. A garden full of weeds can be worse than no garden at all, especially when some of those weeds are harmful. I sometimes hear it said that the world would be a pretty nice place if it weren’t for people. The Bible tells us differently, though. Genesis 1 and 2 tell us that the world grows to be a mess when we are not taking our place as servant gardeners and shepherds.

As God's people, we have a purpose. We are called to live for Him.

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Milk makes the Body Grow

Mary Buck shared a devotion with us last week, highlighting the importance of spiritual growth. Peter reminds us of this need as well. He says we need spiritual milk to grow spiritually strong, as infants need milk to make their bodies grow healthy and strong. While we know today that some people can grow lactose intolerant as they age, we never outgrow our need for spiritual milk. The basics of our faith are like the primary food groups. Rather than grow obsolete, they combine and interact in ways that become more complex spiritual food for us as we grow closer to God and more into the image of Christ.

In verse 1, Peter tells us to rid ourselves of all malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander and replace those toxic things with spiritual milk. Spiritual milk is a lovely metaphor, but what does it mean? Milk is not a “watered-down” version of spiritual nutrition for infants. Instead, it is a complete meal with all the nutrients they need to start their growth. It may not be fancy, but it gets the job done.

Milk is more than just an essential food element for infants, though. Nursing is an act of bonding between parent and child. So spiritual milk is not just replacing bad things with good things. It is replacing those things that break apart our relationships with God and others and replacing them with the one thing that brings us closer to God and helps us grow into the person He has created us to be. So what is that one thing? Reading our Bibles? Praying? Worshipping? Serving others?

Peter does not tell us precisely what this means. Paul, however, uses the same illustration to talk about the basics of the faith. I have a strong theory for what this spiritual milk might symbolize: Forgiveness.

We have gone through a study on forgiveness for our Thursday Bible Study and Joe Dowdy is starting a study on Acts this week. We learned that forgiveness is a bond that connects and grows our relationship with God. You can’t get into a saving relationship with God without receiving forgiveness, and you won’t grow spiritually without forgiveness. Indeed, the first announcement of the gospel message was “repent and believe.” In verse 1, Peter mentioned many things we should repent from (malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander), and then in verse 2, we receive forgiveness for those things we have repented. That allows us to grow spiritually.

What does receiving spiritual milk look like daily? Spending time listening to God. It means clinging to God as infants cling to their mothers, entirely focused on receiving what gives them life and allows them to grow. What can you do each day that puts you in that kind of connection with God? Where can you go? Who helps you get to that place of intimate connection with God?

And what things do you need to remove from your life that cause you to stumble away from receiving God's saving grace and forgiveness?

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Stumbling Without Purpose

Something tries to keep us down and trip us as we move forward. Peter refers to Psalm 118:22, which gives us the impression that he is referring to Jesus: the stone that was rejected by people but chosen by God as the cornerstone of creation. It is not difficult to understand why Jesus would be the cornerstone, but why would He trip us up?

One of the incredible feats of architecture in the Bible came from Genesis 11, known as the Tower of Babel. Humanity, in all their pride, decided to build a city and a tower that would reach heaven. It was one of the first industrial revolutions of the world and the invention of brick and mortar. However, God stopped it by causing everyone to speak different languages. The confusion disrupted their communication, and the project stopped before it got off the ground.

There are moments when our pride brings us to incredible feats and accomplishments, where we try to build our lives on our own. But most of the time, the opposite is true. We let gravity control our lives. Rather than working to build up, we allow the world to pull us down. We choose the path of least resistance. Our passage today shows us that whether we are building up or tearing down, working diligently, or wasting away our days, God is still building Himself. He is not using brick and mortar, He is building with people, and Jesus is the cornerstone of all He is trying to accomplish in us. We get tripped up by Jesus when we are trying to build our own life apart from Him, and He does that to keep us from building something apart from God that will ultimately bring our life to ruin.

Let’s look back at Peter's short list of sins: malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander. These are behaviors and attitudes that fit a dog-eat-dog world. They are motivated by a desire to rise above the crowd by shoving everyone else around down. From a human standpoint, this looks like getting ahead, even though it may only be relative to those you push down around you. Still, from God’s perspective, it is a picture of a person rebelling against God’s building project, stepping out of alignment, and taking as many people with them as possible. It is cancer in creation, and God will not allow it to remain that way.

Jesus causes us to stumble like speed bumps cause us to slow down so we don’t endanger ourselves. When we find ourselves stumbling, that is a warning sign for us to stop and pay attention to our actions. Are we allowing sinful nature, even if it comes naturally to us, to be the thing that guides our life? If so, perhaps God is causing us to stumble so that we will stop, repent, seek His forgiveness, and get back in line with Him.

Trying to build your life according to God’s will may be challenging. In my experience, it is much easier to recognize when God says “no” and redirects me when I’m going off route and need a holy “recalculating” moment. I don’t always know exactly what God wants me to do, but it is usually clear what He wants me to steer clear of if I pay attention to Him.

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Grow Together to Hold God

Sometimes all this business of following God’s will seems rather selfish on His part. Why can’t we live our lives, be kind to one another, and do what we want? Why should we build our lives around what God wants?

Peter tells us we must follow God’s will because we have been chosen, just like Jesus. Just like Jesus, our purpose is not individualized. Everything we know about creation shows us that life interacts together in ecosystems. People are not made in factories. They are raised in family systems. We learn and grow with each other. Part of why sin is such a pervasive problem is that we are all connected, and one person's sin affects everyone and everything around them, even in small, subtle ways. Our scripture tells us that God can redeem those pathways for His use. Just as God used the roads built by the Roman Empire to spread the gospel in the first century, God saves and remakes our sin-sick relationships around us to spread truth, forgiveness, righteousness, and holiness.

God is building us into a house for Himself, and we cannot hope to do that ourselves. Throughout scripture, God has shown that a building cannot hold Him. A place does not designate his home. His people define it. We know God is far bigger than we can imagine, and the idea of creating a building to house Him is a little far-fetched. It is like trying to build a doghouse for a dinosaur. There will always be parts of God that don’t fit in the house.

But we are not a house of lifeless bricks and dead stones. Instead, we are a living building constantly growing around God, moving with Him. We are living stones being built up as God’s Temple that will not be finished until Jesus comes back to be the cornerstone and the capstone: the beginning and the end.

So how do we live out this life as God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation?

Peter calls us stones, not bricks. Stones do not always fit together as well as bricks. Sometimes they have to be reshaped to line up with each other and form strong bonds. So God works to reshape us to fit perfectly as we grow with Him. And as we share that forgiveness, it creates bonds like mortar between us, taking account of our rough edges and filling in our gaps.

We make sure we put our roots down in Jesus, our cornerstone, so that we are in right relationships and proper alignment with Him. He is the solid ground that keeps us oriented to God’s presence and will. And then, we use our growing relationship with God to recognize where God is moving to, and we reach out in that direction. As we stand on Jesus, the living Word of God, and reach out under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, God builds us all together as His house. We are not the builders. We are His building material. We may not see the big picture of how it all works together, but if we are faithful to God and willing to follow His guidance, we will fulfill the role and purpose He calls us.

Today we celebrate Holy Communion together. Join me now as we come together as God’s people and celebrate the great work He has done for us and that He is doing in and through us.

Communion – The Great Thanksgiving II

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Glory to God. Amen.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

Always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

And so,

With your people on earth

And all the company of heaven

We praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your church,

delivered us from slavery to sin and death, And made with us a new covenant

by water and the Spirit.

On the night to which he gave himself up for us

he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,

gave it to his disciples, and said;

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

“Drink from this, all of you

this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.”

And so,

In remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving,

as a holy and living sacrifice,

in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood.”

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other,

and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory,

and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,

all honor and glory is your, almighty Father,

now and for ever.

Amen

The body of Christ, given for you. Amen.

The blood of Christ, given for you. Amen.

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