Sermon for May 10, 2020 Easter 5 A House of Prayer Lutheran Church

1 Peter 2:2-10 Rev. Karl-John N. Stone

Bob Dylan once sang about someone who had fallen from grace, asking in his lyrics “how does it feel to be on your own? Like a rolling stone?” Well today, in 1 Peter 2 we hear instead about receiving the grace of God: we are “living stones” who are most definitely not “on our own”. Instead, we have been chosen by God to be his people, who do things that can only be done together with others and with the help of God.

This metaphor of “living stones” actually has its roots in the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemia. They were the leaders who helped the Jews return back to Jerusalem after 50 years of exile in Babylon. When they got back they found the Temple and the city walls destroyed, in ruins. So they rebuilt. All the people worked together, turning the rubble into “living stones”--salvaging and repurposing the old materials that God had provided, to make something new and beautiful. This was a sign of God’s presence with them; a symbol of death and resurrection, as 50 years of darkness in exile finally turned into enjoying the marvelous light of new birth in God.

So as we hear the teaching of Peter today, it’s all about God’s pattern of death and resurrection. That’s the way God works in the world. And of course, this is what Jesus did for us--he willingly took death upon himself on the cross, and he rose again so that through our faith in him, death itself would be the gate to salvation, where he has “gone to prepare a place for you.”

Jesus’ death and resurrection is still the way God works in our lives. Just as God once called his people at the time of Ezra and Nehamia out of darkness in exile, into the marvelous light of new life in Jerusalem--today God is calling us to follow Jesus on the way from darkness during this pandemic into light, as we navigate from an “old normal” into a “new normal” and we figure out some new ways of doing things to love our neighbors and keep our ministry vital and life-giving. The catch is, following Jesus doesn’t come without difficulty. We’ve got a long road ahead of us. And it’s hard to follow Jesus; it’s hard to dedicate your life to “loving God with all your heart and soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s harder still to put this dedication into action. Sometimes it might feel easier to stop looking for how God is at work, rather than trusting God to bring us through these difficulties.

It would have been easier for Ezra and Nehemia, too. When they got back to Jerusalem, they could have taken a look around and said, “these stones are really big and heavy. This rubble is too ugly. This destruction is too immense. Let’s just leave it laying here and forget about it.” But they didn’t--because they felt the call of God to move from darkness to light. From fear to love. From despair to faith. From death to resurrection.

They knew rebuilding their temple and their city was going to take a long time, and that every person and every family--each follower of God--had a part to play to get the job done. They knew that God had given each person a gift, a skill, a character trait, a talent that could be used in rebuilding, from big picture to the little details. From planning and engineering; to heavy lifting and manual labor; to cooking and feeding and provisioning; to mending and healing; to designing and beautifying; to protecting and safeguarding; to inspiring and encouraging and praying--every person had a different gift to offer. Each gift was essential in the work God called them to do as they adapted the old materials for new uses. And every time these gifts were put to use, it was a form of worship. It was, in short, a priesthood of all believers.

Our situation today in this pandemic is, on the one hand, different from Ezra and Nehemiah’s time. We’re not returning home after 50 years in exile to find our beloved temple and city destroyed. Yet, on the other hand, our situation is similar in the way Ezra and Nehemiah must have felt, because through the crisis of this pandemic God is calling us to take our faith and dedication to Christ and adapt them to new ways of following Jesus on the path from death to resurrection.

We’ve all been through an awful lot the past two months. We’ve lost a lot that we always took for granted, and we have a lot to grieve. I for one never imagined that 10 weeks into my new call to serve as your pastor, we would have to so thoroughly adapt and retool what church looks and feels like in such a short time. Things are going to feel different throughout this pandemic time--but, it won’t last forever. And when the pandemic is over we’ll probably have discovered some things we’d like to keep, and some great new ways to reach people with the love of Jesus. For now, though, it’s hard. But I know I’m not alone. And we all have things we miss, things we’ve had to change, or go without, or reimagine, or learn--whether that be church, work, school, shopping, recreation, travel, communication, or neighborliness.

We’re in a similar position to Ezra and Nehemiah--we know where we are, but it all feels different. It might feel like we’re surrounded by the debris from the Temple, living in darkness. We can’t see into the future with clarity, only best guesses. We can only see what’s right in front of us today. And it’s uncomfortable. All the debris from the “old normal” that we took for granted--what do you do with it? Wouldn’t it be easier to let it lay there? To give up?

The teaching of 1 Peter reminds us--in quoting Psalm 118:22--that “the stone the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner”--in other words, God can take the debris and use it to build something beautiful. Just like God can take the suffering of his Son Jesus on the cross, and resurrect him to new life, so that he becomes our salvation and the light to guide us through the hard times with faith. Through faith, God can build a “new normal” for us that can become something beautiful.

And that process starts when, as 1 Peter says, we “let ourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” What does this mean? It is all about our calling to be the Body of Christ in the world. By God’s grace, we are a “spiritual house”--meaning, the church is not primarily a building; the church is people. And as God’s people, our job is to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so God can point us towards Christ, and then we can point others towards the presence of Christ out in the world.

Ezra and Nehemiah knew this as they directed the rebuilding of the Temple and city walls--because it was all about the “priesthood of believers”. And of course, that is one of the key points of Martin Luther in the Reformation: each one of us is a priest, meaning each Christian is a person who represents people to God (through praise, prayer, and thanksgiving), and who represents God to people (through loving and serving our neighbor). Whenever and wherever any of that happens, we are worshiping God.

So those “living stones” Peter mentions? That’s about all of us who are in this together. It includes me as Pastor “Stone” and each one of you. We’re all living stones, being repurposed and salvaged by God who builds us into a spiritual house and priesthood of believers.

So as I end this sermon, I leave you with a few questions to reflect on and discuss: What is your calling within the priesthood of believers? What gift has God given you to offer as we follow Jesus into a “new normal”? How will you offer prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to God? How will you love and serve your neighbor, especially those who are most vulnerable? Amen.