“Welcome
to the living Stone, the source of life”, writes Peter, a disciple of Jesus,
“Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary
vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering
Christ-approved lives up to God.”
I
heard a few interesting words in Peter’s writings—present YOURSELVES to Christ, the LIVING STONE. And that’s where you and I are going
to focus our energy this morning. First, we’re going to meditate on the
invitation for us to present ourselves as building stones. Second, we’re going to meditate on Christ,
the LIVING STONE.
I think the following story rings true in many
households:
Dad to family seated around the dinner table: “I
could use a few extra hands this weekend.”
Son: “What do you have in mind, Dad?”
Dad: “I’d like someone to sweep the sidewalks and
driveway while I mow.”
Son: “Wow, Dad, that’s going to take a lot of
time and I’m busy this weekend." Eying
his little sister, the son continues, “I think Sophie should do it. She doesn’t have any plans.”
Have you ever nominated someone else to do the work
that’s being requested, hoping to be overlooked for the assignment at
hand? Has anyone ever nominated you,
dodging the invitation to consider the work themselves? How do you feel when someone nominates you to
do something you don’t want to do? How
do you think the other person feels when you are nominating them to do
something instead of volunteering yourself?
When
it comes to discipleship, Peter is reminding his new congregation of believers
that in a vibrant, or healthy faith family, everyone is the same and everyone
shows up. Peter is used to the OLD way
of being a faith family—with church leaders such as priests and scribes being
seen as holy, and everyone else perhaps not so much. In our text Peter is moving his congregation
beyond the OLD tradition. In Peter’s NEW
church, Peter asserts that everyone has the light of Christ within them. Everyone possesses a portion of Christ’s
spirit—it’s when we come together in community, in common unity that we begin
to see the bigger picture of Christ with us.
As
Jesus would say, “No hiding YOUR light under a bushel.”
YOU
are important. In fact, towards the end our lesson today Peter will say, “YOU
are holy priest.” What does Peter mean
by that? Peter means all Christians are priests; every one of
us. We are all mediators between God and
others—we all COMMUNICATE God with us, and for us—we all represent Christ to each
other. We also can all approach God with
our joys and sorrows—and we all can carry the joys and sorrows of our neighbors
with God.
Peter loves Christian community; vibrant, healthy
community where everyone participates—where everyone takes seriously their
God-given ability to communicate God’s love. No hiding behind someone else!
As the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we should
be encouraged by Peter’s words because the ministry of the laity (laity meaning
“people” in Greek) has long been a part of our identity together as the people
of God. Our Identity Statement says “We affirm the priesthood of all believers, rejoicing in
the gifts of the Holy Spirit - which include the gift of leadership - that God
has given for the common good.”
In the Christian Church, for example, you do not need a pastor
to be present in order for worship, including for communion to happen. You do
not need a pastor to be present for prayer to happen or for grace to be
received. You
can present your whole life to God as an individual and as a congregation.
Peter offers two warnings: The clergy are not to hoard to the ministry
of the congregation! The congregation
isn’t to hide behind the pastor!
How might this be exciting? How might this be difficult? The
Good News is that in the New Testament we find no evidence of second-class
Christians. We are equals; different,
but equal. And yet, if you find the call
to communicate God’s love to the world to be frightening or overwhelming—you
might be tempted to hide behind the popular assertion, “Let the Minister do
it. They are the professional. They are the ones getting paid.”
I’ve always invited the congregation to share in offering
children’s sermons on Sundays. I’ve yet
to do this at Central, but it’s coming!
Over the years people have said to me, “But we like it better when you
do it.” It’s as if I am somehow more
qualified. All I’ve had is more
experience. We all share the same Spirit
at work in us—according to Peter, then, we are ALL qualified.
But since clergy often hear, “you’re paid”,
a good question for us to ask is this:
paid to do what? What most
clergy understand is that congregations would like to have a person in their
midst who can understand and communicate the Bible, who can understand and
teach life in the Spirit, who can help shape a worship service, construct a
wedding and a funeral and a baptism, and who can help persons in distress—to
have time for people. These areas are commonly called preaching,
teaching, administering the holy ordinances, and counseling. This is the teaching of the seminaries—for
three years clergy are tutored in the areas of Biblical studies, Spiritual
disciplines, worship and holy ordinances, and counseling in the areas of grief
and marriage and other personal relationships.
And yet over the years, pastors have encountered numerous
unspoken expectations—attract young people, respond
to the visitors, lead the youth groups, administer the board—I read a search
and call form from a congregation several years ago that included “join the
Rotary club” and “serve as a volunteer chaplain at the local hospital.”
As our high school and college students prepare to enter the
world this month with their degrees, so are the church’s new pastors. One new pastor lamented, “We’re being turned
out to serve some pretty QUIET congregations.”
“Why do you think that is,” I asked her.
Another graduating pastor took the bait and answered, “So many people are hiding from God—they are looking to the
pastor for EVERYTHING, as opposed to nurturing their own call to serve—showing
enthusiasm for their growing faith, their growing prayer life, and their
growing compassion for the poor. I want to pastor a congregation where people
are hungry for growth—instead of shying
away. Don’t they know how wonderful
they are?”
I read somewhere that the ideal pastor “is 28 years old and has
been preaching for 35 years. She has one brown eye and one blue. He parts his hair in the middle: blond and wavy on the left side, brown and
straight on the right. She has a burning
desire to be with teenagers and spends all her time with older folk. He makes sixteen calls a day upon church
members and is always in the office to counsel or just to visit. She challenges and inspires but never
disturbs the status quo. He condemns sin
but never embarrasses anyone.”
One person cannot do everything in a faith community, can
they? Not a healthy faith community any
way. But many persons partnering
together to give and receive the love of Christ can. And that’s exactly how Peter is instructing
his new congregation. Show up, all of
you. No nominating little sister Sophia to sweep the side walks and driveway,
take responsibility for your prayer life and the well being of your own
neighborhood. Share your faith with
others, all of you. The pastor has a
role to play—but he or she is a partner in ministry, not the whole ministry. Holiness happens when everyone shows up!
Second, Peter writes to his new church, “Welcome the living
stone, the source of your life.” What Peter means by this is receive the living relationship
Christ is offering you. Don’t settle for
obeying religious tradition or laws. Sit
directly in God’s presence. “Like newborn infants,” writes Peter, “long
for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation.”
In other words, when we allow God to have access to us, God will
build us up—and the work of compassion will be gift and not burden—and we will
do so many things for Christ that we never thought were possible.
How do we allow God to have access to
us? We learn to be still so that God can
have space to speak. We learn to stop so
that God can “go”. In all honesty,
simply fifteen minutes a day spent in centering prayer---quieting our inner
chatter and sitting in silence—will go far to open our hearts and minds to
their own deep places—to Christ who dwells in our soul.
As author C.S. Lewis confessed early in his
conversion to Christianity, “religion ought to have been a matter of
good men (and women) praying alone and meeting by twos and threes to talk of
spiritual matters. God reveals God’s
self to real people…united together in a body, loving one another, helping one
another, showing God to one another…the one really adequate instrument for
learning about God is the whole Christian community.”
Let us pray: Gracious God, Help us not to be afraid of
you, and of your invitation to share your love with others. We long for the love of Christ to anchor our
common life together—we long for you completeness. Amen.
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