Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 4-10
God, you have called! We listen with expectation and longing. Give us strength for the journey and ears to hear Your word! Amen
Welcome to the Living Stone! How good can it get? This is how good it can get—we are being called to present ourselves to be building stones for a sanctuary vibrant with life. And here we are—in our first morning worship service, surrounded by a circle of friends that is unending. Seven months and 19 days after our first service as a new worshipping community, we are thriving and growing—making new friends each week and enjoying worship in this beautiful building! We come together rejoicing in all things new and good! And we give thanks to the God who leads us on this journey, blessing us along the way.
The recipients of Peter’s letter did not have it so good! He was writing to folks who had been devastated by tragic historical and social events—the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Roman army in 70 C.E.—that destruction meant for both Jewish and Christian people that the dwelling place of Yahweh had been destroyed and they were outsiders—both socially and politically. Into this setting comes a simple, yet profound invitation to come to Jesus and rebuild the temple—this time as a spiritual temple built upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ with a universal holy priesthood. Peter gives his readers a choice—they do not have to stay in this scattered, exile place any longer—they can choose to be themselves the place where God dwells and to extend this spiritual temple to all who seek God. Let me say that again, they can choose to become the place where God dwells…
And I believe, my friends, that we stand on similar ground as we continue to build this faith community that we call Open Circle. We come to the “living stone”—the One the builders rejected and that “living stone” is the one around which we construct ourselves as a “sanctuary—vibrant with life”! Peter calls this living stone who is Jesus—the source of life—the source of the building of something new—the cornerstone—not just a replacement of the old physical Temple, but a new kind of spiritual sanctuary into which you and I are called to serve as holy priests!
We have such sophisticated construction tools in the 21st Century that a cornerstone has pretty much turned into the pretty carved stone on a corner of a building with the date of construction. This was not the case in Peter’s time. The cornerstone was a large stone laid at the base of a building around which every other stone was plumbed and squared. There was no such thing as mortar, so gravity held these interlocking stones together—the importance of the perfection of the cornerstone cannot be overstated. And Peter is quick to point out that even though the builders of the world rejected Jesus as the cornerstone, God had chosen Him around which to build this great spiritual temple. As a living cornerstone, Jesus IS the spiritual temple. And we are united with Christ as we become living, building stones in this holy calling. We are all a part of this community building—we all have a job to do as a part of this living vibrant sanctuary.
I want to tell you about one of the most spiritual experiences I ever had. Many of you have been to Martha’s Vineyard and the little island was just in the news as Hurricane Earl passed by. One summer I had the opportunity to spend a week exploring the grounds and cottages of the Camp Meeting Association. Begun in the 19th Century as a Methodist Summer Campground, it gradually grew into what it is today—home to the hundreds of tiny little cottages that replaced the tents that originally made up the campground. In the middle of this circular community is the Tabernacle—an outdoor “sanctuary” that can seat up to 4000 people. Built in the late 1800’s, it has been renovated several times. Every Wednesday night in the summer, hundreds of people come to a community sing. The night I was present, there must have been about 1200 people. Everyone sings and the 4 and 6 part harmony is incredible. At one point, we were singing “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” in what sounded like 10 part harmony to me. It seemed as if the earth grew still--all you could hear was singing—just singing rising up into the skies. You could almost see the air quiver and sparkle with the energy coming from that many voices all singing one song. As we sang, “every round goes higher, higher” I’m sure I could see the stairway to heaven ascending on the very sound of the music. This is what a sanctuary vibrant with life must indeed feel like.
While we may not sing in 10-part harmony, the principle still holds. The beautiful, vibrant energy that flows from a united community all serving God and singing God’s praise will produce that same quality of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst—inviting us to rise higher and higher to reach the place of sanctuary and service that God has called us to.
What about this “holy Priesthood” calling? Peter says towards the end of our passage: “…But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do the work of God and speak out for God, to tell others of the night-and-day difference that God made in your lives—from feeling like nothing to knowing you are something, from feeling rejected to knowing you are accepted.” And this is what makes our sanctuary “vibrant with life”!
What does all this have to do with us, here, in this circle of friends—some old—some new—some waiting to be found? Remember The Color Purple—Alice Walker’s wonderful book that we devoured in the mid-80’s before it was a movie and then a Broadway play. Shug Avery, the not-so-repentant prostitute and later lover to Celie, was the social critic in the plot. She says to Celie: “Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in church? I never did, I just found a bunch of folks hoping for [him] to show.” I believe that what keeps us from being a bunch of folks sitting around hoping that God will show up is our grateful affirmation of our high calling—this priestly work chosen for us—a holy people—chosen to be God’s instruments to do the work of God and the voice of God—to tell others how different our lives are now that we know that we are not nothing, but rather everything in God’s eyes and in the eyes of God’s people—that we are not rejected as so many would have us believe, but rather accepted and included as precious children of God.
This temple, this Living Stone, this church is to be cared for—a sanctuary where we come to take rest and comfort from the everyday stresses of life—recharge—regroup, if you will, and learn to take the message back out to those who have not yet heard! We catch hold of a vibrancy in life that stays with us long after we leave this place. For as we participate as a holy people, we become the very sanctuary that we seek. Peter’s words suggest that we no longer need to simply observe life’s tragedies and sigh; nor do we have any reason to let others’ opinions keep us from being all that God created and called us to be. We have no need to search for a home—we can choose to be “home” and a family to others who need us. We do not need to wonder where God’s presence is in the midst of hatred, bigotry, and tragedy. We can choose to be God’s presence in the world—to be the people of God—God’s holy priesthood—chosen people.
Chosen people—chosen to be God’s presence in the world. And so, we live in ways that show forth what God is doing in our lives—the night and day difference God has made in who we are. To take healing to those who are hurting, we allow our own woundedness to be healed—to take joy to those who grieve, we allow our own mourning to be shared with others. To take peace to those who are anxious, we give over our own fears to be loved into holy courage. And in the sharing, life-giving energy through the Holy Spirit is present for all of us!
Welcome to the Living Stone! Welcome to the building of a sanctuary—vibrant with life! Today is a milestone on our journey! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Amen and amen!
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