Signs of Life – The Rock
1 Peter 2. 4-10
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, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 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.’
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’,
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.
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 marvellous 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.
The unusual thing about rocks or stones as images of our faith is that they are used in Scripture to refer to both God and the Church – as with our passage today from 1 Peter.
Christ is described as a cornerstone, and God as our sure foundation. God’s rock-like constancy against the storms that our lives sometimes feel like is captured in our hymn: “his mercy sure, from age to age the same” and “Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure”.
And yet we, as members of God’s Church, are also described as “living stones”. The image of a brick wall springs to mind, each one of us reinforcing the others.
In common with many faiths, Christianity is not a solitary affair. It’s not about us sitting on our own and coming up with some profound thoughts about God.
No, it’s about us living together, being involved with one another. Through the limitations and weaknesses of others, we can come to a better understanding of our own limitations and weaknesses. And as we accept and love one another, warts and all, God’s grace can work in all of our lives.
Almighty God,
by whose Spirit all who follow Christ are made a holy people,
build up your Church as a rock,
so that in unity and peace
each one of us being who we are called to be
may proclaim your truth and serve and follow you,
through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ
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