Bethel Lutheran Church - Pastor Luke Bernthal Jesus, the Rock ; 1 Peter 2: 2 - 10; 2008-04-20
The Bulletin (order of service) Text: 1 Peter 2: 2 - 10; Well, these two companies are, of course, not the first ones to use a “rock” as a symbol for themselves. Our text for this morning was written by an apostle whose very name means “rock” or “stone”—Peter. In our text he was writing about the true “rock” that is more dependable, stronger, and more permanent than any other “rock” there ever was, or is, whether real or symbolic. He is of course speaking of Jesus, the Rock! Peter describes some of Jesus’ “rock-like” qualities in our text as he calls Him “a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious” (v. 4). He’s not dead. He’s not a lifeless hunk of granite. The body of Jesus, the Rock did not stay lifeless in the “rock” of the tomb. He’s alive! And He lives and reigns forever! He is the “living rock” that divides all people into two groups: Those who believe in Him, rely on Him for salvation, and “build” their lives on Him; and then there are those who reject Him, stumble over Him and His Word, and are destroyed because of their unbelief. Jesus is indeed, the “Rock of our salvation” (Psalm 95:1) as we read in our opening Psalm verses for this morning. That is the illustration Peter is conveying by the first two types of “rocks” he compares Jesus to in our text. First, Peter calls Jesus 1. The Cornerstone. “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame’” (v. 6). Now, in our day, the laying of a cornerstone is mostly for ceremonial purposes. In fact, our church building has a “ceremonial” cornerstone to the left of the entryway doors in front. That “ceremonial” cornerstone, however, reminds us of the “Cornerstone” on which our church is actually built: the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Our “ceremonial” cornerstone has the name of our congregation, Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, the date this church building was built, and has these words from Ephesians 2:8, “By grace are ye saved, through faith” (KJV). Those soul-saving words of the Gospel are the true spiritual “cornerstone” of this congregation and they reflect the original structural value that cornerstones held in Peter’s day. In his day the cornerstone in any building project was the most important block in the entire building. The cornerstone needed to be perfectly measured and cut since all the other foundation stones were lined up and measured in relation to it. As a result, all the other blocks, stones, and bricks of the building were lined up, measured, and laid in relation to this cornerstone as well. If your cornerstone was bad, your foundation was bad. If your foundation was bad, your building would not stand for very long. Christ is the perfect Cornerstone. He is the centerpiece of God’s church. He is the focal point of the foundation which God’s church is built upon. This foundation is the Bible itself: the God-inspired words of the Old Testament prophets, and New Testament apostles (cf. Ephesians 2:20). That is our foundation and the Bible’s central message is Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Savior. Without that foundation and that Cornerstone, God’s Church would fall. We would fall, eternally! Our faith and our life are built on that foundation with Christ as the Cornerstone. All our teaching, believing, and living are lined up and measured in Him. In a world that is full of confusion, temptation, lies, and deception, the Word of Jesus our Lord remains straight, true, and unchangeable. His Law cuts through all the excuses, the rationalizations, and moral compromises our age and our culture has made and holds us all accountable to God’s unchanging perfect standards. But His Gospel also cuts through all of Satan’s lies about our own worthlessness and despair over our guilt and sins and holds before our eyes and hearts the eternal, unchangeable love we see in Jesus’ cross where He died for us and in His empty tomb where He rose again to give us eternal life! Notice also from our text that in Jesus, the “Living Stone” we also are “living stones…being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (v. 5). We are the individual building blocks of Christ’s church. Did you notice that Peter calls us “living stones” and not living “blocks” or “bricks”? I believe that is significant because bricks and blocks are all alike—same shape, same color, texture, and size. However, look around you. Do you look exactly like everyone else? Do you have the same gifts, talents, interests, or personality as everyone else? Of course not! We are very individual, very unique “stones” in God’s Church! We are all different shapes, colors, textures, and sizes. You are truly “one of a kind” creation of God! There is no one else in all His creation that is exactly like you (thank goodness, huh?)! And yet despite our individuality, our uniqueness, and the incredible variety of our talents, interests, and personalities we have a real “oneness.” That “oneness” is found in Jesus! In Him, and by Him we are joined together with God and with each other through faith. He is the “mortar” that glues together the “living stones” of His Church. Peter says in our text that we are “living stones…being built up a spiritual house…through Jesus Christ” (v. 5). The apostle Paul once described us, not as a building, but as a body—the “Body of Christ,” “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all...But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11-12). Just imagine how much the Lord could work in even a small congregation such as ours if we, with His help and strength used all the unique gifts and talents He has given us to serve Him, to spread His kingdom through the Gospel every day, in every way? How do we grow in this area? How do we grow in oneness with Christ and each other? Well, the same way we “grew” physically when we were babies: We drank milk! “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (v. 2-3). Notice, Peter says the “pure milk of the word.” That’s where we’ll get our spiritual strength and growth! Only from the “pure milk” of God’s Word—no harmful additives, subtractions, or substitutions! Jesus isn’t just the foundation and Cornerstone on which we build. He’s also the 2. Capstone. The translation we used for our text this morning didn’t bring this out, but the word that describes Jesus as a “rock” in v. 7 is actually a different word than Peter used in v. 6. The word for “cornerstone” in v. 7 is a word in Greek that can mean “capstone, or keystone.” I’ll read v. 7 again from the NIV translation, Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone" (v. 7). What exactly is/was a “capstone”? Well, you’ve got a picture of one in your bulletin (or on the top of the first printed page of the sermon. It’s the second picture.) The “capstone” is the wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch. The Romans were the ones who had developed the arch, which is one of the great architectural achievements of all time. Arches are not only beautiful to look at they also provide a brilliant way to support a load-bearing wall for doors and entryways without weakening the wall. All the weight and stress from the wall above the door or window was directed sideways through the stones of the half-circle arch and its capstone. Now, the capstone might not look all that important, but if you knock out that capstone the arch, as well as the entire wall, would collapse. In the same way we need to remember that Jesus is the Capstone of our lives—the headstone, the One on whom the stability and eternal salvation of our lives depends. Knock Jesus out of that position with anything else—“good:” family, friends, money, success, etc. or “bad:” drugs, alcohol, sex, fame, etc.—and our lives, spiritually, emotionally, and eternally, will collapse! But Jesus is described as a third type of “rock.” One that is a bit more surprising, unexpected, and even “disturbing.” He is called in our text, "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed (v. 8). Jesus, the Rock who is the 1. Cornerstone and 2. Capstone of all who believe is "The stone the builders rejected” by “those who do not believe” (v. 7). To the unbeliever Jesus is a 3. Stumbling Block, a fearsome boulder, an immovable obstacle who will eventually crush and shatter all who rejected Him and did not build their faith on the salvation He came to give them freely, willingly, and lovingly. If we trust in our own righteousness, our own good works, or simply in the fact that we aren’t as bad as the next guy so surely God’s going to give me a “free pass” into heaven our souls will be “smashed” on the rock of Christ’s words, "He who believes in Him [God’s Son] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). The Bible clearly tells us (the words that are printed on our church’s “ceremonial” cornerstone), “For by grace [God’s undeserved, unearned love] you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). How about Jesus’ words from our Gospel reading for this morning from John chapter 14: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Those words are seen by many as being very “offensive.” They are a “stumbling block” for many people. “What do you mean Jesus is the only way to heaven? What do you mean He is the only one true God and the only way to know the true God? What about all the billions of people in the world who believe sincerely but don’t believe in Jesus as their God or Savior? Are they all condemned?” Our own human reason and feelings can be offended at these words also. However, they are not our words. We did not make up this teaching about salvation alone through Jesus the only true God and true Savior. Jesus Himself taught it! He came to be the Cornerstone and Capstone of faith, life, and salvation for all mankind for all time and every place and culture. That’s why He died for the sins of the whole world! But for those who do not believe, like the Pharisees and Jewish religious leaders who rejected Jesus and made Him their enemy, He is an immovable, unbreakable Stumbling Block upon which they will eventually be judged and condemned. How about you? Is Jesus your Cornerstone and Capstone? Or are you “offended” by these words of Jesus? Is He instead a Stumbling Block to you? Remember when Jesus had fed the 5000 miraculously with just 5 loaves of bread and two small fish? After that incredible miracle Jesus wanted to teach the people that He was the true “bread of life,” and those that “ate” from Him—that is believed in Him—“has everlasting life” (John 6:47). Do you remember what many of the people said in response to these soul-saving words? “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"...From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:60, 66). Those are some of the saddest, most tragic words in all of Scripture! Do you remember what Jesus said to His disciples after this? When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?...Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" (John 6:61, 67). May we always answer the way Peter, the one who was inspired to write the words of our text, answered Jesus question, But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (John 6:68-69). By God’s grace we are able to hear and believe Peter’s incredible reminder in the last verses of our text, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” May Jesus always be “the Rock” of our life and our salvation; the “Living Stone” which gives us life and joins us in the inseparable “mortar” of faith to Him and in fellowship and love with our fellow “living stones.” May He never be a “Stumbling Block” or “rock of offense” to us, but rather may we joyfully and confidently always sing in the words of our next two hymns, “Chirst is made the sure foundation, Christ, our head and cornerstone, Chosen of the Lord and precious, Binding all the Church in one…” (Hymn 758 v. 1 – Worship Supplement 2000) and “Christ is our Cornerstone, on Him alone we build” (Hymn 465 v. 1 – TLH). Amen. |