June 13, 2004
Service Theme - "Our God Is Our Rock"
1 Peter 2:4-12
Being a Stoner God's Way
I. Introduction
A. Illustration - When I was in high school, there were three main social groups. If you weren't in one of them, you were a nobody. There were the jocks, you know, those athletic types who were the babe magnets everybody wanted to be. Then there were the socias, the social butterflies, those who believed their social standing was more important than anybody else's. Most of the jocks would leave you alone if you weren't a jock or a socia, but the socias would go out of their way to tell you how much you didn't belong and consequently how worthless you were. Then there was the third group, the stoners. Most of them drank and did drugs less that a lot of the jocks and socias, but the stoners were still their own culture. There was a certain way they dressed and talked that was counter-cultural, that made them stoners. The interesting thing about the stoners was that, even though they were their own culture, most of them accepted anybody who wasn't a jock or socia. They were the outcasts that cared for the outcasts.
B. Context - In many ways Jesus was an outcast that cared for outcasts. The so-called beautiful people of His society rejected Him, but He didn't mind. I believe that, if Jesus was a part of our society today, He'd hang with the stoners. In fact, the Bible calls Him "the living Stone," and calls us to be living stones too. Let's read 1 Peter 2:4-12 to find out more about it, and I'm reading from the NIV.
II. Scripture Passage
A. 1 Peter 2:4-12 (from the NIV) - (NEW SLIDE) As you come to him, the living Stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NEW SLIDE) 6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (NEW SLIDE) 7 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," 8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." (NEW SLIDE) They stumble because they disobey the message-which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (NEW SLIDE) 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. (NEW SLIDE) 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
III. Being a Stoner means Being like Him
A. I want to spend some time focusing on verse five this morning, because it is the key to the whole passage. �you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NEW SLIDE) What Peter's saying is that each one of us is a precious and valuable part of the spiritual house God is building - the Church. Have you ever seen a brick building or house with some of the bricks missing? Looks bad, doesn't it? But more important than looks is the fact that, without every brick in place, the building is structurally unsound. The rest of the bricks could come crashing down, and someone could get hurt. The same thing is true of us, the Church. (NEW SLIDE) All of us are needed in order for God's Kingdom to be built here on earth. All of us are called to be God's priests.
B. What is a priest? A priest, as the people Peter was writing to would have understood the term, was someone who went before God and offered sacrifices for the people. A priest interceded before God on behalf of the people. A priest, as a keeper of the Law and the Prophets, was supposed to be a living example of God's Word in action. Peter says that God is building us into priests who will offer spiritual sacrifices to God that He will accept because of the work of Jesus Christ in us.
C. What exactly are spiritual sacrifices? Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest, says this: Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way in which we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is by presenting our bodies a living sacrifice. (NEW SLIDE) Sanctification means more than deliverance from sin, it means the deliberate commitment of myself whom God has saved, to God, and I do not care what it costs. Bible commentator Matthew Henry writes, The spiritual sacrifices which Christians are to offer are their bodies, souls, affections, prayers, praises, alms, and other duties... The most spiritual sacrifices of the best men are not acceptable to God, but through Jesus Christ; he is the only great high priest, through whom we and our services can be accepted; therefore bring all your oblations to him, and by him present them to God. What does this all mean? (NEW SLIDE) When we give ourselves in complete obedience and love to God, we are making spiritual sacrifices, and everything else we do will flow from that obedience and love. That's what offering spiritual sacrifices is all about.
D. Now that Peter has laid the foundation of this truth, he moves on. Verse six: For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 7 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," 8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message-which is also what they were destined for. Jesus is so precious to us that giving ourselves totally and completely to Him isn't a duty we begrudge, but a gift of love that we offer gladly. The contrast is those who trip over the Stone of Jesus, those who refuse to obey and refuse to give themselves in love to a relationship with Jesus. Peter tells us that such people are destined for stumbling because of their disobedience. It's very easy for us to completely spiritualize the Bible - you know, to say that what the Bible says applies only to our spirituality and not to real life. Peter tosses that idea in the trash. He says that (NEW SLIDE) people stumble around in life and keep tripping over the Lordship of Jesus Christ because they disobey. So let's make sure we don't disqualify ourselves from being living stones and priests of God by walking in disobedience!
E. After this warning, Peter gives us some awesome news. He says that we're not like those who walk in disobedience - God is making us into something more. Verse nine: (NEW SLIDE) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. God has chosen those who believe on Him to be His people, priests of royal descent, a group of Gentiles who weren't holy to be holy, a people belonging to Him. The Greek says that we are His "private possession" - and that should tell us how treasured we are by Him. In the Old Testament law, priests weren't of royal descent; they were descended from Aaron. But Scriptures tell us that Jesus came from the line of Judah as a royal high priest by God's appointment. And as adopted children of God we also are a royal priesthood. We don't need anybody to go before God on our behalf. We don't need to take somebody who needs God to a priest in order for them to learn about God. We, all of us, are royal priests. We all can boldly go before God. Hebrews 4:16 says, (NEW SLIDE) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. The other cool part about being priests whose high priest is Jesus is that we can tell others about Him and how to know Him. (NEW SLIDE) We can share His grace and love and comfort and compassion with anyone, because we are all priests before God. We don't have to run out and find a professional evangelist or pastor or even counselor every time someone needs help. All of us can do that stuff and more. Granted, some are better at some of these things than others because of our different giftings, but all of us are priests before God. And when we figure out that it doesn't always have to be the professionals who do all that stuff and more, then we begin to fulfill our potential as royal priests and living stones. We begin to do what Jesus did and become like Jesus, which is what we are all called to. And that is wonderful truth. (NEW SLIDE) Peter tells us that we were once unholy people who could not even approach God, but now God is making us holy even as He is holy as we follow and obey Him. We can stand before Him and praise His glorious name because He has brought us out of our evil darkness and into His holy light! Praise God! He took a group of unholy pagans who were destined for hell and had nothing in common, and through His mercy He has made us His very own precious priests! That is one of the most awesome truths in the Bible, and we've got to grab hold of it!
F. Peter has given us all this good stuff to think about and to rejoice in, to assimilate and to act on. But then he sticks in a warning that we need to be prepared to fight whatever may hit us. Verse eleven: Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Peter reminds us again that we are citizens of heaven, not of this world. So he says that, (NEW SLIDE) in view of the fact that we are God's prized possession, His priests, His holy people, we've got to fight sin with everything we've got. We're all hit with passionate desires that tempt us to sin. In fact, they are so strong that the Greek calls them "fleshly lusts." Peter knows that sin makes us unholy so we've got to fight it with all we're worth so that we'll remain holy and pure priests before God. He says these sinful desires war against our souls. But it's not a random attack. (NEW SLIDE) The Greek means "wage war" or "carry on a military campaign" and is the root of our English word "strategy." Satan knows how to hit us at our weakest points. He knows that, if he can get us to follow those fleshly lusts and sin, he can compromise our witness as God's holy priests. That's why Peter added: Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. If we live as the holy priests of God He has called us to be, then when Jesus comes again even the pagans will have to give God the glory that we stood firm in the face of temptation. And that's a powerful truth.
G. Have you ever seen the movie The Lion King? One scene that sticks in my mind is when Simba is talking to his dead father's spirit (by the way, I don't condone the spirituality in that movie), Mufasa says, "You are much more than what you've become." We, as God's holy and precious priests, are much more than what we've become. (NEW SLIDE) The good news is that we can become more and more the chosen people, the royal priests, the holy nation, the people belonging to God, that He has called us to be. So let's go forth and be the priests of God, the living stones, we're created to be!
H. Illustration - Martin Luther wrote, Not only are we the freest of kings, we are also priests forever, which is far more excellent than being kings, for as priests we are worthy to appear before God to pray for others and to teach one another divine things (as cited on PreachingToday.com). We are God's priests, co-stoners with Christ. Let's live like it!
IV. Conclusion
A. Please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for God and for each other's privacy. Let spend a few quiet moments listening to what God has been whispering to our hearts.
B. If God's been telling you that you need to grab hold of your identity as a priest, a chosen person, a holy person, His private possession, and you want to make that commitment, make it right now. Don't wait until you get home or feel more like doing it. If you need to and want to make that commitment, take a few moments right now and make it. Let's pray together.
