A Living Stone

Cara riding a bus with her grandpa in Moscow. 

Scripture:

1Pet. 2:4    Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight

Observation:

Peter’s metaphor has suddenly changed from Christ being our milk or nourishment, to being a living stone that provides security and honor. Some would argue that we move from the imagery of family to that of temple. 

This is not just an ordinary stone, which is noted in the Greek. A rock on the side of the road would be a petros — which reminds us of Peter’s name. Instead he uses the root lithos — which is a stone which has been selected and carved to fit a particular purpose. 

This is a very special and unique stone, but it is rejected by humans. While humanity sees no use for the stone, it is chosen by God, for God’s perspective is different and unique. This stone, that no one else wanted, is precious in the eyes of God. This is the living stone. 

Application:

As I read several commentators this morning I wondered about their concern about the abrupt shift in metaphor, seeming to find no link between milk and stone. However, I began to see in Christ the qualities of all of humanity. Whether male or female, we can all find ourselves in Christ, and we can all reflect the nature of Christ. 

This may sound far too stereotypical but Christ is our nurturer — just like a mother who breastfeeds her baby. We, too, are to be nurturers of those around us, feeding them with the best spiritual food that is available. This is discipleship that helps the young believer to grow up in their faith. But Christ is also our strength — our protector, which we may see as stereotypical of the father figure. In Christ we find both male and female imagery, and that means that we can all find ourselves in Christ. 

During the years that we served as missionaries in Russia we often flew in and out of the main airport in Russia. In the early days it was not unusual to find a gauntlet of people, usually taxi drivers, outside of the customs hall. The people would literally crush in on you as you tried to walk by with your cart of luggage. On one occasion, when the girls were still quite small, someone tried to grab my luggage cart from me. It was a taxi driver wanting me to use his services but in his haste, he  was about to run over my girls with the luggage cart. It all happened quickly and somehow I jumped in front of the cart and yelled for him to stop — just in time for the girls to safely get out of the way. I remember the gauntlet jumping back. Evidently I had yelled quite loudly — but I was a mother protecting her children. Don’t mess with a mother who is trying to keep her children safe for what you see may not be what you would expect! She goes from milk to rock in about a split second. 

This is the image of the living stone, who is always our milk and our rock, depending upon our need. The problem comes when we think we don’t need him and so we venture out on our own, only to become crushed by the gauntlet of the world. 

Prayer:

Lord, my desire today is to come to you — the Living Stone — living life in dependence upon your nurture and safety. Amen.