The New People of God
Scripture:
1Pet. 2:5 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.
Observation:
Peter had already described Jesus as a living stone, and that he was the cornerstone for the people of God. The invitation here is for people to enter into a relationship with Christ, and through this relationship, be transformed into living stones, just like Jesus is a living stone.
The stones don’t just lie around on their own, but are continually built together. The verb form in the Greek suggests a continuous and on-going action. We are not just put together once to become an edifice, but because the stones are living, the action is continuous, every day, where the new people of God are knit together to become a spiritual house.
The new people of God are to be a holy priesthood, and this, because they are a part of the spiritual house. A temple made of stones cannot do anything for it is not living. The spiritual house built with living stones is a vibrant organism in which every one plays a part, serving as a royal priesthood. The building cannot do anything, but the people can all serve, giving themselves up as spiritual sacrifices through praise and charitable deeds. Everyone who is a part of the community of faith is to participate in this way as the new people of God.
What does this mean for those who are “called” into ministry? “The only ministry the NT sees as set apart in any way is that of the elder appointed to leadership, teaching and pastoral care” which Peter will outline in chapter five. (Davids, NICNT)
Application:
We are still in the midst of the COVID19 season and it’s become quite a challenge for the Church. Maybe that’s because we had become very dependent upon the physical church building, and not invested as much in the living stones. As the new people of God, the spiritual house is knit together by the members who are themselves living stones.
We often think about participation with God, or living as partakers of the Divine Nature. This imagery of living stones makes it quite clear, that we are to participate with Christ who turns us into living stones, just as he is a living stone. It is only as we remain connected to him that our own organism has life. The on-going action of “let yourselves” — means that there has to be an on-going action of allowing God to work in our lives. This is the day by day, continuous and on-going journey with Jesus Christ.
When we are engaged in that on-going journey with Jesus, then we can be a part of the spiritual house. Again, we consider what that means for us during the season of COVID. The church building is simply a resource, it is not the end-game. For so long we have focused on how many we can get into the building on a Sunday and we have used this count to determine whether a church is healthy. But what if God’s people really lived as the new people of God — living stones who participate through praise and charitable deeds every day and in every community in which we are located.
People don’t need to come to a church building to find Christ because as living stones we take Christ into the world. We still gather as the people of God to worship, but every day we live into the holy priesthood into which we are all called. This is how we live out our lives as the new people of God.
Prayer:
Lord, may your Spirit flow in and through me today, and every day, so that I can be your living stone. Amen.
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