5^th Sabbath in Easter

Graduating Senior Sabbath

April 18/20, 2008

Victor H. Nixon

GROWING INTO SALVATION

1 Peter 2:2-10

Sermon Series: Living Stones

In 1722, French explorer Barnard de la Harpe made his way up the Arkansas River. About 150 miles from the mouth of the river, he noticed a rock formation on the south bank. He referred to the formation as "La Petite Roche,"or "Little Rock." La Harpe named the sight that became our city and was later memorialized himself with La Harpe Boulevard that runs beside the river downtown. A commemorative slab hewn from the "little rock" now stands on the lawn of our City Hall.

"Little Rock" no longer merely describes a rock formation on the river; it is a community of some 185,000 people.(1) It is the geographic, political, commercial and cultural center of our state, a great place to live, work, play and raise a family. Of course, like other communities we have our share of political squabbles, crime, urban blight, potholes and sprawl. La Petite Roche is no longer an inanimate little stone on the river; it is a living, breathing, developing community, "a living rock", if you will. That metaphor is important in our text for today about the church.

1 Peter says that we "grow into salvation" by God’s grace in Christ through a community of "living stones." Not bricks and mortar, but "living stones." What does that mean? How do "we grow into salvation"? It appears that salvation, meaning God’s deliverance, is a process for Peter. The salvation event in the Hebrew scriptures was the Exodus. The salvation event in the New Testament is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation today is relationship with the risen Christ.

According to our text, growing in salvation involves personal and communal transformation. What hampers our growth in faith? There are a number of things. 1 Peter mentions things like malice, guile, insincerity, envy and slander (1 Peter 2:1). There are other things we could mention like abuse, greed, deceit and idolatry. But the point is: if you want to grow into salvation then you need to engage in some personal evaluation to determine what needs changing in your life.

The struggle to rid our selves of evil motives and deeds is a lifelong enterprise. The Bible calls it "repentance" and it means change," literally, "turning around and going in a different direction." None of us is perfect. That’s why we are here – to experience the transforming grace of God, move in a different direction with our lives, and grow into salvation. It all begins with you – and with God.

Another thing this text tells us is that growing in salvation begins with basics, what 1 Peter calls "pure, spiritual milk." When it comes to faith we all begin as infants, regardless of age, and we never outgrow our need for Christian nurture.

What is the earliest Christian teaching you remember? One me is the little hymn, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." It tells about the Savior, about God’s acceptance, and the importance of Holy Scripture. What profound truths of faith in one short musical line!

1 Peter says there is more. The early Christians to whom this epistle of 1 Peter was addressed found themselves the object of criticism and scorn because of their faith, not the first nor the last time Christians were accused of being counter-cultural. Faith is difficult, but especially hard when it goes counter to predominant social values—as it frequently does. They were surrounded by temples and shrines to some god or another, but they had no buildings, no sacred places.(2) They did have each other in the community of faith. The church is a community of faith that supports us in our struggles with life.

We have two Siberian Huskies, King and Tasha, that we enjoy immensely. However, with those two we have to enforce community with an invisible electric fence or a leash. Tasha once ran through the fence and took off. I called and ran after her but the more I called and ran the more she ignored me. Finally, I gave up. Tasha wasn’t interested in building community, although she did later return home—indicating, I suppose, a need for community.

How do we build Christian community? According to 1 Peter the first step is coming to Christ. "Come to Christ," Peter writes.(2:4a). Our core belief is that Christ is our Savior, our Example, to whom we turn for our salvation. It’s an invitation we accept, a personal decision we make. There is no Christian community without Christ and those who come to Christ.

The interesting thing, Peter says, is that the Christian Church is built out of "the rejected stone," Jesus, who was crucified on Jerusalem’s garbage dump, but who became the cornerstone, "chosen and precious in God’s sight" (2:4b). This same Jesus, Peter affirms, is "a living stone," that is, the resurrected Christ. So, the second phase of this community construction project involves building on Christ, the living stone.

The third phase involves you. Peter says, " . . . like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, . . ." (2:5a) People of faith are the living building material for Christ’s church. God is the mason who shapes you, applies the mortar that holds you together into a community of faith. You may be rejected by others, but God loves, accepts you and wants you in the family of faith where you can grow.

Jesus once asked his disciple, Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said, "You are Peter (Petros = "rock"), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:13-18).

And I say, like Peter, when you follow Jesus, you become the rock out of which Christ builds the church. You are the "living stones" that constitute the community of faith. You grow in your salvation and become strong as rock, but together, stone upon stone, you make up God’s house. You provide the ministries of Christ, the faith and teaching, teaching and financial resources, encouragement and care. As the song says, "I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together."

Central Church, Fayetteville, a church where I once served, burned one Saturday night. It was tragic. The next day was Sunday and we wondered: Where do we worship? Do we just call it off? A call was made to Mt. Sequoyah Assembly, our United Methodist training facility on the mountain overlooking the city. Arrangements were made to meet there and announcements were made on radio stations and by word of mouth.

People arrived in shock. The meeting space filled. We prayed. Sang hymns. Heard the Word proclaimed. When the invitation was given, a young woman came, professed her faith in Christ and requested Christian baptism. Dr. Joel Cooper, the senior pastor, turned to me and said, "Get some water."

I had no idea where to find water, nor a container for it. Desperate, I went to a nursery in an adjacent room that had been hastily organized and found water. I returned and the young woman was baptized from a paper cup. We left that day, determined to rebuild the sanctuary. But I learned that the real church was built from "living stones."

We worship in this lovely facility. We call it our church, but it isn’t really. It’s merely the space where we meet for worship, education, ministry, and fellowship. The church isn’t a building; the church is people, people of faith, who bond together for the purpose of growing strong in faith, in confidence that God can take rejects and make them into "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people" (2:9).

But there is more still to growing into salvation, according to 1 Peter. We undergo personal examination and transformation. We receive spiritual nourishment. We need strong Christian community. But those aren’t enough. We are called to ministry. Our ministry is proclaiming "the mighty acts of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light" (2:9a), says our scripture. We are called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.

Think about it. We live in this wonderful city of Little Rock, yet it is far from a perfect community. Economic troubles and squabbles threaten public schools, businesses and employment. People need hope. Crime is a problem and our jails are full. People need models for Christian character in the office, home and school. There are those who are strangers, lonely, bereft, ill, or living on the margins of society. They need a helping hand, a caring word, a family in which to grow strong. They need a light to show them the way. As God’s growing family of faith you have a ministry: to show them the way and invite them to join the journey.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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