“Seeing Beyond Troubles” – “Strength in Community” – 1 Peter 2:4-10

One of the cherished heroes of American culture is the lone wolf. The lone wolf is the person who stands alone and, against all odds, comes out the victor. Think Marshal Kane in “High Noon,” or all the Dirty Harry movies.

The lone wolf, though, is only a lone wolf because he has been kicked out of the pack. Whether the wolf pup has challenged the alpha dog or is a threat, the wolf kicked out of the pack finds himself alone and lost in a harsh world. A search of the internet states that the survival rate of the lone wolf is not very high, and that it’s not unusual for a lone wolf to return to the pack eventually if it hopes to survive.

There are those who say being a “lone wolf” in Christianity is something that can be done successfully. The lone wolf Christian claims he or she doesn’t like or trust the local congregation, or that he or she has become disillusioned by organized religion. And, like the lone wolf in nature, the survival rate of the lone wolf Christian is very unlikely.

God has always intended His people to be a community, whether it was the nation of Israel of the New Testament Church. We see this truth in today’s passage.

Background

When Peter wrote this letter, the church had a unique part to play in the lives of its members. When a person professed their faith in Christ, they were often relegated to the outskirts of society. It was in the church that these new converts could find like-minded people, men and women who had the same salvation, even if each person’s salvation experience was unique to themselves. In the early church, there was a place to go where others could relate to what a particular member was going through. Paul understood this when he wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

In today’s text, though, Peter has written to remind us that only do we find comfort from one another and God in our church fellowship, but he also wrote that a living and growing church was always a part of God’s plan from before the creation.

Central Truth: God calls us to community in Him.

We find community in:

1. Being built together in Christ (3-5)

As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him—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.

In the Gospels, all four note that Jesus cleared the Temple. In the first three gospels, this event comes at the end of Jesus’ ministry, just after the Triumphal Entry. John, on the other hand, has the event taking place near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It is John’s record that includes an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees ask Jesus to give them a sign to prove His authority to cleanse the Temple. Jesus’ response is to say, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). John then wrote that the temple Jesus was speaking of was His body.

Perhaps Peter had this in mind when he wrote these three verses, although he certainly had other Scripture in mind as well. God uses these verses to tell us that we are being built into a spiritual house. Peter refers to Jesus as the “living Stone—rejected by men but chose by God and precious to Him, probably having in mind Psalm 118:22, which he later quoted in v. 7.

But for the moment, Peter introduced Jesus as the living Stone to show us that we are being built into a living Temple, a spiritual house and becoming a holy priesthood. The idea is that we, the church, who are the body of Christ in this world, are a living monument to Christ. As a living, spiritual house, we are dedicated to the service of Christ, and as a holy priesthood we are called to speak God’s truth to the community around us and to intercede on behalf of that same community. As a holy priesthood, we are called by God to allow Him to minister to our world through us.

The spiritual sacrifices we offer as holy priests are our prayers, our testimonies and our worship of the God who is at work in us to build us up in the body of Christ, the church made of living stones.

Because we are called to be living stones and because we come to the Living Stone, we need to be a part of community. One brick, standing alone and by itself, is good for nothing but being a stepping stone on a rainy day. Put the brick with other bricks, and we build walls, houses, temples. As the living stones of Christ, we are called to be built into His building, His body.

2. Being centered on the Rock (6-8)

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.” Now to one who believes, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 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.

A word that has been around for a few years and has become popular is the term, “multitasking.” Someone who multitasks is busy doing more than one thing at a time. Think of a juggler who has plates spinning on rods while keeping three balls in the air, all at the same time. It takes a lot of skill and practice to be a juggler. No one ever sees the numbers of times the plates have fallen and the balls have been dropped. The multitasker has to have a focus that enables him or her to do the task.

Focus is the key to finding security in belonging to a community. For the community that is the church, the home built of living stones, the focus must always and only be on God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Peter understood this when he was inspired to write these verses. To buttress his assertion, Peter quoted from three Old Testament verses: Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14.

In Isaiah 28, God is pronouncing judgment on the people of Ephraim. In the verses immediately preceding v. 16, Ephraim is quoted as, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, ‘We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place” (Isaiah 28:14-15). As a counter, God spoke of the stone He would lay in Zion, and says, “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line” (v. 17a). Peter understood this passage to speak of the promise found in Christ Jesus, knowing that our faith in Christ will be proven to be true and valuable.

The same stone, though, is used to thwart and defeat those who are not of faith in Christ. Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders of His day, and He is rejected by those who deny Him today. To those who deny Jesus is the Rock and Living Stone, they will one day see that He is in fact the foundation of life and the capstone of the living church. A capstone was the center stone in an arch that was used by the Romans in their building projects. The capstone would anchor the arch, and the cornerstone was used to make sure a building’s walls were true and correct.

The words in Isaiah 8:14 speak of a stone that causes men to stumble, and the original language makes it that this stone is repeatedly causing men and women to stumble in their lack of faith. It is a stone that continually confronts their error in judgment and their lack of faith. Peter said the reason for their stumble is because of their lack of obedience to the message of Christ—to believe in Him and walk in His ways.

For those of faith, though, the rock that is Jesus is a promise and an assurance that our faith is warranted. By having a constant faith in Christ, we are reminded daily of our reason for living and our purpose in this world. We are to grow in Him, to learn from Him, to walk in fellowship with the Father and the Son and with each other. In this way, we find community, and we find strength to endure hard times.

3. Embracing our identity in Christ (9-10)

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. 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.

Peter has used terms that are associated with Israel throughout the first chapter of his letter. He continued the practice with these verses. The terms of “chosen people” (cf. Deuteronomy 10:15), “a royal priesthood”(cf. Exodus 19:6), “a holy nation” (cf. Deuteronomy 7:6), and “a people belonging to God” (cf. Exodus 19:5) are all found in the Old Testament in reference to Israel. Peter used these words to remind us of our special calling and election by God Himself through Christ.

God has imparted to us a special relationship with Him, which was His plan from before the creation, and in that special relationship we are called to minister to our world. We do this as we proclaim Christ to our world, telling how He has brought us out of the darkness of sin and into the light of His glory and praise.

This last verse reminds us of God’s grace and mercy. Before we came to know Him, we were lone wolves, individuals grasping in the darkness for meaning and purpose. We were lost and broken, but now, by God’s grace, we are brought together in Him to become a building of living stones, a community of holy priesthood and choosing, and we have received the mercy that has been extended to us by God’s grace and love. In our sins, we had earned the wages of death, but God’s mercy was shown us and we have been washed clean from our sins. We are washed and called to walk in obedience to Christ who died and rose again.

Jesus is our source and our reason for community. Because of Him, we have a purpose and we have a family. We are being built up in Him for His glory and praise. Because of all that God has done for us, we are able to overcome our circumstances and work forward in faith and confidence.

Conclusion

We need each other. Even when we are saved by God’s grace and indwelt by His Holy Spirit, we still need each other. By being a church community, we find support, answers, testimonies and family. We may not always agree with everyone or everything in church, but that’s true of family. In the end, we love family and we love our church because we know that we have each other’s backs, that we will grow together in our shared experiences.

In times of trouble, it’s good to know that someone has your back. Even when we are born again in Christ Jesus, we still need each other. We find comfort and blessing in community.