Living Stones - Transformed by Mercy - Sermon

Living Stones - Transformed by Mercy

22 May 2011

I’ve been thinking about the last few weeks we have had here at Trinity.

The conversation with parents about our children’s ministry and the hopes and dreams expressed there.  The river clean-up. Receiving new members last week. Our AGM; which is nothing like any other AGM’s I’ve been to.

In fact there’s a lot about Trinity which is nothing like anything I’ve known before.  We are quite an amazing church really - with the majority of people who come here involved in some way with serving in the community. Or should I say communities, not only Trinity’s community but local and international communities.

I think what makes us both unique yet conformed to what I see in Scripture is that we are God centred, with Jesus as the focus of that centre and also inclusive, welcoming and intentionally hospitable. We don’t hold on to a “them and us” rigidity.

What I see in 1 Peter 2 I is a picture God’s vision for his people and a blueprint of who we are becoming.

It seems to me that Peter almost uses mixed metaphors – living stones making up a spiritual house and being a chosen race, a people. More specifically; unidentified people becoming God’s people.

I’ve never been to Israel so I am not sure of how they built houses there in Peter’s day but when I think of stone walls I think of the dry stone walls in the north of England.

If you’ve never travelled to that part of the world and seen the patchwork of fields joined together by these beautiful walls or the amazing structure of Hadrian’s Wall it may seem very foreign; I know it did to me on my first trip “up north”.

They are an amazing feat. It takes a very skilled person to build one that won’t topple over.

There is no mortar. The stones are laid closely snuggled together, small ones filling in the gaps between bigger ones. Some are smooth, some are rough, even jagged yet when the wall is complete it is a beautiful work of art. What holds each stone in place is the stone next to it. Each stone rests on others, support others and is laid in such a way that the line of the wall is kept straight and true.  The individual stones keep their uniqueness yet become unified in the whole. The overall picture is one of a flowing rustic and textured yet somehow elegant wholeness. These dry stone walls last for centuries when built well, wind and rain, storms and floods have no devastating effect on them. In fact these things are what clean the wall. The wind and rain also smoothes out the surfaces of the stones over time. What you also notice when you see these walls is that even though the stones are snuggled together there are spaces around each stone, so each remains unique and to a small degree separate, yet always touching another. In the spaces lichen and mosses grow and small creatures and insects make homes, find food find shelter and new life – the wall becomes a living part of the surrounding countryside, an important part of the wider ecosystem. 

From time to time the wall will need an area to be reformed and the builder will come and take down a small section and rebuild it moving stones to a different place adding a new stone here or there making the wall stronger and more durable.

I love this picture because I see how much it looks like the church. Peter speaks of us coming to Jesus having been rejected by people we are seen as a precious living stone by God. Here we are living stones, built on and around Christ the corner stone; he is our foundation. We are set together, close yet with space and individuality. Up close we see our differences, yet it these differences that add texture, beauty and colour. Further back we see our unity, harmony and a different beauty rustic and elegant.  The Church has survived centuries because the trial and tribulations have served not to destroy it but to clean it, to give the master builder opportunity to reform it. In the nooks and crannies of the church new life occurs, nourishing of others happens and the landscape of the world is transformed by our presence, the spiritual ecosystem is kept in a healthier balance and the church’s practical involvement in the world brings mercy to those who had not received mercy.

Here I see why Peter uses these two seemingly different concepts, living stones and being a people. Just as the master builder reforms the stone wall to make it stronger, more beautiful; so God reforms us.  We were not a people, not a community, not anything but individuals trying to make our own way; but then God comes along and changes that. Now we are a people, God’s people, we are a community; a community of followers of Jesus; we are now becoming individuals living in a way that affects the wider community.

What has made the difference?

It cannot be our own human efforts alone; for there are many good and positive organisations out there. There are many good, generous people out there.  Indeed perhaps that is because that is how we are made – in God’s image with a blue-print to be community. Yet for all the community spirit in our world; all the positive agendas and good work in many organisations, we see there is often something still missing; something that keeps the people separate, something that no matter how much they give of themselves still leaves them feeling a bit unsatisfied. The longing for unity somehow unfulfilled.

John Main says

 “The beauty of the Christian vision of life is its vision of unity. It sees that all mankind has been unified in the One who is in union with the Father.”

 “This is not an abstract vision. It is filled with a deep personal joy because within it the value of each person is affirmed.

No unique beauty will be lost in this great unification but each will be brought to fulfillment in all.”  “In union we become who we are called to be.  Only in union do we know fully who we are.”

This is what makes the Church different – or at least should; could, can make the Church different.

Jesus, his gift of salvation, death and resurrection drawing us into the oneness of God.  Holy Spirit transforming us, into living stones and making us the people of God.

Peter reminds us that this is possible because:

 “You had not received mercy but now you have received mercy”

Mercy.  God’s mercy extended to us; God’s mercy flowing through us.

I am amazed by how God in his mercy chose each of us, seeing us as precious.

God having set us side by side as beautiful living stones to build and create his spiritual house; transforms us into his people and his amazing Church and gives us an opportunity to find our place and purpose in touching each others lives, being supported and supporting each other and discovering our true selves. We have become a people, a community. Here we influence and change the spiritual and physical ecosystem and bring the Kingdom of God into the here and now. What a privilege and honour!