What is Abide? | Listen to this Episode
This week’s Abide episode comes from the passage in the Our Daily Bread devotional from Monday the 16th of September, which is 1 Peter 2:4-10.
Living stones is an image that is hard to wrap our heads around, but it’s how Peter describes us. Let’s read the passage, and then dive more deeply into it.
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans 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. 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 you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”And,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, 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 is describing us as living stones, being built into a spiritual house. He’s talking of the way we are brought into God’s family once we accept Jesus’ sacrifice, and how each one of us is a part of this building. Each one of us makes up part of the walls, laid in place by the master architect.
But stones stacked up to make a house can’t just be laid in any position. There needs to be a strong, firm foundation, that both holds up the entire building, and ensures that the walls run straight and true. This is what cornerstones are—a solid base that ties together all the walls and ensures they don’t’ fall apart. Jesus is that foundation, that cornerstone, chosen and precious, as it says as Peter quotes Isaiah 28.
There is a whole second part to this passage though—which is in the title. As followers of Christ, we are now a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and God’s special possession. It’s an incredible gift, as the passage goes on to say, about how we were once not a people, but now we are the people of God, once having not received mercy, but now having God’s mercy.
So, how does this all tie together?
There are times in life where we sometimes feel rejected, or that we don’t belong in a certain place or group. It’s a difficult feeling to wrestle with, but ultimately it’s not true – because we do belong, and we are adopted into the body of Christ. We are not alone through Him, and because of Him. And not only that, but Jesus knows what it is like to be rejected – Psalm 118 talks of the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone – that’s Jesus.
And belonging to this group, this chosen people, is how we’re supposed to continue to build up the spiritual house, that is the body of Christ – or God’s people. Think of a time where you’ve been involved in a wider project with other believers. It may have been a short term mission trip, working in a community soup kitchen, running a community playgroup, or coming together with other people from your church to visit others, or share the Good News. This is how we’re supposed to build up the church and other believers – not alone, but building it up together in community, and building upon the foundation of Jesus.
So as we go about our week, I want us to think about this: if we’re meant to participate in God’s greater building, and be the living stones and instruments in His hands, what does that look like for me? Do I need to connect with a ministry of my church, or get together with fellow believers to continue the work He has called us to? Spend some time thinking, praying, and talking with others about this, and be encouraged to then continue being a part of God’s greater building project.
