1 Peter 2:4-10 God chose you to declare his praise!

For many families spending a night or two in a tent in the backyard is a rite of passage. Cozy sleeping bags, flashlights, s’mores and looking up at the stars make tent camping memorable for kids and nostalgic for adults. Although anyone who has camped in a tent also has a story or two about suffering through wind, rain, cold, heat or running out of batteries. When you are tent camping in the back yard, you can run back in the house when something threatens your fun and safety, but sometimes the house is far away.

The temporary nature of tent camping makes us appreciate our homes. Tent camping done on a shoestring budget and up to a Bass Pro Shop platinum tier outfitted excursion still leaves something to be desired about being at home. And to make the argument irrefutable, when given the choice between hoping to survive a severe thunderstorm, hail or tornado in a tent or stone home, the stone home wins. Though we do not call a tent home, we are still considered temporary residents in this world. When the Apostle Peter who saw Jesus’ suffering and himself suffered as a follower of Christ wrote to early Christian congregations in the middle of the first century, he acknowledged their suffering through many trials. Spiritually, these Christians were in a storm as the devil and unbelieving world mocked their faith and sought to entice them back into sin. Peter wrote to encourage them then as we read in our New Testament reading from 1 Peter 2, 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 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. Peter gave his brothers and sisters in the faith perspective to see that they were founded on the solid rock of Christ. They would be rejected by the world as Christ was because they were part of the spiritual house of all believers or the Holy Christian Church. Yet their suffering would not be in vain because their spiritual sacrifices of praise and fighting to rid their lives of sin to love God and one another would be pleasing to God through Jesus.

When the weather is pleasing, time in a tent is tempting. On a beautiful spring day in Texas, vacationing in a tent is a treat. Again, the cozy sleeping bags, flashlights, s’mores and looking up at the stars all draw us out of our homes. On the days when the weather is good, a tent and a stone house each offer worthwhile amenities until the storms come. And spiritually, every day brings a storm. Sin is always around us luring us away from God, and the devil remains crafty. Sinister and perverse tactics may be used by the devil, but often he hides behind the attractive, accepted and accommodating. Rather than tempting us with a full bottle of liquor, he begins with the blessing of a couple drinks and builds them up to daily dependence. Or the desire to provide for our family with a good job that in time makes money the priority and steals away any time we had to serve our families with Jesus, prayer, love, fun and rest. Ignoring the spiritual storm leaves us exposed to the devil and death which are too strong for us. And when we ignore the spiritual storm the people around us are caught in, we leave them to be swept away. We are not at home here in this world. We do not seek suffering as Christians, instead it finds us because we are chasing after Jesus, declaring what he has done and waiting to enter eternal life in heaven. Being comfortable, feeling at home and living without suffering attract all of us, but if those are what we chase and how we describe ourselves, a dungeon with the devil waits for us.

A meteorologist, a real estate agent and a custom home builder all walked into the dungeon. It sounds like a bad joke, but it’s the gospel. God knew the spiritual storm we faced, and he sent Jesus into the storm to be pierced and destroyed like a tent in a tornado on the cross for our sins. The Bible shows us that our future home is not a dungeon in hell, but a forever home in heaven. Peter references the Old Testament real estate brochure zeroing in on the foundational cornerstone of our home in heaven in 1 Peter 2, 6 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.” 700 years before Jesus, the blueprints were being drawn up in this quote from the prophet Isaiah. Then, Peter quotes from Psalm 118, a thousand years before Jesus, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Then, back to Isaiah, 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” Jesus was the rejected stone. His death looked like defeat, but it was crucial for him to die and be resurrected to save the world. Jesus saved us, but we still face trouble from those who stumble on him and will go to the dungeon. Jesus himself tells us not to be overcome by the troubles, trials and suffering we face because he will bring us to heaven as we read in our Gospel reading from John 14, 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” Though the forecast is storms, we know the way home and God will bring us to heaven through Jesus.

God built you into his house. Our lives as Christians are not built on daily affirmations where we declare a list of positive words out loud into the universe for good vibes to come our way. Instead, God gave us an identity as living stones built on Jesus. We have a firm unshakable place in the kingdom of God, and we have work to do. We have meaning, purpose and direction for our lives. Unless we are doing something sinful, we can keep our job, relationships and routines as Christians. As Christians we do things the rest of the world does while bringing Jesus with us as we hear in our New Testament reading from 1 Peter 2, 9 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. 10 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. All these terms describe the change God has worked in your heart. You are all of these at home, at work, in school, young, old, rich, poor, male or female. Though we are still in the backyard in the tent in the storm, we have seen the house. In the darkness, we have seen the light. Our life changing, lifesaving purpose is to declare what God has done for us and every person we meet. Yet this work is as simple as one name as we hear in our Old Testament reading from Acts 4, 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Jesus is the one we share. It’s interesting the Greek word translated to ‘declare’ shares the same root word with the word ‘evangelize’. Evangelize emphasizes the ‘good’ message we share about Jesus and declare emphasizes ‘going out’ with the message. God did not call you to declare his praises because you would not stumble over him or over your words. We declare what Jesus has done because he loves us and saved us from all the times we have stumbled.

For many families spending a night or two in a tent in the backyard is a rite of passage with cozy sleeping bags, flashlights, s’mores and looking up at the stars. Although anyone who has camped in a tent also has a story or two about suffering through a storm. We were called out of the darkness and spiritual storm into the wonderful light of God. We have been built on Jesus who sacrificed himself on the cross and rose from the dead to save us. One day we will be with him in our heavenly home, but now we serve as living stones whom God chose to declare his praise. Amen.

        

Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church