Rolling Stones
April 24, 2005
1 Peter2:2-10
Aldersgate UMC
I. Today we hear that God is building a spiritual home out of rejects
a. Crazy Presbyterians in Gates,
i.
clinker bricks
come out of the kiln misshapen
1. factory seconds
2. rejects
3. throw aways
ii.
yet, in a
statement of Christian faith they are formed together to house a community
iii.
Sometimes I feel
like a clinker
1. Don’t quite fit in
2. My shape is a little different
3. But isn’t that how God makes us
iv.
Think about it,
1. a wall built from
different size stones will be stronger in an earthquake
2. than one from the same size?
v.
Flannery O’Conner
1. deeply religious author
a. struggled whole life with lupus
b. yet had a contagious sense of humor
2. “You shall know the truth,
3. and the truth shall make you odd.”
b. Original audience
i.
gentile
Christians, in
ii.
outsiders in
their rural community
iii.
foreigners,
aliens, manual laborers, the poor, those on the fringes of society who are
often used by those with power
iv.
yet God
proclaims to these outcasts:
1. you are holy, you are precious
2. you are chosen, you are called
3. you are in the eyes of God, important, significant
and necessary
4. and it is through the Christ in you that you have
become the building blocks of a new creation
v.
encourage
resurrection-influenced behavior
1. in society that does not share believers convictions
regarding this new era
2. at the heart of that behavior is the emphasis of the
distinctive character of the Christian community
c. This spiritual home is more than just bricks and
mortar
i.
St. Francis of Assissi
1. Many heard of him
2. Not be familiar with his call to rebuild God’s church
3. “ripara la mia chiesa”
a. heard from fresco of Christ on the cross
b. at tumble down chapel of San Damiano
4. took words literally and started to actually rebuild
chapel
5. soon joined by others, founding Order of Friars
a. took vows of poverty, prayer, & preaching
b. identified themselves with least on social scale
6. came to understand call not about finding stones for
the structure
7. but flesh and blood stones with which God was building
a house
8. different sizes and shapes
a. of low degree and high degree
b. educated and uneducated
d. As we begin to pray on our mission and capital needs,
let’s not confuse building with home
i.
If this building
blew down in a freak storm, would we still have a home?
ii.
If there were
some mistake in our insurance policy and we could not rebuild, would we still
believe we were the church?
iii.
If we couldn’t
come into this building and do what we always do in the name of church, would
we know what else to do in order to be church?
iv.
I have seen that
the folks here at Aldersgate, from our founders to
today’s leaders have maintained a balance
1. We are not house poor like some other congregations
who have invested heavily in hard wood floors and stain glass windows
2. This congregation has invested in staff for education
and music and outreach to community and world wide groups
e. This lesson from Peter calls us out of our comfort
level as a domesticated church
i.
into a community
with a peculiar identity
ii.
this “spiritual
house” is not a social club
iii.
does not exist
only for needs of members
iv.
called to be a
priesthood of all believers
v.
to offer
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
vi.
we do that
through faith in Jesus Christ and the ways that he taught
f.
When we know
Christ as the living stone, we become living stones, or rolling stones
i.
The Rolling
Stones
1. Giving away my age when I borrow this rock band’s
name
2. Carefully want to suggest that we could adopt a
little of their edginess
3. Living stones are not always in their comfort zone
g. God builds us into a single spiritual household
i.
Not because of
our own goodness
1. but because we believe
2. no exclusivity nor condescension
3. John 14:6 misused by some to create sense of
exclusivity
4. remember the Christian church as we know it did not
exist when this verse was written
ii.
and so that we
might proclaim the acts of God
1. proclaim through our actions
2. live and show God’s ways to world
iii.
Scripture tells
us
1. we are tied to each other
2. not isolated from others
3. nothing individualistic about Christian faith
4. need community to grow and mature
5. to fully represent the Trinitarian faith
II.
For we are
mortared together with love
a. This mortar love that binds us together
i.
exemplified in
One who was crucified for each and everyone of us no matter
1. how much we’ve done
2. nor what we believe about certain issues
3. whether first time visitors or life long members
b. Critical to see ourselves as community that empowers
and enables each other
i.
For health of Christbody
ii.
And for our
mission in world
c. Bislett effect for runners
i.
Named after
stadium in
1. where 62 world records have been set
2. no other stadium can make this claim
ii.
track is narrow,
with only six lanes
iii.
grandstand is so
steep fans are almost on top of each other
iv.
21,000 fans
screaming forces runners to keep rhythm
1. for one more stretch
2. one more turn
v.
runners run
faster because inspired by community
vi.
When we see
ourselves as community that empowers and enables each other,
1. When we let
ourselves be cemented together with the love of God
2. we too can set all kinds of records
3. What we thought was impossible becomes possible
d. this mortar love is a healing love, so we can expect
tension, after all
i.
wounds have to
be exposed in order to heal
ii.
the oppressed
must be acknowledge before they can be liberated
iii.
the brokenness
of our relationships must be uncovered so we may be reconciled
e. Even as we prepare to move into this time of prayer
and discernment
i.
regarding our
mission and ministry
ii.
and the bricks
and mortar of our building
iii.
let us not
forget, that it’s the people that make the home of our community
iv.
end with prayer