This week the pieces from 1 Peter will be coming from Sunset Beach, California - someone has to it. So I should start with the beginning of last Friday's devotion Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Today, 1 Peter 2:4-5 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. If we are to mimic anything - it is to be the Christ of God. That way - sets the groundwork. It is the ground upon which we walk. It is the foundation for the life we inherit. This living stone sets the character of our lives. This life we live is called baptized in Christ, Jesus. It is dying and rising. In other words, we have another standard by which we live. The ways of the world around us will not be the way of life we are to follow. If we go that way, we will be nothing more than a part of the brokenness that keep wounding the world and breaking apart the glory of being made in the image of God. To be a part of this 'spiritual house' does not mean that we are a part of something in another place and time. It means we are a part of what is visible. We are (being baptized in Christ, Jesus) the way the promises of God become known and are within touch of all who are around us and see us. Quite an identifying mark - I'd say. Let me comment about sacrifices tomorrow. Connection: We are a part of the whole saving story - a part of the victory of God - a part of the historic and concrete delivery of God's people so that life can and will be new. The writer of 1 Peter was trying to set the tone for life as aliens. We live it all right in front of any and all who are with us. Like a house - well built and ready to last forever. In the middle of what is so common, O God, be our home. Amen. |
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