Members Only?

Dr. D. William McIvor

April 20, 2008

Presbyterian Church in Sudbury

1 Peter 2.1-10 (NRSV)

Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

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. For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,”

and

“A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

This text can be and unfortunately has been read as if it were describing an exclusive and members-only club. WE are a chosen race. WE are a royal priesthood. WE are a holy nation. WE are God’s own people. Aren’t we just grand?

But if we read the text this way, we are misreading it. For 1 Peter was written not to describe how wonderful Christians are but to describe how wonderful God’s love is. God loves us not to make us an exclusive club but to show us how inclusive God’s love is. Far from being a members only kind of thing, the text is really about God’s love for all.

Ask people what the opposite of love is and they will always say hate. But hate is not the opposite of love. Rejection is the opposite of love. When we don’t love, we reject ourselves or others as having any worth. That’s why we need to hear today’s text. It talks about the stone which the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone. Early Christians applied that quotation from Psalm 118 to Christ. He was rejected by the world. But in crucifixion and resurrection he became the cornerstone of salvation. Jesus overcame rejection with love. That needs to happen in us too.

Over 700 years before Jesus lived, the northern kingdom of Israel was in turmoil. Four kings had been assassinated within 14 years. The empire of Assyria threatened to crush them. They tried appeasing the Assyrians by adopting their ways and false worship of fertility gods dominated their lives. In that awful time, a prophet name Hosea spoke the word of the Lord.

Hosea spoke not just with words but with his life. He married a prostitute named Gomer. She had three children, none of whom was fathered by Hosea (Hosea 2.4) and then she rejected and left her husband. But Hosea brought her back publicly and took her again to himself in love (Hosea 3.1-5). And his tender, forgiving love became a sign for God’s tender, forgiving love. Even though the people had rejected God to prostitute themselves with false deities, the Lord loved them, forgave them, and restored them to himself.

God’s love was demonstrated especially in the names of Gomer’s children. One child was named Lo-ruhamah which means “Not Pitied,” literally “Not Mercied.” Another child was named Lo-ammi which means “Not My People.” The names reflect God’s rejection of evil ways and even Gomer’s own self-rejection. But when Hosea redeemed her, the children’s names were changed. Not Mercied became Mercied and Not My People became My People. God overcame rejection and new life was celebrated with new names.

1 Peter said, “Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.” In those words he recalled the story of Hosea and Gomer in order to say that God was still doing that kind of thing. In Jesus Christ, God is still making people who feel rejected to be his people. God brings back people who are far away from him. God overcomes the rejection we carry inside of us. God overcomes the way we reject others because we reject ourselves. God gives us a new name to celebrate new life in his love. We are named Christian — Christ One!

Leslie Weatherhead (1893 – 1976), the great British preacher and theologian of a generation ago, tells of a time he stayed a few days in the country with some close friends. He was sitting one day on the lawn and at his feet was a dog named Joe. Joe was very old and very feeble. As for appearances, there wasn’t much to commend old Joe. For some time his back had been red-raw with some kind of disease and at least one veterinary surgeon had specifically recommended that Joe be “put away.”

But Joe belonged to Mike, the son of Weatherhead’s host and hostess. Mike had interrupted his university studies to serve in the Navy. So Joe stayed with Mike’s parents. Weatherhead knew his hosts well enough that he could comment about Joe. His comments were not rude. Neither were they complimentary and he suggested that perhaps Joe wasn’t worth saving.

The hostess agreed that Joe certainly was a great care as he tottered about, even something of an anxiety. “But,” she added, her eyes softening, “we love him for Mike’s sake.” They saw the dog as something Mike loved. They knew they could never do away with Joe because they wouldn’t want to meet Mike’s eyes after his Navy service when he said, “Where’s Joe?” and all they could answer is that he had been “put away” because he was a nuisance and of no use and not worth saving.

“Not worth saving.” What an ugly thought. You see, Mike’s parents saw past the label Weatherhead in his ignorance had affixed to Joe as a wretched, useless, old dog. Joe had meaning, dignity, and worth because he was Mike’s dog.

We have meaning, dignity, and worth because God loves us for Christ’s sake. We belong to Christ. In his eyes we are not wretched and worthless. We are chosen and precious. We are not diseased and dying like an old, sick dog. We are in Christ’s eyes forever young pups leaping about with tail-wagging joy, a boundless energy, and a happy bark. In Christ’s eyes, growing up doesn’t mean growing old. Growing up means learning to accept God’s love, growing up means growing eternally young.

We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. Once we were no people but now we are God’s people. Once we had not received mercy. Now we have received mercy, not to be or become an exclusive club but to share God’s embracing love for all. Thanks be to God.

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