My Fourth Installment to the Peter Trilogy....

The Stone

"Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you'll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedence:

'Look! I'm setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.'

To you who trust him, he's a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,

'The stone the workmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone.'

For the untrusting it's '...a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way.'

They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you- from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."

-The Message

The man who wrote those words understood them all too well. He had lived and breathed a life of dedication to his teacher, Jesus Christ. He understood guilt. Rejection. Pain. Mercy. Perseverance. In fact, he himself became known as Peter, from the Greek "petros", which literally means "rock". It was not a self-indicted title, but a name given to him by his Savior that he would grow into over a lifetime of trial by fire.

In fact, as I read these written words of an older and withered Peter, I am reminded of his earlier days when he walked with Jesus. The age he must have been that I myself am in now.

What led Peter to go from someone who we most often identify in the Gospels as always messing it up to the strong and sturdy leader of a newly born faith in the Acts of the Apostles?

The event that sticks out in my mind is the fireside chat with Jesus by the lake after the resurrection. In one question Jesus helps Peter not only overcome his unbearable guilt and shame but he guides him to the answer he being searching for his whole life.

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

"Yes, Master, you know I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes, Master, you know I love you."

Jesus said, "Shepherd my sheep."

Then he said a third time: "Simon, son of John, do yo love me?"

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, "Do yo love me?" so he answered, "Master you know everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

-The Message

I love that illustration of shepherding sheep. I've been reading a book called "Heaven Has Blue Carpet" by a friend of mine, Sharon Niedzinski. She tells a beautiful story of how raising sheep with her family taught her valuable lessons about the relationship between God and his children.

One story that stuck out to me is of a lamb named Joey. He was rejected from his mother at birth and taken into the house to live with the family till he was strong enough and healthy enough to return to "Sheep World". During this time, he played with the kids, was fed from the bottle of a loving Sharon and was soothed by her gentle voice. Joey was eventually put back with the flock but with a very different attitude. Unlike the rest of the flock that scurried and fled when Sharon came to the pasture, Joey ran to her because he had had a taste of "True Heaven".

What struck me more than the obvious allegory was what happened next. Because Joey responded to Sharon when she came, Sharon herself started looking to the other sheep to see if anymore would be so bold. Before too long, she began craving even the hint of affection from her beloved flock. And just like the scripture says, "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you," Joey's love for his shepherdess led her to draw nearer to her flock and in time others began to recognize her voice. Soon many were thrilled to hear she coming their way.

"Shepherd my Sheep."

One also can't help but be reminded of the intriguing story that Jesus tells of Sheep and Goats. On one side there are sheep who are let into God's kingdom. Jesus claims that it is because they have fed him, gave him shelter, looked after him, and visited him when he was in need that they are friends and can enter. Confused by his words they ask, "When did we do all these things?" Jesus answers, "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me- you did it to me."

"Feed my Lambs."

I think the kingdom of God is a beautiful thing. I think Jesus has a simple message. Love them. Show them they are not alone. If I laid my life down for you and that is how you know I love you, think about it. How will they know I love them? You. You must show them. In you I have built my Rock.

A Third Helping of Peter Soup for the Soul....

I've talked a lot about Peter and his journey with Jesus to become the Rock and the Foundational Father of the early Christian movement. He grew so much from the first moment Jesus called him till the moment the Holy Spirit first came at the Pentecost. And I could say a lot about what is written about Peter in the Acts of the Apostles and how God used this broken and humbled man to shepherd a new Christian family. But what I want to write and focus on tonight is Peter's first letter to the Church.

The book of First Peter is thought to have been written around 60 AD near the very end of Peter's life. This is an important observation for two reasons; one, this means it was written about 30-35 years after Jesus rose from the dead and the letter would have been tempered with the life lessons of a seasoned and very wise old man. Second, around the year 60 AD Emperor Nero launched as horrific campaign against the rising Christian Church that would result in immeasurable persecution and death, including Peter and Paul who both lived in Rome at the time.

It is in this setting that Peter decides to write a letter to all his fellow believers, scattered across the four corners of the empire. I Peter is a book not only of hope and perseverance but a call to refuel Jesus' original Message of love. Below are some excerpts of I Peter taken from The Message translation. As you read them I challenge you to place yourself in Peter's shoes as he is remembering a lifetime of serving his Master and a lifetime of learning what it means to follow Jesus. It's almost as if every word he writes is not only an encouragement to his brethren but I think he is reminding himself why he first fell in love with Jesus. He is almost certainly written to himself.

"I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to the exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!"

"What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to life for"

"Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory."

"So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, 'I am holy; you be holy."

Probably my favorite section of I Peter in The Message is simply called "The Stone" in Chapter 2. It is here where Peter talks about Jesus being the cornerstone and it is only by accepting that fact for your life that you can life a full life. The way Jesus envisioned it. The way it was meant to be.

Since I am getting long winded in this post I will conclude my thoughts on I Peter 2 in my next post.