4 Come to [Christ], a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and 5 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. 6 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."
7 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," 8 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.
9 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. 10 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.
THOUGHTS:
One of the things that strikes me here is community. Followers of Christ are to be as "living stones" that are "built into a spiritual house". We're to allow Christ to knit us into community, regardless of where we have come from or how dissimilar we may be. Symbolically, since we stones continue to live, we must work together to hold the community together.
Verse 9 using the language echoing back to Exodus 19:6 and Hosea 2:23 -- yet the audience is Gentile Christians living in what is now Turkey. The "chosen race" and "holy nation" therefore aren't representing a specific ethnicity, but rather are used in naming all Christians as "a royal priesthood" and "God's own people". Then verse 10 tells us that although we weren't a community before, we are now God's people and we have received mercy.
These verses are the foundation for the "priesthood of all believers", which states that we are all priests, each able to directly connect to the divine and each able to minister to others, doing God's work on earth. It is more than that too: we aren't in this alone! We are all part of a priesthood: a community of priests who work together and support one another!
As God's community of priests, how do we "offer spiritual sacrifices" (verse 5)?
How do you minister to those around you?
Spend some time today thinking about your role as a minister in a royal priesthood. How are you offering spiritual sacrifices?
How are you serving as the hands and feet of Christ today?
PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for entrusting us duties we can scarcely comprehend. Please be patient with us when we struggle, and help lead us and guide us as we do our part in your community. We pray this in the name of Christ Jesus. AMEN.
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