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Living Stones

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” -- 1 Peter 2:5, NIV

To begin a recent Sunday morning Bible study on this passage, I gave rocks of various sizes and shapes to class members and asked them to reflect on these questions:  

·       What is unique about the rock in your hand?
·       How can a rock become a stone?
·       What can stones be used for?
·       Did you ever think of yourself as a "living stone"?

Each person is important in the Kingdom of God with enormous potential to bless others.  The author of the passage in 1 Peter compares believers to “living stones” who are becoming part of the household of God, a holy priesthood.  Each is different with unique characteristics and something special to offer, but the person may not yet have discovered how they might become useful in the kingdom.

We reflected a bit on the difference between a rock and a stone. After some research, I decided that the primary distinction was that a stone is a rock that has become useful.  All stones are rocks, but not all rocks are stones.

In our part of middle Tennessee, there is a lot of native rock.  As you drive through the countryside, you will note how some of this rock has become useful stone.  Here you will see a wooden church painted white with a stone foundation. There you will see a fence where rock has become a stone enclosure for a field.  

Of course, you can’t push this metaphor too far.  There are stones in a river, and they got that way from natural processes of weathering and shaping through the long-time work of water washing over them.  Humankind or intentional choice had nothing to do with that.

But back to the primary idea:  even things that may seem useless can become useful when some effort is put into the process.  For believers that process is an ongoing walk with God--listening, learning, and serving. Through such faithfulness, Christ builds his church (see Matthew 16:18)--a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices to God.
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