Living stones

Easter 5

Acts 7: 55-60. St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr and the location of his martyrdom is remembered by Christians as near what we refer to as St. Stephen’s gate, a city entrance known by Jews as the Lion gate and by Arabs as the gate of the Virgin Mary. At risk of sounding like a travelogue this is also the vicinity of the pools of Bethesda and St. Anne’s church. Much more pertinently In the subsequent history of Christianity is the verse that says that the man co-ordinating the stoning was a young man called Saul, whose personal journey from executioner of Christians to being the greatest Christian missionary of all time, did more to shape the nascent church than any other individual in history

1 Peter 2: 2-10. A description of the Christian followers of the way as being a household gains extra potency when scholars postulate that it was addressed to readers who were displaced and dispossessed, spiritually, socially, economically. This is your new and real “home”. A single household of “living stones” which takes its character from Jesus Christ – the cornerstone. This new home is set apart from the world (Holy) and is the setting in which we grow and flourish.

John 14: 1-14. A piece read at many funerals has also been used to stress the exclusivity of the church’s claims “no-one comes to the Father except through me”. When you consider the people it was originally aimed at it was probably meant to be read primarily to underscore the church’s distinctiveness rather than exclusivity. “I am” the way means that the way of life made manifest in Jesus Christ is the way to God. In an age when the church has embraced most of the social and political mores of the day rendering us as little different from the world around us, perhaps a message that stresses our distinctiveness will nudge people to contemplate just how we are to be different. What is the way of Christ?

 One of the most memorable spiritual experiences I had in the Holy Land in the year 2000 (Some may know I led a pilgrimage there that year for my church) was in St. Anne’s church, a crusader church standing near the pools of Bethseda and not far from St. Stephen’s gate. It differed from nearly all the other churches we had visited because it was so plain, and not dripping with oriental decoration. While in there a group of American pilgrims started singing “Be still for the presence of the Lord” and gradually the singing spread until almost everyone in the church was singing. It is a moment in time that has obviously stayed with me ever since and the building, St. Anne’s church holds a special place in my heart

Depicting the Christian community as a building, a definite structure with Christ as its cornerstone is a wonderful metaphor that rivals the one about us all being a body for being memorable.

The phrase “Living stones” has passed into our consciousness and our building extends across time and space as well so includes both the living and the dead, who are while physically not of this earth any more are still a part of this building, which is why we confirm our faith in the communion of saints in the Apostle’s creed.

Scholars believe that this letter of Peter was addressed to a people who were displaced and dispossessed socially, spiritually and perhaps literally as well so the idea of the church as a new home which we are all constituent members, because we are ourselves the building blocks, the stones, that make up the building would really resonate.

This is our new and everlasting home from which we can never be displaced and Christ is a part of its structure.

This ties in with the gospel piece about Jesus saying that in God’s house there are many rooms, certainly implying that there is more than enough room for all people, because God was in Christ reconciling the whole world to himself.

This piece, commonly read at funerals is rather spookily the last gospel set before I preside at my Mother’s funeral on Monday.

In this gospel passage, often used to confirm exclusive Christian access to heaven, must be seen in dialogue with all the universalist doctrines in the Bible so as someone who affirms that Jesus died to save us all, I interpret that piece to be saying that whatever people believe about God or Jesus, salvation is an objective fact, a free gift by the Grace of a loving God and so whatever anyone does or does not believe, there is only one God and his will is to save us and that salvation is through the God revealed in Jesus Christ.  

To come to the Father is to know our God, our salvation and our saviour fully so one has to know the God revealed in Christ. Christians are privileged in this way – that we know the God who is the author of our life and our redemption. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free – in this life – a foretaste of the future strengthening us to live and thrive in the present.