Sharing in God’s Community (preaching resource 5/3/26, Easter 5)
This post exegetes 1Peter 1:22-2:10, providing context for the Epistles reading on 5/3/26, the 5th Sunday in the season of Easter. Insights are drawn from commentary by Warren Wiersbe ("Bible Expository Commentary") and by David Wheaton ("New Bible Commentary).
 |
| "Jesus, the Cornerstone" by Tissot (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) |
Introduction
The Jesus-followers to whom Peter originally wrote this epistle were facing the likelihood of increased persecution from the Roman government. Knowing this, Peter urged them to “hang in there” together—hold to the true source of their unity, namely their sharing together in God’s own nature.
From all eternity, God—Father, Son and Spirit—is a triune communion (“common-union” or "community") of love. Through Jesus, who is in himself the union of God and humankind, all humanity has been included in God’s triune community. Now the Spirit calls and gifts Jesus-followers to both be and proclaim God’s community to the world. In order to exhort Christians facing difficulties to remain united, Peter offers four vivid pictures of the church brought together as God’s family, God’s building, God’s temple and God’s nation. Let’s hear and respond to this exhortation from the Spirit for us to share together actively in God’s community on earth.
1. We are members of the same family
1 Peter 1:22–2:3
Peter first notes that our unity as the church is grounded in the truth that we are part of God’s family, knit together by one love, one birth, and one source of nourishment:
a. One love (1:22)
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
“Obeying the truth” refers to our participation in the redemption humanity has in Christ (see 1 Pet 1:18). And that participation involves sharing Jesus’ love—here described using two Greek words: philadelphia (meaning brotherly love) and agape, (meaning sacrificial love). In our union with Jesus, we share in his love for all humanity, including one another. This love, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5), is the visible evidence that we are indeed God’s “obedient children” (1John 4:7–21 and 1Pet 1:14). Our love is “sincere” because it is “from the heart”—our sharing in Jesus’ heart for others. It is a love that is never self-serving. Moreover, this love is fervent—we “love one another deeply” (literally, “with all our energy”). We show this love to others as we treat them the way God treats us: God forgives us, so we forgive them; God is kind to us, so we are kind to them. This love is not a mere feeling, but a matter of a will formed in and flowing from Christ himself. We are one family that is grounded in and expressive of Jesus’ own love.
b. One birth (1:23–25)
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.
We are one family through the rebirth of humanity accomplished in Jesus 2,000 years ago. And now, one person at a time, the call to participate in that family relationship goes out through “the word that was preached” (the gospel). People awaken to the gift that is already theirs in Jesus through repentance (changing their understanding about their identity), and faith (trusting in Jesus). This radical change in perspective engenders a “new and living hope” (1Pet 1:3) and an active sharing in the “divine nature” (2Pet 1:4). Through this participation, a person becomes part of a family of believers bonded together by a force stronger than any other—including those of dissipation and even death. Surely this family bond is stronger than any persecution or other external force.
c. One source of nourishment (2:1–3)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
God’s family is united as it is nourished together by “pure spiritual milk”—God’s word, which comes to us in Scripture, through the Spirit and the teaching of the church. This word, which is Jesus and his gospel, has life and gives life. Our responsibility is to cultivate an appetite for what is called here “pure spiritual milk” and elsewhere “strong meat” for the mature (1Cor 3:1–4; Heb 5:11–14), “bread” (Matt 4:4), and “sweet honey” (Ps 119:103). This word is indeed very good; and it is vital! Let us ingest it and share it!
As we are nourished in the word, we will “rid” ourselves of and “lay aside” wrong attitudes of heart that undermine the unity of the church. Such harmful attitudes include “malice” which is wickedness in general; “deceit” which is the use of devious words and actions to get what we want. Such attitudes tend toward “hypocrisy” as we try to cover them up and often cause division in the church as an expression of “envy” that can result in “slander”—conversation that tears others down. If these attitudes and actions are in our lives, we lose an appetite for God’s word. And if we stop feeding on his word, we stop growing, and we stop enjoying (“tasting”) the grace that we find in Jesus. But when we are being nourished by the word, we grow as peacemakers who promote the church’s unity.
2. We are stones in the same building
1 Peter 2:4–8
As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--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. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.
Next Peter notes that there is only one foundation of the church—the one “living stone” or “cornerstone” who is Jesus. And Jesus builds us into one spiritual building, namely the church. And whether we agree with each other or not, whether we get along or not, the truth is that in Jesus, we belong to each other as “living stones” he uses to build up God’s building.
Of course, Jesus is the ultimate living stone because, in him, all humanity is raised from the dead and ascended with him in victory. He is also the chosen stone of the Father, who is supremely precious. Peter here quotes Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22, noting that Jesus, though chosen by God, was rejected by men. He was not the Messiah they were expecting, so they stumbled and fell over him. Jesus referred to this same Scripture when he debated Jewish leaders (Matt 21:42ff; see Ps 118:22). Of course, people today still stumble over Jesus and his gospel (1Cor 1:18ff). But those who respond in trust and belief “will never be put to shame.”
Jesus himself compared his church to a building: “I will build my church” he said (Matt 16:18). His disciples are living stones in that building, no matter where they reside (and remember that Peter was writing to Christians scattered across Asia Minor). Each time a person repents, believes and takes up their cross to follow Jesus as his disciple, the Spirit places them as a living stone into this building, the church. They are gifted and cemented there by grace.
Of course, it looks at times to us that the church on earth is a pile of rubble and ruins, but God sees the total structure as it grows (Eph 2:19–22) and he sees ONE structure, though it has many local expressions. What a privilege to be a part of this one church! Let us strive to express the unity it has been given as God’s building built on the one cornerstone of Jesus.
3. We are priests in the same temple
1 Peter 2:5, 9
5 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…. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Next Peter notes that all in this building are part of a “holy” and “royal priesthood.” Why? Because we are all included in Christ who is the one High Priest of God (see Heb 7). In the Old Testament period, God’s people had a priesthood; but today, God’s people are a priesthood. Each person is seated with Jesus in God’s presence (Heb 10:19–25; 1Tim 2:1–8), with the privilege of joining with their Lord in his ministry of intercession. As co-ministers with Jesus, we are called and gifted to work together in his service. This service as priests is a fundamental part of what constitutes our unity-in-diversity within the church.
As priests with Jesus, we do not bring animal sacrifices as did Old Testament priests. Rather we bring “spiritual sacrifices.” These include our bodies (Rom 12:1–2), the praise of our lips (Heb 13:15) and good works done in service to others (Heb 13:16). We also present our money and other material goods (Phil 4:10–20). And we also bring the people who turn to God as a result of our ministry (Rom 15:16). What a privilege!
The fact that each of us is invited by God to offer spiritual sacrifices to him should not be taken as encouragement to selfish “individualism.” We are priests not separately, but together, serving with the one High Priest, ministering in one spiritual temple.
4. We are citizens of the same nation
1 Peter 2:9–10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Peter’s description of the church here parallels the description of Israel in Exodus 19:5–6 and Deuteronomy 7:6. In contrast to the disobedient and rebellious nation of Israel, God’s people today are his chosen and holy nation. The church formed by the new covenant is now in the world what Israel was meant to be—God’s representative to declare to the whole world who God is. The church has this role in three ways:
a. The church is “a people belonging to God” which speaks to the grace of God in Jesus. God did not choose Israel because they were a great people, but because he loved them (Deut 7:7–8). Now God’s choosing has broadened to all humanity in the person of Jesus, the God-man, purely on the basis of God’s love and grace. This election of all humanity in Jesus is being played out in the church, Jesus’ chosen instrument to proclaim this grace to the world: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).
b. The church is a “holy nation” set apart to participate actively in God’s holiness—his triune love and life. Our citizenship is with God in this divine relationship—this is where we have our allegiance (Phil 3:20) and our true home. Israel forgot who God had made her and called her to be and lost her place as the representative of God on earth to all humanity. Now this role belongs to the church—God’s nation sent to the whole world with the message of God’s grace in Jesus.
c. The church is the “people of God.” The human race, because of sin, was cut off from God, but now in the person of Jesus (fully God, fully human), humanity has been brought back (reconciled) to God. And now the church, God’s representative nation on earth, is sent to tell all the world the good news of the home they now have with God.
Note that with each of these three aspects of the church’s identity comes the responsibility to declare to all people the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. We are to “declare the praises” (or “the mighty acts” NRSV) of this God—his amazing grace being extended to a world that already is reconciled to Him, yet one that continues to walk in substantial darkness because of ignorance of that grace. We are God’s ambassadors in making this grace, this “marvelous light,” in Jesus known. Our lives should radiate it and our mouths should proclaim it, as together, we are a light “set on a hill” for all to see.
Conclusion
As God’s family, building, temple and nation, we are truly one in Christ—he is our unity. Of course, this unity does not eliminate our God-given diversity. Not all children in a family are alike, nor are all the stones in a building identical. In fact, it is diversity that gives beauty and richness to a family or building. The absence of diversity is not unity; it is uniformity, and uniformity is dull. Christians can and do differ, yet they can still get along. All who cherish the “one faith” and who seek to honor the “one Lord” can love each other and walk together (Eph 4:1–6) despite differences. God may call us into different ministries, or to use different methods, but we can still love each other and seek to present a united witness of God’s grace in Jesus to the world.
But we face many challenges that can undermine this unity. Enemies of the grace of God abound, and chief among them is Satan. He seeks to silence our demonstration and proclamation of the gospel by seeking to persecute or otherwise nullify the church’s unity and thus its effectiveness. Let’s not fall prey to his tactics. Let us be the one church that Jesus has made us to be.