Living hope

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Isn’t this relationship with God something to be earned? Don’t I need to spend time demonstrating my religious worth—confirmation, first communion, baptism, listening to sermons, or to speed up the process—volunteering with the youth group? Don’t I have to do something, be something, or achieve some spiritual…something? This sounds too easy. Just say, “Jesus is Lord,” and that’s it? Come on!

In 1 Peter 2:4-8, the apostle Peter uses the example of a building to help us understand the eternal importance of our relationship with Christ. He describes Jesus as “the living stone,” “a cornerstone,” and the “cornerstone chosen and precious.” In 1 Peter 2:7, the apostle warned those who did not believe. In today’s verse, he followed with a second warning. Sometimes Jesus becomes a “stone of stumbling.”

Quoting Psalm 118:22, Peter likens those who do not believe as a builder who foolishly decided to forgo the most important detail of the project. The cornerstone, defined as “the chief foundation on which something is constructed,” determined the alignment and integrity of the building. Only a misguided, reckless builder would “reject” the cornerstone. For believers, this “stone” must be the starting point.

In his writing, the apostle Peter often referred to the Old Testament to make his point about Jesus. In today’s passage, Peter cites Isaiah 28:16. Here, he likens Jesus to the “cornerstone chosen and precious” used to build a secure and sure foundation.

Peter made it clear in 1 Peter 2:4 that Jesus is the “living stone.” In the following verse, he makes it clear that by “stone,” he, like Paul, means “cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:6, Ephesians 2:20). Jesus is the One upon which all things are built and by which all things are aligned. All spiritual life comes through and depends on Jesus.

Peter was fond of using the word “living” to describe the essential elements of the Christian faith. In 1:3, he used the words “living hope” to describe the confidence we have in our future with God that is fresh, vibrant, certain, and eternal in comparison to the things of the world that are empty, deceptive, and temporal. In 1:23, he described the Bible as the “living…word” to show how Scripture, inspired by the living God, is as powerful, relevant, and life-changing today as the day it was first penned (or chiseled). Here he describes Jesus as the “living stone.”

The first year Lori and I were married, we lived in “married student housing” at Oklahoma State University. I had already graduated from college and was teaching and coaching. Lori was finishing up her last year. A couple of miles from our small apartment was a Braum’s ice cream store where cones were fifty cents a scoop at that time. I won’t lie…there were nights we craved, longed for, and yearned for a Braum’s ice cream cone. We would search our apartment for loose change until we had scrounged up a dollar and then happily headed to Braum’s. Now when we visit family in Oklahoma, we still make sure we enjoy a few Braum’s ice cream cones during our stay! Peter instructs us that there is something more important than food that we really need to long for.

On my last trip overseas, I was determined to get everything in one midsized suitcase. No way was I going to lug two suitcases and my backpack around airports, hotels, and global workers’ homes. So, I had to make some decisions. After my first packing attempt, I needed a do-over. There were items I had to leave behind. After my second attempt, I needed a do-over-over. Finally, the bag shut without looking like the zipper was going to break apart! I was good to go. Peter tells us there are certain behaviors that we need to leave behind.

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Peter reminds us that our lives are as fleeting as the grass and flowers of the field. Some masters and captains we are…stuck in the process of withering and falling. But there is a place we can go for help, a place that is living and enduring, a place that stands forever in contrast to our temporal existence.