Cornerstone of St Giles

Thursday Holy Communion 9.15am 27 May 2010

Reading 1 Peter 2

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 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. ⁶ 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."

⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
       "The stone the builders rejected
       has become the cornerstone,"

⁸ and,
       "A stone that causes people to stumble
       and a rock that makes them fall."
       They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Gospel Mark 10

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus"), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

    So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.
       The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

⁵² "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Sermon

Purpose of letter of I Peter was not to pass on teaching or doctrine or ethical instruction, like many of Paul’s writing. Rather, it seems to be to urge Christians in latter part of 1^st century to hold firm to their faith in the face of hostility and persecution.

Letter reminds believers of inestimable value of what they as Christians have already received. Not to be taken lightly. Assures them of future reward and vindication for all they have suffered. Emphasises example of the blameless suffering of Christ.

Peter of course suffered for his faith. This letter probably written too late for Peter to be the author, and anyway it is written in far too sophisticated Gk. to be by an unlettered fisherman, even if he used a secretary. But Peter’s suffering probably explains why letter may have been written by his followers in his name.

Three images: one, new believers like new born babes needing spiritual milk in order to grow in faith. Two, a stone. Suggests a building, spiritual house.

Cornerstone is most important part of edifice. Without it the building falls. Jesus himself is the cornerstone of this spiritual house. Normally this would be carefully chosen, but ironically in this case the cornerstone was one picked up from a pile of rejects – the builders (the chosen people?) rejected the stone, yet it became the cornerstone upon which everything depended.

So what was least important became the most important, holding up the building and making it safe and secure. A building that will not fall. But this very stone will be the cause of stumbling and falling by those who did not see its worth.

Like the Temple in Jerusalem, this is a house in which the faithful are a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. Holy priesthood is we ourselves.

Third image is light. As chosen people, we are called by God to be his own. We must behave like the holy people we are, and abstain from whatever is unworthy of our calling. This is the light: we are called by God out of darkness into his wonderful light. Image of salvation, but also image of judgement – do we turn towards the light or away from it?

How appropriate then that the gospel reading is a parallel: blind Bartimaeus is blind, but he still has choice. Will he turn towards the light or away from it. That is what Jesus is asking.

⁵¹ "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.
       The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

⁵² "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.