Easter 5 (A): Living Stones

from you, uh being this close to you in person makes me very anxious. I just I never know what you're gonna do. I mean, with your cat like reflexes and Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Because the conference hasn't actually started yet. This is the pre-conference live taping. So we know that you guys are here to just squeeze every drop of goodness out of that which is mockingbird. So glad that you're here. There's more people on the starboard side than on the port side. I'm not sure what that is about. That's right, that's right. But so yeah, we're fifth Sunday of Easter. So this is for May third. Uh so this is and in this season of Easter we've been going through act

First Peter and the Gospel of John. So we've got Acts chapter 7, where Stephen gets Stoned and then we have the epistle of Peter, his first epistle, where Saint Peter talks about living stones and uh the president of Baylor University and then we turn to um John's Gospel chapter 14, one of the great uh funeral passages that we have in our tradition, where we have a conversation with uh Saint Thomas, with Saint Philip, and Jesus.

And so um yeah, we be let's just launch into it. So we've got axe seven.

It begins in the middle of the story. It's like meanwhile in Gotham City. That's right. So you ha if you're going to preach on this, you have to bring people up to speed. It says filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. And what has happened before this, chapter six He was ordained to the diaconate, he and several of his friends.

to help with service in the uh service of the widows and other folks that were given a meal daily and so the apostles could focus on uh preaching and prayer and and the deacons were doing the kind of uh hands-on work. And Stephen did signs and wonders, it says, and he he did these things publicly so that everybody loved him, but he was a threat to the powers that be in the religious establishment. This is in Jerusalem. And so a lot of this parallels Jesus'

Which we we'll have to talk about and I think uh I want I want I think I feel like you have something good to say about it. So you can tell us about the sermon and then we get to that passage here. So like before you even get to the passage You have a there's a like a lot of ground to cover and Stephen tells the story of salvation. So what yeah, can you can you bring us up to speed? Um I'm it's like Bible quiz right now. I can

So uh basically what happened is is that uh that uh Stephen he's been called to like into account for what he's been preaching. And in the previous verse, 7 chapter 54, we're told that the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees are f the religious leaders are filled with rage. And uh and uh and so Stephen is being contrasted with the religious leaders, who's he's actually filled with love as he preaches the gospel to them.

But you know, this is what happens in religion. When you think you are defined by what you do, ultimately when someone's getting away with something, you'll get filled with rage as well. And so, but here he is, and he has this amazing thing. He starts preaching about the glory of God and Jesus and how he's the fulfillment of all of the law and the prophets.

And they begin to stone him. Now it's very interesting. There's all sorts of stuff on stoning, but uh uh that we could go into, but you don't want to talk to your congregation about that. So uh What you want to talk about is what Stephen sees and what does Stephen see as he's being stoned?

You have um this the appearance of the Trinitarian God and the key thing is that Stephen is in the midst of incredible suffering. God the Father and God the Son see Stephen and are aware and he sees them, but at the same time this is not enough for God. God also wants to be with Stephen. The Holy Spirit is filling him. So the and um we're going to hear

Um in the actually next Sunday's reading, so this is we're looking right now at May 3rd, the fifth Sunday of Easter. But sixth Sunday of Easter we're gonna read in John's gospel where Jesus promises to send the advocate. So we're kind of seeing what that looks like before we get to that passage. But the the spirit has come to and to be with us. Um God does not want us to leave us God doesn't want to leave us alone. And I think this is where you can connect with people who feel

Like God is far off. Like they're abandoned. Or that God is maybe ex he's there but he's not as present as they would want to be. And you're right. In the the m the miracle here is not that the suffering uh the difficult situation is just kind of ended or removed or that Stephen is beamed up. But in that moment he's able to do these incredible things, which is to say, for example, again this this is the parallels with Christ, Father

Don't lay this sin against them. Don't don't um you know, please let them off the hook. Which is never what I say when somebody is doing me wrong. Right? When somebody's doing me wrong, I'm like Lord Would you like me like the like James and John? Can we call down fire from heaven on these folks? Uh when I am being tailgated. I fantasize about slamming on my brakes

To teach them a lesson. Oh, that's great. You know, I I want uh I I realize it will cause some difficulty for me and some insurance hassle and whatnot, but man, they will learn. And how crazy is that of me to want to do that? And um so the the natural human response is for vengeance. And Stephen has this incredible thing. He says, again echoing kind of Jesus, he says, Lord Jesus receive my spirit, which is like um, you know, Jesus from the cross says, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Um so there's so Stephen's already patterning his death after the death of his Savior. But then we hear him say, Lord, do not hold this sin against him, like Father forgive them, for they don't know what they do. When he said this, he dies. And Stephen becomes the first martyr of the church.

Uh and this is what then unleashes um the spreading of the gospel throughout the Mediterranean world because prior to this they were just hunkering down in Jerusalem and not really doing what Jesus told them to do.

who's gonna be the character who takes the gospel to the very ends of the earth. That's right. And so but I think that that's a very important point, Stephen's vision, because what's gonna happen is and maybe some of you can all relate to this as well. But you're you've been in places where, you know, you're not living your best life now. Uh you've been taught that Christianity is a means to an end, a means to a more like, you know, happy life or a means to this.

And oftentimes Christianity can lead to a whole lot of suffering and a whole lot of difficulty. And what we see here is that with Jesus, and you know, we confess in the creed that um he's seated at the right hand of the Father. But here Jesus is standing for Stephen and what this reminds us is that Jesus is not impassionate or indifferent to the suffering of his people and he's not impassionate or indifferent to your suffering as well.

What we see here happening is the very thing that John says that Jesus does. He stands and pleads our case before the Father. And we see Jesus right here pleading the case for Stephen before God. Though he was found guilty on earth, he was found righteous and rewarded in heaven. Has been confessing God before men, and now he sees Christ confessing his servant before God. And that is the same for you.

In the midst of whatever darkness you happen to be going through, whatever difficulty you may be having, you know, you can rest assured. know that your God in Jesus Christ is pleading the case for you as well and has not forgotten you or abandoned you, but is with you through this age into the age that is to come.

And he talks about how the people that came before also rejected God and just uh you know, they didn't want to listen to Moses, they wanna didn't want to listen to the patriarchs. And so he says, basically you guys are cut from the same cloth. It it's like um it's like saying you've got a family history of chronic addiction or chronic narcissism or or something like that. And I'm now gonna let's talk about that, you guys.

And they're like la la la la la la It literally says they covered their ears. And that's when they cover their ears with a loud shout, they all rush together against him. And with Jesus, they at least made the pretense of due profit. They're like, let's arrest him, let's get the Romans involved, we'll kind of do something with Pilate, and there's kind of this show trial. They they don't do any of that here. They just go straight for the jugular.

And so when people are confronted with the reality of the dysfunction in their lives, in their DNA, in their heritage, and their thinking and all those sorts of things, um we don't want to hear it. They don't want to hear it. And so we'd rather kinda kill the source of truth than hear anything of that. And I think this is one of the miracles of what we um try to do in church, which is to name the thing in a way that is not going to provoke uh resistance.

But hopefully, by God's grace, open them up. Um but I think there's there is something I think really illustrative here for what it is to be a human. Um h how we tend to not want to hear what's really going on in our lives. The other thing we haven't mentioned is there's also a there's a Paul cameo. So Saul, not yet called Paul, or at least not in this text, um, he is he's the coat check boy.

They're they're you know,'cause stoning is heavy work, uh and so they lay their cloaks and they're like, Here, somebody watch the bags And so it says they laid their coats at the feet of young man named Saul while they were stoning Stephen. Uh and of course this is something that you want to tell folks to keep in mind uh because this will come back for when Paul has his complete breakdown of his life and reconsiders everything he's been about.

Uh Saint Augustine he made the point that um uh Saint Paul is the direct result of Stephen's prayer. Do not hold their sin against them. But rather uh he sends them a preacher. And so uh this is the result. And so This passage just reminds us that Christianity uh the Christian life takes the shape not so much as the footsteps in the stand passage. You know what I mean? It's like where were you God when this was happening?

Newborn infants who do a lot of crying out. And uh and Peter here, 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 2 through 10, says, be like

And he says, Instead of that, long for pure spiritual milk, so you may grow into salvation. And then he a lot of quotes here. Quote Psalm thirty four, if indeed you've tasted that the Lord is good. So again, like milk and taste and all this food imagery. Um and then he switches his metaphor. He's mixing em like crazy. The Holy Spirit, not a very good writer, inspiring here Peter to mix his metaphors. But he says then he'cause he's now going to be talking about living stones.

He says, Come to Jesus, who is a living rock, a living stone, and he was rejected and he's gonna quote um uh kind of this great tradition of a cornerstone being rejected, but then but

Yet we, however, are chosen and precious in God's sight. No, we are living stones like Jesus. And he's talking about the temple, talking about the construction of a temple which um uh is uh going to be there's gonna be a new way of interacting with God, not this stone building, but this spiritual house, this spiritual temple.

Jake, what in the world do we make of this? What how do you connect this to m to my life, to your congregation's life, to your life? What does it mean to be come to Jesus, a living stone, and you yourself be a living stone? How do I apply this in my life?

You know, and so and that becomes a real problem. Uh uh he says, but long like infants craving milk. I remember when I was uh the new like kind of uh clergy person here and people were like, Jake, you're a great evangelist, but when are we gonna get me? You know what I mean? When are people gonna talk about meat? And you're like, dude

And then he begins to talk about the ideas of living stones and like we're the new temple where the spirit is pleased to dwell. So uh you just keep the red heifers in Texas. But anyway, um haha. But uh the cross tells us the truth about our condition.

And this is what Peter is ultimately getting at, and the good news of being an infant, the good news of being cared for by God. We're weaker than we think. I mean you tell a New Yorker that and they get deeply, deeply offended, you know, but you are weaker than you think. And more rejected than we want to admit. I mean, who here hasn't failed? I mean, that's oftentimes why many of us come to this conference. Is because we are looking for some refreshment. We're looking for some good news.

But what this tells us when you're an infant, when you're a child of God, you are loved more than you could possibly imagine. And that is where real life ultimately begins. And this is where you begin, and he uses all of these Old Testament metaphors that are very powerful. And this would have been very powerful to the Gentile audience, being called a chosen race and a royal priesthood, a holy nation. But why?

I mean if you look at this from the book of Exodus and things like that, you know, the the Ten Commandments were never given to Israel as a ladder for them to climb. It was given to them to expose that they have a whole lot of need. They have a whole lot of idols in their life. They got a whole mess of problems. And so the point was that they were to lead the world in repentance.

And lead the world to this God of mercy, who finally says, all the striving is done. And so this, he says, once you had not received mercy, but now you've received mercy. This is the good news of the gospel for the hearers in your congregation, is that Peter grounds our identity. Ultimately being an infant, a living stone. Stones are moved by the builder. That's what it means. You're not like, oh a stone ch I'm gonna choose to be here. No, the builder moves you there.

And so it grounds this whole thing, these ideas, it grounds our life in the mercy of God. Not in our merit. And the church is not a collection of impressive folks, but forgiven folks. We just did a funeral here last night uh for one of the uh like major Caribbean matriarchs of our congregation, and she had been attending St. George's since nineteen sixty-five, and she had come here and she came to every Mockingbird conference.

I mean last year she would been eighteen Mockingbird conference and I was like the first one I was like, What do you think, Pamela? and she was like I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but this is fun. And so anyway and so and she kept coming and I mean that's a lot of us too. You know, I have no idea what they're talking about, but this is fun. And I mean that is like the heartbeat of the whole thing.

But what she would want you to know is she had an impressive resume. Super impressive resume. She was a nurse practitioner, taught nurses the whole kit and caboodle. But what she would want you to know above all things, because she really understood what it was to be an infant, because you had delivered babies, she wanted you to know about her need for Jesus. She wanted you to know that she was forgiven. And what she would want you to know is that Christ had laid his life down for her.

Our calling is not to proclaim our like resumes and how amazing we are. Our calling is to proclaim what God has done. And that ultimately becomes good news because it makes the church the church. We're all finally placed at the same playing field. And uh and uh and then we become a place where the Spirit is pleased to dwell.

there um that Jesus is a stone he's and he's quoting Isaiah eight, that Jesus is a stone that makes them stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And the s the stumbling um is uh is the Greek word for scandal. He's a scandal to them. And Uh the gospel is scandalous in a world that would want to say that you are your resume, you are your achievements, or your failures. Either way, you are defined by what you do or don't do.

And instead this is saying, God has chosen you. And I love that you brought up the fact that a a a brick does not choose to be in a building. Um a a baby is not some powerful, you know, colossus astride the world. Um and he says, uh Peter says, You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood. God has done this. God it's like that um Valentine's Day card that Ralphie Wigham gave to Lisa Simpson. I choo choo choose you and it has a picture of a train on it. Um And so God is the one that does this.

And he says through his mighty acts, he's called you out of darkness into marvelous light. So God is the caller, God is the builder, God is the one who chooses. And it is um that is so opposite the way of the world where we are the ones that sort of stand up and make ourselves and we are the ones that we're not babies, we're like, you know, at least teenagers or something. You know, yeah. Grow up. Um and so this um this powerful

picture of how God does this work in our lives and and and in all of it loves us. And this this thing I think is a great picture of what the Christian life is, calling you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And a lot of people think that means calling you out of your your life a sin and uh you know you you um that you were some sort of

I don't know if if um every county in America has this, but where I live, McClellan County, absolutely has this. The uh McClellan County Mug Shots Facebook page. that somebody has taken it upon themselves to g get access to those photos and put them up there for it's I mean it's just like the walk of shame for all these people that get arrested. And um

And how th that is how the world works. Um and The um the calling out of darkness is not to say all those bad people that are on McClellan County mugshots or you know, whatever county you may be in, um it's not those people that are like in darkness and we d it's it's everybody and the darkness is not I mean it can be sort of notorious uh sins that get you arrested, that get you in the newspaper. Um

But it's just this way of darkness where looking at yourself as being the one in charge of your life. Yeah. Um kind of that's performance driven, self centered, egoistic way of living and that is dark. It is dark to ha have everything on you. Yeah. And to come into the light to be a baby.

And to be to be someone who a baby is primarily a being that is in need. And I I love that he says, you know, c crave be like a baby craving the pure spiritual milk. And what a great picture of the spiritual life, because the baby's not like you don't have to tell the baby to want milk.

You know t the baby's like, I don't really want it, but okay, I'll take the milk. And that's like I think uh somebody that has been this work of God done in them, um, you you you long for it. That's right. And it's just it's something that is it's not something you try to do, it just is there.

You know what I mean? But there that's the safest place you can be. And it doesn't mean that life, as Saint Stephen points out, won't be chaotic. Right. Uh but it will uh It will work out in the end.

He says, Don't let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, what I have told you, I'm and I am going to prepare a place for you, I will come again and bring you to where I am. Um Thomas speaks up in verse five. Lord, we'cause Jesus says, You know where you know the way to where I'm going and he says, We don't know, actually. Um

Uh please he's like the one person in the class like Pamela I have no idea what you're saying. I have no idea what you're talking about. And everybody else was like Oh yeah, Jesus it's so that's amazing and Tom is like, I what are you saying?

Um and and how can we know the way? And Jesus then says again, if you go to Camp Alan in the diocese of Texas, there's a sixty foot tall cross on the side of a hill. Uh maybe I'm exaggerating. It's forty feet, it's huge. And it says in the middle of the cross I mean sort of picture that right there. I don't know if you know what a cross looks like, if you're wondering, there's one on the wall. And um in the very middle it says I am

And then on one piece it says the way, and then one piece says the truth, the other one it says the life. Um and it comes right here from John fourteen. And um Jesus then says, No one comes to the Father except through me, and um he says If you know me, you'll know my father. From now on you do know him and have seen him And then Philip is like, Nuh uh is like we have not seen him. He says, Fa Lord show us the Father and we'll be set up high and Jesus is like, I just told you

If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. So that's this whole passage. Uh there's a lot there. I wanna know Jake, tell me how to think about this. Uh greater works than these, Jesus says you will do, uh, because of the one that he is uh uh sending and what he's doing in the world and how do we think about that. Before we get to that, let's just talk about

the in my house or many uh uh dwelling places, I'm going to prepare a place for you uh where I go, you may be also way, truth, life. What do you want to say? What would you say about all that stuff? Take it away, Jay.

And uh it was, you know, it was fun for a little kid. They had a big backyard. It was great and running around and riding bikes. And there were like smells to the place that were very wonderful and just like, you know Cookies and things like that. It was a great, amazing place. And when uh my grandparents died, my mom and uh her my aunts and uncles took a lot of their furniture and put it in this like condo that they had in San Diego.

And so San Diego became this wonderful place for me because we would go to this condo And I would walk into the house, that condo, and all of these smells from my grandparents' house would come like rushing back and I would remember like riding from the furniture. Yeah, from the furniture and going back. But I would remember the love of my grandparents in that moment.

And when Jesus is speaking of a place, he's not speaking of like the Philadelphia cream cheese commercial. He's like, I'm going to prepare I'm going to be there. You know what I mean? And it's gonna be amazing and because I've prepared it for you. And so like what he's trying to get them to remember is that when he's gone, wherever he is, they will be too.

Like that's the first thing and it's uh it's very, very important. You have to remember that this this is given at uh the night of the Passover, like the night where Jesus is celebrating the Last Supper with his friends. And uh this is a very scary, scary time. This is why it's read, a confusing time. This is why it's read in our liturgy during a funeral, you know? And so and I want to give a shout out to Ben Dehart if he's here.

Uh but one time we had to do a funeral and we did it at a very fancy uptown church where um they cut out and no one comes to the father but through me. Yeah. And uh I love the fact that he went ahead and read it.

by a lot of places. But when you're at the end of the rope, your end of your rope, when you are totally confused, when you are lost as these disciples are feeling. Have you ever been I I go hiking a lot and I have been lost in the woods.

And what I don't want are a bunch of ways. What I don't want is someone giving me suggestions. You know what I mean? I want the way. I want the truth because I need life. And when you begin to realize that this is what Jesus is saying, into your confusion, this is what Jesus is saying in the face of death, not a suggestion.

Suggestion and many options, and maybe you know, I've got to see what you know Gwynneth Paltrow and Goop has to say. You know what I mean? Like this, well, you're facing death. This is where this becomes not a bludgeoned, but a comforting word. A word that you can hold on to and you can cling to and that offers forgiveness, offers salvation, and ultimately also offers resurrection.

And knowing that Jesus is preparing a place and He's preparing a place for everybody that's in here. Even you you may not be near death, you might be.

And man, that promise, when it hits your heart, you can give Jesus your keys, you can give Jesus your wallet, all sorts of relationships, praise the Lord, but ultimately you can give him your life. And he will see you through this age into the age that is to come.

And how to die. There were manuals on it. It was about kinda getting your house in order both uh financially f literally, physically and spiritually. And I think one of the things about this that it uh points it gives me such great hope and peace is how God is with us in the presence um in in our suffering um and and his in his

going to bring us ultimately to be with him. And I think that's where you know, the place where true joys are to be found. Um there is this part at the end and Jake I want you to untie this theological knot for me, um'cause I still don't understand it. But it's uh

Verse uh twelve, very truly I tell you, Jesus says, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and in fact will do greater works than these. Now I have never once turned water into wine. Or walked on water, or fed five thousand people with two loaves and a couple of fish. Uh maybe you have, but what does Jesus mean when he says, If you the one who believes me will do greater works than these, because I'm going to the Father, and I will do whatever you ask in my name.

to the congregation and continuing to nourish his people. And we're doing it to the very ends of the earth. But it's not Jake, it's Christ in me. It's not Aaron. It's Christ in you. faithfully living, doing the v their vocations, God masks yourself and masks himself in your vocation.

You know, he could just uh make bread drop from the sky, as Luther once said, but he chooses to work through the farmer and the baker. You know what I mean? Your neighbor needs you to be a just banker. Your neighbor needs you to be an amazing artist, because God has masked himself in your work. As you um as you uh as he as you witness to the world witness to cr witness to Christ to the world.