July Article

…You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.   1 Peter 2:5

They were useless; irritating to deal with when working around them. No, not people… but stones. The perimeter of my backyard was loaded with off-cast stones, tossed to the edge of the lawn much as a farmer would do when clearing a field.

One day, when constructing a fire pit, I pried out these stones and brought them together. I carefully stacked them up around that ring, and they received purpose. Together they form a good thing; united in a structure. From worthless to worthwhile, by building them together: my hand, my design.

We as the church are likened to stones, gathered and placed on purpose. The Lord Himself is the builder, and owner:

…but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Hebrews 3:6 

…I will build my church… Matthew 16:18

It is a truth worth meditating upon: We are not called to isolation and solitary living, remote as a stone on the periphery. The Lord has saved us for community: together we are built up by His hand, together we offer worthy sacrifices to God, together we minister for His praise and glory.

Together.

In a day of individualism and distance, in a culture that champions independence and arm’s-length relations, we have serious responsiveness and yielding to attend to. Apart from Him, we are only a stumbling block.

The master builder presides over His dwelling: …we have a great priest over the house of God… (Hebrews 10:21.)  In Him, we become—together—the Body of Christ.