April 24, 2005
“Like Living Stones”
1 Peter 2:2-10
1. According to some people, the greatest poet/singer of the last half century was the enigmatic folk/pop legend – Bob Dylan – from right up on the Minnesota Iron Range. And, he is actually still alive and kicking according to last reports.
And what can compare with his l960s anthem, The times they are a-changin'.
Come gather 'round peopleWherever you roamAnd admit that the watersAround you have grownAnd accept it that soonYou'll be drenched to the bone.If your time to youIs worth savin'Then you better start swimmin'Or you'll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin'.
Dylan, it seems, was captivated by the sense that change was in the air … and he was right, as it turned out, for “the times they were a-changin’”
And he said that if you aren’t willing to change – you will sink like a stone … or you’ll be like a rolling stone.
How does it feelHow does it feelTo be on your ownWith no direction homeLike a complete unknownLike a rolling stone?
2. What would it be like to sink like a stone? Can we imagine that? Or what would it be like to be a rolling stone with no direction home?
Have you ever felt like that in your life? … have you ever felt like you were sinking like a stone? … or you were completely without direction? … cast adrift … wandering about … confused, uncertain, wondering “what next?”
I’ve known quite a few people who were like that … and sometimes I have felt like that myself – haven’t you?
This image of being like a stone … sinking or rolling is captivating imagery … and very poetic … isn’t it…?
We all can visualize a stone or a rock …can’t we … and it describes a feeling we may have all had … and yet is rather hard to describe exactly … which is why poetry is so important for in just a few short words or images you just know what it means … especially if you have been there. Yet this kind of language is not about facts … or to be taken literally … for it is “metaphorical” language. It is the language of poetry and it is also the language quite often of the Bible.
3. Metaphorical language, however, is not always the language of everyday activity. For in our modern world we are more accustomed to literal language … the language of factual information … “just the facts mam’” Sergeant Joe Friday used to stay on the famous movie Dragnet … “just the facts.”
And yet we all use metaphors every day. Teachers use them, politicians use them, and preachers use them a lot … for not everything can be described or even understood factually or literally in life. This is why we might say that “Love is like a red red rose …”
For how do you explain love in a completely factual or logical way with destroying it? So, we say “it is like a rose.” We have all seen a rose of course … right … and it is something which is very beautiful and intricate and a wonder … and now we say … love is like that … something beautiful and wonderful … and almost beyond description … and hopefully now we get it …by inference … not literally … for love is not the same as a rose … it is like a rose … it is a metaphor.
Or, for instance, the President says … that certain nations belong to “the axis of evil” … what does that mean? Does he mean it literally … are they literally connected in some absolute way? … does it mean that he has all the facts? No, he is speaking metaphorically, for an “axis” can either be a real or an imaginary line around which objects or things rotate … like the earth rotates around it’s axis … which doesn’t really exist as a fact … but is a gravitational concept … and so, the President would have us believe that certain nations revolve around an “axis of evil” which is meant to mean that they are aligned around some common evil purpose … which is, according to the dictionary, is often meant to be interpreted as a derogatory term … just as America’s enemies in World War Two - Italy, Germany, and Japan were called the Axis powers.
Well, we know that lots of political leaders use metaphorical language. For instance, we know that certain Islamic militants like to counter with their own metaphorical language by saying that America is the “Great Satan” or that they are waging “the mother of all wars” and things like that.
So, today … when you go home for dinner … or this afternoon, see if you can catch yourself … using metaphors … in your own everyday language … like you might say “she was mad as a wet hen” or “his words were like water off a ducks back” or “he was like a bull in a china shop” or it was “raining cats and dogs.” We all do it all the time, don’t we?
4. Now when we are dealing with metaphors we also need to be aware that just like facts which are sometimes false or inaccurate -- sometimes metaphors may be distorted or misused or are false – (especially in politics and religion) when they are made into propaganda. Which is what happens when people resort to over generalizations which are stereotypes for nationalities, ethnic groups, and minorities. So, we have to be careful with metaphorical language … because it often is clever and deceitful and can be hard to refute because it is intentionally vague and over simplistic.
In fact, the poet and religious writer, Kathleen Norris recently has commented on how much advertising misuses religious language to promote products and services.
She points out that she recently read an ad that said for a woman’s swim suit that “promised to make the person wearing it look 10 pounds lighter.” It said, “Why pray for a miracle when you can wear one!” Another one, she said, showed a picture of a baby on a carpet and it said, “Creation of a miracle.” “To a person of faith,” she said, “that language meant the baby, but what they were selling was the carpet!”
Sometime when you are looking at ads on TV or in magazines, take a closer look at the language and see how if often uses religious metaphors and language. My favorite was an ad for a fancy car which said “It’s something to believe in…!”
5. But, regardless of the dangers of their misuse, we cannot live without metaphors … and we find them in not only in poetry and music … but also in the Bible. And in the Bible there are many metaphorical images of stones and rocks – with a rather different meaning … a very different meaning …from those of Bobby Dylan…in his early l960’s folk songs …
Consider for a moment these poetic metaphors …about rocks and stones from the Bible
Psalm 144
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Or this one from Isaiah 28:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
Or this one from Isaiah 8:
13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,
14 and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
6. Now this is also metaphorical language for the Hebrew Bible uses images of stones and rocks in reference first to buildings and then to the nation of Israel… and primarily in reference to a building that is a sanctuary … a temple for the worship of God … namely the great Temple in Jerusalem which also stood for the people of Israel whom God had chosen. What are the actual words it uses?
a tested stone, a precious cornerstone a sure foundation
stone the builders rejected a stone that causes men to stumble
a rock that makes them fall
And now, of course what we have here are the origins of much of the language in 2 Peter, our scripture for this morning:
4As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– 5you 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. 6For 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. 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8and, “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.
7. Now that we understand metaphorical language we can quickly understand that the writer of 1 Peter has taken the same words in the Hebrew Bible which are meant to refer to Israel … Israel (the nation that God had chosen and which was a light to the nations and yet was also a stumbling block) … and transferred this metaphor to Christ and the church … the kingdom of God which Jesus had proclaimed.
And, so instead of a physical temple which represented the presence of God on earth … most specifically the Temple of God in Jerusalem … the new sanctuary … the new spiritual house will be a “spiritual” one … it would be the Christian Church … which would become precious to some and a stumbling block to others … Do you follow that?
And, moreover, we, as members of the new church … will become like stones … not stones of brick and mortar … but spiritual stones … “living” stones … out of which Christ’s Kingdom … his “living” sanctuary … would be built.
And, it would be Jesus … himself … who would be the cornerstone … the anchor … the basis on which the rest of the bricks would be laid …
DO YOU FOLLOW ALL THAT? GREAT!!
In other words … this is all metaphor … Jesus is not a literal rock … or a physical stone … a piece of clay … nor are we …But, we are to be like … stones … only we are to be living stones …
8. And, to borrow for a moment from Bobby Dylan … we are to be stones that are not sinking … or rolling aimlessly along … caught up in the times that are a changing …but part of a larger entity … a building which is a living edifice … a community of faith …which is eternal and centered in God’s Kingdom … with a firm foundation.
What is that great hymn: # 545 The Church’s One Foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.
And that is Good News … at least so far … don’t you think?
Good news, at least, for anyone who feels that life is out of control … and there seems to be plenty of evidence for that lately … Right?
Good news for a troubled world … that at least something is constant …
No wonder that people are becoming more and more involved with religious faith – all of a sudden …these days. Because the ground is uncertain …because once again … “the times they are changin’” Just like back in the l960’s. Isn’t that right? Can’t you feel it? Can’t you see it on television? It’s here again. Not the l960’s, but something different … but the feeling is the same…for the “times they are achangin’”
9. Now we could just stop right here and go home for Sunday dinner and everything would be just fine … or almost just fine. What do you think? But it’s not that simple … for as Harry Emerson Fosdick once said, “the minister must preach with a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” Both, he advised, are critically important if we are to make sense out of our faith as it is lived out in this life. Otherwise you can just end up having irrelevant Biblical sermons on the one hand or merely “current events” sermons on the other.
So, what is the big news this past week? Of course, the election of the new Pope is the big news. It doesn’t happen very often. The last pope was in for 27 years – although new pope Benedict will not likely last that long or he would be 110 years old!
Now, of course, as Protestants, we are somewhat like outsiders looking in the window on this whole thing. Although, there is no doubt that with increasing globalization of the world we are, whether we like it or not, becoming more acquainted with not only Roman Catholic traditions but also many other religions of the world such as Tibetan Buddhism. After all, the Dali Lama who had a big gathering in New York’s Central Park recently, is kind of the Pope for Buddhism. Sometime you should read about he was elected and how he grew up. Very interesting.
10. Well, as I said, as Methodists we view the Pope much differently that Roman Catholics. We even view the idea of the Church very differently.
Whereas everyone, Catholic or otherwise, knows who the Pope is, very few know who our Bishop is … or really care all that much. Does anyone actually know who our new Bishop is? Sally Dyck. I was, in fact, on the phone with her this past week because she is thinking of coming up here with regard to helping out the Red Lake situation and wants to bring a Methodist minister from the Oklahoma Indian Conference along with her. That should be interesting. Speaking of the Oklahoma Conference, did you know that there are over 200 Indian mission churches in the United Methodist Church? Probably not, because they are not in Minnesota. Most are in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Anyway, the whole question of 1 Peter and the foundation of the church is a very important one because it raises the whole question of authority both of the Church and of the Bible and all the rest. In other words, “Who speaks for God?” Who interprets God’s word? Who decides what sin is or isn’t. And what are the proper or improper doctrines of the Christian faith --- well, I could go on.
11. Now as Protestants we naturally say that we base our beliefs first and foremost on the Bible --- right?
But, when you really get down to it --- is the Bible infallible? Some say yes … some say no. And then there is the whole problem of who exactly interprets the Bible correctly and what happens if not everyone, for equally good reasons, agrees about what the Bible means? And here is the most famous case in point – I read to you from Matthew 16:13-20:
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Now we must realize that this same passage of Scripture which is interpreted very differently by Protestants and Catholics is the basis for the whole business of the Pope and Roman Catholicism. Catholics maintain that it clearly states that Jesus passed on to Peter the keys to the church here on earth and that Peter, therefore, was the first Pope (even though he must have been married because in Luke 4:30 it says that Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever – well let’s not get into the whole celibacy issue!).
So, is Peter the "rock" on which the church is founded? – as Catholics maintain. Or, is the rock Jesus himself or – in other words – God? Protestants would argue, of course, the latter.
What are the words to great old evangelical hymn:
My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus’ blood and righteousness.I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,All other ground is sinking sand;
Same passage – but different interpretations. And a result Catholics believe that as a result of their interpretation, the Church, not Scripture is the foremost authority – even if that authority is based on scripture in the first place (a little problem there) and Protestants, or course, argue the opposite -- starting with Martin Luther down to the present.
12. So, who is right and who is wrong? Is the Church (or the Pope) the final infallible authority or is the Bible the final infallible authority? Which is it?
You want my infallible answer? --- Neither!
According to my own infallible opinion --- only God is infallible. And here on earth, we cannot presume to know infallibly what God’s will is … both in our own life or in the lives of others …
So, what then? Well according to the Methodist Church’s understanding of things going back to John Wesley … we are bound to fall back on the good old basic four principles … of Scripture, the Teachings of the Church (Tradition), Reason (or common sense) and religious experience (which I talked about two weeks ago). Not one – but all four.
13. Now, at the bottom of it all … of course, there is the natural human desire in times of trouble and in our often chaotic world – for certainty. We all want certainty – some solid rock to stand on don’t we? But, I caution you that we have to be careful when we ask for absolute and infallible certainty.
That is where the trouble starts.
In fact, I recently read a rather informative article by Richard Rohr, who is well known Catholic spiritual director who stated that Karl Rahner, even more well known Jesuit theologian who once concluded toward the end of his life that there are two major groups of people in the world … those who want certitude and those who want understanding.
Rohr points out that these two groups often have a hard time understanding each other. In fact, it appears that the new Pope tends in the direction of certitude. Some people need that. Clear cut – right and wrong. On other hand, there are many who seek understanding in matters of faith – not absolutes.
13. Although it has its shortcomings, the Methodist Church is not a church, at least here in Minnesota, which stands for absolutes or absolute certainty.
So, when it comes right down to it … what I would say is that I believe absolutely that God is absolute and is probably infallible (whatever that means) – but I do not absolutely believe that we can say absolutely who God is or what God is thinking at any given moment.
I do believe, however, and I am consistent with our Methodist formula --- that I can come to know and understand God through reading the Holy Scriptures; through the teachings, doctrines, and witness of the church; through the use of my own God given mind and the developments of modern science and learning; and through my own personal religious experience of God’s grace through prayer and the witness of other people. That for me is a pretty good basis for understanding and believing in God.
So, as a Methodist I try to respect others whose understanding of
God is different – including Roman Catholics. I also think, as I often say to people, we are all really going down the same road together … we are just driving different cars. And, I suspect, when we all get to the big used car lot in heaven I think we will all find out that we are all the same regardless of how we got there.
St. Paul said something like that when he said,
12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
And there you have it … and … as for Bob Dylan … one of the most startling remarks to come out of a recent book about Bob Dylan comes not from the more than 250 friends and colleagues who spoke to the author … but from Pope John Paul II, when Dylan performed "Blowin' in the Wind" at the 1997 World Eucharistic Conference in Bologna. "You say the answer is blowing in the wind," said the Pope. "So it is. But it is not the wind that blows things away. It is the wind that is the breath and life of the Holy Spirit, the voice that calls and says, 'Come!'"
Let us pray…
