Living Stones (2)
1Peter 2:4-10
As a monument for the
Armenian Genocide, the local Armenian community of the Bay Area has adopted the
cross of
That cross has an interesting
story. The first wooden cross was
erected on the mountain in 1923 during an Easter sunrise worship service.
It was a “monument” to tell the story of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
After four wooden crosses
were either burnt or blown, the city erected a concrete cross in 1934.
One week before Easter, on March 25 at 7:30 pm, the cross was lit by telegraph
from President Roosevelt in front of 50,000 in attendance. Thousands of
people gathered there every year to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
In the late 80’s and early
90’s the presence of a cross on public property disturbed many people and
organizations. In 1997, after much effort, the citizens of
The story has to be told.
Do you know that the Stones speak,
too?
When the priests asked Jesus
to quiet down those who were shouting Hosannas, he replied, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will
cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
What kind of stones are those
stones that can talk?
Let us examine this concept; it
has two layers:
1. Jesus Christ is the
CORNERSTONE.
“As you come to him, the
living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him” (1st
Peter 2:4)
The author continues by quoting
from Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 28:16).
"See,
I lay a stone in
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone
is precious.
But
to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall." (1Peter
2:6-8)
Jesus is the cornerstone. If
you look at Roman arches, you will see stones next to each other and in the
middle you will find the cornerstone. This stone is the one all the others lean
on. If you take it out, the arch will collapse.
Another picture is when we
build a wall, the stones are leaning on each other and in the end there is the
cornerstone. If one takes it out, the wall will collapse.
Jesus used the stone metaphor
when he was talking about his death and
resurrection. He spoke about the temple,
which is built by stones, to be
destroyed and in three days to be rebuilt. People did not understand him. How
come a huge
The question that comes is, talking about what?
Talking about the glory of our Lord, talking about the presence and the miracle of God in our
life.
2- The second layer is us,
we are the remaining stones.
“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” (vs 5).
The scripture is calling us living stones. We are part of the picture.
If Christ is the cornerstone, we are the remaining stones. If there is an arch,
that means we, believers are gathered together and Jesus Christ, the cornerstone,
is holding us together.
As Armenians, we need to understand this and believe
in it. We are different from each
other. We have different backgrounds. Haysdnatsi, lipanantzi, barsgahay, American-Armenian,
and more. We criticize each other. Sometimes we do not understand each other. Unfortunately
we labelize each other. Two things should be clear:
a- We
have common history. The genocide is the history that is for every
Armenian. My father-in-law Rev. Karjian whenever he spoke about the Armenian
genocide he used the words “Meds Yeghern.” (the Great
Massacre). He used it because it is the genocide of all the families and
villages. As an Armenian father, it is my duty to tell the story that was given
to me. It is my duty to tell it to my children. It is my duty to tell it to my neighbor.
It is my duty to tell it to the world. “Im Azkayin bardaganoutouns e. Amen megoun Azkayin bardaganoutioune e.”
b- We should
have a unified goal and direction. That goal will unite us instead of divide
us. We can learn from the Bible how to be a LIVING STONES. We as Armenians,
and non-Armenians, any nation, need to learn that the arch is built by different
stones with different types, but ONE stone holds it together, that
is the cornerstone, Jesus Christ. As Joshua was asked to bring 12 kind of
stones representing 12 tribes, we as Armenaisn
brought 5-10-15-kinds of different stones representing all kind of Armenians
coming togahter, united in Armenian and in diaspora. Why? For the glory of God.
“You also, like living
stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” We need to learn to be a spiritual house.
This is beyond church
building and structure. This is beyond our educational, social, and political structures.
God is inviting each person to be responsible to know Jesus Christ as personal
savior, then God is inviting us to have a collective goal to build a spiritual
house, with LIVING STONES.
Stones talk to us and tell us
stories. Monuments are building to remind us of stories. Jacob used a stone for a
pillow; he slept and saw God’s revelation to him. When he woke up, he took
that stone, built a monument and called
it
Peter concludes his writing:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (vs. 9).
How can we be a holy nation?
Light in darkness?
I will refuse to tell stories
of hatred to my children.
I will not educate my people
for revenge.
I will pass on what Christ taught
me to do.
I will pass on the gospel of
Jesus Christ to the nations, including
I will demand nations to recognize
our Genocide.
I will ask God that justice
will be done according His will. The Word of God says: “Vengeance is Mine, I
will repay, says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)
Our collective duty is to be a
“royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (vs 9).
Let us be LIVING STONES.
Let us be stones of God.
Let us stay with CORNER
STONE Jesus Christ our savior and Lord.