1 Peter 2:4-10 - Not Just Another Brick in the Wall - May 7, 2023

In the late 1970’s, the British band Pink Floyd released a chart-topping song that school kids all over the world loved. The title of the song was Another Brick in the Wall and the chorus, sung by a school choir, went like this: We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control…Hey teacher! Leave those kids alone…All and all you’re just another brick in the wall. While there’s some debate over the precise meaning of that last line [1], many have understood it to mean that if you just swallow everything your teachers tell you, you’re just a conformist who must not be very bright or creative because you aren’t able or willing to think for yourself. While there’s no question that individuality and non-conformity have their merits, today, many people will accuse you of being a brainwashed conformist – just another uncreative brick in the wall – if you believe everything you read in the Bible; especially the claim that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and the only way to heaven. But today, Peter shows us that while every Christian is built on the same foundation, we are anything but just bricks in the wall.

Peter was writing to people living in a world where it was difficult and even dangerous to confess the Christian faith. Much like today in our own country, Peter and his readers were living in a religiously pluralistic society – a world where many different religions were practiced and tolerated. To remind his readers that their Christian faith was utterly unique, to give them comfort and confidence, Peter uses the OT Scriptures to show them that the foundation of their faith, in sharp contrast to any other, was designed and established by God himself: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will certainly not be put to shame (Isaiah 28:16).

Whether you are building a house, a bridge, a family, a church, or the road to salvation – the most important part is the foundation. If your foundation isn’t solid, it doesn’t matter how well built the rest of the project is, it is doomed to fail. Sadly, the devil is working hard to convince people to believe that Christ is just one of many bricks in the wall of ways to heaven. He wants us to believe that it doesn’t really matter what material you use to build your foundation because all roads lead to the same place. And today, I’m not going to talk about other organized religions – but about the natural religion that lives inside each one of us. Sometimes this natural religion manifests itself in obvious ways: in the person who believes they will go to heaven because they work hard to be a good spouse, a good parent, a good neighbor. But often it is more subtle. When I visit someone who has been neglectful of Word and Sacrament and they tell me not to worry because they pray and read their Bibles on their own – they’ve built their faith on the sandy foundation of their own righteousness. But this natural religion can also persist even in those who do attend worship faithfully – in the idea that I will be saved because of my attendance, my service, my preaching, my volunteering. This foundation is created by the sinful nature living in each of us that tells us the way to please God is by obedience. Am I saying that praying and reading your Bible at home and attending worship and serving others is bad? No! But what does the Bible say about building your hope for salvation on this foundation? Those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law” (Galatians 3:10).

There is only one foundation that is safe to build on, there is only one cornerstone that can correctly align hearts and minds with God’s holy will and that cornerstone is Jesus. Jesus is the only sure foundation because his life is the only one that matched up perfectly with God’s design for mankind. Whatever ideas man may have of building a good life, only God’s opinion matters because he is the master architect. While the foundations people try to build for themselves are no more stable than a sandcastle in a hurricane – Jesus built a rock-solid life of perfect obedience to God and he offers it to us, to claim as our own, free of charge: I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me (John 14:6). But isn’t that an arrogant claim to make? Isn’t it intolerant to claim that we Christians have a monopoly on the truth, on the only way to heaven? Where’s the evidence that we are right, anyway? It’s right here. Peter says that Jesus is a stone over which they stumble and a rock over which they fall. Because they continue to disobey the word, they stumble over it. Just look at how Jesus continues to be a stumbling block to so many in our world. Our society hasn’t just stumbled – but has fallen right on its face over the stone of God’s divine will regarding biological identity and sexual expression. Those who work to protect unborn human life are called hateful and sexist. Unbelievers can’t just ignore Christians; they want to cancel us from society. Why? Because they too have God’s natural law written on their hearts, they know that their lives don’t match up to God’s blueprint – but instead of building on Jesus as their Savior, they stumble over him, they trip and fall. There’s no avoiding Jesus – you either stumble over him, or by God’s grace, build on him. But for we, who, by God’s grace, build on him, Peter gives us this great assurance: the one who believes in him will certainly not be put to shame. Jesus is not another brick in the wall. He is the only sure Cornerstone; he is the only solid foundation on which you can build your life now and for eternity.

And yet, while Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s church, he is not the whole building. The rest of God’s church is not made up of poured concrete or luxury vinyl tile or sheets of drywall. Peter says: you also, like living stones, are being built as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So, is the stereotype true? We really are just bland, brainwashed bricks in a wall of conformity? Nope, Peter says that we are living stones. What’s the difference? Bricks are manufactured to all be the same shape, size, and color. But no two stones are exactly alike. Today, we will take what seems like an abstract concept and make it concrete. Today we will install the members of our church council. Each of them is a unique living stone – different from me and you and different from each other. They each have special talents and special gifts and God uses each of them – just like he uses all of us – to build his church. We have so many reasons to be thankful that God uses this technique to build his church. We don’t all have the time or talents or willingness to work with church finances or church discipline or administration or the building and grounds or organizing fellowship events or the patience to teach Sunday school children – but thankfully, God has provided living stones who are willing and able to do those things. We can’t all play the organ or piano; we don’t all have instrumental or vocal talents – but our gracious God has blessed us with many rock-solid musicians and some up and coming pebbles.

But what if you feel like an oddly shaped stone, like one who doesn’t fit in anywhere? There are no ornamental stones in God’s Church building. He has a unique and important place and role for each and every one of us. Peter says that we are all a holy priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The first and most important sacrifice we bring to God is daily repentance. No matter our age, gender, talents or abilities: God wants all of his children to daily confess their sins and turn to Jesus in faith for forgiveness. And then, washed clean by Jesus’ blood, the world becomes our temple (or our church). The great thing about God’s Church is that its walls extend far beyond those doors; they extend far beyond this place to every corner of the world – yes, even to your homes and workplaces – and, even to North Dakota. We serve God as holy priests wherever we are and whatever our role in life is. We can all proclaim the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light. Children, you serve as priests as you love your siblings and classmates, as you listen to your teachers in school, as you obey your parents at home. Moms and dads, you stand before God’s altar with every diaper you change, every meal you cook, every load of laundry you do, every paycheck you bring home. Employees, whether you love your job or are frustrated with it, remember that you are really serving the Lord (Colossians 3:22-24). If the Lord has blessed you with the ability to retire, God gives you the freedom and time to choose how you will serve him – wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you can do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). No two Christians are exactly alike – and that’s all according to plan, because God needs all kinds of priests in his church: priests who clean, cook, give, care, teach, love, count offerings, cut grass, lead, guide, advise – and, most importantly of all – pray. Be confident that whatever shape and color and size you are, you are a precious stone in God’s house.

But let us never forget that it is not what we do or who we are that makes us the precious building blocks of God’s church, rather, it is what God has done for us in Jesus. Peter closes this section by saying: At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy. We are precious to God because Jesus plunged from his throne in heaven into the filthy muck of this earth to grab us up, to sacrifice himself in our place, and to polish us clean with his blood. It is God’s mercy that makes us precious stones in his church. And this is key because we don’t always feel or act like precious living stones; we don’t always live like royal priests, we are never holy, but God uses humble, often weak, often foolish people like you and me to build his church – and this church, which may not seem like much of a building here on earth, will shine with everlasting glory for all eternity (Daniel 12:3).

I’m not sure what Pink Floyd had in mind when they sang: All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall, but Peter’s words are clear. Christ is the cornerstone of our salvation, and built on that solid foundation, Christians are living stones in God’s temple. No matter what the world thinks or says, Jesus is not just one of many ways to salvation – he’s the chosen and precious cornerstone; and while this building might be composed of bricks – this congregation is composed of precious stones firmly grounded on Jesus, the chief cornerstone – and we can be sure of this because Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.  

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Brick_in_the_Wall