You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5).

We’ve been thinking long and hard about Real ID, what it means to be in Christ, to be crucified with Christ, to continually press on to know and love Jesus more and more, to live together as citizens of our King.  Peter will now add an additional true identity marker for us.  Who are we?  Building materials.  

I know: you were hoping for something a bit more … inspiring?

Peter tells us that God is building something in the earth, and incorporating us into what he’s building.  But we are not included as workers, foremen, architects and the like; we’re the blocks and beams that are being fitted together into a “spiritual house,” a temple. However, it’s a temple unlike any temple the world has ever seen or conceived.  It is not built by people; it is built of people.

Keep in mind that, in Peter’s time, a temple-builder would not call Lowe’s or Home Depot and have delivered to the site pre-manufactured block and lumber, everything cut to exact specifications before it arrives.  There was a whole lot of chiseling, cutting, grinding and smoothing that happened on site.  

One of the main difficulties in working with living stones (us) is that the necessary chiseling, cutting, grinding and smoothing causes a whole lot of hollering.  I see myself as a true, square stone, and know my ideal location is someplace pretty prominent.  Being a thoroughly trained individualist, I know my rights, and know exactly where I best fit.

Then Jesus, the Master Builder, and the Holy Spirit, the Master Project Manager, get ahold of living stone Brian: “Hmmm, he’s got a rough edge here, and that corner isn’t exactly square. And we need this stone to fit just there, so we’re going to need to do some serious grinding. Well, let’s get started—please hand me that tool.”  And my hollering begins!

You know what we call these tools?  “Difficult Situations.”  “Challenging Circumstances.”  “Other People, especially those who rub me the wrong way.”  And “Things I Do Not Like.”

Can we learn to see Chatham Community Church as an active construction site?  Can we learn to distinguish the building that God is building from the scaffolding needed to make the project work?  Scaffolding are things like meetings, budgets, equipment, a new facility, an old facility, governing documents, music styles, technology and the like—all absolutely needed, but not the building itself.

What are the identity markers of this building that God is building?

First, the building finally will be true and square, because Jesus Christ is the cornerstone.  Every other piece and part of the building must be oriented to him, aligned to him and by him, shaped by him and for him.

The building is alive, alive with the life of the triune God.  Jesus Christ is The Living Stone; in him, we become living stones, enlivened for God through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Further, the building is a spiritual house: it is a living community in Christ where God is at home in us and we in him.

Finally, the building is still under construction, which is why there is still some hollering and why it often feels like such a glorious mess.  The building is you, me, us, and others yet to come, other living stones needed to complete what God has purposed and designed for Chatham Community Church.  

Is there a “Brother (Sister) Sandpaper” in your life, a person who rubs you the wrong way?  Sure, God needs to keep working on them!  But how is God using them to smooth or polish you?