Our text this morning begins with Peter telling us to rid ourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.  He has just prior to this told us that we have been born again through the living and enduring word of God.  He quotes from Isaiah 40, saying, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”  This is the word that was preached to you, Peter says.  Therefore, because you have received this word which gives new life, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.  Instead of that garbage which at times can be so attractive and alluring, we are to take on some of the characteristics of a new born baby.  Which when you think about it, makes sense, because Peter has just told us that we have been born again through the Word.  “Like newborn babies,” he says, “crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 

          Those of you who have had babies know what sort of imagery Peter is trying to conjure up here in our minds.  Even those of us who don’t have children still understand what Peter is saying here.  The unrestrained hunger of a healthy baby provides an example of the kind of eager desire for spiritual food that ought to characterize us as believers.  Our craving for spiritual nourishment should be like the craving for nursing children for milk.  Newborn babies are uninhibited in their eagerness to find the source of their existence and growth into physical maturity.  They cry out for milk that not only satisfies the hunger, but really nourishes the growing body.  Likewise, those who have tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord have developed a hunger and thirst for the nourishment of the Spirit that cannot be satisfied with anything else.  Peter tells us that the pure spiritual milk of God’s word will help us to grow up in our salvation—it will bring us to spiritual maturity.  These verses are instructive for us today certainly as individuals and a church as a whole.  When an individual or entire church yearns for spiritual nourishment, they are certainly less likely to be involved in the deceit, hypocrisy, envy or slander that Peter earlier mentioned.  They have tasted that the Lord is good—the initial taste was satisfying and now Peter tells them to keep after it—to long for additional spiritual food.  We need to do the same.

          Then in verse 4 Peter speaks of Jesus Christ as the living Stone.  Jesus was rejected by the people He came to save but He was chosen by God and precious to Him.  Peter says that as we come to Jesus, the living Stone, we also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.  I believe it is no coincidence that Peter uses this sort of language here.  Remember Jesus’ famous question in the Gospel to His disciples?  “But what about you—who do you say that I am”, Jesus asked them.  And we are told that Simon Peter was the first to speak up and he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:15-16).  Jesus replies, “Blessed are you, Simon, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”  In the Greek “Peter” is petros and rock is petra.  The rock on which the church is built may be Peter’s inspired confession of faith itself, or it may be Peter himself, since Ephesians 2:20 indicates that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”  So the passage in the Gospel speaks of the “living God” and the “rock” and Peter in our text this morning speaks of “living stones” being built into a spiritual house.”  

          The Old Testament temple provides the background and imagery for this passage here.  In the Old Testament the dwelling place of God and the place to worship God was the temple.  Here Peter writes to Jewish and Gentile Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor and tells them that they are a spiritual house, the temple of God.  The church, this spiritual house, is the replacement of the old temple as the dwelling place of God.  In the Old Testament times, the priest would be the mediator between God and the people.  The priest and no one else would be allowed into the Holy of Holies, the inner part of the temple or tabernacle.  But now, Peter says, all believers are a holy priesthood and offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  The whole body of believers is now a priesthood—not just a select few special individuals.  We all are, like living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.  What are these spiritual sacrifices?  We don’t offer animal sacrifices as they did in Old Testament times, that is for sure.  The animal sacrifices foreshadowed Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who was slain for the salvation of all who would believe.  The New Testament refers to a variety of offerings.  We offer our bodies to God-Paul says in Romans 12:1, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.”  We can offer money or material goods.  Paul received gifts from the church at Philippi and told the church that the gifts were “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” (Php. 4:18).  Another spiritual sacrifice we can offer to God is praise.  Hebrews 13:15: “Through Jesus Christ, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.”  And then in the next verse (16) we read: “And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  So Peter says believers are living stones that make up a spiritual temple in which, as a holy priesthood, they offer up spiritual sacrifices.  This is powerful imagery that I am sure most of us have never even heard or never really thought about before. 

          Peter continues this imagery in verse 9.  He says: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…”  As Israel was called God’s chosen people in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament believers are called chosen, or elect.  This passage explicitly associates the Old Testament terms for Israel with the New Testament church.   “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…”  These are Old Testament descriptions of Israel now applied to the church of Jesus Christ giving rise to the important teaching that the church is the fulfillment and continuation of Israel.  It’s hard for us to understand these terms because the world we live in is different.  For a Jewish person, to be part of a royal priesthood was beyond one’s natural abilities because first of all, royalty was inherited.  Added to the idea of royalty is the idea of priesthood which would bring to the average person’s mind back then the idea of direct access to God.  To be a priest was a privilege beyond comparison because it involved entry into the central courts and holy places of the temple in order to take human concerns before God and apply God’s forgiveness.  And so to call all members of the new family of God a royal priesthood meant to wipe away any sense of physical lineage and heritage and to grant to these same people the highest statuses that one could imagine in Judaism: kings and priests.  To become a Christian is to be raised to the ultimate height in status because we suddenly become children of the God of the universe, and we have direct access to Him because we are His children. 

          At the end of verse 9, we are told what our status means for us: we are to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.  And in verse 12 Peter says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”  The basic message here is: live holy lives in the midst of secular chaos and let God take care of the final results.  What Peter wants from his churches and what God wants from His people is a heart focused on Him, a behavior focused on love and obedience, and a lifestyle impeccable in the sight of non-Christians.  Our task as individuals and as a church is the same now as it was for those whom Peter is writing to long ago.  Our first task as Christians in society is to live before God in love and holiness in such a way that culture sees the radical difference between the two worlds.  We must leave no room for accusations against us for the way we live.       

This is the goal of the church—to declare the praises of God who called us out of darkness into the wonderful light.  And declaring God’s praises only makes sense to those outside when our actions, the way we live, match what we claim to believe and what we preach.  Peter tells the people to live such good lives among the pagans that even though they accuse you of wrongdoing, they will have to notice your good deeds.  In other words, give them no evidence to base their wrong assumptions or accusations on.  Don’t give people fuel for the fire they want to get started with people of faith.  Our job as living stones is to build a spiritual house with our good deeds, our spiritual sacrifices.   The church doesn’t exist so that people can say, “What a great building this is”.  We don’t even exist so that people can say, “What a great bunch of people this is.”  We exist so that people can look at us and say, “What a great God!”  

Like a newborn baby, crave pure spiritual milk—the word of God.  For we are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God.  And we need to keep our house in order to be good witnesses.  We need to live godly lives so people can see our good deeds and know that God is real.  We are living stones who serve a living God.  Amen.