John Updike was an American novelist, poet and short story writer.
In his short story, Pigeon Feathers, he presents a jarring description of the end of life according to secularism.
It is with its secularism's belief that human history is accidental by nature.
And therefore, because it's of accident, what we have in history is an accident.
Then everything is without purpose.
It's without a direction in life or any ultimate goal.
It is just what it is.
That's it.
And so in this short story of Pigeon Feathers, he has David, the character, has a vision of his end of life.
And he writes, David was visited by an exact vision of death.
A long hole in the ground, no wider than a body.
Down into which you were drawn while the white faces receded.
You try to reach for them, but your arms are pinned.
Shovels pour dirt in your face.
There you will be forever.
In an upright position.
Blind and silent.
And in time, no one will remember you.
And you will never be called.
And unaltering darkness reigns.
Where once there were stars.
It's pretty bleak.
That is the essence of secularism's view of all things.
You just end.
That's it.
And a worldview, whatever it is your worldview, it determines how you live now.
What you do with your life now.
If the end is an unalterable darkness, then accumulating as much as you possibly can right now, whether it be possessions or experience,
is the only thing in life because you've only got one shot at it.
That's it.
One shot at life.
Do whatever you can do to bring meaning to your life now because there is no meaning apart from whatever you do for it.
That's it.
In 1 Peter, which we're, our text as we've been told from John this morning, we see an equally jarring end, but it's a very different jarring end.
It's an eternally hopeful end.
It's quite simple.
All of history is heading towards the eternal reign of the risen, ascended Jesus Christ as Lord of all.
That's what 1 Peter, that is what Christianity declares.
So 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 11.
So that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.
Amen.
That is what awaits the Christian at the end is being in the presence of the truly glorious one,
the glorious God under the eternal reign of the merciful Lord Jesus Christ for our everlasting joy.
That's the end.
That is the Christian worldview.
And our vision series this year has been about what does it mean to live now with this new resurrected life in Jesus Christ.
So come back next week and we'll hear more about that and the plausibility and the reasonableness of the resurrection.
How does it mean now until we actually see him face to face?
How do we live?
That's what our vision series.
And our theme today is crucial for understanding life now.
And it's a, this is part three, if you like, of a three-part series.
Not that we've been communicating it like that.
Three-part series.
John, a couple of weeks ago, talked about God building a new people for himself.
I talked about last week about a new freedom that we have.
And it's a freedom.
We're being set free from slavery to self.
Selfishness in order to serve others.
So a new family, new service.
And now I want to just land that for us.
What does it mean for us now in the new vocation that God has called us to?
So three points right there.
If you want to, someone who wants to take notes.
Who are we called to be, first of all?
To be a Christian means, according to 1 Peter, that you are like living stones are being built.
It's a word there that means that you are being fitted together into a spiritual house.
What we are being built into is built into a temple, if you like, a place where God and people dwell together.
Now, to help us understand what 1 Peter is saying there, I'm going to preach the whole Bible to you.
No.
I'll just do a high-level survey.
I'll just do a high-level survey of what the Bible says in terms of one key theme.
The presence of God.
One key thing.
In the beginning, God creates humanity and dwells with them face to face.
It was for humanity's delight.
God is including us into his eternal joy.
People walked and talked with God in the cool of the Garden of Eden.
I cannot imagine what joy and what love of such a relationship with the infinitely powerful and beautiful and good God, created God.
I can't imagine what Adam and Eve experienced in that moment.
But the Bible tells us very quickly in Genesis chapter 3 that that wasn't enough for them.
And they wanted to do life their way.
This broke the relationship with God.
They broke the relationship with his world.
Broke humanity themselves.
It cost them God's presence as God removed them from his presence.
The very thing that they were designed for to enjoy the presence of God was now, no longer did they not only deserve it,
but it was also something that they could no longer cope with.
They could no longer cope with the presence of God.
We cannot cope with the truth and the majesty and the glory and the beauty of God's presence as sinful, broken, flawed humanity.
And the consequence of all of this is the world that we now live in.
I'm fast forwarding a whole heap here.
This is the world we live in.
A world that is a world of disease and injustice and violence and suffering and death.
That's our world.
Because God's presence was not enough for us.
And the good news for us is that God refused to leave us in this mess.
His plan was to make and gather to himself a people who would experience his presence again.
What we see in the early days of the Old Testament is that God's presence is manifested occasionally.
You know, it appears to Abraham, it appears to Jacob and to others.
Occasionally.
Comes and then goes.
And then God comes down to Moses at Mount Sinai and he makes a covenant with his people Israel who he has just rescued from slavery in Egypt.
And when God enters this covenant relationship with Israel, he promises that I will now dwell with you.
And he calls them, gives them plans to build a temporary temple, a tabernacle is what it was called.
And in the centre of that tabernacle, in a thing called the Holy of Holies, God's presence dwelt.
But only once a year, only once a year was the high priest and only the high priest was allowed to go in there into the presence of God.
A little bit later in the prophets in the Old Testament.
They look forward to a day when God's presence would be significantly greater and manifested amongst his people.
Isaiah 4 is one example.
Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy.
And then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night.
Over everything, the glory will be a canopy.
It will be a shelter and a shade from the heat of the day and a refuge and a hiding place from the storm and rain.
What that prophecy sounds like is that everyone amongst God's people is going to have the glory of God on them.
God's presence and glory won't be restricted to the tabernacle or the temple anymore.
And what's more, Moses asked God for a full display of his presence in Exodus 33.
And God said to him, no, I can't do that to you because you mere mortals cannot look upon the glory of God and live.
My presence is too much for you.
And Isaiah 4 strangely says that God's glory will be a shelter, a refuge, a hiding place for his people.
How would that be?
How can God's presence be a place of joy rather than a place of fear?
Well, the very end of the prophecy of Zechariah, which is right at the end of the Old Testament,
it says this in chapter 14, verse 20.
What Zach is saying there is that the day is coming when holy to the Lord will be written on every source,
on every pepper grinder, on every thermomix in Jerusalem and Judah, on all of it.
It used to only be written on the items within the temple.
God's holiness will break out and it will empower his people rather than kill them.
When's that going to happen?
Got to fast forward to the New Testament.
And what we're celebrating on Friday and remembering on Friday,
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on a cross just outside the city walls of Jerusalem.
And when that crucifixion happened, the veil of the temple that separated the Holy of Holies
from every other part of the world, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom,
signifying an act initiated by God himself.
The veil was this huge piece of fabric that separated the Holy of Holies from everyone else.
It protected them from God's power and his presence and his glory.
And with the crucifixion of Jesus, it broke open.
Why?
John chapter 1 tells us that the word became flesh, we're speaking about God,
and made his dwelling amongst us.
Literally, he tabernacled amongst us.
God's presence was amongst us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
God wouldn't let Moses see his glory because it would destroy him.
But in Jesus Christ, we get to see the full unveiled glory and fullness of God.
In fact, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 says that when we become a Christian for the first time,
we see his divine glory in all its fullness as we gaze upon the crucified, resurrected Jesus Christ
and come to him.
And we also, in that moment, partake in his divine glory.
Because of the work of Jesus Christ to forgive us for our sin and rejecting God's glory,
because of that work, we are called back into the presence and glory of God.
I traced all of that really simply, high levels,
just to say that the Old Testament saints of old would be astounded.
They would be astounded by what we have in Jesus Christ and the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The glory of God, the presence of God, and nothing less has broken out into our lives.
If you are a Christian, you are a living stone in the temple of the Holy Spirit.
What does that mean?
Chapter 2 verse 5 again.
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.
The Holy Spirit comes into us as we are being built into.
It's a statement that means that we are being fitted together.
As we are being fitted together, we have access to the holiness and the power of God.
The imagery of the living stones being built into a single unit
implies the significance and the purpose of individual Christians cannot be,
cannot be realised apart from the community with other believers.
We have access to this incredible glory as we are fitted together with other living stones.
In fact, it says that God inhabits us as we are fitted together.
So here's one implication of this.
You can stay at home, away from the gathered people.
You can turn on a live stream, and you can say,
God, change me.
I don't want to be part of the Christian community.
Please change me in the privacy of my own home.
It makes perfect sense for God to come into our lives and bring about changes
as we are fitted together with God's new society, the church.
And the problem with staying isolated and asking God for change you
is that you didn't get the way you are by yourself.
Of course, you made some stupid decisions in life.
But most of it is because of other people in your lives.
It's because of the relationships in your life that you're as screwed up as you are.
Screwed up as I am.
As you come into the community of the church,
you access the glory and the presence of God.
Listening to a sermon like this in the privacy of your own home,
and I'm very mindful that there are some categories of people
where this is crucial for you right now.
You're sick.
You're unable to leave your home, so on and so forth.
COVID was a great blessing to have a live stream.
But listening to a sermon like this in the privacy of your own home
or to your commute to work or while you're walking the dog
is nowhere the same as experience of sitting amongst the gathered people of God.
Not even close.
The imagery of the living stones being built into a single unit,
I'll say it again,
implies the significance and the purpose of individual Christians
cannot be realised apart from community with other believers.
And so if you're of the ilk that says,
I've got the Holy Spirit in my life and that's all I need,
the New Testament and God does not agree with you.
It's a fallacy that you have built for yourself.
So that's who, what we are called to be.
What are we called to do?
Second half of verse five again.
To be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The language Peter uses here is that of priesthood.
Again, he's looking back into the Old Testament.
We are not just a temple being built,
but we're also the priests in the temple as well.
Looking back to the Old Testament,
God's glory and his presence was in the temple.
And in those days, Israel had priests who pretty much did everything.
The people were by and large pretty passive in Old Testament Israel.
Only the priests offered the sacrifices.
And what he's saying here is not now, not now.
Because of Jesus, no longer.
Hebrews 13 is making a similar point of 1 Peter 2,
where it says,
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God
a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name,
and do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Basically, what Hebrews tells us,
as you track the theology of Hebrews,
is that Jesus is the priest to end all priests,
and he's the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
He is the priest who sacrifices himself for our sake.
He gave his body to atone for our sins once and for all.
And all who are in Jesus now,
who come to him,
become priests,
who are empowered to do ministry
that is pleasing to God.
That is,
ministry,
service of others,
is the new vocation of all Christians.
Of all Christians.
God delights in it,
and he honours it.
Hebrews 13 refers to ministry that involves the word,
the fruit of lips that confess his name.
When you sit with a grieving person
and just share out of your heart
biblical truths about God and Jesus
and grace and forgiveness,
or you're teaching in kids' church,
which some are doing right now,
or share your faith with a friend,
if you confess Jesus' name,
God empowers you as a priest,
and it is pleasing to him.
Regardless of whether people respond
in the way you want them to,
it is pleasing to him.
Hebrews 13 verse 16 also refers to deed ministry.
Do not forget to do good
and to share with others
for with such sacrifices,
God is pleased.
Some of us are specialists,
you might call it,
in word ministry.
There are others set aside
who are specialists for deed ministry,
but all of us are generalists to do both.
Because of the empowering presence
of the Holy Spirit,
even the weakest and newest Christian
are more empowered
than the Old Testament prophets and priests.
that's phenomenal.
Every Christian,
every single Christian,
even if you became a Christian yesterday,
has the ability to change lives
in a way that the Old Testament priests
and prophets weren't able to.
I'll push it in a little bit further.
One Corinthians,
sorry,
1 Peter 4.10,
which Jackie read out for us,
tells us that every single Christian
has got a gift.
Each of you should use
whatever gift you have received
to serve others
as faithful stewards of God's grace
in its various forms.
Every single Christian
has got certain talents,
certain experiences,
experiences,
aptitudes
that make you
as unique
as a fingerprint
in regard to ministry.
There are some people
in your life
that pretty much
only you
have an opportunity
to reach,
to comfort,
to serve.
And I want to say to you,
for you who are gathered here
right now,
online,
or right here,
you are not here by accident.
It is by God's design.
In God's providence,
you are here
because he wants you
to be part of his eternal plan.
And there are certain things
that he wants you to do.
So,
if you are only,
if you like,
taking
and not giving,
not serving,
not praying,
not being trained
in any way,
it means there are some things
that God
wants us to do
as a church family
for our neighborhood
that we are not
currently able to do.
We are all priests here
to offer spiritual sacrifices
and you are needed.
God is calling you
to minister.
And as we consistently
call you
week in and week out
to take your next step,
we are calling you
to step into your design.
We are calling you
to step into your vocation.
prioritizing God's people,
his eternal spiritual house
over our temporary dwellings
and personal improvement projects
are often too much for us though.
Expressive individualism,
which I talked about last week,
says,
you do you,
I'll do me,
I need to do this for me.
And it does not tolerate
sacrificing of self
for the sake of others.
It might occasionally
for immediate family
and for some friendships
from inner circle,
but really not anyone else.
We even read suggestions
in our day and age
that we would be
significantly happier in life
if we cut out
all the negative people
out of our lives.
And so even the Christian
finds it so much easier
to justify
curating a circle
of acquaintances
who confirm for us
our biases,
never challenge us,
and whose lifestyles
and circumstances
fit perfectly with our own.
We pursue personal preference
consistently in life.
And we are called
by God
in his providence
to do exactly the opposite.
And not just that,
he's empowered us
by his Holy Spirit
to do exactly the opposite.
Jesus went to the cross
for those people,
for all people.
That's the level
of commitment
that he requires
for each of us
and he's calling us into.
We are to cultivate
Christian communities
in which our common characteristic,
our cornerstone,
our foundation
is Jesus Christ
and his service
of all people.
As society fractures
into toxic tribalism,
it is essential
for churches
to form deep,
thick communities
based around
a lot more
than my personal convenience.
Our world needs it.
Do not choose churches
where there are people
just like you.
in fact,
a surefire test
for the gospel-centeredness
of any church
is its ability
to create deep community
across social
and cultural barriers.
And it will cost us.
It will cost us dearly
as we launch
into our vision
in the coming years.
prioritizing long-term
church relationships
may mean
foregoing career advancement
in another city
or stopping
the entertainment,
the cultural
or the sporting activities
that clash
with the gathering
of God's people.
It may mean
sidelining relationships
that merely reflect
my own interests
and preferences
for the sake
of the weaker,
the more needy
or the culturally
different from me.
Right now
at St. Paul's
we have got lots on
and we are taking
some pretty major steps
as a church family.
And there may even
be an assumption
amongst us
well they don't need
my gifts,
they don't need
my financial resistance,
they don't need
my prayers,
they don't need
my service.
I want to say
that is a deadly
assumption
for you.
For you.
If you are too
timid,
too busy
and I say this
gently,
maybe too selfish
to do input
and output
then that is
bad for you.
It is bad
for you.
It is also
bad for us
and it's also
bad for our
neighbourhood.
We have
20 people
right now
signed up
and progressing
through Arthur.
We are starting
a Thursday night
congregation
next term.
Big next steps.
The submission
for building
affordable
and social housing
on our site
has just been
submitted
and right now
in the next
week even
I think it is
we are seeking
to raise
$68,500
to see God's
spiritual house
continue to be
built in our
neighbourhood
and beyond us.
That's what we're
doing right now.
so far
we haven't
even hit
15% of that.
This is what
God is calling
us to do.
This is what
he is calling
you to do.
Give,
serve,
pray,
commit to
seeing God's
presence built.
You've got
one card
on your seat
which I'll
talk about
in a moment
another one
that's coming
in the next
couple of
weeks.
It's about
you taking
your next
step for
your joy.
So how
are we
enabled to
do this?
Where do we
get the power,
the motivation,
the confidence,
the freedom to do
all this?
It's right there
back to 4 and 5
again.
That's my text
for today.
As you come
to him,
the living
stone rejected
by humans
but chosen
by God
and precious
to him,
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.
As you
come to
the living
stone,
Jesus Christ,
the living
stone,
is also
the corner
stone,
the foundation.
He's the
thing that
connects us
all and
holds us
up.
He is the
cornerstone
of what God
is eternally
building in
his people.
In verses
6 and 7,
if we relate
to Jesus
Christ as
our
cornerstone,
we then
will have
the amazing
power to
see change
in our
lives,
the power
to serve
people and
see other
lives changed.
How do
you relate
to him
as your
living
stone?
Four
things,
very briefly.
Firstly,
he is your
foundation.
The
cornerstone
is the
foundation
stone
of the
Old Testament
temple.
It's the
main stone
from which
all other
stones are
measured
and set.
It had
to be
perfectly
placed and
perfectly
true in
order for
the building
to be built.
friends,
it's not
simply enough
just to
believe in
Jesus.
What I
mean by
that is
it's not
simply enough
just to
give some
sort of
intellectual
assent to
him existing
and being
God.
He needs
to be
who he
says he
is to
us,
the
operating
foundation
of our
very
lives.
Our
entire
life is
to be
built on
him.
Every
human
heart has
got its
uttermost
foundation
from which
we get
our sense
of value,
worth and
self.
Every
single human
heart has
got a
foundation
and from
that foundation
our lives
are built
and our
eternity is
governed and
our decisions
are made.
Whatever it
is for you,
and I've
preached about
this twice
already in
this series,
whatever it
is,
it must
be displaced
by Jesus
Christ.
He has
to be
there.
And when
Jesus goes
to the
foundation,
he removes
or he
weakens
every other
identity
marker of
our life.
life, if
you want
to know
what the
identity
marker is
in your
life, the
deepest
foundation
in your
life,
see what
quickly
replaces the
community of
believers.
See what
quickly replaces
your engage
with him in
your Bible
and your
prayer.
And you're
getting an
idea of what
the identity
marker, the
strongest
foundation of
your life
is.
Secondly, for
Jesus to get
to that place
in our life,
he has to be
precious to
us.
See verse
four, rejected
by humans but
chosen by God
and precious to
him.
Jesus, his
grace and his
mercy has to
become more
precious to us
than anything
else, otherwise
he will never
become our
cornerstone.
He becomes our
foundation when we
see him and
regard him as
the pearl of
great price, the
greatest treasure.
Thirdly, he
becomes precious
to us when we
see him, when we
see him as, that
we are precious
to him.
He was rejected
by his closest
friends, he was
rejected by his
family, he was
rejected by his
society, he was
rejected by his
father, he was
rejected, he went
to the cross for
our sin.
Why would he be
so rejected?
Hebrews tells us
it's because we
were precious to
him.
When we see
ourselves as
being so
unworthy and
yet so precious
to him, that
will turn him
into being so
precious to us.
And that is
when he starts
to become the
cornerstone in
our life.
When we see
that cornerstone,
that foundation,
we are set free
and empowered to
serve others.
Lastly, to
swing us right
around back from
where I started
at the beginning,
he is the goal
of all things.
At the end of
the Bible,
Revelation 21,
we read of the
new heaven, the
new earth.
It's a new city
and we are told
God's dwelling
place is now
amongst the
people and he
will dwell with
them and they
will be his
people and
God himself
will be with
them and be
their God.
He will wipe
away every tear
from their eyes
and there will
be no more
death or mourning
or crying or
pain for the
old order of
things has passed
away.
And it says
those who are
victorious will
inherit all of
this.
And I will be
their God and
they will be
my children.
what you see
in Revelation
21 and 22
as it describes
the new heavens
and new earth,
there's no
temple there.
There's no
temple.
In fact,
Revelation tells
us the entire
new heavens and
new earth is the
temple, the
perfect temple
where the throne
of God is in
the middle.
God dwells
now with his
people forever
in eternal
bliss.
That is the
trajectory of
all of God's
plans to
build his
people in
Jesus Christ,
to eternally
dwell with
them.
And the
church is
the only
glimpse of
that that we
have right
now.
And so I
ask you,
call yourself
a Christian?
God has
called you
into a new
community and
here's a
community that
he's building
for his
glory to
permanently
dwell amongst
them.
Does your
life reflect
that goal?
purpose?
Are you
taking your
next step to
pursue that
purpose in
your life?
God's purpose
for all
things.
best
one
God's mother
have a
love
to
not
but
go to
allowance
for all
and
more
in
the
life
you