Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - September 12, 2021

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on 1 Peter 1:13-25.

It’s hard to get rid of things. When Jackie’s mother died we found that she had saved receipts all the way back to Rices. Maybe she thought that she might want to return something later on. What are the things you have a hard time getting rid of? For me, it can be expressed in one word - everything. My attic is like King Tut’s tomb. It is almost a history of my marriage up there.

Nearly every toy the kids got for Christmas is there. Every test paper they got from first grade up to graduate school. Training wheels, cameras, crutches. You name it and it’s there. To be honest, I consider the attic as my our last revenge on the kids. They’ll have to get rid of all that stuff when I leave this old world. Not really. Last year I started sorting through my personal mementoes of sixty years on Moose Avenue and tossing out the absolute trash. Barbie dolls with one leg, Chutes and Ladders with the pieces long gone, children’s books with the covers eaten away by a neurotic dog we used to have. I have to confess that when I came to a game totally intact, I stopped to play with it. One of the things that encourages me to keep all of this stuff is the hope that one day an expert on The Antique Road Show will show up and tell me it is all worth millions.

In today’s study, Peter tells us there are some things that we need to toss out. Clean out that attic. As we learned last week, this was a letter to churches in the northern part of Asia Minor. These were churches mostly made up of Gentiles who were pretty new to the faith. Peter was trying to prepare them for what he saw as a threat looming ahead for Christians. What did he see as a threat to them? Rome had chosen them as the scape goats for anything bad happening in Rome and had instituted severe penalties for just being Christians. We pick up on his letter in the second chapter.

1 Peter 2:1 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insecurity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

In the Revised Standard Version, he starts off by telling them to rid themselves of things. Actually a better word than “rid” was originally used - “cast off.” I guess casting off something is about the same as getting rid of it. The thing about “cast off” is that it implies a more aggressive action on our part. Ever work in your garden on a hot summer day? When I was much younger, the garden was where I could prove myself worthy of Jackie. .After an hour I was drenched in perspiration and covered with dirt. When I was dogged tired and through, there would always be some of the dust that had mixed with my sweat to become a irregular shaped mud patties on me knees, I staggered into the garage only to be greeted by Jackie with new instructions from the operations center. “Take off those dirty clothes and leave them in the garage.” Now, I’m a modest man, but, she meant what she said. Ever try to pull a wet tee shirt over your head? No matter how hard you pull, it just ain’t going to slide up your body. As the wet shirt striped with dirty finger wipings and pants caked with dirt are removed, I tossed them on the top of the recycling container to dry out. That is what “casting off” is all about. It carries with it the picture of tossing away soiled, unpleasant clothing. Peter is telling them that like dirty soiled clothing, they need to cast off the stuff that soils their lives.

Spiritually, what soils our lives? Sins. Just in case there are some Gomer Piles here asking, “Gollee!, What sins are they, Peter?”, What were the sins Peter lists? Malice, guile, insincerity, envy and all slander. Do you notice these sins are kind of related? These are sins we do to others. People we come in contact with on a regular basis. We see, hear or use these words all of the time, but, lets be clear about what we are talking about.

(1) Malice. What is malice? It’s wanting to hurt somebody who doesn’t deserve to be hurt. It’s the pure meanest of having spite and holding a grudge. It is letting your anger become so great toward somebody that you will delight in seeing them suffer.

(2) Guile. What is guile? Deceit. It is using flattery, lies or phoney concern to take advantage of another’s person’s weakness. It is the low life con artist who scam senior citizens. Ever get a call where the caller tells you your grandson is in trouble with the police and needs money for a bond. Who is the caller? A guy claiming to be your grandson's lawyer. We'll call him the telephone guiler.

(3) Insincerity. How about insincerity? An insincere person is a hypocrite. A phoney. In religion it is person with counterfeit piety. He has all the right words, but they are just words that he doesn’t really believe in. He gives flowery compliments that he doesn’t believe, makes promises that he never intends to keep or pretends friendship when he is really setting you up to get something from you.

(4) Envy. Anybody here who doesn’t know what envy is? Envy is being angry because somebody has gotten something or has something that you want. You can be envious of a lot of different things. What are some of the things? Abilities. Wealth. Fame. Reputation. Even being liked by a lot of people. The bottom line is the guy who envies is a guy who thinks he deserved it more that the person who has it. Before we move on, I have to say something. Haven’t you had somebody tell you of something great that has happened to them or something special that he got, and you said, “I envy you?” Well, you aren’t a bad person for saying that. What I think we mean when we say "I envy you" is not an envy that wishes they lose what they have, but, being glad they have it because if you had the chance, you would want it too.

(5) Slander. Slander is saying something that will harm the reputation of somebody else. The easiest forms of slander is rumor and gossip. Gossip is a great vehicle for slander because a lot of people just love to hear gossip. Why do you suppose that is? The accusation goes unchallenged because the slandered guy isn’t there to defend himself. Gossip has to depend a lot on envy. If you envy someone, you are likely to believe the gossip about him.

How did Peter do? Did he cover all of the bases? Is there anybody here want to have one of these things? Of course not. Unfortunately, some of these sins sneaks in even when we are watching out for them. It’s awful hard sometimes to not have a little bit of envy or listen to the latest gossip. But what does Peter tells us to do? Cast them off like those dirty work clothes. Instead of putting them on the recycle container, throw them in the garbage can and without a black plastic bag to hold them. The only way we can deal with temptation is to control our impulses.

The real question is why is Peter stressing these things in his letter and why at this time? These are the things that will break up a community, will divide a church. Peter sees that for the church to survive the persecutions that are coming, it has to be united. If these sins are left unchecked, there will be no way that they will be able to stand up against Rome. They have to be united. During World War 2, we had rationing. I remember there were no white eggs only brown ones. No bubble gum. No nylon hose only a pencil for drawing a seam on the back of your leg. All of this was done to force everybody to make the same sacrifice. In our sacrifice we were united. That was what was behind most of the rationing. It was a way of uniting us behind the war effort by sharing in the pain. The churches Peter was writing to had to be united. They all had to be on the same page and the way to do that was to get rid of those things that would split them up.

Remember these are basically new Christians. Not a lot of history to work with here. Peter recognizes where they are spiritually and says, in effect, since you are reborn, you are like new born babies. What do all babies want? Their milk and right when they want it. Would you say that babies are demanding? Ever watch a bottle of warm milk approach a babies lips? Before there is a landing of the nipple on the baby’s lips, he is all ready sucking. The closest thing to that is seeing me eat crab legs at the Red Lobster. Peter compares being reborn with having almost a fanatic desire to know more about God. The same demanding nature that a baby has. Do you know that the symbolism about being reborn equating to a new born baby was so strong in the early church that a newly baptized Christian was clothed in white robes and given a cup of milk to drink.

Peter says that the milk that the baby Christian needs is what? Spiritual milk. What is spiritual milk? The Word of God. Like a baby grows from getting the right nourishment, Christians who get the milk of God will grow strong in the faith and mature as a Christian. Peter says that if you came to Christ with love and obedience then you have had your first taste of God - and it was lip smacking good.

1 Peter 2:4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to b a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," 8 and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Now that he has united the people, Peter wants to move on to the church it’s self. The idea of a “stone” was a popular theme in the Old Testament. Psalm 118 calls Israel “the head corner-stone.” This is where the words in verse 7 came from. To the rest of the world, Israel was worthless. Israel was just a bunch of shepherds wandering around the middle east. God saw them differently. He saw in Israel a nation that was going to help build God’s kingdom on earth. When the Psalmist spoke of Israel as “the head corner-stone” he was confirming Israel’s awareness of it’s mission in carrying out God’s plan. Jesus took these words and applied them to himself. He was rejected by men, but, God had destined him the be the foundation for building his Kingdom on Earth.

Another place where the idea of a stone being used is in Isaiah 28. Isaiah quotes God as saying that he is laying a stone for a foundation, a tested, precious stone that will be a sure foundation. Peter used this quote in Verse 6. Early Christian writers took this writing and attributed it to Christ. Christ is the sure foundation upon which God’s church will be built.

What kind of stone is Christ? A living stone. He is not a stone like the other stones used in construction because he is the living stone who gives life. The secular world tells us that Christ is a myth or a sweet little morality story. Peter says that he more than that. He is rock solid, but, he is also precious. To be precious is what? Be of high value. Unique. Desired. Christ is all of these things and more. He is the cornerstone. The rock upon which the whole church is built. The corner stone in buildings is the large stone which is placed first. All other stones start from that corner and depend upon that the strength and integrity of that cornerstone for the foundation to be secure. Christ is the cornerstone, but, what is the building that is constructed from that cornerstone? The church. The cornerstone is where the building starts, but, what makes up the materials for the rest of the building? More stones. Where do they come from? We are the other stones. By accepting Christ we become living stones too. It’s just something that we share with Christ. Not the cornerstone, but, living stones for sure. We will be the stones that make up the walls, floors and roof. We are important products, folks. But by ourselves, we are just one stone. The church is made up of a lot of stones. That means that if we are to fulfill our purpose as being a church, we have to do it with others. You see, there are no freelance Christians. Look at it this way. A stone laying on the ground by itself is useless. Pile it up on other stones and we get a wall. That’s the way it is with Christians. We can’t do it on our own. We are effective when we stand shoulder to shoulder with other Christians. Being an Christian who believes that he doesn’t need anybody else to be a Christian is absurd. Christians belong to a community and it is with the community that we draw our strength.

Suppose you wanted to serve America and defend it against Islamic terrorists. How much good do you think you would do if you packed up a gun and a change of underwear and flew over to Afghanistan? Probably be killed the first day. To be effective you would need to be with a lot of other Americans armed and ready. Just like the army, Christianity is a group thing. To be living stones in the church takes team work.

Peter tells us that not only are we going to be the building, but, the priests who serve in the building. Before Christ, being a priest was a privilege, because the priest was able to have access to God. The priesthood was a professional organization which required in some cases being born into the right family. If you worked your way up the ladder, you might someday get to the top rung, the Chief Priest. Then you would be the only priest allowed into the Holy of Holies. You would be top dog.

Christ changed all of that. Every Christian has access to God through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. That means that every believer - you and I - are priests. We all know that the Pope is called the Pontiff. Do you know what the word “Pontiff” means? It means “priest”. Actually, in Latin, the word “pontiff” means “bridge builder.” In that sense, the priest is the person who builds a bridge to God so others can come to God. As Christians that is what we do when we share the gospel with others. We are building bridges to God. Folks, get out your hard hats because we are bridge builders.

Another job of the priest is to bring offerings to God. Before Jesus, the offerings were animal sacrifices. We Christians bring offerings but they aren’t animal sacrifices. They are spiritual sacrifices. Guess that keeps us out of trouble with Peta. What are our spiritual sacrifices? Our work. Our lives. Everything we do because it is done for God. That means that the least praised job, the smallest thing is as important as the most visible applauded job. It means that our worship is an offering. Reading this study right now is an offering acceptable to God. Above all, we, ourselves, are an offering to God. Paul said, “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God.” I don’t know about you, but, I definitely need to get my body sacrifice in better shape. But the shape of our bodies really doesn’t matter to God. The offering that God values the most is the love in our hearts and the service of our lives. That is the perfect sacrifice which every Christian can make.

Peter again contrasts the difference between the believer and the unbeliever. God’s mercy and faithfulness requires a response made in faith. We believers accept Christ as that precious cornerstone of our faith. Those without faith reject that cornerstone. They cast it aside because they see it as worthless. Ever vacuum your house? You move chairs and sofas to vacuum behind them. You turn around and start vacuuming another spot and forget you moved the chair. You back into it and stumble. Ever happen to you? Peter says that is what happens to the unbeliever when he cast Christ the cornerstone aside. He doesn’t see it and stumbles over it. He stumbled over Christ because he didn’t recognize what and where Jesus was in his life. In this stumble, people judge themselves. If they accept Christ they see him clearly and become part of the church. If they see Christ wrongly, they stumble and their stumble stops them from entering eternal life.

Faith is not just a belief. Faith is obedience. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people dedicated to God. The Israelites were the chosen people, but, there were strings attached. They had to keep the law. Through Christ, we are chosen with no strings attached. By knowing Christ we know God. We don’t have to guess and grope for who God is. Jesus says to see him is to see God.

In our world, a lot of time the value of a thing comes from who might have owned it or even touched it. Museums are full of things that belonged to famous people. Thomas Jefferson’s eyeglasses. Washington’s false teeth. Babe Ruth’s autographed baseball. A pair of eyeglasses, a set of false teeth or a baseball would have no value by themselves. Their value comes from being possessed or touched by a famous person. We see it all of the time on The Antique Road Show. It’s the same with Christians. We would all be just ordinary people if it wasn’t for the fact that we were touched by Christ and belong to God.

Belonging to God brings us right back to where we started. To belong to God we have to get rid of a lot of junk. Just like those old toys in my attic, it is a great temptation to play with them one more time. Get one last pleasure from them. Nope. Going to put them in that black plastic garbage bag and become that valuable person owned by the most famous being in the universe, God. I wonder what I would fetch on The Antique Road Show.

Prayer: Father, thank you for making us your chosen people. May we ever remember to take our place in that living building, our church. Amen.