1 Peter 2:2-10
May 3, 2026
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live as a rock star? Just imagine traveling around the world on private jets, screaming fans in every city, staying at the nicest hotels, and having plenty of money to do whatever you want. It sounds glamorous, but it is also dangerous as there are so many temptations to do things that are unhealthy, inappropriate, or even illegal. Maybe that’s why when I did a Google search for rock star biographies I found titles like, “Reckless Road; The Heroin Diaries; Violence Girl; and The Wild Life.” But I want to encourage you today to live your life like a rock star. Not like a member of the Rolling Stones, but like the Living Stone, Jesus.
What’s interesting when you look at the Old Testament is how often God used rocks as memorials and means through which He kept His people alive. When Jacob was given a vision of heaven in the book of Genesis, he was sleeping with a stone as his pillow. He anointed the stone with oil as a memorial for the vision and promise God had given to him. When the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness in the book of Exodus, God had Moses strike a stone and water came out of it in order to satisfy their thirst. When the Israelites passed through the Jordan River, God had them take 12 stones from the Jordan in the book of Joshua and set them up as a memorial to remember how and where God had brought them into the Promised Land.
In our second lesson for today, Peter quotes the book of Isaiah when describing the solid Rock we have in Jesus saying in verse 6, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 28:16) Just think about what a great promise that is, knowing when we believe in Jesus as our Savior, we will never be put to shame. Why? Because Jesus died for all of our sins, and we are completely forgiven in Jesus through baptism and our faith in Him. No bringing up our failures and sins on Judgement Day. All because God has put this wonderful cornerstone, Jesus, as the foundation of the church, through whom the church is built.
Think of what this must have meant to Peter. Every year during Lent, namely on Good Friday, we mention Peter’s denials of Jesus when asked if he was a follower of Jesus. We bring up the shame of his sin over and over again. But on Judgment Day, Jesus won’t mention that to Peter at all. When Peter was ashamed and embarrassed over what he had done, Jesus went to find Peter to forgive him and reinstate him into the service of ministry. Jesus put Peter back on solid ground and He does the same for us through His death and resurrection.
Everything flows from Jesus and builds on Jesus as He is described in this text as not just a stone, but as the cornerstone. Whenever a building is constructed the first stone that is put in place is known as the cornerstone. It is the stone that determines the angles of all the other stones. So if a builder is not careful, an entire building can collapse based solely on the cornerstone. In eternity God chose His Son, Jesus, to be the foundation for our lives. He lived a perfect life, He died for our sins, but He rose from the dead and is alive today. So in this text He is called a Living Stone, and if anyone wants to survive death and live in the eternal joy of heaven, they must build their life on Jesus.
But this description of Jesus as our Living Stone may appear to be a little odd. While rocks may be strong and solid, we usually do not consider them to be living. When describing a person who is not very smart, we might say something like, “He’s as dumb as a rock.” In the superhero movie, “The Fantastic Four,” one of the characters, known as The Thing, turns into this rocky humanoid monster. He is very strong, but he is clearly the least intellectual of the Fantastic Four. Jesus is far from that, as He is the Living Rock, our Mighty God, the wisdom from on high, who gives us life.
Imagine living a place where there was only one well, built out of stone, in which the whole neighborhood would go for water. That well would then be well known as a gathering place for thirsty people and a source for life. You would always know where to find water – at that well. In a sense, this is what Peter is trying to describe for us by comparing Jesus to a Living Stone. All three of our Scripture readings for today talk about how we need Jesus as our cornerstone. Without Him, we have no church, we have no life. He is powerful, He is dependable, and He is always found in the same place: in His Word and in the sacraments of Baptism and Communion.
But the Jewish people of Jesus’ day were so used to finding God at the temple and through their sacrifices, that they couldn’t imagine how Jesus, an ordinary looking human being, could actually be God and the fulfillment of all those sacrifices, all of the priests who had come and gone, and everything they knew as church. Jesus was a stumbling block for them. But in reality, God hadn’t changed. He was merciful through those Old Testament sacrifices, and He was merciful through Jesus’ sacrifice. He was gracious through circumcision, and He is gracious through baptism. God would still speak to them through His Word, but that Word was now fulfilled through Jesus. While things were different, they were still the same, only clarified in Jesus. But this was too much for many of the Jews during the time of Peter’s writing. They wanted to be God’s special people because of their race, because of their temple, because of their priests, and because of their sacrifices. They stumbled on the stone of Jesus, they couldn’t accept the change that life with God would now come through Jesus.
But life changes, whether you want it to or not. It is beyond our control. As we look ahead to celebrating our 25th anniversary as a congregation this fall, I think of the many changes I have seen here in this church. I’ve seen many people come and go. I know some of you used to be very active, physically, at the church, working on the building and taking care of the grounds, but you can’t do that anymore and it’s hard. Some of you used to serve in different leadership roles, making plans with me to strengthen many of our ministries and reaching out to care for those in need, but you can’t do that anymore, and that can be difficult to accept. But God hasn’t changed. He is still using you, all of you, in the ministry of His church. He has brought all of you here for a reason and Peter tells why in verse 5 saying, “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Think of this imagery for a moment. Whether you have been here for 25 minutes or 25 years, God is working through you. In the Old Testament, the priests served the people by representing them before God, and now you have that privilege. Just as a builder will put one stone on top of another to build a stone house, so God is fitting us all together to build His spiritual house known as the church. He has put us close together so that we may support one another. But since we all still have our jagged sinful-nature-edges, we are going to rub each other the wrong way from time to time. Notice that Peter did not say that God made us into living bricks, but living stones. Bricks are all basically the same – the same size and shape, and they tend to fit together nicely. But stones are all different, each one is unique. We are living stones and each one of us has a place in this spiritual house, known as the church, built on the Living Stone, Jesus. God has brought us together and He has shaped us to form a beautiful picture that testifies to His grace.
You may not have 1 million followers on your social media accounts or fly around the world in a private jet, but you are a rock star. You have been polished by Jesus’ blood and you are being fitted together for service with other living stones to share God’s Word and to live His love. So live like rock stars, not the Rolling Stone kind, but like the Living Stone, Jesus. Stay connected to Him, because in time our status as rock stars, God’s gems, will become apparent when Jesus returns to this world. Shine with His love in all that you do so that others may see and come to build their lives on the Living Stone of Jesus, the rock of our lives.
