Set Apart

1 Peter 2:4-12 teaches us that Jesus Christ is the Living Stone - chosen by God as the cornerstone - but also a stone that causes some to stumble. We also are called to be living stones:

"Present yourselves as living stones for the construction of a sanctuary." (1 Peter 2:5, The Message)

"You are the ones chosen...to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him." (1 Peter 2:9, The Message)

Just as Paul was "set apart" as an apostle, all of us who are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ are claimed and chosen to be "set apart" for his service. Our church is also called to be "set apart" - to be faithful in all things.


Some comments on this passage from 1 Peter follow below:


From St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) - "The Lord will repay his faithful followers who are so lovingly, so cheerfully, so devotedly carrying out these works, to the effect that he includes them in the construction of his own building, into which they hasten to fit as living stones, fashioned by faith, made solidly firm by hope, cemented together by charity....Without the cornerstone which is Christ, I do not see how men can be built into a house of God, to contain God dwelling in them, without being born again."


From Oecumenius (6th century) - "God is not to be held responsible for this [disobedience]... For if a human being is made with free will, that free will cannot be forced, nor can anyone accuse him who has decreed their fate of having done anything to them which they did not fully deserve as a result of their own actions."


From Andreas (a 7th century monk) - "When people from different races and nations are called to abandon all their differences and to take on one mind, drawing near to him by one faith and one teaching, by which the soul and the heart become one, they are one holy people."


This message by Dr. William Willimon, now a bishop of The United Methodist Church, titled "Christ the Cornerstone" - gives some insight into this image.


Have you ever wondered why babies are baptized in our church? This explanation - "Why Baptize Infants" - actually comes from the Lutheran Church - but is a very helpful biblical overview of the practice of baptizing babies. The Lutherans also have a very helpful explanation of the different modes of baptism - sprinkling, pouring and immersion - in this document "Method of Baptism."


There is obviously a lot about baptism we did not cover in one short message. An excellent overview of teaching on baptism can be found in this document - By Water and The Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism.


Even if you don't have time to look over the whole document, you might want to check out this brief section on "Reaffirmation of One's Profession of Christian Faith."


A more ecumenical expression of the meaning of baptism can be found in this document - Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry - prepared by the World Council of Churches.


Ezekiel 36:26 uses a different - more negative - image of a stone - "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."