A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on March 19, 2022 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on 1 Peter 2:2-10 for the LWML Heart to Heart: Sisters of All Nations event. You may play the audio of the sermon here.
A mostly unedited transcript of the sermon follows the jump:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from Peter’s first letter, the second chapter:
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 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. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 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.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
It is a joy and a privilege to be here among you today, to bring God’s Word to you through the liturgy, through the sermon, through prayer. There is nothing else that we should rather do than join together around God’s Word. This is what binds us together. This is what makes us one. This is what brings us to the joy of enteral life, walking boldly forward, hand in hand, to see the face of Jesus. Whatever else we do today, this is the best part. This is what Jesus tells Martha is the one thing necessary, that we sit at His feet and receive all that He would give us.
And He gives us everything through His Word. It is by His authority that the Word never returns to Him void. It always accomplishes His purpose, spurred on by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, leading us into all knowledge and truth. It is by His authority that the Word brings us life. It is by His authority that the Word brings us salvation. It is by His authority that the Word brings us forgiveness.
To know this is that pure spiritual milk of which Paul speaks. The knowledge of Christ and His authority, His power for you, is the sweet milk of salvation for the soul. It is that which will grow you into full maturity. The knowledge that God the Father sent His Son to die for you, to forgive yours sins, to give you His righteousness, to grant you eternal life is that wonderful news that commends the Christian into a Christian life and a life with one another.
We live in the glory of God that we are constantly seeking what He desires for us to do. And I can tell you what that is: it is to turn to Him for all that we need in this body and life. And He gives that to you here and every time you gather around His Word.
His Word is not just a thing, but it is the living, God-breathed message of Jesus Christ for you. It is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. That living and active Word brings you Jesus, the cornerstone of faith and the stumbling block for those who reject Him.
We reject Christ in so many ways. We trust in our leaders and government to bring the peace which surpasses all understanding. We choose to harbor the secret sins we commit in our hearts that no one would know, rather than to confess them and be forgiven. We ignore our duties to our neighbors, our friends, our family members. We think ignorant thoughts, hold to silly opinions, focus on outward accoutrements. In doing this, we make ourselves higher than God and His ways. We seek our glory and not His. We give up our role as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession. We are closer to the idols of our hearts than the Lord of the heavens.
Yet, we are called to more. As a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, we are set apart, holy to the Lord, to bring His Good News of Jesus Christ to the nations. And this is seen in this congregation today. Though we have different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different contexts, different priorities, we are the one body of Christ, coming together for a singular purpose this day: to sing to the Lord for all of His glory, to sing to the Lord for all of His goodness, to sing to the Lord for His steadfast love endures forever. We rejoice with the earth, with the heavens, with the seas, with the fields, with the trees that He will redeem us all in His judgment over the nations.
This beautiful tapestry we see in this church today is a pure symbol of who Christ is, what He’s done, and to whom He’s done it. That we can come together as one prefigures the earth and the heavens and all that is in them crying out for joy together on that Last Day that our Lord is good and has vindicated our faith in Him by raising us from the dead.
Until that day, we are being built together into a spiritual house of living stones that we might bring the sacrifice of praise due our Lord. He joins us together into His body to bring you honor. In His the glorious humanity of His sacrifice for you upon the cross, the Father honored Him to raise His body from the dead. If it is true that we are being built into the spiritual house He so desires to see, with Christ as the cornerstone, you share in the honor the Father has bestowed the Son. Because He is honored, you are honored. Because He is honored, you are His people. Because He is honored, you are receiving mercy.
You are made a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. As the body of Christ, His people, we gather together as one people, to sing of His glory. This pure spiritual milk that brings us here, this understanding of who Christ is and what He’s done strengthens us in life together, for we have tasted it and we’ve tasted indeed that the Lord is good. His doctrine is life. His salvation is hope. His forgiveness is marvelous light. He has the power, the authority to give these things to you, and He does. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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