The Stone of Justice, Part 2

People are really hungry for God these days, but this foundation He has insisted on for the building of his house and his kingdom, well, it really is a problem (1 Peter 2:1-10, see previous post). It's huge, after all. This one big, sturdy, obvious corner stone, has become an offense and sadly, a stumbling block in the path to God. Critics may insist there are many ways to God - any way they seek - but cutting up the ordained Foundation into many pieces does not result in more foundation, it results in sand -- something impossible to build on.

I am NOT disparaging the many varied and beautiful cultures around the world and their unique passions, priorities, and views of the divine. And I most definitely do not despise the diverse manifestations of Christ to individual hurting hearts. The living stones that make up God's temple are varied. God is vast, and his dwelling place has many rooms (John 14:2), but it has only one foundation.

Perhaps this foundation is so offensive not because it is big or singular, but because it is bloody. Perhaps it is rejected because it dresses in the garb of servanthood. Perhaps it is frightening because it claims to BE God. Perhaps it is despised because it cannot be found just anywhere. No, the passage says God laid this foundation in a particular favored spot. It is not in Mecca, or Athens, or Badrinath, or Sedona.
God divinely laid this choice stone in ZION.
He planted it.
In the ground.
On a hill.
Called Calvary.

This means that mankind is not good enough to reach God. It means to be in relationship with God, we must go through another. It means our sacrifice is insufficient. It means that God is not only gracious and forgiving, but he is also just. Our sin and insufficiency cannot be overlooked.

They can only be crucified.

It also means we are not God, nor above him, nor equal to him. It means that we have neither a clue how, nor an ounce of power to be able, to reach Him or get him into our lives. This is humiliating if you're trying to be divine - or religious - but actually it's really good news. It means we can stop trying so hard.

We can just fling ourselves onto that big, bloody slab and rest on what he has done.
Rest on what he is.

It may not get us fortune or fame or personal fulfilment. It certainly does not promise a life free of stupid mistakes or even theological confusion. But the promise of 1 Peter 2 is that those who believe - who lay their head, their thinking, their ideologies, their hopes and dreams of connection with God - on this tried and true Cornerstone will "not be disappointed."

The Stone of Justice, Part 1

God is big.  The world is big.  History is big. 
I am small and don't know nearly as much as I used to think I did.  There are so many theologies, so many ways of reaching out to connect with each other and that Something out there.  So many ways to hope to manipulate "God" into being and doing what makes us feel happy and successful and fulfilled.  What is right?  Who or what IS God, anyway?  And if I am not manifesting "success", am I somehow missing Him?  Is there some other thing that I'm not doing that would launch me into fulfillment? 

I know God is stretching my thinking, wriggling his way out of my theological box. 
It's annoying. 
And it's scarey.
And sometimes it hurts. So, a few days ago I asked specifically for a scripture that would bring healing to my confused, raw heart.  I heard "First Peter. 2. 9, 8, 3."   I asked the Lord what he wanted to talk to me about in the passage, and he told me, "Justice."  Hmmmm... I didn't have any idea what the verses said, nor do I know why they came to me backwards. But as I read it, my heart flamed with a joy and peace I hadn't felt in weeks. 
Here is the whole passage.

"Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.  But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. "

At once my heart remembered its foundation!  Jesus - my living Stone!  Anchored again in truth, my heart was able to begin to soar again, to believe again, to trust again.  All week I have read and reread this passage like a toddler cuddling a blankie, even wanting to press the open bible to my chest or lay my head tenderly on its meaning. 

Jacob laid his head on a Stone.  After fleeing his father's house undoubtedly filled with questions of who God is and what is Justice, he came to a field and laid down to sleep, laying his head on a stone (Gen 13).  I know that Hebrew text never minces words or adds superlatives for the sake of sheer description, so there is meaning in this act.  Resting upon that hard rock, Jacob's eyes were open to the spiritual realm and he witnessed the commerce between heaven and earth that assured him (and us) there is a God to be known and a way to reach his dwelling place.  He did not receive this revelation by striving.   He receieved it by resting.  On a Stone.  The Stone.

 Psalm 37 tells us not to fret because there are those seeking other things who seem to prosper in their way. (Esau despised his birthright and took on the idolotrous culture around him, but guess who ended up getting to stay in the comforts of home?) The prosperity of the wicked will eventually become meaningless, but those who wait on the Lord will inherit his unending kingdom.  More than that, they inherit HIM!  That is the justice I got from from 1 Peter 2.  I don't have success and money and exciting vacations or the family I have always dreamed of.  But I have Jesus.  To a skeptic, that may be simplistic and foolish, but to a Lover.... oh, to a Lover, it is more than enough!  It is comfort and elation.  It is a satisfied sigh.  It is pure milk.  To one who has "tasted the kindness of the Lord (vs3)" it is indeed justice.  It is fair, because the comforts of the world will come and go.  And if that is what others seek after, then that is their reward.  But give me the Rock that doesn't fade away.  Give me that Man who was tortured for the sake of love.  Give me that Love.