2026-05-03 Easter 5

Scripture Readings

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Back in the day, when I was in Seminary, we got to go on a field trip of sorts to Calgary, AB. And who doesn’t love a school field trip, right?! I remember in Kindergarten going down south of Moose Jaw to the Bunnyview Pet farm! The Seminary field trip unfortunately didn’t involve farm animals. It was quite the opposite. It was an inner city immersion kind of experience so we bumpkins could see what it was like to do ministry in an urban environment. Multi-ethnic, multi-religious, different in every way from what we were most familiar with. We went to a Synagogue. We went to a Mosque. We went to a Buddhist place. We went to a Hindu Temple. That one really stuck out to me because it was loaded with all of these statues of their deities from Vishnu to the monkey god and everyone in between. They set food offerings out for them and everything. It was a very eye opening experience.

Temples. The ancient world was covered with them. It was primarily seen as a house or a residence for the god to live in, serving as a central point where the earthly meets the heavenly. We tend to think of such a place like we do our church building. But it’s not the same. These temples didn’t serve as a public place for congregational worship. They were sacred spaces for rituals that either sustained the divine presence, maintained some kind of cosmic order and or brought blessings to the area.

Much like the Hindu temple I saw, they would be filled with cult statues or images of the gods with the priests caring for them: washing them, clothing them, feeding them or offering incense. This was much like the hospitality you would show to visitor like an honoured guest or a king. These actions would ensure the god stayed happy. Same thing went for the sacrifices. Food, drink, animals, incense, with prayers and processions led by priests. Ordinary people would be outside in the outer courts. Even the design and architecture of these temples highlighted the purpose of linking heaven and earth. The ziggurat was a very common design. A massive, stepped, pyramidal structure that resembled a mountain connecting realms, ensuring fertility, prosperity and stability.

So these temples were a big deal. And when the people set out to build one, there were these hugely elaborate ceremonies for laying the cornerstone. In the pagan world, these kinds of things got very dark very fast. They would sacrifice infants and build them into the walls even. Thankfully that wasn’t wide spread but there was almost always a sacrifice that went along with it. It’s quite a different thing from our day of having the mayor come and cut a ribbon and have some cake to celebrate ground breaking day! The cornerstone was seen as sacred and holy. It’s sacredness and holiness was seen as blessing the building process and the whole thing when it was completed.

“As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 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” (1Pet 2:4-5).

Suddenly, St. Peter’s words take on a whole new meaning here, don’t they?! When you have the cultural background understanding of a temple in the ancient world, you can see what Peter’s words are revealing to us. He quotes the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame” (2:6 cf: Isaiah 28:16). He’s talking about the sacred and holy cornerstone of the temple. Everybody knew what this meant back then. But he’s using it as an image of Christ. And furthermore, he quotes Psalm 118 when he says “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (2:7 cf Ps 118:22).

This holy, sacred and most precious chief cornerstone was rejected by the Jews. They would not receive Jesus as the Messiah. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, the Chief Priests, the whole kit and caboodle - they all rejected Jesus of Nazareth. And furthermore, they all cried out for His crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. Regardless of their rejection, nothing can change the fact that He is the rock of our salvation. He is none other than the sacred and holy cornerstone on whom we build by faith.

St. Peter makes one more citation when he says that Jesus is “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (2:8 cf Isaiah 8:14). For those without faith in the Christ the Messiah, then He becomes an offensive stumbling stone! This is who He is to the Jews and for those who will not receive Him by faith. They stumble because they disobey rather than doing the will of God by faith.

Contrasted to this host of rejection though are those who do receive Him and are built upon the cornerstone. “9 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” (2:9). St. Peter is citing Exodus (19:5-6) with these words. He’s making a very clear point: The Church is Israel. This is the fulfillment. Just like when you renovate your house, or put on a new coat of a paint, it is renewed and refreshed. This is what St. Peter tells us the Christian Church is. Chosen. Priestly. Holy. A people, cherished and possessed by the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. Pulled from the kingdom of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ and the Kingdom of God.

St. Peter is telling us that we are the temple, comprised of “living stones being built up as a spiritual house” and also at the same time “a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5). He’s kind of mixing his metaphors a bit here. You are the temple he says. You are also the priests who serve there. You offer sacrifices of praise because “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” (2:10).

We have received God’s mercy in Christ our cornerstone. Faith and Baptism bring us into his priesthood and make us God’s people. The Lamb of God, sacrificed for us and our salvation, comes to us in, with and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. In response to all of God’s grace and mercy for us, we offer to Him endless spiritual sacrifices. But what does this mean?

We have several other scriptures that illustrate this for us quite well. St. Paul writes in Romans 12(1) “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This means daily surrendering your physical life, desires, time, and choices to God—holiness, obedience, and putting others first even when costly. Hebrews 13(16) says “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Generosity, acts of mercy, financial giving to our church or the needy, and practical service to others is envisioned here. Finally, Ephesians 5(2) says “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

These are all simple things that every Christian can do to live out a life of spiritual sacrifice to God. Certainly, our efforts are imperfect as sinners who come up short of the glory of God. But they are made acceptable because of Jesus our sacred and holy cornerstone who has shown us tremendous grace in His life, death and resurrection. Praise be to the rock of our salvation forever more. Amen!

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!