Living Stones

Photo by ShonEjai on Pexels.com

This reflection is from May 10.  I invited people to have either a stone and markers to write on the stone or paper. Included with the weekly print newsletter was a picture of stones and the e-newsletter had a link to a picture that could be printed. At various points during the reflection, I invited people to write on their stone or paper and/or offer words and phrases in the Zoom chat box to be shared in online community.

I love the image in 1 Peter 2:2-10  of the living stones. We often think of rocks as inanimate. We imagine them as solid, unchanging. When everything around us is changing, rocks remain constant. Psalm 31 reminds us that God is like a rock or a mountain – giving strength, providing protection. How many millions of years did it take mountains to form? We don’t usually see rocks changing so we forget that stones wear down, they grow into mountains. They can be broken by violence and trauma.

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be living stones. Sometimes we can’t see the process of change happening in ourselves or others. We only see the constancy of who we believe someone to be. And yet over time, God works on us like the rocks and mountains, wearing down the rough edges and building up strength. Sometimes we are broken by the trauma that happens in our lives.

These forces that build-up, wear down and sometimes traumatize us help to create our identity as people of faith. It is that identity that I am inviting us to focus on today. Take a moment and think about your life. What are the experiences that have built you up, worn you down or have been traumatic? Take a moment and jot something down on the rock paper you have handy. Since today is Mother’s day, you might want to think about the influence that your mom had on your life. Sometimes moms draw out the best in us. For some, our relationship with our mothers is more complicated. The experience of our mothers changes throughout our lives but regardless of the relationship, we are shaped by our mothers.

In my own life, I used to think of myself as shy, insecure, and even unworthy. When I was doing my diaconal training for ministry, I found that the experience of spending time in community and being challenged by others shifted my identity to a place where most of the time I feel strong and confident. That experience shaped my identity.

How have your life experiences shaped you? Have they helped you to become compassionate, gentle, strong, independent, cautious of others or out-going? What words would you use to describe the characteristics these experiences have created in you? If you are online, type a word or phrase that describes these characteristics into the chatbox. You can also jot it on your paper.

These characteristics are part of God’s being within you. They are the essence of the living-God within you. This God being formed and re-formed within you.

On its own, a rock is a single, solitary rock. When it is placed with other rocks it becomes part of something else—a building, a monument, a bridge. God, the builder, takes us—living stones and builds us into something called “the church.” On our own, we are single and solitary. When we are connected, we become part of something else—still a living stone in our own right but part of something bigger than ourselves.

Our personal identities as disciples of Jesus become part of the larger. You can still see the individuals, but they are connected to and shaped by the stones around them. If you look at a rock on its own and then place it beside other rocks, you might notice that colour might appear different, perhaps the rough edges don’t seem as rough, perhaps some of the patterns in the rock is more or less noticeable. I think this also true of us as the church. When we become part of the church we are changed. We might notice that being part of a community of faith brings out qualities we didn’t know we had. We might discover gifts or skills or see ourselves and others in a different light.

The world and the church are in a moment of upheaval and change. As we go through this Covid time, we need to reflect deeply on our identity. What is the essence of God within us as individuals and what qualities is God inviting us to share with the world? What qualities or characteristics are most important to us as a church? This is also a moment for us to think about the role of church in our communities and world? What are the characteristics of the church that disciples of Jesus can share with the world?

As we move forward in this time, we need to consider carefully what it means to be living stones, shaped in God’s image and built together into something larger than ourselves.