Sermon for April 20, 2008

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For in Scripture is says, 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him, will never be put to shame!' ”

       One of the most popular reality shows on television today is called “EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION!”  How many of you watch this show?  What a remarkable breath of fresh air in the often bleak landscape of television today!  “EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION” has a team of construction and design Good Samaritans who find needy and deserving families and offers them a complete home renovation to help them in their lives.
       These renovations often involve completely tearing down the family’s old house and building a new one.  The new homes often include special, nostalgic touches from the old house.  Each house has at least one room that is specially designed around the personality and wishes of the occupant.
       Who are the people who have received these new homes?  Well, they include a woman who donated bone marrow to a dying child, a single father and his children who were grieving the loss of their wife and mother, an extended family who wanted their ill mother to live with them to help take care of her and the list goes on and on.  Many changes occur in these people’s lives with their new homes and there is always a joyous celebration when they get to see their new home!
       Today we look at God’s Word from 1 Peter 2 and learn about the EXTREME MAKEOVER FOR OUR LIVES AS GOD’S PEOPLE AND HOW OUR PERSONAL HOUSES OF FAITH ARE BUILT!  And many times that involves many changes in our life as God works through His Word to have an “EXTREME MAKEOVER” in our hearts and lives as HE BUILDS US UP IN OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE AND FAITH!
       Where do we begin building a life as a Christian?  We start with the foundation of our lives as God’s people! We are “Built upon Jesus Christ- the Stone and Rock and Cornerstone on which our lives our built!”  We read in 1 Peter 2, “As you come to Him, the living Stone- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For in Scripture it says, “SEE, I LAY A STONE IN ZION, A CHOSEN AND PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, AND THE ONE WHO TRUSTS IN HIM WILL NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME!”
      The best and most blessed lives, according to God’s Word and from Christian experience, are built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ!  Jesus Christ is the cornerstone from which we receive our strength and direction in our life!  Both the Old and New Testament tell us this! 
       As Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 28: 16, “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION FOR A FOUNDATION A STONE, A TESTED STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE.”    Zechariah wrote in Zechariah 10: 4 :” From them will come the Cornerstone, the Foundation upon which all hope hangs, the Stone that wins the battle, the Ruler over all the earth.”  What does this say to us today, “BUILD OUR LIFE UPON JESUS CHRIST AS THE CENTER AND CORNERSTONE AND FOUNDATION OF OUR LIFE!”  Whoever rests his or her faith in Jesus Christ, a precious cornerstone, will not be disappointed and have a solid foundation for their life!  
       LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT I MEAN!
       Some of you may have visited or heard about the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.  It was built between the years of 1173 to 1372 (a 200 year building project and we think it takes a while for building and construction projects to be completed today).  It is a 12 story solid marble structure that began to “LEAN” even before it was completed!  It is interesting to note that the word “PISA” in Italian means “marshy land” which can help to give some clues as to why after the first 3 stories of the building were completed the ground underneath the tower began to sink!  Another major problem is that the foundation for the Tower is only 10 feet deep!  Scientists and engineers are working feverishly to try to keep this massive marble structure in place to try and compensate for the poor foundation. They say that the tower moves about 1/20 of an inch a year and is about 17 feet out of line and that by the year 2010 the nearly 700 year old tower will have leaned too far and will collapse.
       By comparison some of the other great churches and cathedrals and monuments in Europe have foundations that go down 40 to 50 feet and in some cases they form a mass of stone below the ground as big if not bigger than the visible building above the ground! As we learn from this example and from our text- NO BUILDING IS ANY STRONGER THAN ITS FOUNDATION and with Jesus Christ as our Foundation we have the best Foundation upon which to build our lives.
       Then Peter also talks about our part in this “EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION!  Peter says that we, like living stones, are to be built into a spiritual house!  We are to offer “SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!
       A man stopped his car in front of a house that Former President Jimmy and his wife Rosalyn Carter had helped to build for Habitat for Humanity!  A little boy, about 5 or 6 years old was standing in the front yard.  The little boy ran out to the car and put his hands on the side of car and said, “Man, you sure got a pretty car.” 
       The man in the car replied, “Which one of these houses is yours?  The little boy pointed to the one behind him and said “THAT ONE!”  The man said, “Well, you sure have a pretty house- Young man, who built your house?”  The man thought the boy was going to say, “President Jimmy Carter built my house!  Instead the little boy gave a big smile and said, “JESUS BUILT MY HOUSE!”  The young boy was right and I am sure that Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter would gladly say that they serve the Lord as they help to build houses because of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!
       We are the people that God has chosen to be “LIVING STONES” who help to build the Kingdom of God by our words and actions!   We declare God’s praise when we “Do not forget to do good and to share with others God’s blessings, for with such sacrifices and gifts God is pleased!” 
       There are often many excuses given for not “DOING GOOD” for God.  No one else treats me right or I’m always taken for granted and not appreciated and no one notices when I do good things!  The only time I even get recognized is when I make a mistake or mess up in my life!  We wonder if it is worth it being a Christian and decide to take the easy way out and become LAZY and not respond to God’s many blessings in our life!  We come up with all types of excuses for not worshiping God, for not serving Him and yet God continues to reach out to us with His love and forgiveness!
       That is why we can look to Jesus Christ as both an example and a model for us as the Holy Spirit works in our life to live a God-pleasing life!  We draw our VALUES, what is most important to us and what we believe in from Jesus Christ and His Word!  We experience and share His love, His Compassion, His care and His forgiving spirit even when we don’t deserve it and don’t feel like sharing it with others!  These values and truths that flow from Jesus Christ are the only foundation for a society and world that has true hope and peace which has sometimes lost its focus upon Jesus Christ!
       Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is alive in our hearts and lives here and now.  We have a Savior who lives within us, who guides us and encourages us each and every day of our life!  Jesus is a leader who inspires hope, confidence, courage and love within his disciples and within you and me!  He has a plan for eternal victory for us in heaven and He accomplished this plan by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave!
       When Jesus is building our Christian life, He is the foundation and the glue and the mortar that holds us together with Him and with the Christian family of faith!  God gives us added strength to our life when we form lasting Christian relationships with people who care about us- strong Christian families, with close Christian friends who have lasting and eternal relationships within God’s family of faith!
       As 1 Peter 2: 4 points out, “As we come to Him- the living Stone- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him-you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ!  You and I are living stones of the Christian faith joined together in the house of God.”    When our lives are built upon Jesus Christ, we become a part of a very special family- the family of Jesus Christ.  Thus we receive help and support in building strong lives of Christian faith with others in God’s family!
       How does a person build a blessed and successful life here on earth?  God builds it in us upon the rock of Jesus Christ as the cornerstone and foundation!  God builds it as He unites us together in Jesus Christ as His family- as living stones of the Christian faith receiving and SHARING CHRIST’S LOVE today and for eternity in heaven!