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“HARD DAYS: A NEW PERSPECTIVE” (5/22/11)

SCRIPTURES: I Peter 2: 2-10 & Acts 7: 55-60
KEY CONCEPTS: Lessons & other people’s lives can offer us a perspective when we face
hard days & these things can be used by God to aid us in our spiritual journey.
OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
When I was a child, I loved to throw objects – softballs, baseballs, footballs – any type of ball
would do! And when we didn’t have a ball readily available, we’d make do with whatever we
could find…sticks, rocks, just whatever.
Once, during Christmas break, when I was about 10 years old, 2 cousins & I were outside
playing at my maternal grandmother’s house. We were probably a little bored & decided to
throw rocks at a target. My older cousin, Don, who was notorious for getting us all into
trouble – suggested we should throw rocks at an old (& might I add, dilapidated) building
behind my grandmother’s house. In the moment, it seemed like a great idea – especially
since we could aim at the window panes & hear them shatter. So, we collected our stones &
began throwing rocks like we were in some sort of major league baseball game! We, of
course, broke a number of panes. It was all great fun – or so we thought!
A week or so later, after Don had returned home to Rome, GA, my grandmother called my
parents to find out what might have happened to the house & the window panes. It seems
her neighbor had come over & told her that someone had broken the windows out of his old
house. My grandmother, being the wise woman she was, (& knowing her grandchildren) felt
pretty sure it was probably us – so she called my mom for the whole story…which came out.
The penalty for the baseball practice: Having to pay to replace all the broken panes!
Ever since that childhood experience, I’ve had a different relationship with stones & rocks.
I’m very careful how I use stones – especially given how damaging they can be – left in the
hands of angry or judgmental people.
In both of today’s readings, I want us to note how stones & the metaphorical mention of
“stones” can impact our spiritual lives & also how “stones” can be kept/held to encourage us
during the hard times of our lives!
WILL YOU PRAY WITH ME? PRAYER:
BIBLICAL REFERENCES/USES OF STONES:
Stones, in & of themselves are neither good nor bad. As with many things in life, the items
don’t have a negative or positive value – rather it’s how the items are used, by the men &
women who possess the items. Throughout both the Hebrew Bible & the New Testament,
stones have been used to denote both positive & negative realities:
 Create the tablets for the 10 Commandments (Exodus 34:1)
 Mark ancient land boundaries (Proverbs 22:28)
 Create an ancient marker for a place of significance (Ex. 24: 4)
 White stone with a new name (Revelation 2:17)
 Heart of stone – representing hard heartedness & being closed to God (Ezekiel 36:26)
 Used to stone people deemed “guilty” of some offense (John 8:7)
NEW TESTAMENT READING – ACTS 7: 55-60:
For example, in today’s reading from the Book of Acts, stones were used to kill Stephen by
an enraged mob. This reading reminds me that – sometimes even when we’re doing our
best, we might be “stoned” by an enraged group of people – determined to only see life
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through their particular reality. It’s like that old saying, “Don’t confuse me with the facts!
I’ve already made up my mind!” I’m not sure Stephen stood a chance of being heard by the
mob. They didn’t want to change, nor did they want to be confronted – which was why
Stephen was murdered (as well as Jesus & others who have spoken truth to irrational people
over the centuries!)

NEW TESTAMENT – I PETER 2: 2-10:

And yet, truth is still truth…as seen in our 2nd reading, from I Peter! You might recognize this
passage since it’s the passage we use whenever we receive new members into Our Hope
MCC! The metaphorical references in this passage are beautiful! Hear them again:
 Jesus: The Living Stone – Chosen & precious in God’s sight
 Humanity: Like Living Stones (like Christ) – Let yourselves be built into a living house
 Living Stones (Like Christ) – A Holy Priesthood
 Humanity: A Chosen Race, A Royal Priesthood, A Holy Nation, God’s own people
 Once you were NOT a people, but now (I love that phrase) you are the people of God
 Once you were without mercy, but now you have received mercy
KEY INSIGHTS:
A few insights from these passages include the realities that:
1. God’s use of stones were to mark significant places, moments or memorials
2. God’s use of stones (in I Peter) was to call forth maturity & growth in those who have
chosen to follow God through Jesus Christ – the Living Stone
3. In positive situations – in God’s use – rarely does a “single stone” appear alone.
Rather “living stones” are grouped together – communally to make a greater impact &
for the overall good of the “living stones” themselves & in the world.
4. As Christians, our lives must be connected to the Living Stone (Christ) & the lives of
others (living stones)…otherwise, we’re just an individual rock!
CLOSING:
As we close, I direct your attention to the small stones you received this morning as you
entered the chapel. I hope you’ll keep the stone you received as a visual reminder – for
yourself – that you’re a “living stone” in the family of God. You have been chosen as God’s
own people. Though you might not have felt like you didn’t belong anywhere – as a person of
God – you DO belong! And it can be right here at OHMCC! Maybe your life, up to this point,
hasn’t felt like you’ve received much mercy, but now God is working & bringing mercy to you!
By faith & based on the promises of this reading, will you dare to believe? Even if - &
especially if – you’re going through a hard time right now, can you or will you allow God to
work things out for your good?
And just for a little bit of perspective, can you acknowledge that even as hard as your life is
right now, that at least no one – as far as I know – has circled up around you & started
throwing stones (like these) at you? Can we at least muster a bit of gratitude about that while
we’re waiting on God’s plan to burst forth? What if TODAY is the day your life begins to turn
around? Are you ready - & more importantly – are you willing to allow God to use you to
build up God’s spiritual house here in Athens, GA at Our Hope MCC!?

What does God want for you? And what might want to do through you? In this place & in
this faith community!?