Do You Realize How Special You Are?

5th Sunday of Easter, 5/14/17
1 Peter 2:4-10


Do You Realize How Special You Are?
I. You are a holy spiritual house.
II. You are a holy royal priest.


What makes you feel special? Another way of asking that is, when do you feel special?

Usually it happens when something makes you look good or something makes you feel important. For some, it can be as simple as a new pair of shoes. For the first few moments that you wear those shoes, they put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. Or maybe it’s the moment when someone is calling your efforts and results to the attention of others. Maybe those accolades come from your employer or another person that you highly respect. And you feel special. Or, perhaps you feel special when the people who are important to you say and do something to show you how important you are to them. For those of you who are mothers, I hope that happens for you today.

Those special moments vary from person to person, but the one constant is this: they’re confined to moments in our lives. Literally they only endure for minutes, sometimes only seconds. And then they’re gone and it’s back to reality. It’s back to being just another human being in a massive sea of humanity. Even as Christians, so often it seems as if our lives are no different in so many respects from those who don’t have a relationship with Jesus by faith in him. We face the same problems, the same heartaches, the same struggles and disappointments in life. It seems at times that our faith in Jesus makes no difference.

The Apostle Peter begs to differ. In fact, he declares that the opposite is the truth. What’s so ironic is that he refers to how special we are by using a picture of something so common in our lives that they often go unnoticed. He speaks about stones. And he does so in order for you to realize how special you are. Do you realize that? Do you realize how special you are? Let’s keep that pointed question before as we let this portion of God’s word speak to us so that, by his grace, we can reply, “Yes, we do. We do realize how special we are—special to our God”

Part I.

I began by speaking about situations that make you feel special. One of them is receiving a compliment. You try a different hairstyle and someone close to you remarks that they really like it. Or, you’ve worked hard on your lawn and landscaping and your neighbor tells you he’s green with envy. You work long and hard to complete a school project, and your teacher takes the time to tell you that she noticed and the grade you receive reflects it.

Some of the more common compliments are, “You look pretty,” “You look handsome,” “You look great.” And even though they’re common, we appreciate them. But has anyone ever told you that you look like a house and meant it as a compliment? Probably not.

But that’s what Peter does. He writes, “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” Maybe you aren’t so sure you want to be likened to a house. What does he mean?
To understand what Peter means, let’s move ahead a verse in our text where Peter writes, “’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.’ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.’” You’re probably aware that Peter is speaking about Jesus. In doing so, he states that the builders rejected Jesus. How so? Recall what the reaction was to Jesus among the Jews. The Jewish leaders rejected him as their Savior and, instead, continued building their eternal future on their own good works, thinking that they could gain heaven by obeying Jewish laws. But what they were really building was nothing but a house of cards.

In all actuality, Jesus was, is, and always will be the only foundation for eternal life. Peter refers to him as a cornerstone. For modern buildings the laying of a cornerstone is largely symbolic. But not so in Bible times. The cornerstone was carefully hewn, making sure all its surfaces were true and square because that cornerstone would determine the shape of the walls. The integrity of the building depended on it.

Jesus is our Cornerstone for eternal life and Peter tells us, “You, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” You’re a stone! How’s that for a compliment? But Peter didn’t refer to us as bricks which are intentionally manufactured to be exactly the same. He calls us “stones.” Think of the natural beauty of decorative stones. When placed together, your eyes are drawn to the unique beauty of each one. Peter refers to you as just such a beautiful stone.

And together with your fellow Christians, you’re being built into a holy, spiritual house. Peter’s not laying on the compliments here to flatter you. He’s dead serious. You, along with every other person who trusts in Jesus right now or died trusting in Jesus are a stone in the spiritual building known as the Holy Christian Church. Only in that Church is there forgiveness. Only in that Church is there life with God. Only in that Church is there rescue from hell—salvation. The Holy Spirit brought you to faith in Jesus so that he could make you a living part of this holy, spiritual house. That’s God’s ultimate goal for you.

In other words, right now with faith in Jesus you are everything God intended you to be spiritually. He’s formed you to be a holy, priceless member of his Holy Christian Church.

Do you realize how special you are? You’re a holy spiritual house.

I just stated that God has realized his plans for you. By faith in Jesus you are a holy, spiritual house. Your God is completely pleased with you because of Christ. But, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how many 10s are there in your life right now? How satisfied are you with your life? Do you feel as if you’ve reached your goal? Probably not. Satisfaction, happiness, contentment are momentary in this life. You see? There’s the problem. We’re prone to confusing our spiritual lives with our earthly lives. Our sinful natures have programmed us to base our joy and satisfaction on the here and now. That same sinful nature marginalizes the reality of the blessings we have in Christ. In fact, we tend to forget all about them too often. And when we realize how sour our outlook is, Satan throws another accusation at us, reminding us what lousy excuses for Christians we are. Am I right? Then go back to the spiritual reality that Peter proclaims. You are living stones being built into a spiritual house. You’re not doing any building. It’s all been done for you by Jesus, who has removed our sins and guilt by his death on the cross and makes us his spiritual house by his resurrection from the dead. Those are accomplished facts. Nothing can change what Jesus has done and is doing for you. Do you realize how special you are?

Part II.

There are times in our lives when we put on a good face. We want people to think everything is fine, when in reality it’s not.

Closely related to that situation is the attempt by other people to put a good face on us, when we know the opposite is true. They think we’ve got it all together, but we’re really struggling.

In this portion of his word, your God calls you a holy, spiritual house. He follows that with this description of you, “You are…a royal priesthood.” A royal priesthood? Really? How well does that describe you? Are you more than a little reluctant to appropriate that label? Are you saying to yourself, “No, that’s not who I am”?

But that’s who you are, in Christ Jesus. You are royal because of your connection to the King of kings and Lord of lords by faith in Jesus. As a Christian your spiritual identity is in Christ and if he’s a King, then so are you.

You’re also a priest. In Bible times, a priest was a highly honored and greatly envied position. Only certain Jewish men had the required lineage to be priests. But Peter correctly labels every one of you a priest. You’re a priest in that everything you do in keeping with the will of God is a holy act of service to God. It’s a fruit of your faith in Jesus and your holy God relishes every one of those fruits.

And you’re holy to boot. How can that be when we just confessed our sins at the beginning of this service? Because God the Holy Spirit made you holy in the eyes of God when he brought you to faith in Jesus as your Savior. He brought you the gift of the forgiveness of all your sins and he dressed you in the holiness of Jesus. By faith in him you’re still wearing that garment of holiness.

Every day of your Christian life as you carry out the responsibilities your God has given you in whatever vocation you’re in, you’re serving your Lord Jesus and you’re serving your fellow human beings. You don’t have to serve; you get to serve. A heart full of love for Jesus overflows into acts of love for others. In fact, the power of the Lord Jesus living in you enables you to serve others in spite of their less than God-pleasing reactions. Your service to others doesn’t depend on what others think and say and do; it depends on Christ. And when that’s the description of your life, that’s a thing of beauty.

Do you realize how special you are? You are a holy, royal priest.

But we struggle with that, don’t we? If Satan can’t rob you of your faith in Jesus, then he’ll make a pact with your sinful nature to ruin your life of faith, your service to others. Laziness and apathy will paralyze your attempts to serve. Opposition and ingratitude from others will make serving others so difficult. Sinful pride will grind service efforts to a halt. So what are we to do? Realize what Christ has made you and who you are in Christ. You’re special. He washed your sins away and made you his own dear child so that you could live with him and serve him by serving others. And when that service occurs in spite of the environment, it’s service that mimics the way your Savior served you. In love he sacrificed himself for you. His death redeemed you. His resurrection empowers you. Do you realize how special you are? If so, live it! Show it! Encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. Amen.