MAY 18, 2013
SCRIPTURE: New Testament:
Acts 7: 51 - 8:1
1 Peter 2: 2-10
Gospel:
John 14: 1-14
MEDITATION: Building Community!
Today is a day in which we focus in our Scripture readings on stones. You received a stone when you
came in this morning. Hold it in your hand. Feel its coolness and its hardness. Move it in your fingers
while I speak. Stones are a part of each story in the New Testament readings. It is somewhat amazing
to think about how stones are so different in each story. We, in our culture, think very little about
stones. They are just there; hard little pebbles on a beach that hurt our feet, a troublesome aggravation
in our gardens, sharp points that puncture bike tires, obstacles that cause us to stumble and fall. All of
these are so minor in our lives.
Now, take a moment and look at your bulletin cover. Those are stones of a different kind. No one knows
really the absolute truth of what Innu shucks were meant to be. Some think that they were built to show
people the way if they happened to get lost on the tundra of the North. Others believe that people used
them something like Hansel and Gretel to find their way. Others believe that they were markers to show
that the people had passed that way – a kind of marker to state – We were here, we are a people, we
really existed and had value. I don’t know which of these is really true but I like the image that all of
them portray. I remember, years ago now, first hearing from First Nations fellow students that the
stones had life, held memory and were an important part of creation. I remember thinking that was kind
of silly. It took me a long time, and many encounters with different First Nation Tribes, to begin to get a
glimpse of what they might really mean.
The stones in Stephen’s story are frightful, terrifying objects of hurt and harm. Stephen is criticizing the
people and they don’t like that. Not much different than us. Who among us can take criticism well and
begin to question ourselves. That is a rare person. It was rare in Stephen’s time as well. Stephen, in
telling them that they had uncircumcised hearts and ears, was hitting them hard at their very identity as
Jews. It was what set them apart from all the others that surrounded them. It defined who they were
and to attack that was to attack their very existence. Remember that in this time the message was
always just for men, women did not matter enough to teach them, and Stephen was therefore talking to
the men. These were a frightened people and frightened people do frightful things. They attack Stephen
with a violence that their society knew well. It was like a “crowd mentality” of our day when the wave of
violence just overtook. I can’t help but wonder if there were people in that crowd that had a doubt or
two about what they were doing. Or after the terrible death that they inflicted on Stephen, were there
those among them that questioned, had regrets, wondered how they had become caught up in such an
act. I think there MUST HAVE BEEN! There always is. And on the side lines, we get our first introduction
to Saul. Saul, the man who would persecute the followers of Jesus with ferocity and who would later
become someone totally different. Saul would become transformed, something that was also rare in
that day and in our day as well.
Stephen ends this day with the words of Jesus, ‘Forgive them Father, they do not know what they are
doing.” I would imagine that those words would bring some crashing down into quilt and regret. The
scripture tells us that this was the day that began the persecution of the church and followers were
scattered far and wide, while the apostles struggled to keep the message of Jesus moving forward.
Frightened people do not think clearly, they react and act in harmful ways. There would be a long time
in this history of persecution and it would cause many to give up and forget following Jesus. It was just
too hard, and much easier to give up. BUT there was always a remnant that remembered the teachings.
Hurling stones could not bring an end to the message of compassion and love. While horror seemed to
be all around, the early Christians held to the message that community was built on this compassion and
love. Somehow despite everything, the love prevailed and the community, small and struggling began to
grow and spread over many distant places.
Then along comes Peter with a message of hope. The stones of Stephen’s life are still present and they
still cause the people to stumble but there is a stone of greater strength amongst them. Peter describes
Jesus as the “corner stone”, a stone which is soft and precious, and that gives the people strength rather
than frightening them. Peter teaches the message, “Rid yourselves therefore, of all malice, and all guile,
insincerity, envy, and all slander.” Peter teaches a better way, a way which will strengthen the
community with the love and compassion that Jesus taught. With Jesus as the corner stone, the people
can become stones like him, which will allow them to be softened and able to build. The stones are no
longer hard and dangerous but now become “living” and are used to build rather than tear down and
destroy. Compassion and love can be challenging things. WE know that it is easier to have love and
compassion for those we call friend or family and much harder to show this to the stranger or those who
we struggle to even “like”.
Feel the stone that you are holding in your hand, feel it soften in the light of the words in the gospel.
Remember that Jesus is speaking to a small world of his time. Through the history of Christianity these
verses have been used to hurl stones at those who rejected belief in Jesus. Feel what those stones must
have been like as they caused and still cause harm in OUR world. Jesus knew that he was leaving his
followers and he knew that they would need to focus on all that he had taught them when he was with
therm. Jesus knew little about the world religions that would emerge. At least we contemplate that. I
don’t believe that Jesus ever meant his words to cause harm to those who knew nothing about him. His
words were words of love, comfort and strength. Jesus knew that his followers would find themselves
lost in a world that was going to violently reject his message. The disciples especially would need strong
words to hold on to. They would need to know the way to go. Just as we need to know the way to go.
We too need to know how to build a loving community in a world that is sometimes hostile to the
church. How can we know the way? In uncertain times – like those of the disciples and we ourselves –
many look for direction and guidance on the way. Jesus declares himself the “way, and the truth, and
the life”, opening up new possibilities for relationship and communion with him. He speaks about
knowing him by his words and works, thus revealing not only himself but the very heart of God. When
Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, spoke to outsiders, he revealed not only his own loving, justice
driven nature but that of God’s. He says to the disciples, If you want to know what God looks like, look at
my relationships with others, then you’ll see God. When we build a community of Jesus’ love and mercy
we become the way. When we gather for worship, stand for justice, weep with the oppressed, and
welcome the stranger, then we become the path that leads to love, that leads to God. We know the way
when we allow our hearts to be captured by the love and grace of God demonstrated in the tangible
ministries of Jesus. When we do this, stones are transformed, they soften, they become building blocks
instead of stumbling blocks. We become the ROCK OF LOVE, COMPASSION AND MERCY. Stones can
indeed soften, FEEL IT WITH YOUR HEART.
AMEN