For Peter, growing up looks rather more like growing down.
Context is key in 1 Peter 2, and we ignore Peter’s past to our peril. On his own, he is no rock star, but the “rock” is the star of the show in this snippet of scripture. Simon got his name changed to Peter (Matthew 16:18, likely the first “Peter” in history; not a common name before that!), and the wordplay on petra (pebble, stone, rock) is at play in this pericope too. Christ is a living stone (1 Peter 2:4), chosen and precious, and Peter’s hearers are living stones too (1 Peter 2:5). On the other hand, Christ the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6) is, for those who disbelieve and disobey, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (skandalon, 1 Peter 2:7-8). There is so much to play with in these brief nine verses. My advice for preaching begins with not trying to preach every bit, every theme, or every last thing. Choose a major focus and milk it for all it is worth.
This year, the one I have a hard time ignoring is the identity of our Lord’s chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, and “people for His own possession,” Hebrew segulah (1 Peter 2:9-10). More on this at the end of my thoughts here. But there are others which will yield fruitful sermons that deliver the Christ and His cross and resurrection for the salvation of your hearers. Perhaps the readiest at hand is to delve into the dichotomy of the cornerstone being the skandalon – all who come to Christ must ultimately be offended. But to shatter against Him humbly, in repentance, and to be built up into Him, is salvation, whereas to hold on stubbornly to sin and self-righteousness is to abuse His patience. Judgment ultimately will come when that rock crushes the sinner (Luke 20:17-18). Word-study through the semantic domain of “rock” and “stone” will yield plenty of biblical illustrations for the sermon that goes this direction. Another way is to focus on the new-born-ness of the Christians as Easter people. They are born again, born anew, newborns who are fed on the Word of God as their pure spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2-3). Indeed, a meditation on Psalm 34 (the “taste and see” intertext) will reinforce strategic sacramental application of the theme (the text resounds with baptismal and eucharistic possibilities).
Probably the single, easiest risk to fall for in this pericope, and, therefore, the most important to avoid, is the assumption of quantification at 2:2, when Peter uses the phrase “grow up into salvation.” Reading in context mitigates that risk. Taking it out of context can produce a sermon that burdens your hearers with shame and self-righteousness (imagine a suboptimal “how-to” sermon, a la “how to grow up to be a mature Christian” or some such). In context, the tenor is tender, not anticipatory, or overly exhortative. Peter has used family language already, calling his hearers “children” (1:14) and encouraging “brotherly love” between them (1:22). Using language comparing them to newborns (the modogeniti in quasimodogeniti, if you are liturgically minded!) who crave mother’s milk is consistent with Peter’s tone and purpose. There is no hint here that Peter is hounding his hearers to become more mature (contrast the seeming exasperation of the author of Hebrews at 5:12, 14). On the contrary, two threads reinforce the idea that, for Peter, growing up looks rather more like growing down. The first is the way in which Peter’s Lord kept the object lesson of children in front of His disciples’ faces (refer to Matthew 18:3 and Luke 18:15-17). The second is the further context of 1 Peter 2, which matches the grow up of 2:2 with being built up at 2:5. Peter is not encouraging, exhorting, or admonishing an individualistic career track towards success, be it “spiritual” or otherwise. The opposite is true. All of the language here is corporate, and the only bigness belongs to the Christ who is the cornerstone (2:4, 6-8). His hearers, and Peter himself, are just lithoi, just pint-sized petrai, the “pebbles” Peter got named for when Jesus changed Simon’s name to Rocky at Matthew 16:18.
[For] Peter, growing up looks rather more like growing down.
There are a couple other ditches to steer clear of when treating this text for preaching. Number one: Do not pick a fight about election here. This will be a temptation for you only if it is a doctrinal hobbyhorse of yours, especially with a verse like 2:8b staring you in the face. Certainly, do proclaim the Gospel to all of the redeemed: You (plural!) are a chosen race! But leave polemics out of the pulpit and the finer points of protestant predestination punditry for Bible class, if you really think something must be further explicated.
Number two might seem a little more subtle, but just as important to Peter’s point. 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10 are central texts in support of what theologian’s shorthand with the phrase “priesthood of all believers,” for which Martin Luther gets some historical credit (but also less accurate assumptions laid at his feet regarding egalitarianism, anticlericalism, and democratization of the Church). Peter is not saying every Christian is individually a priest, obliged to functions needing to be discharged like the Aaronic priests of the Old Testament! This is not a text that is best summarized “every member a minister,” to justify filling roles in your congregation after a “spiritual gifts survey” so you can call someone a “pastor of landscaping” or a “deacon of web design.” Peter’s point is that faith in Christ elevates our status to a corporate priesthood. We are priests, yes, by virtue of our baptism, qualified for service because of the gift God gives: Faith in His Son. But we are priests in a hood. Collectively our status is the same (priest), though our vocations vary. Emphasizing the plurality of this, the corporate nature of the election, preaches Peter at his word. It is not as if he says his hearers are being built into many different holy dwelling places, after all, but all into one spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5; also see the plural of 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 where “you are the temple”).
On to what I intend to treat in this text specifically, the crescendo with climax that Peter ends the section with: 1 Peter 2:9-10. I am old enough that I saw Toy Story in its first run at the cinema. Before I get into the apropos illustration here, let me just say that Pixar has a none-to-subtle way of pulling on the heartstrings of even crusty old curmudgeons like me. I do not think I am just a softy, but there are scenes where my wife will look away from the screen and just stare at me instead, daring me not to cry. In Toy Story it is not just a scene, but the entire premise. Woody, the well-worn, old, too-loved cowboy doll, cannot compare with the new, flashy, spaceman Buzz. But Woody’s value to his boy Andy as a toy is more than mere sentiment and nostalgia. It is love. In spite of dirt and age, regardless of what the contemporary world may esteem, the cheap piece of cloth, plastic, and finicky pull-string voice box is invaluable to the one who loves him. That is a segulah – a people for His own possession. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 nails this:
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your ancestors that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Brought you out. Called out, that is the etymology of the eklektoi, “elect” (1 Peter 1:1, 2:4, 2:6, 2:9). For more context on segulah, study Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 14:2 and 26:18, Psalm 135:4, Ecclesiastes 2:8, and Malachi 3:17. There is a “personal property” angle to observe here, which reminds us that we were bought at a price (refer to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 7:23, and the immediate context of 1 Peter 1:18-19). Here is the perfect entree for proclaiming the cross: We were bought, not with gold or silver, but with Christ’s holy, precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death.
Here is the perfect entree for proclaiming the cross: We were bought, not with gold or silver, but with Christ’s holy, precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death.
There is also the “valuable treasure” angle here, that need not devolve into a Pixar review. Better contemporary illustrations abound, but I personally get a lot of mileage out of the keepsake. For example, the wedding ring that is handed down generation to generation. When I present this lesson to my university students, I show them my own wedding ring (a pawn-shop special) but tell them the story of the pawn-shop owner who was a special friend and beloved brother in Christ to both me and my wife, who presented the rings as a gift to us. The contrast between the diamond market urging thousands of dollars to show love, compared to the well-placed token with a story behind it, never fails to land. Our Lord continues to honor His beloved bride with gifts that look cheap in comparison to what the world expects. But combined with the Word of God, it is a life-giving water, rich in grace. It is His own body and blood given to us Christians to eat and drink. We have the simple Word that celebrates: You are Mine, and no one can snatch you from My hand (John 10:28-30).
Finally, the “set apart” angle. Segulah implies something holy, that has been “holied.” I illustrate this with Thanksgiving or other holiday dinner. Does anyone have a grandma that reserved fine china in a cabinet that no one was allowed to use except on special occasions? No one is pulling out the Mikasa for chili dog night, and she would get the vapors if you tried to serve Thanksgiving dinner on the plastic Mickey Mouse plate with a mustard stain and a crack in it. That is for microwaves. The special china is for the special occasion. You cannot even put that stuff in the dishwasher, you have to treat it special, because it is for special use. That is what you are, dear friend in Christ, God’s Mikasa. God’s poiema, His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), His sanctified, holy ones, His segulah, holied by the one who shed His holy, precious blood for you.
However you approach 1 Peter 2:2-9, deliver the Gospel, which is a new identity for your hearers, won by our Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose, and now calls them – and you! – out of darkness into His wonderful light, to proclaim His excellencies. God bless you in your preaching this week!
Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on 1 Peter 2:2-10.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you preaching 1 Peter 2:2-10.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
