NOTES for Pe1 2:4-5

Stones come in different kinds. Living ones, for example. We know that Christ is the cornerstone. We also know that He called the apostle Peter a rock. Today the apostle Peter reminds us that each of us is a living stone, and from these stones the Church of God is being built.

How, then, is it being built? By itself? In a certain sense, yes: the stones themselves are being joined into a spiritual house, as the apostle Peter says. They themselves "build themselves into" the Church! They? We do. We ourselves build the Church, finding our own place in it.

The apostle Peter says that all of us are stones from which the Church is being built. The words that Christ is the "cornerstone, chosen and precious" are more or less familiar. We also remember that Jesus said to Peter, "You are a stone, and on this stone I will build My Church" (Matt. 16:18). But it turns out that each of us is a stone from which the Church is being built. We are not simply in it; we are part of it. If there were no Christians, there would be no Church.

The stones from which the Church is built are not ordinary stones, but living ones. And this means that the Lord did not simply pick out objects of a suitable size and shape by some mechanical process. In His building plan each separate little stone is taken into account, because all of them are different and alive, and if they are alive, that means they change. This matters because the Church is not merely a building either; she is alive. So each of us is not a cog in a machine, but part of the living Church. And so it is important for us to remember that the Church is not two or three small stones, but all the stones together. If the living stones are hostile to one another, the Church will fall apart, and we see how this happens. If the stones strive for peace and love, the Lord will be able to build from them His house, the Church.

Christ is called a living stone, but we too are called to be living stones like Him. Once again the apostle points to the high calling entrusted to us: we are called to become like God, His fellow workers in salvation. After all, He created us in His image and likeness; and even though we have distorted His image through our sinfulness, this does not mean that the Lord has abandoned His original design.

The gathering of the faithful around Christ is the most important step toward restoring the world damaged by sin. Peter concludes the list of descriptions that reveal the vocation of Christians, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..., words on which we ought to reflect more often amid the bustle of daily life, by saying that Christians once were not a people, but now are the people of God. This recalls how the calling of Abraham began the journey of a people chosen to preserve faithfulness to the Lord. At first, to fulfill the ministry entrusted to them, the people had to separate themselves from their pagan neighbors. Now, however, the people of God are expanding: all who are called may enter, even if they have been rejected by others. But not by God.