LIVING AS EASTER PEOPLE: CHOSEN

I Peter 2:4-10

The churches Peter was writing to were under a great deal of stress. Harassment and persecution was on the rise. Some communities of faith were considering withdrawing, isolating themselves from the world.

Withdrawing is a common reaction to stress, what ever the cause. Certainly the changes in cultural attitudes toward faith and the church, technology, communication methods have stressed out many churches. It's a human thing to turn inward and go into survival mode.

But that is not what God intends for his people. God didn't lead the people of Israel to a promised land out in the middle of nowhere. It was smack dab in the middle of everything – trade routes, other peoples and other nations. God called them to represent God to the world and keep the covenant – God's promises and law of love – before all peoples. They were blessed to bless all peoples. They were chosen.

Chosen. That's what Peter wanted the churches of his time to remember. They were chosen, a holy people called to serve in the ministry of Christ their King and the mission of God, the emperor of the universe.

Chosen is who we are as Easter people.

God intends us to be living stones, not gathering moss somewhere behind closed doors. We're to be on the move, alive and lively wherever we are. The body of Christ is not defined by a physical building because it is a spiritual house producing Christ-approved lives and being instruments of reconciling grace.

The church is meant to be vibrant – buzzing with God-purposed activity – both alive and life bringing. Prayers are answered, miracles happen and lives are transformed as people grow together in Christ. Focused outward, the living stones that make up the church are actively involved in their local community and in the world in meaningful ways.

There are new faces because the church is faithful to it's call to be a priestly people: doing God's work, speaking out for God, and telling others our stories of the night-and-day differences Christ makes in our lives.

In these times of changes in cultural attitudes toward faith and the church, technology, communication methods that leave us feeling left behind and out-moded, God's call remains the same. We a chosen people, chosen not to be members of an elite, closed group but to be servants, to represent God and bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people.

This is only possible when our lives and the life of our church are built on a foundation of faith, whose cornerstone is Jesus Christ. In all times, good and bad, our hope, our strength and our future is in Christ alone.