God’s
own people.
1Pe
2:1-10
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity,
envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk,
so that by it you may grow into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the
Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet
chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be
built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:
"See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and
whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." To you then who
believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that
the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," and "A
stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They
stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are
a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order
that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's
people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
This is a letter written to
people on the fringes of Roman society. It is believed to have been written at
the end of the first century in Asia Minor, where followers of Jesus were being
persecuted for their faith. The message is one of encouragement - it urges the readers to believe that “you are
a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people”. These are
not the arrogant words of powerful people who want to claim that they alone are
special to God. It is, instead, an invitation to marginalized people not to
accept their inferior persecuted status as the will of God.
Many people still find
themselves on the fringes of society, excluded because of factors such as sexual
orientation, nationality, or economic disadvantage. The words of 1 Peter 2 hold
true for those who are marginalized today – do not accept the rejection and
exclusion shown to you by the powerful. Instead discover that you too are God’s
own people.
Amen, Pete! Preach that good news, brother.
ReplyDeleteHere is an excellent book that develops this very same idea:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Home-Homeless-Social-Scientific-Criticism-Situation/dp/1597524093