Jonah Albrecht

Confirmation Sunday

April 13th, 2025

1 Peter 2:1-10

God is Building You Up for Life

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

INJ Who is the cornerstone upon which our lives are built for eternity, DFR:

In the investment world of the 1990s, Peter Lynch was like a rock star. Not only had he hit it huge with his personal investment strategies, he taught millions of non-financial types how to make good choices on Wall Street. At the height of his career, Lynch made an announcement that stunned the financial world. He was giving up his long days at the firm for a slower, more family-oriented life at home. He said, “I don’t know anyone who wished on his deathbed that he had spent more time at the office.”

Lynch recognized something that even Christians forget: this life is extremely temporary. We aren’t here forever, we aren’t even here for long. 70 years is the Biblical average – maybe add 10 years, thanks to the blessings of modern technology, but even that is just the average. Yours may be longer or it may be shorter. But the fact that our days are temporary should have a direct impact on how we live them. In the end, no one wishes they had spent more time and invested more energy into chasing the things of this life.

There are many things you can live for: Fame, fortune, family, fulfillment, just to name a few. But there is only one thing that will have a lasting impact long after this world is burnt up. That is your relationship with Jesus. Your eternal life might not be on your mind every day, the way your daily activities are. It seems so far into the future, that you can worry about that tomorrow. Thankfully God doesn’t operate that way. Thankfully God has cared about your eternal life from long before you were born, the moment you were baptized into His family, and every day since. Today Peter shows us how God is Building You Up For Life. 1. What’s important is eternal life. 2. Through Christ we have that life won. 3. The Holy Spirit keeps us for that life on the cornerstone of Christ.

Our text today was first written for people who found themselves in a pretty dangerous situation.  Persecutions were on the rise and many of these folks had been forced to flee for their lives.  Unlike modern day refugees, who can do little to stop the oppression they face, there was something the early Christians could have done. They merely had to stop professing their faith and the world would leave them alone. If they started living like the heathen peoples around them, the terrible persecutions would stop. That is exactly why Peter said just one verse after our text, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”  “Remember,” Peter is saying:  “You are just passing through this world. In fact, the word for sojourners here really has the meaning of “one staying in temporary lodging” — like pitching your tent in a campground or spending a few nights in a motel.  If that’s the case, then don’t overestimate the importance of temporal things. What a tragedy it would be for a Christian to get so tied up with the things of this life that he lost out eternally.

We aren’t being persecuted for our faith this morning, but that doesn’t mean we are free from danger. It is a lot easier to lose focus on your faith life when things are easy than when life is difficult. Christians tend to spend more time with God and focus on their faith when they are thrown by the twists and turns of life. But when life is easy, that is when we lose focus and are tempted to indulge in the lusts of the flesh. We get a little too comfortable on earth and a little too friendly with the world. Jesus warned, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.”

Peter knows from experience how easy it is to align oneself with the world. In the courtyard of Caiaphas, Peter tried to fit in with the enemies of Christ. Eventually he cursed and swore and denied that he had any relationship with Jesus whatsoever. It’s a far cry from the Peter we see writing our text this morning. But his failure is our warning of just how easy it is to lose sight of heaven’s goal. If we think that we can coddle our flesh, indulge in the life of the world and still have a relationship with Jesus, we need to remember just how frail our sinful nature is and how easily we fall for the lusts of the flesh.

What are the lusts of the flesh? Paul writes, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcercy, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy murders, dunkenness, revelries, and the like.” These are common, garden variety sins that are accepted practice in our modern world. In Peter’s day, the ungodly went to their temples to practice immorality and to gratify the lusts of their flesh — today, it can be brought right into your home via television or the internet. We may not think of America as a pagan nation, but we are surrounded by idol worship…the gods of pleasure, of money, the god of self…or how about the false god of broadmindedness, which says that every religion is as good as the next? Outbursts of wrath, hatred, contentions, jealousies…these things are simply a way of life for the people in our world. Unfortunately, they come very naturally to our sinful flesh which is why we need to fight against them.

Have you ever been cheated by false promises or misleading advertising? It makes you angry, doesn’t it? Well, the ultimate con-job isn’t about your money, it’s about your eternal soul. Don’t let the devil con you – or your own flesh deceive you into thinking that this life is more permanent than it is. Turn from sin and cling to the promises of your Savior.

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

There is something about this passage that gave Peter’s audience a huge advantage over us. They were Jews who had been converted to Christianity. As Jews they recognized this phrase from Mt. Sinai. Moses told them, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” They would continue to enjoy that status as God’s chosen people, he said, “If you are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.” If they kept His Word and obeyed His law, then they would be God’s own special people.

The nation of Israel promptly disobeyed the Lord and eventually forfeited their special status. But now, notice something. Peter uses the same wording, only without the IF. He was telling his readers that the conditions have been removed. We are God’s people, we are a holy nation, not because we keep our focus or lead such pious and clean lives, but because of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was unlike anyone who has ever lived here before or after Him. Jesus took the demands of the Law from Mt. Sinai and fulfilled them. Jesus presented a perfect life to His heavenly Father on the cross. Jesus was then condemned with the eternal punishment we deserved. On Easter morning, Jesus emerged from the grave with the message of victory: sin and death and hell have been destroyed. By faith, we are God’s special people right now. He is building us up for life so that we stand before the Lord with the complete righteousness of His Son. Right now, we are full heirs to the kingdom of heaven — and have full rights to everything that is God’s.

4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

During (the liturgy) your examination, you answered a question regarding the work of the Holy Spirit, namely how does He keep you in the faith? The answer is through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. This is what Peter is talking about when he says you are a living stone…being built up a spiritual house. You were brought to faith in the Gospel and God keeps you in that faith through the same message.

Even if you know nothing about carpentry, you should know that every building needs to have a cornerstone. This stone ensures the accurate orientation and alignment of a building, it acts as a foundational point for all subsequent construction. Without a solid cornerstone, the integrity of the entire building is in question. Your faith is built upon the cornerstone of Christ crucified for sinners. There is not a more solid foundation upon which you can build your life. God’s full pardoning love through Jesus gives you the assurance that your eternal life is not in question. Yes, you will slip up and lose sight of God at times, but you will not crumble in destruction because God’s forgiveness is always there. Imagine for a moment not having Christ as the cornerstone to build your life on. Things become a lot more uncertain, don’t they? That’s because you know just how easy it is to fall into sin and away from God. Do not fear, do not worry; God is the One building you up for life through His Son. It’s not up to you to build the perfect life of faith – Jesus has done it already.

Did you know that cornerstones are often used as time capsules? On the cornerstone of many churches, you will find the date the building was constructed to be a house of worship for the Lord. The cornerstone of your life, that is your life with God also has a timestamp on it. It began with the death and resurrection of your Savior. That was the moment that your life here on earth and hereafter in eternity was made certain. What a joy and relief that is! Whenever you are tempted by Satan that you are not good enough to be a Christian, or the world tries to lure you into its depravity; you can point to the cross and say, “My life is built on the cornerstone of the cross. My life rests securely with my Savior.”

That gives us a pretty clear purpose on how to spend our lives here on earth, doesn’t it? There is a famous quote from St. Francis of Assisi, who said: “Preach the Gospel at all times.  If necessary, use words.” Simply put, our overriding purpose in life is to glorify God. To bring Him honor. To elevate His name. To lift high the cross.

How do we learn to glorify God with our lives?  Think of a picture where one thing is in focus and everything else is blurred into the background.  Let Jesus be at the focal point of all that you do…Then all will see God is Building You Up For Life.  Amen.