Thirteen Principles of Living Stonemasonry— What Could Be the Beginnings of An Homily for the Eleventh/Twelvth Sunday after Trinity/Pentecost—if I had to deliver one—with reference to Is 51:1-6; Ps 138; Rom 12:1-8; Mt 16:13-20

By on August 23, 2020.

Source: GENEralities
Thirteen Principles of Living Stonemasonry— What Could Be the Beginnings of An Homily for the Eleventh/Twelvth Sunday after Trinity/Pentecost—if I had to deliver one—with reference to Is 51:1-6; Ps 138; Rom 12:1-8; Mt 16:13-20
Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, just as Peter says. We believe it and declare it in The Name of The Father and The Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Jesus said Peter was the rock upon which he would build his church (Mt16.18). When I read that Peter’s Living Stones came to mind—not a reading for today, but pertinent because as we come to Jesus, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1Pet2.5)…which also resonates with St Paul’s appeal in the first verse of today’s Romans 12 reading: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (v2)So we must also have supporting roles and parts to play along with Peter in Jesus’ great Church building project as we like living stones are being built into that spiritual house (1Peter2:5). But in order to be such living stones, just as Isaiah wrote in today’s reading, we need to be continually looking to The Rock from which we were hewn (Is15.1)—our Spiritual Rock which is Jesus (1Cor10.4). Which means being very clear about who Jesus is and why he is so important in the scheme of things. It’s what Jesus was getting at with his question to the disciples in our gospel. “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt16.15) Here are thirteen principles of Living Stonemasonry:Living stones being built into a spiritual house must go beyond mere flesh and blood to learn The Truth of what The Father in heaven has revealed about exactly who Jesus is so we can worship him well and share that Truth with others. Living stones being built into a spiritual house say in word and deed, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We say it and show it in how we treat one another and especially how we treat people with whom we disagree and people we believe are wrong. Living stones being built into a spiritual house present our bodies as living sacrifices, wrote Paul in our Romans reading, holy and acceptable to God which is our spiritual worship (Ro12.1). The trouble with living sacrifices, of course, said Dwight Moody, is that they keep trying to crawl off the altar. Living Stones stay on the altar! How? By not allowing ourselves to be conformed to this world with all its skewed and Godless values.Living Stones are built into a spiritual house through the transformation that comes when our minds are renewed (Ro12.2) by The Holy Spirit through regular and frequent reading and meditating on Scripture, praying and worshipping. Living Stones are built into a spiritual house through consistent and attentive testing and discerning what is the will of God and what is good and acceptable and perfect (Ro12.2). Living Stones being built into a spiritual house do not think more highly of themselves than we ought, but with the sober judgement that comes according to the measure of faith God has assigned us (Ro12.3). Just as one body has many members (Ro12.4), spiritual houses are made out of many stones so Living Stones being built into such houses have to live and grow with, support and be supported by other Living Stones—lots of them. Spiritual houses are built by communities. Living Stones are built into a spiritual house by discerning our many different functions and giftings in the One Body (Ro12.4-6) which is the Church. Living Stones are built into a spiritual house as we identify and exercise the God-given Gifts of the Spirit St Paul lists in Romans 12:  prophecy, service or ministry, teaching, exhortation or encouragement, giving, leadershipCompassion, showing mercy or kindness  We either know our gift or gifts, or we are actively discerning to what God is calling us. Living Stones are built into a spiritual house as we do all these things in proportion to our faith, serving one another generously, with enthusiasm and cheerfulness (Ro12.6-8). Living Stones are built into a spiritual house as The LORD increases our strength of soul and fulfills his purpose for them (Ps138.3&8). Living Stones are built into a spiritual house as Jesus continues to build The Church he started with Peter—The Spiritual House.Living Stones are built into a spiritual house as they become the promised holy priesthood, offering spiritual and living sacrifices acceptable to God through our Lord and Saviour, (1Pet2.5)Jesus. 

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