5 Easter, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Acts 7:55-60 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
In today’s Scripture readings we hear numerous stories of stones and dwelling places.
There are living stones,
rejected stones,
cornerstones…
stones that render the living, dead
and the dead, alive.
Some of you know that I like designing things: gardens… houses.
HGTV used to be one of my favorite channels to watch.
I remember one episode of House Hunters International in which a woman from Glasgow was looking for a house in Southern Italy.
She was looking for a very particular architectural style: a “trullo” home.
I had never heard of it.
The story is this:
In the early 1600s the earl of a small area near Naples wanted to encourage the increase of new urban dwellings.
However, any new residential areas had to be approved by the King of Naples.
The earl was not interested in seeking the king’s permission, so he granted residents pieces of land with tax breaks and instructed them to make their homes out of stone – but with no mortar.
So, the “trulli” (t-r-u-l-l-i) style of home developed,
It was an arched,
or domed style of construction made of stones without mortar.
The homes were small, efficient, and quaint.
A rope was attached to the center peak of the dome of the house so that should the King decide to pop by for an unexpected visit, a horse could be hooked up to the house and the house toppled within short order.
The result was simply a mound of stones lying in a field – no house was to be found.
Once the king left, the stones easily could be reassembled into a new home.
Now, that seems to me a bit more trouble than it was worth,
but it served a purpose and a people at a particular time and place in history.
Interestingly, I experienced a similar style of building when I was a student at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland.
A group of Scottish Episcopal/Anglican students went on a retreat.
We were given time to go out and explore the countryside.
Our task was to bring back something that represented God to us.
As I wandered field after field,
I came across a small stone structure.
I had to bend over a little to get through the opening of a door,
but once I got inside, I could stand up.
The first thing that I noticed, aside from all the stones
was that there was no mortar holding the stones together!
I had never seen such a thing!
I sat there and marveled at how this structure could remain standing.
I had no idea how long this structure had been there…
could have been centuries for all I knew.
My thought as I sat there was that the Holy Spirit was holding these rocks together.
(I had never taken physics.)
Needless to say, I took back a small rock (not one from the structure itself)
as what represented God to me.
This stone structure was a safe refuge from the elements out in the middle of nowhere.
Having heard about stones and dwelling places, let’s now return to the stones of today’s Scriptures…
Today’s story in Acts of the stoning of Stephen follows on the heels of his great speech before the Jewish council in which he recounts the whole of salvation history beginning with Abraham and including the story of Solomon’s building of the Temple.
Likely by the time of the writing of the book of Acts,
the Temple had been destroyed.
The stones then recall the recent memory of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple –
the traditional dwelling place of God.
However, while the old stones appear dead -
scattered in rubble –
the living stones of the Church,
founded on the cornerstone of the living Christ,
will now be the light that overcomes the darkness.
Then we hear in First Peter:
“Come to [Jesus],
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.” (1 Peter 2:4-5b)
So, as we sit here in the midst of a building made of stones, I wonder:
“How do we live as a people and a place of living stones?”
“How do we live as a community of resurrection life as witnesses to the Gospel?”
“How do we go about participating in the life of the Kingdom rooted in this creation?”
Episcopal priest, Stephanie Spellers, says in her book, Radical Welcome:
“So much of our time in church is spent maintaining and protecting:
buildings, doctrines, traditions, plans, expectations.
God does not change, and the church –
as God’s people on earth –
is not supposed to change.
“But what if that is not our call at all?
“What if…the love of Christ is actually supposed to free us,
to make us imaginative and resilient and fearless enough
to go wherever the God of transformation would have us go?” (p. 43)
As former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said,
“The love of Christ, given root-room within us, is a dangerous force.
We know that – as was the case for St. Peter –
love can take us where we do not wish to go.” (June 23, 2004, ENS)
I wonder:
what if we, at St. Andrew’s, were able to hook up a horse to a rope attached to the center peak of this building and pull it down?
What would happen to our church?
Well, I wager that we would still be the Body of Christ gathered in community,
called to witness to the light of Christ to one another and the world.
I am grateful for the mortar that holds our building together!
I also think that the Spirit of God
serves as the mortar that binds us together as the Body of Christ.
So, if our building were to crumble,
we are living stones bound together by God.
Our lives as Christians extend beyond any earthly building.
Jesus tells his disciples:
“Believe in God, believe also in me….
The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do,
and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” (John 14:1b, 12)
Greater works than Jesus?
That seems almost impossible.
Yet Jesus’ commission implies a promise:
He who sends us also goes with those whom he sends.
He who commands us to love also empowers us to love.
In a few weeks, the Canton mill is scheduled to close.
The closure will have ramifications not only in Canton but across Western NC.
How might we join with the leaders of the Town of Canton
and with other churches and agencies to help meet the needs of those affected?
How might we, as living stones,
share the Light and Life of God with this community?
How might we, as living stones,
share God’s strength and hope with those in our community who are suffering…
not only those suffering from the closure of the mill but suffering in any way?
Let us talk among ourselves and our neighbors to hear the needs of our community,
including our church community here at St. Andrew’s,
so that we may provide refuge and strength to those in need.
In a few moments we will gather at God’s Table to be refreshed, renewed, and enlivened
so that as we go forth from this place
we may go forth in the name of the risen Christ
to love and serve the world.
Amen.
