If you really want to grow, it’s going to cost you. If
you truly expect to be built up, there will be some pain involved. No growth
ever takes place without pain. That’s a law of life. That’s not negotiable. No
pain, no gain. No hurt, no growth. No rough edges, no building up. If you truly
want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
When Peter speaks
about spiritual growth, he uses a word picture. (1 Peter 2:1-7) The word
picture is about a building. He says we are to let ourselves be built into a
building. “5 And you are living stones that God
is building into his spiritual temple”. (1
Peter 2:5)
That sounds good. It sounds good until you read a little further, and you find Peter speaking also about sacrifice, rejection, stumbling. Those things sound rather painful, don’t they? Sacrifice and rejection and stumbling – painful experiences. (From 1 Peter 2:5b-8)
But remember: no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
I happen to enjoy woodworking, building things and repairing things. I just got through repairing an exterior wall and foundation on bedroom at our old farm house.. There’s just something special about the whack, whack, whack of a good solid hammer hitting the nail right on the head. It feels like this is the real thing! Oh, skill saws whine, but saws cut things apart instead of putting them together. The sound of the hammer, driving nails into wood, that really says, “building”! Hammers nail board to board; hammers nail the frame together, hammers nail the roof in place; hammers nail the wallboard on. Hammers, nails, that’s what building really is.
And so, today, in order to help Peter speak to us about being built into a spiritual house, we’re going to pound some nails. We’re going to demonstrate some spiritual principles. Up here, I’ve got a board, I’ve got nails, and, “if I had a hammer …” – oh, I do have a hammer. I’m ready to show you what Peter meant. But I need your help too.
You have nails. You don’t have hammers or boards, but you do have nails. And as you handle your nails from time to time, you’ll be reminded of one important fact: nails hurt. Nails hurt. But again: no pain, no gain. No hurt, no growth. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
First, if you want to be built up, you will have to endure some pounding. Somebody will hit at you. And not just once, but repeatedly. Somebody will find your weak spots and pound away at them. Just as if I want to drive a nail into this board, don’t look for the hard knots, because I won’t be able to get the nail through the knots, but I look for the soft fleshy part of the wood – in the same way, somebody is going to look at where you are not solid, where you are not secure, and is going to pound on that.
Is that a bad thing? Is it damaging for somebody to get on our case because we have flaws and failings? Is it bad for us to be told, repeatedly, where we are going wrong? No, it is not bad. It can be painful, but it is a good thing. Like the repeated pounding of the hammer on the nail, it can hurt to be told what you don’t want to hear. Nails hurt. But most of us have to be hit, over and over again, with the unpleasant truth about ourselves. We have to be hit, over and over again, in order to be built up. It’s painful. Nails hurt. But it is for our good.
Peter starts this second chapter of his letter in a very challenging way. He gets down to it. I guess you could say he “hits the nail on the head.” He says, “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.” 1 Peter 2:1
“get rid of….” If you want to be built up, there are some habits that you have to deal with. There are some things that get so deeply ingrained in us that it will take lots of work in order to get rid of them. But there is a way. There is a way. Evil behavior– how will I know if I am acting evil? I will know it if you will tell me about it. Deceit – the very nature of deceit is that we are trying to fool ourselves as well as other people. How will I know that I am being deceitful unless every time I do this, somebody hits me with the truth? How will I know that I am speaking insincerely, how will I understand my jealousy how will I get my unkind speech called, unless somebody stands up, in my face, and hits me with the truth? And since these negative habits die hard, hits me again and again and again. Pounds me! Repeatedly. Pounds me, like a hammer hitting a nail, until I learn the awful truth that there are things I must get rid of. If you want to be built up, you must endure the hammer pounding the nail, confronting you about yourself.
And remember, it is your true friends who will do this for you. Your sunshine friends will smile to your face and agree with you, but will then talk about you behind your back. Your true friends are the ones who will tell you, over and over and over again, what you need to get rid of. Your true friends are like hammers pounding nails into your weaknesses.
So would you take your nail? Hold it in one hand. Carefully now, we don’t want blood on the floor – carefully but repeatedly, several times, just poke at your other hand or your arm. Gets to hurting a little after a while, doesn’t it? Even if you are gentle, you feel it. Nails hurt. But if that nail, probing you repeatedly, represents a friend, a teacher, a pastor, convicting you of something that’s wrong in your life, be thankful. Take joy in this. It means that somebody loves you enough to get at you for the stuff you need to remove. Nails hurt; pounding hurts. But remember: no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
If you want to be built up, you’re going to have to endure having holes punched in your comfort zone. If you want to grow, you’re going to have to face the fact that the world is unforgiving, the world is not polite, the world is caustic, the world is going to punch holes in your comfort zone. And once those holes are punched, they can never be put back the way they were. That’s painful, but it’s part of building up. It’s part of growth.
Peter says that something like this even happened to Jesus. Jesus is called "The stone that the builders rejected”. (1 Peter 2:7b) They rejected Jesus. When Jesus stood to teach, they punched holes in His theology. When Jesus went to heal, they punched holes in His compassion. When Jesus tried to love Jerusalem, they punched so many holes in His motives that He looked out over the city and wept! It is not easy when people punch holes in everything you stand for. It hurts when they drive holes in your beliefs.
But give thanks when it happens! Give thanks. Because you will not know what you really believe until you have to defend it. You will not understand how precious your values are until you have to prove them to someone else. You will not know how right you are until you have to stand up for the truth. If you don’t have anybody trying to drive holes in your comfort zone, you’ll just sit here, fat and sassy, but you won’t grow. You won’t be built up. Somebody needs to punch holes in your comfort zone.
Take your nail – don’t get worried. I’m not going to ask you to drive holes in yourself. But now take that nail – press its point into your hand or your arm, just enough that it stings a bit. Now hold it there a moment. Bring it out. Now look at the place where you held it. What do you see? Some kind of mark. A change in skin color, a little indentation, maybe a scratch. A hole, even if a very small one, punched in your comfort zone. And it hurts!
But we need to be grateful for hurting holes. Because Peter says about Jesus, and how Jesus was rejected, "1The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” (1 Peter 2:7)
Jesus was despised, rejected, questioned, criticized; but because of that, God was able to use Him in a tremendous way. Jesus is now the “head of the corner”, He is the cornerstone of the building, He is the foundation of everything.
That sounds good. It sounds good until you read a little further, and you find Peter speaking also about sacrifice, rejection, stumbling. Those things sound rather painful, don’t they? Sacrifice and rejection and stumbling – painful experiences. (From 1 Peter 2:5b-8)
But remember: no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
I happen to enjoy woodworking, building things and repairing things. I just got through repairing an exterior wall and foundation on bedroom at our old farm house.. There’s just something special about the whack, whack, whack of a good solid hammer hitting the nail right on the head. It feels like this is the real thing! Oh, skill saws whine, but saws cut things apart instead of putting them together. The sound of the hammer, driving nails into wood, that really says, “building”! Hammers nail board to board; hammers nail the frame together, hammers nail the roof in place; hammers nail the wallboard on. Hammers, nails, that’s what building really is.
And so, today, in order to help Peter speak to us about being built into a spiritual house, we’re going to pound some nails. We’re going to demonstrate some spiritual principles. Up here, I’ve got a board, I’ve got nails, and, “if I had a hammer …” – oh, I do have a hammer. I’m ready to show you what Peter meant. But I need your help too.
You have nails. You don’t have hammers or boards, but you do have nails. And as you handle your nails from time to time, you’ll be reminded of one important fact: nails hurt. Nails hurt. But again: no pain, no gain. No hurt, no growth. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
First, if you want to be built up, you will have to endure some pounding. Somebody will hit at you. And not just once, but repeatedly. Somebody will find your weak spots and pound away at them. Just as if I want to drive a nail into this board, don’t look for the hard knots, because I won’t be able to get the nail through the knots, but I look for the soft fleshy part of the wood – in the same way, somebody is going to look at where you are not solid, where you are not secure, and is going to pound on that.
Is that a bad thing? Is it damaging for somebody to get on our case because we have flaws and failings? Is it bad for us to be told, repeatedly, where we are going wrong? No, it is not bad. It can be painful, but it is a good thing. Like the repeated pounding of the hammer on the nail, it can hurt to be told what you don’t want to hear. Nails hurt. But most of us have to be hit, over and over again, with the unpleasant truth about ourselves. We have to be hit, over and over again, in order to be built up. It’s painful. Nails hurt. But it is for our good.
Peter starts this second chapter of his letter in a very challenging way. He gets down to it. I guess you could say he “hits the nail on the head.” He says, “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.” 1 Peter 2:1
“get rid of….” If you want to be built up, there are some habits that you have to deal with. There are some things that get so deeply ingrained in us that it will take lots of work in order to get rid of them. But there is a way. There is a way. Evil behavior– how will I know if I am acting evil? I will know it if you will tell me about it. Deceit – the very nature of deceit is that we are trying to fool ourselves as well as other people. How will I know that I am being deceitful unless every time I do this, somebody hits me with the truth? How will I know that I am speaking insincerely, how will I understand my jealousy how will I get my unkind speech called, unless somebody stands up, in my face, and hits me with the truth? And since these negative habits die hard, hits me again and again and again. Pounds me! Repeatedly. Pounds me, like a hammer hitting a nail, until I learn the awful truth that there are things I must get rid of. If you want to be built up, you must endure the hammer pounding the nail, confronting you about yourself.
And remember, it is your true friends who will do this for you. Your sunshine friends will smile to your face and agree with you, but will then talk about you behind your back. Your true friends are the ones who will tell you, over and over and over again, what you need to get rid of. Your true friends are like hammers pounding nails into your weaknesses.
So would you take your nail? Hold it in one hand. Carefully now, we don’t want blood on the floor – carefully but repeatedly, several times, just poke at your other hand or your arm. Gets to hurting a little after a while, doesn’t it? Even if you are gentle, you feel it. Nails hurt. But if that nail, probing you repeatedly, represents a friend, a teacher, a pastor, convicting you of something that’s wrong in your life, be thankful. Take joy in this. It means that somebody loves you enough to get at you for the stuff you need to remove. Nails hurt; pounding hurts. But remember: no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
If you want to be built up, you’re going to have to endure having holes punched in your comfort zone. If you want to grow, you’re going to have to face the fact that the world is unforgiving, the world is not polite, the world is caustic, the world is going to punch holes in your comfort zone. And once those holes are punched, they can never be put back the way they were. That’s painful, but it’s part of building up. It’s part of growth.
Peter says that something like this even happened to Jesus. Jesus is called "The stone that the builders rejected”. (1 Peter 2:7b) They rejected Jesus. When Jesus stood to teach, they punched holes in His theology. When Jesus went to heal, they punched holes in His compassion. When Jesus tried to love Jerusalem, they punched so many holes in His motives that He looked out over the city and wept! It is not easy when people punch holes in everything you stand for. It hurts when they drive holes in your beliefs.
But give thanks when it happens! Give thanks. Because you will not know what you really believe until you have to defend it. You will not understand how precious your values are until you have to prove them to someone else. You will not know how right you are until you have to stand up for the truth. If you don’t have anybody trying to drive holes in your comfort zone, you’ll just sit here, fat and sassy, but you won’t grow. You won’t be built up. Somebody needs to punch holes in your comfort zone.
Take your nail – don’t get worried. I’m not going to ask you to drive holes in yourself. But now take that nail – press its point into your hand or your arm, just enough that it stings a bit. Now hold it there a moment. Bring it out. Now look at the place where you held it. What do you see? Some kind of mark. A change in skin color, a little indentation, maybe a scratch. A hole, even if a very small one, punched in your comfort zone. And it hurts!
But we need to be grateful for hurting holes. Because Peter says about Jesus, and how Jesus was rejected, "1The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” (1 Peter 2:7)
Jesus was despised, rejected, questioned, criticized; but because of that, God was able to use Him in a tremendous way. Jesus is now the “head of the corner”, He is the cornerstone of the building, He is the foundation of everything.
Paul writes in
Ephesians 2:20-22, “20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the
apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are
carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through
him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by
his Spirit.’
When holes get
punched in you, you get changed, but you grow. And God is able to fill you with
something better. You are built up.
Nails hurt. Holes driven in your comfort zone hurt. But remember: no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
Now do you want the truly good news? The good news is that nails, used properly, join things together. Nails, hammered in by a skillful carpenter, join things firmly. Nails hold everything together so that the building will not fall. And that’s good news. It’s good news because in so apparently simple a thing as this nail, there is tremendous power to build.
Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. We share a common pain: the pain is that we all are sinners, all of us. But we also share a common joy: the joy is that we are forgiven. That joins us together.
Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. We share many hurting places: job failures, anxieties, health worries, family life struggles. You may think that you are the only person in this room that’s going through whatever. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” But I would guarantee you that someone here has seen it, someone here has suffered it, someone here has dealt with it, someone here has been delivered from it. We share many hurting places; but we also, by the grace of Christ, share salvation. We share experience, we share knowledge, we share a living, healing savior. And in the fellowship of those who have been nailed together, built up, into God’s spiritual house, the good news truly comes alive.
For, again, no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
And yet, it remains true: no growth ever takes place without pain. Oh, one day they hurt Jesus. One day they pounded on His hands, His strong carpenter’s hands. They pounded, they pounded, until they put raw, red holes in those hands. Nails that hurt. On that same day they took nails, huge nails, and a hammer, and they crossed His legs and joined foot to foot and feet to timber. Nails that hurt more deeply than you or I will ever imagine. Despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
But it was for us. Folks, it was for us. It was for our forgiveness. It was for our growth. It was to join us together. Nails that hurt Him deeply! “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53.5)
No growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain. But the pain of Jesus Christ will heal you. The blood of Jesus Christ will save us. And the heart of Jesus Christ keeps pounding, pounding, pounding with love for us.
Nails hurt. Holes driven in your comfort zone hurt. But remember: no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
Now do you want the truly good news? The good news is that nails, used properly, join things together. Nails, hammered in by a skillful carpenter, join things firmly. Nails hold everything together so that the building will not fall. And that’s good news. It’s good news because in so apparently simple a thing as this nail, there is tremendous power to build.
Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. We share a common pain: the pain is that we all are sinners, all of us. But we also share a common joy: the joy is that we are forgiven. That joins us together.
Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house. We share many hurting places: job failures, anxieties, health worries, family life struggles. You may think that you are the only person in this room that’s going through whatever. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” But I would guarantee you that someone here has seen it, someone here has suffered it, someone here has dealt with it, someone here has been delivered from it. We share many hurting places; but we also, by the grace of Christ, share salvation. We share experience, we share knowledge, we share a living, healing savior. And in the fellowship of those who have been nailed together, built up, into God’s spiritual house, the good news truly comes alive.
For, again, no growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain.
And yet, it remains true: no growth ever takes place without pain. Oh, one day they hurt Jesus. One day they pounded on His hands, His strong carpenter’s hands. They pounded, they pounded, until they put raw, red holes in those hands. Nails that hurt. On that same day they took nails, huge nails, and a hammer, and they crossed His legs and joined foot to foot and feet to timber. Nails that hurt more deeply than you or I will ever imagine. Despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
But it was for us. Folks, it was for us. It was for our forgiveness. It was for our growth. It was to join us together. Nails that hurt Him deeply! “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53.5)
No growth ever takes place without pain. If you truly want to be built up, prepare to encounter pain. But the pain of Jesus Christ will heal you. The blood of Jesus Christ will save us. And the heart of Jesus Christ keeps pounding, pounding, pounding with love for us.