The Choice of a Stone
5th Sunday of Easter
Acts 7:55-60 and 1 Peter 2:2-10
May 3, 2026
By Pastor Jane Shelton, CRE
The similarities between Christ’s crucifixion and Stephen’s stoning are a bit haunting in the similarities that are written.
Like Jesus, Stephen has brought against him false witnesses to his claims.
While Jesus states that he will sit at the right hand of God, Stephen relays the vision of that very scene.
As Jesus cries out from the cross that his persecutor’s be forgiven, so does Stephen in his last breath.
Stephen is the first recorded martyr in the new gospel, the new Christian faith, and it is no coincidence that he dies in the very image of Jesus’ death. Stephen imitates the example provided by his Lord.
All the while Stephen is speaking the truth of Israel’s unrepentant heart, he is dragged out of the city and beaten with stones by the mob until he draws his last breath.
Witnesses to the stoning place their coats at the feet of Saul indicating their allegiance to the Torah and the Temple, and in so doing, choose stones of death.
Let’s us compare this sad and sorrow-filled story of Stephen to what it means to be God’s people as described in the early verses of 1 Peter Chapter 2.
If the people of Israel had not closed their ears to Stephen’s words, then perhaps they could have been obedient followers of God’s word.
These verses can be laid out in an outline.
Step 1. Give up all malice, guile, insincerity, envy and slander.
Step 2. Be filled with the Holy Spirit so that you are nourished by Christ and grow into mature, righteous Christians who long to taste the presence of the Lord.
Step 3. Come to the Lord as a living stone, full of the goodness and mercy of God, rejecting the world that rejects your ways, yet being chosen and valued by God.
Step 4. Take on the image of God; be yourself. Be alive and build within yourself a spiritual house offering everything to God through Jesus Christ.
In following these four steps, you become a living stone to be added to the cornerstone called Jesus Christ. Build upon all that is good and trustworthy in the Lord so that those who follow do not stumble or fall.
Only those who disobey the word of God are destined to fall.
Those that choose living stones are chosen by God to become a holy nation as God’s own people because they obey God’s word.
Being alive in Christ, we proclaim the resurrected Son of God, and the Creator God who brings us out of darkness into his light.
There are two choices. We can pick up the stone that breeds hatred and death, or we can pick up the stone of life that allows us to mature spiritually as we are filled by the Holy Spirit. Then we come alive and prosper in the word of God so that all have the opportunity to be able to taste the pure, spiritual milk that grows into salvation.
Think about the difference when you taste fat-free or 1% milk compared to when you taste whole milk. There’s a richness in the whole milk that is undeniable. It’s not watered down, and neither is a person filled with the Holy Spirit.
If we want to lead like Jesus, then like Stephen, we remain faithful, and to do this we fix our eyes on Jesus who was the first to show us how to lead with faith.
Because of the faith of Jesus throughout his journey to the cross, death and resurrection, the new covenant and the good news of the gospel were born, and Christ now sits at the right hand of God.
Because of his faith and his example of how to be faithful to the very end, just like Stephen was faithful to the end, we are inspired and equipped to endure to the end also, even in the midst of becoming weary and losing heart.
Like we mark the race for the Bun Run, Jesus has marked out the race for us, showing us that we can persevere against any stone cast that attempts to tear us down, as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Faithful One, who leads us to the throne of God.
When we pick up a stone, we have a choice to throw it with anger or love. We have a choice to use it to tear someone or something down, or to build it up. We have a choice to continue to lay stones upon the only cornerstone that thrives.
A stone of faithfulness flows from a heart of faith, and when we keep our eyes on the Lord, our limitations become insignificant. Christ’s unlimited capabilities shine through us causing more faithfulness to emit from us to others.
Grasping a stone of faithfulness doesn’t mean we won’t face trials and find ourselves in the midst of turmoil we never planned to be a part of; however, it will cause us to look inward to a heart of faithfulness and do the right thing in response to the love we have received from God.
Our righteous response to God’s grace is an eagerness to show up with stones that build others up. We want to show up and do the right thing with the right attitude and be motivated by right reasons. Those right reasons rain down from a God that sees and knows the entire plan of our lives and others whom we meet along our journey of faith.
When we have that kind of faith, it allows us to see when things don’t go as we planned, it’s not the end of the world, it’s only another direction that God has planned for us.
Rather than thinking the sky is falling, we look to the cross and know that God is there for us, waiting to show us the way with a firm foundation under our feet.
When you see your pile of stones, what are the words written on them? Are they malice, guile, insincerity, envy or slander? Or are they hard work, honesty, integrity, patience, generosity and service?
When you think back on Jesus’ journey to the cross and his resurrection, what words do you see on his stones? I’m sure among the ones we just named, the cornerstone also included love, faith, and hope.
Let us remember, we are God’s people, built into a temple of living stones that are alive and filled with the Holy Spirit. Let us spread these living stones so all may know God’s mercy.