Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” An examined life is one in which you diligently search out your own beliefs and critically evaluate your motives and values. It is to go beyond habit, to switch life off autopilot and take stock of what you are doing and why you are doing it. It certainly sounds like a noble idea, and there is much to it, but there are consequences for this as well. Because, when you examine your life, you may not enjoy what you find. And it is not just that you might have to confess things you would rather keep hidden away, secret desires or untested convictions. No, the real struggle comes when you are not sure of who you are or what you are doing. The root cause of great upheaval in our lives is often found in the secret that we do not know who we really are or what we really want. Anxiety and depression often lie in the realization that we are stuck somewhere we do not want to be, with no idea how to move forward.

We often long for some clarity, some direction to better understand ourselves. We may look to a mentor or our parents, we may turn to a trusted friend or even some media influencer, someone who might understand who we are and what we are going through. Yet, today, we are given some bold and shocking words from Saint Peter. They are words which give definition to who you are, words that may surprise, for they speak a truth about who you are and what you are to do as the people of God. He says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

“A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession.” That is quite a description, an incredible statement about your identity as the people of God. It is invigorating, is it not? To hear that, to hear you are viewed by your God as a royal priesthood, as a treasured possession of His, gives us hope and comfort. It says something foundational about who you are as you make your way through this world. Still, as good as this is to hear, it feels as if it does not take much to drown out these words. The boldness of such a declaration soon fades as you encounter all the other voices that say something vastly different about who you are. These voices highlight your insecurities, your failures, your struggles, and your shame. And let us be honest, when we examine our lives, we do not see such lofty things about ourselves. We see lowly and unworthy creatures of little to no consequence.

Yet, this is not beyond our God’s typical work. He regularly uses the lowly and weak things of the world to do His great deeds. Abraham was a worshiper of false gods before our Lord called him and set him aside to be the father of many nations. Moses was a murderer and a fugitive on the run before his call to lead the people of God out of slavery and into the promised land. Saul persecuted the Church with great zeal before Jesus called him on the road to Damascus, turning him into the great Apostle Paul who spread the Gospel throughout the land. And, of course, Jesus Himself was rejected and discarded. He is the stone the builders rejected. Nonetheless, He became the cornerstone and remains a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

So, Peter says, “As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.” In Christ, you are living stones. You are the building blocks of God’s house here on earth. His Church is a living and thriving reality created and sustained by the grace and mercy of God. You are not built into this because you deserve it, because you have proven yourself to be righteous enough and worthy of such an honor. No, you are made into this reality out of the love and choosing of God alone. He washes you and cleanses you. He breathes new life into you. He calls you out of the darkness, into His marvelous light. He has carefully and wonderfully built this spiritual house.

I love the line where Peter says you are “a people for His own possession.” You, yes you, are a treasured possession of God, purchased by the blood of His Son. I do not know how many treasured possessions you have. I tend to have far more treasured memories than possessions. But sometimes, something we possess can have far more meaning and significance than it looks on the outside. I recently went to a wedding in Grand Rapids. The son of our dear friends was getting married, and we journeyed out there to celebrate with them. The church was full on that Saturday afternoon, and all stood up as the beautiful bride walked down the aisle. But I learned while we were there that the dress she was wearing was a creation of several dresses. They had taken the wedding dresses of both of her grandmothers, her mother’s dress, and her mother-in-law’s dress, and from these four dresses (representing almost 176 years of marriage), they created a new dress. This dress, this possession, is worth far more than the fabric it was made of, more than the skilled hands which constructed it. The very fabric was full of memory and history. Treasured memories and treasured lives blended together into this beautiful bride.

Something like this is what we are as the bride of Christ in this place. Individually, by yourself, there may not be much to shout about. But by the grace of God, through His calling and work, you are being stitched together into a people of His own possession. You are gathered by His Word. You are bound together in the forgiveness of your sins and the receiving of His gifts. And together in our lives, in our words, and in our deeds, we proclaim to the world the marvelous works of our God. You do the tasks of a royal priesthood, offering a sacrifice of love and compassion, proclaiming to one another the forgiveness you have received in Christ. You are not alone. You are not left adrift with no hope or future, swayed by every changing wind or wave.

No, you are what God has declared you to be. You have purpose and meaning and identity. For, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”