Belovedness

A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 7th, 2023:
​Fifth Sunday of Easter

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1 Peter
2.4-9

Beloved: Come to the Lord, a living stone, though rejected by human beings yet chosen and precious in God’s sight. Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in Scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

I’ve always struggled with belovedness. Believing that I am loved by the Father, let alone worthy of His love, has never come easily to me. In spite of the love of friends and family, this is an understanding that I have not yet grown into – that perhaps I even resist.
 
As I get older, I’ve begun to see how my belief in my belovedness has been negatively affected by experiences of rejection, disconnect, childhood bullying, bad dating experiences, and hopeless relationships. I’ve written before about making God in my own image, in my own flawed design. That has led me to believe that compared to other faithful Christians, God somehow loves me less, or that I am not as beloved as His other children – I’ve fallen into this dangerous thinking-and-spiritual trap for far more of my life than I care to admit. 
 
Peter extends an invitation that is eternally welcoming – Come to the Lord, let yourself be built into His living house, believe in Him and you will not be put to shame. Come, enter into His marvellous light. And what stands out to me right now are these words: “Come to the Lord, a living stone, though rejected by human beings yet chosen and precious in God’s sight” (italics mine). 
 
I’ve heard the scripture, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” for my whole life. But I’ve never thought about it in the sense that Jesus knows, even better than I do, what it is to be rejected, disconnected, scorned, stoned, cast out. This living stone, this most precious cornerstone – He too knows what it is to be unloved. Far more than me. Unlike me, Jesus never doubted in His belovedness. 
 
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel the stirrings of understanding. That, rejected or not, I must be chosen and precious in God’s sight, because if the most holy King of Kings was rejected and yet still died to raise us up in His Father’s love, then who am I to deny how beloved I am by Him? 
 
Lord, let me remember that you love me, even when I can’t feel it. Let me remember and believe and trust that, “You do all things well. You don’t make mistakes.”*
 
 
* lyrics from “Wonderfully Made,” by Leeland, on the album “City of God”. Music and lyrics by Jason Ingram, Steffany Gretzinger, Leeland Mooring, Casey Moore (2023).




Kim Tan

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