“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… I go to prepare a place for you.” — John 14:2
This week’s readings hold a beautiful tension. In John’s Gospel, Jesus comforts his troubled disciples with one of the most tender promises in all of Scripture: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He is going ahead of them — and ahead of us — to prepare a place. He is, he tells them, “the way, the truth, and the life.”
And then in 1 Peter, we glimpse the other side of that promise. While Christ prepares a place for us, he is also building something here and now. Peter writes that we are “living stones” being built into a spiritual house — chosen, precious, beloved. “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.”
What a thought: that the same Lord who is preparing a heavenly home is, at this very moment, gently fitting each of us into place in his living temple. Every act of love, every quiet prayer, every moment of fellowship at St Mary’s is part of something far bigger than we can see — God shaping us, together, into a dwelling place for his Spirit.
You may feel like a small, unremarkable stone. Peter would gently disagree. In God’s hands, you are chosen. You are precious. You belong.
So if your heart feels troubled this week, hold onto these two promises side by side: there is a place being prepared for you, and you have a place right here, among God’s people. Both are true. Both are gifts of grace.
🙏 A Prayer
Loving God, thank you that you have prepared a place for us in your eternal home, and a place for us here among your people. When our hearts are troubled, steady us with your peace. Shape us as living stones, fitted together in love, that our lives might become a dwelling place for your Spirit, and a sign of your kingdom in the world. Through Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.
