Fifth Sunday in Lent

May 3rd, 2026
Trinity Lutheran Church - Wyandotte, MI
5th Sunday of Easter
Sermon Text: 1 Peter 2:2-10

Craving What Cannot Satisfy

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2–3)

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I remember as a new dad waking up around 2 AM to the crying of my infant son. After talking with my wife, I got up to take care of my newborn infant son. I had no idea what his problem was. I check to see if he needed to be changed? Nope, not this time. Did he just need some comfort? I swaddled him and rocked him, but that did not do it. Maybe he was hungry. I warmed up a bottle and fed him. He sucks that bottle down like his life depended on it. Which it did.

That bottle didn’t just quiet him down. It didn’t just satisfy his craving. It gave him exactly what he needed, nutrition for growth and strength for life. And he needed it again and again, day after day. He could not feed himself. He was entirely dependent on being given what was good for him.
Now here’s the thing: as we grow older, we don’t outgrow hunger, we just get worse at it.

Because we don’t just eat what is good for us. We crave what isn’t. We desire sweet, salty, and fatty food that is not good for us. We reach for the quick, the easy the easy to reach food, that is empty of nutrition. We know the difference between a nourishing meal and junk food, but often we choose junk food anyway. Not because it gives life, but because it gives a fleeting moment of satisfaction.
And that same pattern shows up in our spiritual lives.

St. Peter writes, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” St. Paul compares our faith to that of a hungry newborn infant. That is crying out to be nourished. That is what God’s Word is: not a snack, not a side dish, but the very thing that gives life, that satisfies the hungry soul.

And yet, how often do we treat it like the vegetables on the plate—something we know is good, but push aside? Meanwhile, we fill ourselves with other things: distraction, comfort, control, the need to be right, the approval of others. These are the spiritual equivalents of junk food. They taste good in the moment, but they do not nourish. For a time we may seem full but we end up spiritually malnourished because they do not sustain faith. They do not give life. We are not actually fed.

And here is the deeper problem: it’s not just that we sometimes choose poorly. It’s that by nature, we crave the wrong things. The sinful flesh does not hunger for Christ. It resists Him. It would rather to anything else than sit and receive the Word of God that actually gives us life.

So, if your desire for God’s Word feels weak or inconsistent, you are not alone. That is the old sinful nature at work. But the danger is not that we are infants. The danger is that we stop longing for the pure spiritual milk, that we lose the hunger altogether and start thinking we are fine without it. And when that happens, we should not be surprised that our faith feels weak, that our patience wears thin, that our love grows cold. Begin to starve and a starving Christian will not thrive.

But you are not without hope. You are not left to fix your appetite on your own. St. Peter continues: “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” You have tasted the goodness of the Lord. You have received His forgiveness. You have heard His Word. You have come to His table. And there, Christ does not give you food and drink of empty calories. He gives you Himself, His very body and blood, to give us His mercy and His forgiveness. And that changes you.

The Holy Spirit creates in you a new desire, a new hunger. Not one that comes from your own willpower, but one given to you as a gift. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” A new creation with new desires, a longing not born from yourself, but given to you by Christ.

And so St. Peter says, “As you come to him[Christ], 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, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Christ is the living stone – rejected by men, crucified, cast aside by the world – and yet chosen and precious in the sight of God. The very One who was nailed to the cross is now the cornerstone of a new and living temple.

Just as that bottle nourished my son and helped him grow, so Christ nourishes you through His Word and Sacraments. And not only are you sustained, you are being built. Shaped. Formed into something living and holy. A dwelling place for God Himself.

Like the bottle that I gave to my infant son, that nourished and helped him grow. So too does the pure spiritual milk that the Lord gives us grow us into salvation, we are also being built into a holy house, a temple with Christ as the cornerstone of our construction. This not our doing. Christ alone is building us into His holy temple.

Through His Word. Through your Baptism. Through His body and blood. These are not symbolic snacks. These are the very means of grace by which Christ actually comes to you and feeds you with life and salvation.

And you are more than a living temple for Christ, St. Peter says you are a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, not because they are perfect, because they are offered through Christ, your great High Priest. Your prayers, your praise, your service to your neighbor, these are pleasing to God because you are in Christ.

But there is also a warning. “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” Christ is the living stone, the source of life and salvation. We are precious in God eye not because of our own worth. We are precious because our foundation, our faith is in Christ.

For those who reject Christ, the very thing that gives life becomes an offense. They have no foundation for life and salvation. The Word of God becomes an obstacle in their eyes. The precious cornerstone of Christ is ugly and worthless to them.

Whenever we try to build our life on something other than Christ – our reputation, our morality, our own works, etc. – we are building a foundation on an ever-shifting sand. Whenever we resist His Word or imagine that we can stand before God apart from His mercy and grace. That is like trying to live on junk food and expecting to be healthy. It will not hold. It will not stand. It will not last.

But hear what God says about you: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession.” That is who you are. Not because of what you have built, but because of what Christ has done. You belong to Him. You are His. His royal priesthood. His holy nation.

You have the joy and please to proclaim Christ death for sinners, His resurrection from the dead, His life giving forgiveness for sinners, and His mercy for the undeserving. You are blessed to show His excellencies with a life shaped by His Word. With prayer and worship. And to be His witness in the places that God has put you.

The Word calls you to hunger, but it also feeds you. It names your weakness, but it also names your Savior. It tells you that you are built on Christ, and that means you are secure. It tells you that you are a royal holy priesthood, and that means your life can be used by God for the good of your neighbor. It tells you that you are God’s people, and that means mercy has the last word.

So yes, long for the pure spiritual milk. Not out of guilt. Not as a chore. But because you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Because unlike everything else we crave, He actually satisfies the desire of your soul.

Today, the Word is calling you to hunger, and the Word feeds that hunger, it feeds you. It names your weakness, and then it gives you your Savior. It tells you that you are built on Christ, and that means you are secure.

So come to the living Stone. Stay close to His Word. Receive His gifts. And as you are fed, not with what is empty, but with what truly gives life, you will be built up into the house God has made for His own dwelling.

In the Name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.