Sermon 2020.05.24 1st Peter Week 4

So far in our study of 1 Peter, we have found that Peter wrote this letter to encourage his readers in the face of a persecution that was just beginning to take root.  He’s contrasted an earthly strategy for living with a kingdom strategy for living, he’s described for us how the earthly strategy is rooted in epithmeeo, the desire for that which is not permitted, and he has called us to set aside those desires in favor of holy living.  He’s called us to rid ourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind, and to allow the love of God to so permeate our hearts that we become bearers of that love to a deeply hurting and needful world.

In today’s reading, Peter is calling his readers to submit to ruling authorities.  In verse 15 he says “It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.”

This verse could lead us to believe that we are being called to this behavior in order to protect ourselves, after all, the strategy of living exemplary lives in order to avoid trouble with the authorities might work well with a government that ruled justly, but Rome, under Nero, was hardly a government that sought to rule justly.  Even before Nero, the Roman government valued order over practically everything else, sometimes even including justice.  At the center of the Roman government’s philosophy was the Pax Romana, the Roman peace.  For a period of over 200 years the Roman Empire enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity that was unheard of in the ancient world.  This peace was critically important to Rome, because the maintaining of this peace and prosperity made it possible for Rome to control a vast empire that stretched from England in the north to Morocco in the south, and from Spain in the west to Iraq in the east.  This empire encompassed over 70 million people, many of whom appreciated the Roman protection and benefitted from the Roman infrastructure and the robust Roman economy, but not all of Rome’s conquered people were so easily satisfied.  Rome maintained the Pax Romana with an iron fist, retaliating swiftly and mercilessly against any revolt or political subterfuge, and Christians under Nero were not on the good side of that equation.

And so it was that good behavior was proving to be entirely ineffective at protecting believers from Roman harm; and I’m sure that Peter knew this well, because Peter  himself been imprisoned by the Romans, and shortly after the authoring of his 2^nd letter, tradition states that Peter was crucified by the Romans.

So, it’s highly unlikely that his aim here is to protect his readers from Roman persecution.  In fact, this passage looks a lot like a continuation of last week’s message where Peter had taken these principles that he had laid out, and had put them into action.  In short, I don’t think that Peter means here what we may think he means.  Peter is not advocating an earthly strategy of self-preservation.  His interest is not in coping with the world or in placating the Roman government to ensure safety.  Peter is still firmly rooted in his kingdom strategy.  Peter is still calling us to holy living.

Remember that last week we learned that among believers, there is to be no malice.  Well, even though Christians are facing increasing mistreatment, he is calling his readers to have hearts that are pure and devoid of spiteful or hurtful thoughts; even towards those who are persecuting them.

There is to be no deceit.  We are not to seek to use others to suit our own purposes, even if it keeps us out of trouble.

There is to be no hypocrisy, we aren’t to pretend to be something that we are not in order to manipulate people or situations, even if we are doing it to protect ourselves.

We aren’t to envy those who are free from persecutions, and we are not to slander others, even those who are persecuting us.

Peter almost certainly heard with his own ears the words Jesus spoke when He said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.  What Peter is teaching, he learned from observing Jesus.  Peter is calling his readers to be genuine and transparent, just as he had experienced Jesus to be.  The submitting to authorities that Peter is calling for here, is not defense, it’s witness.

I’d like to take a moment here to expand on the “Submit to authority” passage, because it is the first of two loaded passages that we will encounter in this letter; passages that people often like to bend to suit their purposes, and I think it’s important to understand what Peter is actually saying here.

One of the best sermons I’ve ever heard was preached by my friend, David Ourisman.  David was preaching on Mark 12, the passage where Jesus was asked whether or not it was lawful to pay taxes to Rome, and Jesus answered by showing a coin with a picture of Caesar and saying “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s”.

In his sermon, David posed three different questions, asking what do you render to Caesar if Caesar is Tiberius, if Caesar is Nero, or if Caesar is Constantine?

In Tiberius we have a leader who treated Israel reasonably well, and a Caesar whose efforts benefitted the people in the form of roads, running water, peaceful times, and a robust economy. A good citizen is obligated to contribute to those amenities, and the believer should delight in contributing their efforts and resources to programs that enhance the common good.

In Nero we have a tyrant, and while it was still entirely appropriate to pay taxes for the above-mentioned benefits, many of Nero’s policies were antithetical to the Christian way of life, and this is where rendering to God that which is God’s comes in to play.  We are never to submit to a government that asks us to violate the commandments to love God, or to love one another.   Resistance to an evil government is not just appropriate, it’s essential.  The believer’s call to faithfulness isn’t affected by circumstance, the call remains the same even in times of trial.  Peter knew that the believer’s witness to the world is dependent upon consistent behavior, and believe me, people will notice an inconsistent witness.

In Constantine we have the Caesar who made Christianity the official state religion of Rome. Many church historians and theologians consider this to be the worst thing ever to happen to the church.  Prior to this act, the church of Jesus Christ consisted entirely of deeply committed believers.  The persecution of the church and the dangers faced by individual Christians, difficult though those circumstances may have been, purified the church, discouraging those whose faith was not genuine.

Once Christianity became the official state religion, persecutions ended and people joined the church, not because of faith, but out of political expediency. The church became the happy recipients of political power and influence, but they did so at the expense of the true power that comes from dedicated disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, spreading a Gospel of love and forgiveness.

The blending of church and state can also be an act of failing to render to God that which is God’s.  Knowing how and when to interact with government requires discernment.  It is always appropriate for the church to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. The church always needs to be about the business of ensuring justice for the poor and the marginalized.   The church must always be active in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the isolated, and healing the sick.  The church can advocate, they can educate, and they can try to influence the political process, but the church must never align with the government, and the church can never allow the government to infiltrate or to pollute the church’s mission.   There are those who say that the separation of church and state is designed to protect the state, and that may be so, but it also protects the church.

When churches align with the government and Christians join in the worldly political mudslinging and angry responses to opposing points of view, that is malice.

When Christians use or manipulate the government or government personnel to achieve a purpose, even a holy purpose, that is deceit.

Governments are often all too willing to make moral compromises.  When Christians pretend that those compromises don’t matter as long as it helps the church to achieve a goal, that is hypocrisy.

When churches desire to have the power and influence that the government can offer to the acquiescent church, that is envy.

And for Christians to speak out against other churches or organizations that disagree with them or the policies that they advocate, that is slander.

Peter’s kingdom strategy precludes all of this.  We can never allow ourselves to believe that the ends justify the means, because it’s the means that matter the most. It’s the means that flow from the heart of the believer, and it’s the means that are our witness and our testimony.

Peter continues with a discussion of slaves and their responsibility to their masters.   “You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect.  Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel.”

In this passage, Peter offers a clarification of the previous passage because here, Peter is clearly not saying that better behavior will result in better treatment.   And it’s here that Peter offers the second argument for his kingdom strategy.  Speaking not only to the slaves, not only to his immediate audience, but to the church universal, Peter says “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”

As we learned last week, Peter’s kingdom strategy revolves around the believer seeking to become like Jesus.  This exhortation to Christ likeness is a recurring theme throughout Peter’s letter.  Here again he is calling us to emulate Jesus, and good teacher that he is,  shares with us the benefit of his three years in a close, personal relationship with Jesus, using the examples of Jesus’ life and teaching, to guide us to an understanding of what it means to be Christ like.

And in that quest for Christ likeness, Peter gives us a close look at how Jesus handled the most difficult experience of His life.  Let’s look closely at Peter’s next verse and read between the lines.

Jesus never sinned, (There was no malice in His heart).

nor ever deceived anyone, (There was no deceit, or hypocrisy in His heart.)

He did not retaliate when he was insulted, (He didn’t envy those who’s circumstances were better than His.)

nor threaten revenge when he suffered. (There was no slander on His lips or in His mind.)

He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.

Jesus is our example, and if it is our choice to seek to become Christ like, then we need to listen to what Peter is telling us.  We need to go back and take another look at the first two chapters of this letter and meditate on his teachings, and we need to seek the Spirit’s guidance in making these teachings not just a part of what we believe, not just a part of  how we behave, but a part of who we are, because ultimately, faithfulness comes from within.

In closing this section, having again spoken about the possibility of suffering, Peter once more addresses the need to explain why we should choose the kingdom strategy when following that strategy may be hazardous to our health.

“[Jesus] personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.  By his wounds you are healed.
Once you were like sheep who wandered away.  But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.”

The call to follow Jesus, is a call to follow Him in gratitude.  Peter calls his readers to consider the magnitude of what God had done for them in Christ.  He calls for them to reflect on the extravagant forgiveness that has been showered upon them by a loving and gracious God, and he calls them to respond in kind; showing God’s love to a world in desperate need.  God’s fondest hope is that His beloved children will turn to Him and allow Him to restore the right relationship that He intended for us to have with Him from the very beginning, and He promises blessings untold for those who choose the path of discipleship.

Sermon 2020.05.17 1 Peter Week 3

So last week, Peter was teaching us about epithemeo, a word described according to Peter as the desiring of things that are not holy.  Peter wants his readers to make a choice between living according to ways of this world, or living according to the example of his Lord, his teacher, and his friend, Jesus.  As we move into the 2^nd chapter, Peter continues his discussion about avoiding the ways of the world.

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

As we discovered last week, words can sometimes be ugly, and sometimes these ugly words are not words that we would choose to use to describe nice people, and certainly not words that we would use to describe ourselves. And yet Peter IS speaking to us, and if we really want to dig deep to learn about who we are, and about how the ways of this world have affected our thoughts and our actions, we need to listen to Peter and to understand what it is that he is saying.  Last week I spoke of how words have meanings that change over time and can be interpreted differently in varying degrees from their original usage.  If we are to examine our lives honestly, we need to take a deeper look at what Peter is saying, so let’s examine these five words one by one.

The Greek word for “Malice” is kakian and this is a word that means to have a spiteful or hurtful disposition, regardless of whether or not your actions match your disposition.  In other words, malice is malice whether you act on it or whether you’re just thinking it.  As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, to think someone a fool, or to murder them, is the same sin of despising them in your heart, and Peter is calling for our hearts to be pure and devoid of spiteful or hurtful thoughts.

The Greek word for “Deceit” is dolios which literally means to bait.  According to Strong’s: dolios is “Deceit motivated by guile; using decoys to deceive people, which implies treachery to exploit the naive.”  Peter is talking about not using people to achieve your own purposes.

The Greek word for “Hypocrisy” is hupokrisein which according to context, may be translated into the English word “Actor”, because the word literally means someone playing a part.  Peter is making the point that we need to be genuine.  We can’t be pretending to be something that we’re not in order to manipulate people or situations.

The Greek word for “Envy” is fthonos. According to Trench fthonos is “Displeasure at another’s good, without longing to raise oneself to the level of him who he envies, but only to depress the envied to his own level.”  Peter is teaching us that just because someone has something that we don’t have, or something that we want, we can never allow our feelings or our desires to affect how we view or how we treat that individual.

The Greek word for “Slander” is katalalias which is a word that means… well… “Slander”. The meaning of this word apparently hasn’t changed much, but here Peter is reminding us that there is never a reason to speak ill of people.

One doesn’t have to spend too much time studying these words to realize that Peter is teaching us that, at the very core of the worldly way of life, is selfishness.  A 21^st century Peter might very well have said “Hey, it’s not all about you”.

As with all good teachers, Peter wants us to understand his teaching clearly, so he has provided us with multiple examples to illustrate his point, and his point is that once we have chosen to become a disciple of Jesus, these behaviors should no longer be a part of who we are.  Simply put, an individual with a heart filled with love is incapable of being selfish.  The needs and the good of others overwhelm the Christlike heart to the point where the old way of being is no longer possible.  A heart filled with love can’t speak or think ill of others; won’t use others for personal gain; and never acts hurtfully or callously.  The heart in which God’s love resides is completely unwilling to accept less for others than it is willing to accept for itself.

So how are we to go about this formidable task of setting aside the old?  There are two answers to this question and unfortunately, the first answer is that we won’t.  The old nature still resides in us, and will continue to do so until the day that our faith becomes sight.  In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul really captured the essence of the conflict between the Spirit and the flesh when he said “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.  But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  So, I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”

Every believer, without exception, faces this conundrum, so let’s not be thinking that we’re alone in this.  One of my favorite Christian authors, Warren Wiersbe, summarizes this beautifully when he says “The Spirit may use the body to glorify God, or the flesh may use the body to serve sin.  When a sinner yields to Christ, he receives a new nature, but the old nature is neither removed nor reformed.  For this reason, there is a battle within.”

The second answer, though, is the amazing good news that with Jesus, His forgiveness is every bit as extravagant as His love.  God’s grace covers the believer, not because our imperfections don’t matter, but because God’s love offers endless new chances to the repentant heart.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,” Peter said, “so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

For Peter, the pure, spiritual milk is the Word, and this is Peter’s way of calling us to become students of the Word.  And since the word “Disciple” is taken from the Greek word “mathetis” which means “Student”, This is really Peter calling us to discipleship.  As disciples we are to be always studying and learning the Word; but our learning is to be a learning that translates into action.  It’s not enough merely to have an intellectual grasp of the Word, our study must lead to learning that is reflected in our lifestyle and in our actions.  As we grow in grace and faithfulness, hopefully we will choose more and more often to use the body to glorify God.

Let’s not forget that Peter was there when Jesus spoke the parable that said “No one puts new wine into old wineskins.  Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”  Peter is teaching us that our new nature is like the new wine, and that our lives in Jesus are, as new wineskins, quite literally a brand-new creation.  And this new creation, by God’s love and grace, through the teaching of Jesus, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has the capacity to set aside the old ways of doing things and to allow the love of God to so permeate our hearts that we become bearers of that love to a deeply hurting and needful world.

Peter closes this section with an explanation of why there are those who reject the message, but first, history nut that I am, I need to tell you a story.

When construction began on Solomon’s Temple, the stone masons were not permitted to cut stone at the site of the temple because the Temple Mount was holy ground and the continual racket of stone cutting would have disrupted worship, so the stone was cut at the quarry and shipped nearly a mile to the site of the new temple.  Because of the fact that the stone had to be cut away from the construction site, the cutting of the stones had to be meticulously planned and every single stone had a specific place for which it was cut.  Now the capstone is the stone at the top of the main arch that supports the building.  Prior to the capstone being set, the building is held up by scaffolding.  It’s not until the capstone is set that the scaffolding can come down and the building will stand on its own, so the capstone is the most important single stone of the building.

When the first stones for the temple arrived from the quarry, and the builders began to lay the foundation stones, the builders found that on that first shipment, among the beautiful, perfectly cut, and perfectly fitting rectangular stones, there was a stone of an odd shape.  It clearly didn’t fit anywhere in the foundation that was being laid so the builders assumed that it was a mistake and they set the stone aside with the construction debris to be stored until he temple was completed, and the debris could be hauled away.  It took twenty years to build the temple, so after nearly 20 years when the capstone was to be placed, the builders inquired of the stone cutters asking them “Where’s the capstone?”  The stone cutters informed the builders that the capstone had been sent to them on the first day of construction.  That oddly shaped stone that the builders had discarded, turned out to be the all-important capstone.  Now if the capstone had come on the last shipment from the quarry, there is no doubt that the builders would have instantly known what it was and it would not have been discarded, but because they weren’t expecting it on the first shipment, they didn’t recognize its importance and so they rejected it.

When Jesus comes to us as an itinerant preacher, born into poverty, fraternizing with prostitutes and tax collectors and sinners, when He shuns the religious leaders and breaks the religious rules, when he comes with zero political power and ends up being arrested, tried, and crucified, how are we to comprehend the fact that this man is the author of the universe?  How likely is Jesus to be just like that rejected stone, having shown up in the least possible expected way and not really meeting anyone’s expectations? Those who were looking for a military leader who would defeat the Romans and restore the Jewish kingship were looking in the wrong place.  Those who were looking for a religious leader who would assume the high priesthood and restore faithful worship were looking in the wrong place.  Those who were looking for one who would be a social justice warrior, ending poverty, hunger, and inequality and inaugurating an earthly kingdom of justice and righteousness were looking in the wrong place.

Just as Elijah expected God first in the tempest, then in the earthquake, and then in the fire, Elijah still had to be prepared to hear that still, small voice with which God spoke to him. So it is that we must be prepared to encounter God without the expectation that He’ll come to us with majesty or glory or power, though all these things He has ad infinitum.  But we need to be prepared for a God who has chosen to reach out to His beloved children with the tender touch of His love.

A king born into poverty?  A political leader with no political power?  A moral leader who kept company with sinners?  A religious leader who rejected religious tradition?  The One who created the entire universe simply by willing it into existence, tried and executed by common man?  Foolishness!  All foolishness!  According to the ways of this world, none of this makes any sense whatsoever.

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.  God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.”

Our life in this world has been shaped by the ways in which the world operates.  We recognize the primacy of power and wealth, the importance of looking out for our own interests, and the occasional necessity of fighting for our survival, yet in God’s kingdom, these all amount to nothing.  In God’s kingdom we recognize the primacy of love, the importance of caring for one another, and the necessity of seeking the common good.  Things that the world considers to be a foolish waste of time, are actually the foundation upon which God’s kingdom is built.

Jesus came to Earth with three specific missions. The first was to be the spotless lamb who takes away the sin of the world through His sacrificial death and resurrection.  The second was to teach by example who God is; to show us through his teachings and actions the very nature of the God who created us.  And the third is to teach us what God expects of us; how He wants us to live.  Jesus’ life shows us how love is at the center of God’s relationship with us, and Jesus teaches us how God is calling us to love in kind.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.  God’s love is such that His fondest hope is that all will turn to Him and that none will be lost.  As such, God goes out of His way to reach His children, putting his Truth before us all in plain sight; easily found by those who ask.

Many will miss out on the message because God has come to us in a most unexpected way, and they have neither the time, nor the inclination to seek Him.  But for those who seek Him with all their hearts, God is 100% faithful to answer their prayers, to fill them with His Spirit, and to make His home their own.

Sermon 2020.05.10 1st Peter Week 2

What Endures?

 

Last week I spoke about strategies.  I spoke of an earthly strategy revolving around expedience and I spoke of Peter’s strategy revolving around kingdom priorities.  In today’s reading Peter begins to talk about the differences between the earthly strategy and the kingdom strategy.

“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

In most English translations the phrase “Evil Desires” is translated “Lust”, and so often when we read this phrase, we interpret according to the classic English speaker’s way of thinking, where the tendency is to view it as meaning physical desire, but let’s take a look at that for a moment.  The Greek word epithimeo is a word which means to desire something that is not permitted.  In this passage, Peter contrasts for us what is permitted and what is not permitted.  Peter juxtaposes evil desires and being holy, so according to Peter, what is permitted is being holy and what is not permitted is not being holy.

Now in standard English usage, “Evil” is an ugly word.  It evokes images of wanton disregard for the lives or the safety, or the needs of others, and is surely not a word that we would ever use to describe any decent person, but in the biblical usage of epithimeo , we need to expand our horizons just a little.  Like the word “Evil”, the word “Sin” also has become an ugly word, and yet, as I’ve explained so often, the most common word in the Bible that is translated into the English word “Sin” is hamartia, which is a word that could appropriately be translated “Imperfection”, and imperfection isn’t quite as ugly a word as sin, now is it?  So it is that epithimeo carries the meaning of desiring literally anything that is not permitted. Should we be ignoring the needs of someone when we have the wherewithal to help them?  That’s epithimeo . Should we be speaking or thinking ill of someone that we don’t like?  That’s epithimeo . Should we be dismissing people because we find them too difficult to love?  That’s epithimeo . So we really need to adjust our understanding of this whole passage, because, Peter isn’t calling anyone a terrible person here, what he’s doing is, he’s teaching us that the scope of this phrase is much wider than it seems.

Let’s not forget that Peter was present when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.  He was there!  And when Jesus taught that calling someone a fool the same as murdering them, or when He taught that simply desiring someone other than your spouse, of divorcing your spouse, was the same as committing adultery, Jesus was teaching us about epithimeo .  Jesus was helping us to expand our horizons, with regard to our understanding of what it means to be holy, and it is this exact line of thought to which Peter speaks.

For Peter, his kingdom strategy is all about putting into practice the things that Jesus taught him over the three years of his discipleship.  It’s a strategy that focuses squarely on Christ likeness.  To be holy, as God is holy, is to follow the example of the One who in every way exemplifies God.  To be holy is to be Christlike.  And it is to this Christlikeness that Peter calls us.

But Peter is still facing the difficulty of teaching his readers WHY they should be choosing a kingdom strategy over an earthly one.

“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

Peter identifies us as foreigners, a people living in a land that is not their own.  In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul expressed a very similar idea.  Paul called us “Ambassadors”, again conveying the idea that the citizenship of the believer is not earthly, but rather, heavenly.  Augustine, in his Confessions, addressed this so beautifully when he said “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

“To whom shall we go?”  It is this for which we were made, and try as we might to convince ourselves otherwise, we never really know who we are until we find ourselves in Christ.

Peter tells us that this heavenly status is precious.  That is was bought for us not with silver and gold or things that eventually will have no value at all, but rather with the blood of Jesus, who was chosen before the creation of the world to be our redeemer.  Peter exhorts his readers to choose the kingdom strategy because the kingdom strategy is the one that will endure!  Peter punctuates his thought by closing this section with a quote from the 40^th chapter of Isaiah, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

We began this chapter thinking that we were being called to view our lives in what seemed to be such a cavalier manner as to scorn the threat of death, but Peter has turned this around into a question of whether we are willing to accept something transient; a wisp that is here today and then gone forever, or are we to choose something that endures; something that is literally from everlasting to everlasting?  Peter’s eyewitness accounts form a powerful foundation for his argument.  And though we ourselves don’t have the benefit of having personally witnessed the resurrection, or having sat at Jesus’ feet while he taught, we need to remember that Peter did, and his words should serve to encourage and sustain us, even through dark times.  Peter’s words give us a reason to be hopeful!

OK, so now that we understand that, where do we go from here?  Each of us faces a choice.  Do we continue to follow the ways of the world, or do we choose to seek the path of discipleship?

Let’s face it, choosing the path of discipleship isn’t exactly easy.

In his book “The Cost of Discipleship”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer speaks of the difference between “Cheap grace” and “Costly grace”.  According to Bonhoeffer, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.  Baptism without church discipline.  Communion without confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate”

For Bonhoeffer, the message of cheap grace is “Of course you have sinned, but now you are forgiven so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness”.

Bonhoeffer then contrasts this cheap grace with costly grace explaining that “Such grace is COSTLY because it calls us to follow, and it is GRACE because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.  It is COSTLY because it costs a man his life, and it is GRACE because it gives a man the only true life.  It is COSTLY because it condemns sin, and GRACE because it justifies the sinner……Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart.  Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’”

Here, Bonhoeffer is doing exactly the same thing that Peter does in his letter.  Bonhoeffer is contrasting an earthly strategy with a kingdom strategy; and Bonhoeffer essentially ends up asking the same question “Lord, to whom shall we go?”

For those who are not familiar, Bonhoeffer was a key founding member of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany.  While Germany attempted to unify all Christian denominations into a single, pro-Nazi church, the Confessing Church resisted both on moral grounds, opposing the strong nationalist nature and the overt Antisemitism of the German state church, and on theological grounds, declaring the Nazi demand of total control over the individual to be in opposition to the ultimate sovereignty of God, and opposing the re-writing of the Old Testament into the anti-Jewish “Message of God”.  Bonhoeffer continued to be a strident voice opposing Nazi policy until his arrest in April of 1943.  In February of 1945 he was transferred to the Flossenburg Concentration Camp, where on April 9th, just a few weeks before the liberation of the camp, at the age of 39, he was executed.

The prospect of denying oneself, taking up our cross and following Jesus is a daunting one. Though that choice carries higher costs for some than for others, even for those blessed to live in a time and place where our faith will not threaten our very lives, we are still making a choice that demands change, not only in our lifestyles, but also in our ways of thinking.

The really good news of this chapter though, Peter saves for last, because it is here that Peter, in one of my favorite verses in the Bible, begins to explain this new life to which we are being called.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

This new life that the Spirit will awaken within us is a life of love!  As we turn from our old ways of expedience, our old ways of dealing with the world on the world’s terms, we find a capacity for love that we never imagined existed.  And as we begin to understand the wondrous depth of this love we will find this love creating these little pockets of heaven all over the world.

It was this extravagant, unmerited love that drew so many believers to the first century Christian Church.  It was this extravagant, unmerited love that Satan sought to silence.  But he couldn’t, and here it is; right in front of us for the taking.  If only we choose the kingdom strategy.

Sermon 2020.05.03 1st Peter Week 1

Who’s Agenda?

 

Be Hopeful!  This is the message of 1 Peter.

Simon Peter, the apostle, self identifies as the author of this letter and while he states that the letter was written from “Babylon”, it’s actually unlikely that the letter was written from the country Babylon.  The city of Babylon is used in the New Testament as a description of a world order based on violence and exploitation that is personified by Rome, and it’s highly likely that Babylon is used here in that context, as a code word for Rome.  It is presumed that Peter actually wrote the letter from Rome somewhere around the year 65.   Let me set the stage.

Israel had been under Roman occupation for nearly 100 years.  Israel proved to be a challenging people for the Romans to control, and in 40 BCE, presumably in order to try to keep the peace, Julius Caesar officially recognized Judaism as a legal religion and Israel was afforded concessions that Rome did not make for other conquered people.  The Israelites were permitted to practice their religion without interference from Rome (At least not official interference) and they were exempt from the regulations that required them to worship Caesar.  When Christianity came on the scene, it was first accepted by Rome as a sect of Judaism, and was therefore under the same relaxed regulations.  But when it became clear that Christianity wasn’t a sect of Judaism, and was, in fact, a new religion, the standard Roman regulations were imposed upon Christians, requiring them to worship Caesar and impinging on the practices of these new followers of what was called “The Way”.

1^st Century Christians were amazingly successful at reaching new believers with the Gospel.  They were open and welcoming to potential new believers, but potential new believers were subject to an extensive period of training before being admitted to the fellowship, and non-believers were strictly excluded from the fellowship.  Christians also often found themselves to be non-participants in community activities, due to the fact that these activities often revolved around the standard polytheistic themes of the Greco-Roman world, and so other citizens who didn’t know better, tended to view Christians as being unsociable.  As a result, 1^st century Christians faced increasing levels of distrust.  As persecution of Christians began to become increasingly more prevalent, Christians became increasingly more guarded about who was admitted into the fellowship of believers creating further distrust.  And exacerbating the problem of acceptance of the Christians even more were two highly unfortunate misunderstandings.

1^st Century Christians referred to the predecessor of the sacrament of communion as the Agape Feast; “Agape” being one of the three Greek words that we translate into the English word “Love”.  Now the word “Agape” carries with it the meaning of a love of a selfless and sacrificial character, and one would think that that might have been a hint to their Roman neighbors, but nevertheless, Christians were viewed as a peculiar people, who met in secret, and at each meeting the “Family” of believers had a “Love feast”.  To many Romans, the love feast was thought to be possibly incestual, or possibly an orgy, or possibly both.  Certainly, this was a misunderstanding capable of creating suspicion.  The second, and even more troubling reference was related to when Christians referred to the consuming of “The body and the blood”.  Romans, hearing this without appropriate context, assumed this to be cannibalism, (I mean, not knowing the context, what else would you think?) and so it’s not hard to understand why Christians faced a great deal of opposition based on some miscommunicated ideas.

Interestingly, in an extant letter that was written by the Roman Governor Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan, asking about the official imperial policy regarding Christians, one can sense a tone of surprise in the letter when Pliny reports the simple and innocuous practices of Christian worship that he discovered when he investigated the issue, so clearly, these misunderstandings were prevalent.

As distrust grew from these misunderstandings, persecution of Christians became a very real and serious threat, and right around the year 64, Rome began executing Christians for their faith.  In the year 64, on July 19^th (My birthday !!) a fire broke out in Rome that burned for over a week and destroyed 2/3 of the city.  Historically, we don’t really know what started the fire, but in the ancient writings, there are five different theories that have been put forth about how the fire started, and four of those theories put the blame squarely on the Emperor Nero.  What we do know for sure is that Nero blamed the fire on the Christians.  This ignited (No pun intended) a deeper hatred of the Christians, and increased persecutions.

It is into this situation that we find Peter writing his first letter.  He begins his letter by identifying himself as the author, and he addresses the letter to believers in cities scattered throughout modern day Turkey, who he identifies as “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”.  And while this is not at all the subject of my remarks today, as a good Presbyterian, I really can’t pass on the opportunity to comment on predestination.  (That sentence that should probably have a smiley face at the end of it).

There’s a whole school of debate about predestination, about whether humans actually have any choice whatsoever in the matter of their salvation, and about how could predestination possibly be fair if you are not one of the elect?  After all, how could you fairly be punished for something over which you ultimately have no control?

The pastor and theologian J. Allen Blair gave the best answer to this I’ve ever heard.  Blair said “Did God, before the foundation of the world, predestine persons, or a plan?  Did He decree that there should be certain individuals saved, or did He decree a plan of redemption in which His Son would die for all; that whoever should call upon Him would be saved?”  DL Moody said it a little more succinctly when he said “The whosoever wills are the elect.  The whosoever won’ts are the non-elect.

Anyway, back to my message.  After his introduction Peter offers a few words of Praise to God; and we’ll get back to those words in a moment.  After his short introduction, Peter gets right to the heart of his message.  Peter addresses directly the persecution of the church, saying “For a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials”.  Peter is writing this letter to encourage believers who are facing persecution.

When difficulties come in this life, it’s awfully hard to see the silver lining in things.  Faced with persecution and even potentially death, Peter’s audience had little earthly reason for hope.  The earthly strategy for believers at this point would be to live inconspicuously enough not to attract the kind of attention that would bring trouble. But let’s take a look at that strategy for a moment.  Hypothetically, were Satan to try to interfere with the exponential growth of this new Christian movement, can you think of a better way to accomplish that than to silence believers?  The first century church grew exponentially because of the enthusiastic witness and the extravagant love of the first century church, and here, Peter wants to present his readers with an alternative strategy.  A strategy based not on earthly expedience, but rather based on God’s promises, of which Peter was intimately familiar.

In the introduction to his letter in chapter one, Peter reveals three great promises:

1. In Verse 2C, Peter says “Grace and Peace be yours in abundance”.

Remember, Peter was with Jesus when Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid”.

After Peter’s greatest failure when he denied Jesus three times, Jesus lovingly restored Peter, letting Peter know that he had been fully forgiven.  What peace this must have brought to Peter, knowing that Jesus had restored their relationship, and feeling the confidence that Jesus had in him to continue His work. Following his reinstatement, Peter became a tireless and effective witness for Christ.  Peter knew in a deeply personal way of the peace that Jesus gives, and now he wanted to pass that peace along to his brothers and sisters who were facing difficult times.

2. In Verse 3B he says “In [God’s] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.

Peter personally witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus and was one of the first to enter the empty tomb.  Peter encountered the risen Jesus, was a witness of the post resurrection teachings of Jesus, and had proof of his own new birth through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who had worked so powerfully in his life.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, which would most likely have been familiar to Christians at the time Peter wrote this letter, Paul said “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.   And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

Peter knew as an eyewitness that Jesus had indeed been raised from the dead and he wanted to pass along to his brothers and sisters his knowledge of the absolute fact of Jesus’ resurrection, and the promise that that resurrection holds for all believers.

3. In Verse 5A Peter says “You,who through faith are shielded by God’s power”.

Shortly after James, the brother of Jesus was executed by King Herod Agrippa II Peter was arrested and thrown into prison.  He was guarded by 4 squads of 4 soldiers each, and slept, bound by chains, between two soldiers, with two other soldiers guarding the locked door.  The night before he was to be brought to trial (And certainly executed) an angel appeared next to him.  The chains just fell off of Peter, the door opened by itself, and the angel led Peter out of the prison to safety.  Peter knew in a deeply personal way how God had protected and shielded him, and he wanted to pass along to his brothers and sisters how he personally had experienced God’s protection.

So the promises that Peter lists are for peace, salvation, and security.  Peter wants his readers to understand the absolute faithfulness of God, and the absolute confidence in which Peter holds these promises.  Peter reminds his readers that they are awaiting “An inheritance that can never perish”, that we experience an “Inexpressible and glorious joy for… receiving the goal of [our] faith, which is the salvation of [our] souls. Peter even tells his readers that “Even the angels long to look into these things.”

In the face of terrifying times, Peter has given his readers a challenge to view their lives and their mission from a kingdom perspective rather than an earthy perspective.  During Jesus’ earthly ministry, there came a time when He was teaching and many disciples turned away because of the difficulty of that teaching, Jesus asked the twelve “You do not want to leave me too, do you?”  Peter answered Jesus, saying “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”  Peter had a kingdom perspective and he wanted his fellow believers to share that same mind.

It’s just about impossibly difficult to view our lives in what seems to be such a cavalier manner as to scorn the threat of death, but having personally encountered the resurrected Jesus, Peter had irrefutable knowledge that Jesus had indeed conquered death.  Peter’s answer “Lord, to whom shall we go?” is the solid foundation upon which Peter builds his kingdom strategy, and the most powerful argument to those he calls to follow it.

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action”, Peter said.  “Be self-controlled and set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

We are blessed to live in a time and place where our lives are not threatened by our faith, but difficulties do abound, and it’s all too easy to become wrapped up in the things of this world.  Peter speaks to us also, encouraging us to be hopeful, and calling us to choose the kingdom strategy of living.

Peter’s kingdom strategy is a strategy of following the example of Jesus, a strategy of caring and compassion; a strategy of empathy and love; a strategy that refuses to accept less for others than you are willing to accept for yourself.  Loving others isn’t easy.  Loving the unlovable, the arrogant, the rude, and the thoughtless is nearly impossible.  We could take the easy route, distance ourselves from the unlovable, and make our lives a whole lot easier, but Peter continues to ask us “Lord, to whom should we go?”