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SERMON:
Good
morning. For those of you who don’t recognize me, I’m Pastor Caleb Schaller.
I’ve been out of town for three weeks now, and so I might look a bit like a
stranger.
I
was supposed to be out of town for TWO weeks, helping represent our
congregation at our Synod’s summer convention. But the transmission in our
family van decided we needed a THREE week stay in the Midwest instead of two.
Thankfully, everything is now mechanically sound, and we’re back home.
▬
You
know, you meet a lot of different people when you travel halfway across the
country. People on the road. People at rest stops. People in the towns where
you stay over for the night. And these people you meet sound different.
When
I was getting breakfast in Butte, Montana, I met a woman on vacation from the East
Coast. We struck up a conversation, and before she even got a complete sentence
out you could tell she was from New York, or maybe Pennsylvania, or
Massachusetts. She didn’t say “New York,” she said, “New Yawk.” She didn’t say
“Park the car,” she said, “Pahk the cah.” My impersonations are terrible, I
know, but you get the idea.
As
we traveled through North Dakota and into Minnesota and Wisconsin, people we
met had that subtle Midwest twang in their voices. Even people we had known all
our lives somehow sounded different than before. We could hear their home states
in every conversation.
And
get this. They thought we sounded different too. Our families said they could
hear Washington in our words.
▬
And
you know, some things never change. Even back in Jesus’ day people from
different places sounded different. When the apostle Peter snuck into the
courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas, the high priest’s servants recognized
him because of his thick Galilean accent. They could tell where he was from,
just because of his choice of words, and the tones in his voice.
Where
you come from doesn’t change. And your accent might not either. But where you
belong, that can change. The place you consider home, that can change. And
where you’re going, that certainly can
change. It did for Peter. And it has for each Christian in this room.
▬
On
the way back home from the Midwest this last week, a truck passed us on the
right. The driver of the truck had his arm hanging out of the open window, and
I noticed an elaborate tattoo emblazoned on his forearm. In rugged script it
said, “Forgiven.” And on the back window of his truck there was a decal. The
decal I saw is printed on the front of today’s bulletin. It’s four simple
letters: “N-O-T-W” with the “T” looking like a cross. It stands for “Not Of
This World.”
Followers
of Christ come from a lot of different places. They speak countless languages
with endless accents. But through faith in Jesus, where they BELONG is one.
Where they call HOME is one. And that one place is “Not Of This World.”
That’s
the simple message that the apostle Peter has for us today. As he begins his
first letter, written to Christians scattered across Asia Minor, he greets them
with great joy and calls on them to rejoice with him because they have been
BORN AGAIN through faith in Christ Jesus. And their new home is “Not Of This
World.”
1
Peter 1:1-9 (NASB)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To
those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ
and be sprinkled with His blood:
May
grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
3 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, 4 to obtain an
inheritance which is imperishable and
undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who
are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even
though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by
various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is
perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and
glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you
have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe
in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9
obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
▬
Peter
was was born in the small fishing town of Bethsaida. He grew up to be a blue
collar fisherman working the Sea of Galilee. The Bible tells us that Peter was
married, though it doesn’t mention any children. Like every other person in the
world, Peter was a sinner. Controlling the things that came out of his mouth
was a particular problem for Peter. He was impulsive and forward. Quick to
judge, and impatient. In other words, all in all Peter was pretty ordinary.
But
when Jesus came forward to begin his ministry, Peter became something else: CHOSEN.
Peter was selected, faults and all, to be one of Christ’s representatives to
the world. Peter was chosen to proclaim that Jesus was the Son of God, and
through Jesus’ suffering and death, the sins of the world have been atoned for.
And
so, when Peter begins his first letter he addresses his fellow Christians as
people who have also been chosen, just like him. Look again at verse 1.
Peter writes…
1 Peter 1:1-2 (NASB)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To
those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ
and be sprinkled with His blood:
May grace
and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
▬
Peter
calls his fellow Christians, “aliens.” You know, people who aren’t from around
here. We might say, “foreigners.” They were foreigners in the very lands where
they were born, because through faith in Christ’s cross they had become
citizens of heaven. They were living in this world, but they were Not Of This
World. Not anymore.
God
the Father had chosen them from eternity to come to faith. The Holy Spirit had
brought them to faith through the message of sins forgiven because of Jesus
Christ. Now they were following Christ in their hearts, and learning how to
follow him with their lives.
“Grace
and peace be yours in fullest measure,” Peter says. God’s undeserved love and
unmatched peace be yours.
▬
This
last Friday Independence Day was once again celebrated in our nation. Fireworks
erupted deep into the night to help us remember the day when our nation
declared itself free from the rule of Great Britain. Today Peter calls us to
celebrate more than the birth of a new nation. Peter calls us to rejoice in our
own rebirth into God’s family.
Our
rebirth into God’s family didn’t come from some self made declaration. God the
Father himself declared us free from sin’s consequences by raising his Son from
the dead.
The
Father’s Son became human to suffer in our place. His innocent Son hung
crucified and abandoned on the cross of Calvary for your failures and mine. For
your ugly words and actions and for mine. He died there, and they took down his
lifeless corpse and laid it in a borrowed tomb. But three days later, the
Father raised Jesus Christ to life, and thus declared to the world that his
mission had been successful. The price for our redemption was paid, and our
salvation was declared sure.
Peter
points his readers to the resurrection of Christ as the source of our hope in verse
3. He writes…
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4
to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and
will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected
by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time.
▬
This
is how Peter summarizes the Gospel. Because Jesus was raised to life, we know
our sins are forgiven. Because he lives, we shall also live on beyond this
life. In Christ we have been given an inheritance greater than any we could get
here on earth. Our new citizenship in God’s house comes with the guaranteed
inheritance of HEAVEN! And that inheritance won’t get old. It can’t fade away and fall apart like the possessions
we scrabble over in this world.
It’s
as if Peter is going back in his mind to the Easter tomb. Remember? Remember when
the women told the apostles that the tomb was empty, and that Jesus’ body was
missing? Peter and John RAN to the tomb to see what had happened. As Peter
stood in that empty tomb he saw that it was true. Jesus was not there. He had
risen!
And
now Peter takes his readers back to that day of resurrection, and explains what
it means. New birth. The inheritance of heaven waiting for us. Salvation to
come when Jesus returns on the last day. He lives, and all who trust in him
shall live with him one day.
▬
The
Christians that Peter was writing to knew these things. But they needed to be
reminded of the glory to come because they were facing some hard times in life
right now. Throughout the rest of Peter’s letter he talks about this fact. The
Christians scattered across Asia Minor weren’t living in wealth and glory. They
were being persecuted for their faith in Christ. People were being ridiculed,
cast out of synagogues, beaten, and even executed for their faith. Peter calls
them to remember that this world isn’t our home. We are foreigners here. But
our souls are safe in Christ. In verse 6 Peter says…
1
Peter 1:6-9 (NASB)
6
In this you
greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have
been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your
faith, being more precious than gold
which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in
praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and
though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now,
but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of
glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of
your souls.
▬
Peter
compares their faith to “gold.” When you put fire to gold, it melts. And all
the impurities rise to the surface and can then be swept away. But even when
gold is purified, it’s only so valuable. Like everything else in this world,
gold can be broken, spent, scratched, marred.
But
faith in Christ, Peter says, that is more precious than gold. For faith in
Christ will remain even when this world is swallowed in the fires of God’s
judgment. The simple trust in Christ that Peter’s fellow Christians held in
their hearts would endure until they met their beloved Savior face to face.
It’s
amazing! Peter is writing from the city of Rome because he has heard that the
churches in Asia were undergoing hard times. Trials because of their faith. But
Peter’s overwhelming tone is a tone of joy! “Don’t worry!” he says, “He’s
coming back! You are holding onto him by faith, you are obtaining the outcome
of your faith the salvation of your souls.” (see 1 Peter 1:8-9) Rejoice.
You are not of this world. Remember what is to come.
▬
You
know, you meet a lot of different people when you travel halfway across the
country. And even here at home, we meet people from all over the place. And
these people sound different. Their accents give them away.
And
Peter is no different in our reading today. He has an accent that gives him
away. You can tell where he belongs because of his choice of words, and the
tones in his voice. He’s a citizen of heaven. He’s a child of God. He’s a
redeemed sinner, like you and Me. Bought back from sin and hell through the
death and resurrection of God’s own Son. You can hear it in the joy that
radiates from Peter’s words. You can hear it in the simple message he preaches.
He’s not of this world folks. And because of Christ, we’re not either.
▬
Our
trip to the Midwest was a little longer than we expected it would be. But in
God’s good time, we got back home.
Our
trip in this world may be a little longer than we expect it to be. Or it could
be a little shorter. Who knows. But in God’s good time, you and I will reach
our true home. That’s what our Savior promises. That’s what the cross and the
empty tomb testify. And if we have to face a few nights of unexpected trial and
pain along the way—so be it. The One whom we have not seen, but still love, he
is watching over our faith. And he will not abandon us.
So
rejoice, fellow travelers. Rejoice that because of God’s Son, you are Not Of
This World.
Amen.
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