New Year's Message

2014 OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL 2015

In just three days we will be wishing each other a “happy new year.”

            If you are a glass-half-full kind of person (positive outlook) you will be looking back on 2014 with fondness. It will have been a good year for you and, with your characteristic optimism, you will anticipate another good year. “Happy new year” is a fond wish and a pithy cliché at the same time. No matter; 2015 will be good.

            If you are a glass-half-empty kind of person you will be remembering the failings and disappointments of 2014. Some would call this “pessimism” but you (we) call it “realistic.” When someone wishes you a “happy new year” you will think “indeed” since last year was anything but…Let me count the ways in which 2014 could have been better, you think. Considering the last 362 days all you can do is hope 2015 will erase the previous dark days.

            Both the positivist and the realist/pessimist have something in common. Their experiences are much the same: they have the same disappointments, failures, defeats, and even similar victories, accomplishments, and achievements. The difference between the two rests in how they evaluate or choose to feel about their shared experiences. One will say “it was great” and the other “it could have been better.”

            The challenge for us of moving from 2014 to 2015 will be how we choose to view the past year while looking forward to a new year. Can we leave the past behind and adopt a deep-seated hope for the future? On what basis can we begin to change our view of past events so that we can look forward?

            Let me draw your attention to the book of Lamentations in the OT. This little book was written by Jeremiah who was known as the weeping prophet. Throughout Jeremiah’s ministry, he preached a message of judgment on a nation that had grossly sinned before God. Jeremiah was not a popular guy in his day; other preachers spoke of peace and good times ahead; Jeremiah alone spoke for God and God was not happy. Because of Israel’s sin, God said that Jerusalem would be destroyed and the people taken into captivity. As Jeremiah prophesied, so it came about as the Lord had said.

            The book of Lamentations is as depressing as it sounds. It is a book of grief. It is the journal of a man who saw everything he loved become ashes before his own eyes. This book is a book of laments, Jeremiah’s laments.

            As you read the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah will tell you line by line how terrible his world had become. His first words in this book set the tone:

            “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people…” (1:1). For two chapters Jeremiah describes how the holy city lost its splendor, how wasted its gardens look, how her walls are torn down – his eyes fail from weeping (2:11).

            Then in chapter 3, Jeremiah gets personal. He turns from the scene of his beautiful city, now a heap of rubble, to his own spirit. Jeremiah lists 9 personal laments describing how he feels (remember this is a preacher, a prophet of the most High God, a spiritual man – if he can feel down in the dumps, anybody can):

            1 – He feels that God is angry with him (3:1)

            2 – He feels that God has driven him into darkness (some call this the “dark night of the soul”) (3:2, 6)

            3 – He feels like God has turned against him (3:3)

            4 – He feels old (3:4)

            5 – He feels trapped (3:5-7)

            6 – He feels like his prayers go unanswered (3:8)

            7 – He feels like God is a bear laying in wait for him, ready to pounce and mangle him (3:10-11)

            8 – He feels like a laughingstock among his people (3:14)

            9 – His hope, in short, is gone (3:18).

            This guy’s glass isn’t just half-empty, it’s bone-dry. Jeremiah’s experience of the past year has left him without hope of any kind.

            Unbelief causes us to look at our God through our troublesome circumstances. While Jeremiah's outward affliction and inward turmoil pushed him toward despair, Jeremiah forces himself to bring truth to the forefront of his mind. Like a computer that "defaults" to certain settings, each of us has a "despair default." If we don't reconfigure our minds, we will slide down the slippery slope of discouragement and complaint.

            What we learn from Jeremiah is that we cannot look at the past and fill our minds with despair. As hard as it may sound, we have to train our brains to think and process differently. Incredibly, despite what I have shared with you about Jeremiah’s experience and outlook, he splits the darkness of his despair with an amazing and profound truth. Put your feelings aside and grab hold of this hope. Listen to what Jeremiah teaches about hope:

a) Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed – Picture Jeremiah crying, wailing his head off, viewing his city through tears. The people are near starvation, threatening to eat each other – it’s that bad – and he stops and thinks: Why doesn’t God destroy me?

            It sounds strange Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed. We have lost everything. We have nothing to eat. We have nowhere to live. But God loves me. How do I know? Because I’m not dead. I’m not dead yet; I feel like dancing.

            As we wish each other a happy new year, it strikes me funny in a way. Somehow we think that we deserve a happy new year, as if each year should be better than the next. And then we place our hopes in some mystical unreality that fate will deal us a better hand than the last year. Fortune will smile on me eventually, if your God is Walt Disney perhaps.

            But what do we deserve? Nothing. God has seen our sin and sinfulness and declared “The wages of sin is death…” (Ro 6:23). Life doesn’t owe you anything; God certainly doesn’t owe you anything. And yet you live. How do you know God loves you? Because you’re not dead. “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “The gift” is life.

b) His compassions (mercies) never fail – Since God’s love for us preserves us, his mercies will not fail us. God’s “compassions” or “mercies” are noted in the plural. Jeremiah highlights that they are many. That’s how intense and limitless are the mercies of God. We have no idea really, how much God loves us.

            “Compassion” comes from the Hebrew word for “womb.” Hebrew is a picture language and nearly every word causes us to think of a picture. This picture shows us that God has a gentle feeling of concern and care for us like a mother has for her newborn. The word literally means “to be moved in the heart out of love for another.” So God is moved in his heart when he thinks of you.

            When James thought of mercy he turned to Job. That’s odd isn’t it? Job, who suffered more than any man or woman who has ever lived, is a picture of God’s mercy. James said, “You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,” (Js 5:11). Just because God allows suffering into our lives doesn’t mean that he isn’t compassionate. In fact, how would we know what compassion was if God only allowed good things to happen to us?

c) They are new every morning – “Morning by morning new mercies I see,” is how the hymn puts it. God’s mercies are new every morning; they are fresh for today.

            Try this a few mornings in a row: when you wake up, sit up in bed and loudly proclaim, “I’m alive!” If your spouse is still sleeping it will freak them out. You may recall the prayer your mother taught you, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray thee Lord my soul to take.” I went to bed some nights wondering how dangerous sleep really was. But as Jeremiah affirms, waking up in the morning is a real mercy.

            Every morning God’s mercies are fresh. They are not held over from yesterday but renewed for our enjoyment today. Consider the analogy of manna and the children of Israel as a comparison. Each morning the Israelites would go out to gather manna for the day. If they stored some away for the next day it would spoil. God had promised to provide fresh manna each day, except on the Sabbath. God’s mercies don’t spoil but we are reminded that we should not live in the past. It is good to remember God’s mercies but only as a reminder that He continues to show new compassions to us every day.

            In this way we want to live with a certain expectancy about the day. Even as the day brings fresh troubles, God counters those troubles with fresh mercies.

            I struggled a few weeks ago with being passed over for a teaching spot at the seminary. It was just a one-week intensive on Anabaptist History, but I really wanted to teach it. When I fell ill a week or so ago I began to brood over this rejection in the midst of my fever. Then one morning God revealed His mercy to me. With all the preaching I am scheduled to do, the dissertation, the EMC committees I am on, when would I have time to write 20-30 hours of lectures? God mercifully kept me from overloading.

d) Great is your faithfulness – Jeremiah delivers the summary of his great revelation concerning God’s mercies: Great is your faithfulness, O God, my Father.” Thomas Chisholm adds his own thoughts in his hymn, “There is no shadow of turning with thee.”

            God is faithful. When Moses wanted to see God, the Lord placed Moses in the cleft of a rock and passed in front of him showing only His back to Moses. As God passed, He declared, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” (Ex 34:6). Faithfulness describes God. He is consistently who He says He is day to day, moment to moment, without fail.

            Ethan the Ezrahite asked, “O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you,” (Ps 89:8).

            God is faithful. Like Jeremiah, when we surrender to live for God day by day, we feel fresh breezes of love, grace, and compassions blowing across our soul. God's supply comes when we need it - not earlier and not later. God gives us what we need for today. If we needed more, he would give us more. When we need something else, He will give us that as well. Nothing we truly need will ever be withheld from us.

            Paul discovered God’s faithfulness in all things through times of little and times of plenty. He said, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength,” (Phil 4:12b-13).

           

Jeremiah’s dramatic turn-around is a lesson for me. I hope it is for you too as we approach a new year of opportunity. While Jeremiah began to focus on the negatives, he realized that the difference between despair and hope is how you see life. More importantly, hope is seeing how God is faithful even when everything looks its worst.

            Consider your life. Consider 2014 alone. How has God been merciful to you? How has the Lord shown his faithfulness to you in the midst of your trials?

            Jeremiah said that the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him and those who seek him. Seeking God is that simple act of recognizing God’s hand in your life. As 2014 comes to a close, take a journal or sheet of paper or go to your electronic devices and list all the bad things that happened in the last year in one column. In a parallel column, beside each of those troubles or disappointments, write out what you think God’s mercy might have been in those moments. Consider how the Lord revealed his faithfulness to you. This is one way of seeking Him.

            Then as we approach 2015, adopt an attitude of waiting with expectation to see what God will do with each turn of events. When a set-back occurs, how will God work out the blessing in its midst? Wait for him; hope in him; seek him.

            Happy New Year!

                                                            AMEN

December 14 Advent message

THE JOY OF GIVING

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” (Acts 20:35).

            Is there anyone who does not enjoy receiving a gift? At Christmas we give and receive gifts as a cherished tradition. One my fondest memories as a child was the anticipation that mounted in the weeks before Christmas. Our tree went up December 1^st and the pile of presents was steadily built up until the bottom of the tree could no longer cover the gifts. I believe the waiting was as thrilling as the opening of gifts.

            As I got older the thrill turned to disillusionment. On the one hand, receiving new toys was a childhood delight and had grown out of that phase. On the other hand, as my wants got more complicated and lists of requests were made, I knew what I was getting. I grew quite cynical about the whole tradition.

            Christmas joy has been rekindled in my heart in recent years as I have begun to realize that the giving is more fulfilling than the receiving. I still enjoy gifts, especially when Sharon finds something that she knows I will like but not expecting. But giving is where it’s at as far as the pursuit of joy at Christmas.

            Why do we give gifts at Christmas? I remember a rather theologically weak explanation being given when I was young. Someone explained that because the wise men brought gifts to Jesus on his birthday, we give gifts to each other as a remembrance of that great nativity. Tradition does not need much encouragement when gifts are involved.

            While the theology of gift-giving is weak as far as Jesus’ birthday is concerned, the magi do have some things to teach us about finding joy in the birth of Christ. There are three questions I want to ask that will help us to focus on the theme of giving and receiving as it relates to Matthew 2:1-12.

The first is this:

1. What do you want?

As we approach Christmas there are numerous expectations we place on this special day. Chief among these expectations is the anticipation of receiving. We want to receive joy from the celebrations, from the Church services, from the season in general. We want to know the “peace on earth” that the songs talk about. We want to be filled with the delight that commercials and movies proclaim is part of the Christmas fantasy.

            What did the wise men, the magi, want? What were they looking for the night they came to Jerusalem?

            This was not the Holy Night that Jesus was born. The math tells us that Jesus was two years old by the time these guys showed up (Herod killed boys 2 and under (2:16)). Matthew is quite brief in his description of Jesus’ birth. He writes simply, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod…” (2:1). Then the magi come.

            For a gospel writer who writes to Jewish believers about Jesus the Messiah, the magi are a peculiar feature. Magi were star-gazers, astrologers, a practice strictly forbidden in the Law of Moses. Secondly, they were Gentiles from a foreign land a thousand miles away. The inclusion of the magi in this story hints at the inclusion of Gentiles in the receiving of the gospel and becoming part of the church.

            These magi likely saw in the night sky Pisces, a conjunction of two stars, Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter was the royal planet and Saturn symbolized Israel. They deduced that a king of great magnitude was born in Israel. Following the message of the star, they came to Jerusalem to find the child.

            What did they want? Matthew tells us, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him,” (2:2).

            Their method of finding Jesus may have been off, but they had the right focus. The first step in finding joy at Christmas is looking for Jesus to worship him.          

            Some folks get pretty riled when Christ is spelled with an X. They preach, “Keep Christ in Christmas!” Quite right. Keep Christ in Christmas, but it has nothing to do with the spelling of his name (which in Greek is X). Keeping Christ in Christmas is first and foremost honoring his advent, his coming into the world, his condescension to become one of us. Worshiping Christ is priority one.

2. Where do you look for it?

The second question following “What do you want?” is “Where do you look for it?”

            We learn from the magi that there are right and wrong places to look for Christmas joy. Where did they look for a baby born king of the Jews? In the usual places…they sought him out in a palace in the middle of a major city. Logical thinking really.

            If we look for Christmas joy in the gatherings, the turkey, the gifts, or in overall season we may be disappointed. Black Friday teaches us that consumerism is dog-eat-dog; don’t expect to find Christmas charity in the mall when a sale is on. We can also place too heavy an expectation on family hoping that the laughter and good times will be replicated every year. Being with family can be hard work – you might have to prepare yourself to be with them and tolerate the same habits and stories you have always endured.

            The magi discovered that the Christ of their Christmas was found not in the usual places, but in Scripture. Sadly, those who knew Scripture had grown numb to the truth of the Word. When Herod called on the Bible guys to tell him where the Christ would be born it was sort of an anticlimactic revelation to them. They knew where Christ’s birthplace was foretold, but it was sort of “ehh” (shrug).

            Micah prophesied, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel,” (Micah 5:2). We take for granted how amazing this prophecy really is in the story of Christmas. All eyes should have been on Bethlehem, even if it took several hundred years. Compare this with a prophecy that Christ’s second coming would begin in Kleefeld, Manitoba. Can you imagine? I should think that real estate would go through the roof.

            If you are looking for the joy of Christmas, you must begin with the Scriptures. Read them, marvel over them, pause to meditate on the coming of God into our world.

            I remember the hardest thing to do was to listen to the Christmas story from Luke before opening presents. So maybe don’t torture your children right then. Make it part of breakfast or Christmas Eve or something. Take time to read the nativity with a fresh heart and fresh set of eyes, and seek the Lord to worship him.

3. What are you willing to give?

Pisces, if that’s what it was, the star, reappeared, and the magi continued their journey until they came to Bethlehem and found Jesus. Here’s where the gift-giving comes in to the story.

            Three small boys were in a Christmas play at school.

They represented the three wise men and they were to give their gifts to baby Jesus. The first boy stepped forward, held out the gift in his hands and said, “Gold.” The second boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, “Myrrh.” The third boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, “Frank sent this.”

            What are you willing to give to Jesus in worship? What the magi gave in gifts were totally appropriate for the Christ. You would think that the gifts were inspired by the Holy Spirit, they were so bang-on.

            They gave gold – a gift fit for a king. The magi were acknowledging that 2-year-old Jesus was a king.

            They gave frankincense – a gift for a priest. Frankincense was an ingredient used by the priests in temple worship to blend with the smell of the sacrifices. With this gift the magi acknowledged that Jesus was One who would bring us to God.

            They gave myrrh – a gift for the dead. Myrrh was a fragrant ointment used to anoint a corpse before burial. What an odd gift for a toddler. The magi must have had some insight that the child was born to die.

            These were appropriate gifts for the Christ-child. I have seen a TV commercial (I don’t know what it’s for – bad advertising) where couples are sitting around exchanging gifts. In sweet, gracious voices they say horrible things. One says, “Oh, what a lovely sweater. You must think I’m fat.” Another says, “Thank you so much. I’m going to purposely forget this here when I leave.” And another, “I’ll never leave the house wearing this.”

            Gift-giving has become complicated in a society where we lack for nothing. Rather than a blessing, giving gifts becomes a game. There are four gift categories we need to consider:

            a) The gift for a gift, gift – When we receive a gift we try to figure out how much that gift cost so we can reciprocate and get the giver a gift of the same value. Sometimes these givers are long in the memory: “I got them something nice but they didn’t get me anything.”

            b) The gift for a favor gift, gift – these givers give a gift but don’t want a gift in exchange. They want a chip they can put in their pocket so that they can get something else out of you. Perhaps it is a favor; perhaps it is loyalty. It’s something, you can be sure.

            c) The re-gifted gift, gift – This is where you take a gift you received but never used and turn around and give it someone else. Just make sure you don’t give it back to the original giver.

            d) The “grace” gift – The “grace” gift is unrepayable. You can’t pay it back; you can’t work for it, pay it off, or do anything to measure up to it. The giver doesn’t even expect anything in return. They would do it regardless of our gratitude or inability to respond. They do it out of love for love’s sake.

            You know of course that this is the gift of God to us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16). That is a Christmas message if there ever was one.

            I have received the “grace” gift from others and it is amazing. The gift is “spot on,” like they knew my character, and so touching. It leaves you with a funny feeling, like you want to do something in exchange but you know you can’t. That reflects the gift of God so perfectly.

            The wise men, the magi, brought Jesus material gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They also brought the gift of presence (they were wealthy; they could have sent a gift to Jesus but came themselves), the gift of time (it took 2 years for them to discern the star and make the trip), and the most important gift which is a culmination of all these gifts – worship. “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” They were overjoyed to be able to give Jesus, this poor carpenter’s boy who would be king, gifts of worship.

            There is one more gift that needs to be considered in this story: the gift of receiving. Humbling oneself to receive a gift, allowing oneself to be served by another, is a gift in itself. I have noticed this in many homes that I have visited: when you decline an offer of drink or food, it almost seems to disappoint people who want to serve you, to show you hospitality. Letting others bless you gifts them in return.

            But of course the Christ-child wants us to receive him most of all as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. That too takes humility – we must make room for him in our lives.

“Giving with a glad and generous heart has a way of routing out the tough old miser within us. Even the poor need to know that they can give. Just the very act of letting go of money or some other treasure does something within us. That something is it destroys the demon, greed.” (Richard Foster).

            “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Perhaps we experience the joy of giving because we are actually letting go of this world and reaching for the next; we are letting go of our treasures to claim the gift of God.

            A number of years ago, when our extended Klassen family had grown, I campaigned to cease giving gifts at Christmas. To buy presents for my brother and his family and my sister and her family had reached unrealistic proportions. Budgets could only afford so much per person and we all felt the pinch. I felt especially bad for my parents who felt obligated to buy gifts for every child, grandchild and great grandchild. I told my parents that if they wanted to write checks to everyone it would simplify their lives.

            You know, sometimes a check just doesn’t say much. Now that Mom is gone, I don’t have a book or a keepsake that I can remember coming from her own thoughtfulness. The older I get the more I realize that it is the thoughtfulness of the gift, not the cost. If someone buys me a history book, it doesn’t matter if it came from the bargain bin – they thought of me. I trust that goes both ways.

            If Christmas is about giving, let us give joyfully, thoughtfully, and intentionally to show the love of God in Christ to those around us.

                                                                        AMEN

           

            

Called to Holiness #9

SUBMIT TO YOUR MASTER

Submission! Not a popular word in our 21^st century context. We don’t like to submit; in a free and democratic country we have the right to speak out, to say “no,” to go and do as we please. We will not submit.

            Ah, but we do submit. We submit all the time. As Pete shared last week, we submit (generally) to traffic laws. We submit to the police officer who pulls us over. We submit to breathalyzer tests if, unfortunately, it is necessary. We submit to those in authority over us, like judges and employers. You are even submitting to me right now as you listen to this sermon. You have given me the authority to preach and you are respecting that authority by submitting.

            Submission is necessary for order and organization. The opposite of submission is rebellion. When man’s laws and God’s commands are in conflict, we must become civilly disobedient. But in general, submission is necessary for peace.

            Submit to law and order? Yes. Submit to my employer during work hours? Yes. But submit to my master? Wait a minute, I am not a slave. This passage of Scripture we are talking about today is about slaves and masters, and that is so first century. It does not apply to us today.

            Slaves are used and abused. They are treated like property with cruelty and inhumanity. You are nobody’s slave. Wives are not slaves to their husbands. Employees are not slaves to their bosses. This is an irrelevant passage and subject for Christians today. Or is it?

            We cannot relate to the context of slavery in first century Rome. There are, however, principles that can be gleaned from this passage. The main lesson is this: Peter teaches Christians to submit to authority in the context of suffering for the sake of holy living. He uses the slave, the most vulnerable person in Roman society, as a paradigm (pattern) for the person who follows Christ. And the lesson here is more about suffering unjustly than about slavery.

1. How we are, and are not, like slaves

a) Why you are not a slave – On the one hand, Peter is literally talking to slaves; you are not a slave. Some preachers have tried to preach about employer/employee relations out of this passage but that is a stretch. There is no parallel between masters/slaves and bosses/employees. Here’s why:

            William Barclay provides an excellent description of the slavery of that day: “To understand the real meaning of what Peter is saying we must understand something of the nature of slavery in the time of the early church. In the Roman Empire there were as many as 60,000,000 slaves. Slavery began with Roman conquests, slaves being originally mainly prisoners taken in war, and in very early times Rome had few slaves but by New Testament times slaves were counted by the million.” Slaves made up a quarter of the population.

            Slaves not only broke rocks and dug ditches (hard labor), slaves could also be doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, etc. They were beloved members of the family. But they had no rights. They were property, like a sheep was property. Slaves could not marry but could have children; if children were born, they were born into slavery and were automatically property of the master. It was said that the only difference between a slave and a wagon was that the slave could talk. Slaves were “things” and tools.

            In a nation of civil liberties and free will, you are not a slave.

            When slaves came to Christ for salvation they were taught about their “freedom in Christ.” While this was true, Peter reminded them that they were still slaves and needed to submit to their masters. They were not to work less, but work harder. Show the master that a Christian makes a better slave. This is why Peter writes as he does:

            “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh,” (18). The Greek word for “harsh” gives us the word for “scoliosis,” the curvature of the spine. It is an easy thing to submit to a good and kind master, but Peter encourages Christian slaves to submit to crooked or cruel masters too. These are the ones who make you suffer.

            Peter continues, “For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God,” (19). That word “commendable” comes from the root word “grace.” What Peter is really saying is, “it is gracious to endure suffering,” or “bear your suffering with uncommon grace.” He repeats this “grace” word in v. 20.

            Suffering comes three ways: 1) for no apparent reason, 2) because of our mistakes, and 3) sometimes we suffer unjustly at the hands of others. Number 3 is the one that fits our text. How do we suffer graciously when others deliberately cause our suffering?

            Therein lies the key – grace. God’s grace helps us to endure abuse at the hands of others. The sufferer is “conscious of God” in their situation and can appeal to His presence there.

b) How you are like a slave – You are not a slave. And yet you are like a slave. Jesus taught that His followers are to behave in a manner like slaves. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all,” (Mk 9:35). He said again, “Whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all,” (Mk 10:44).

             First in what? Jesus was talking about those who want to be top-notch disciples, first in His kingdom, prime followers. If you want to follow Jesus closely, you will become like a slave. A slave to whom? Well, Jesus is our master, but he did say “the servant of all.”

            Now the principles of suffering that Peter taught become relevant to us. There are going to be jerks in our life who make us suffer, who hurt us with their words and actions. Peter tells us, as slaves of Christ, submit to them. With God’s grace, bear the suffering and be gracious to your oppressor. Be conscious of God’s awareness of your pain and suffering.

            Why on earth would we want to do that?

c) Following the steps of Jesus – Why would we let others get away with making us suffer? Peter said, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps,” (21). Slavery is our calling as followers of Jesus. Suffering is an expected part of being a disciple of Jesus. And as we suffer we follow in his steps.

            The word “example” in Peter’s day was used to refer to a pattern of letters of the alphabet over which children learned to write by tracing those letters. It suggests the closest of copies. So Jesus is the paradigm by which Christians write large the letters of his gospel in their lives. If we as Christians are willing to be slaves of God, our identity is such that we are willing to suffer unjustly as Jesus did. Jesus left us a pattern to trace out our lives upon and be like Him.

            While there appears to be insanity in this teaching – what purpose does unjust suffering serve in God’s greater plans – there is a purpose to this lesson. And God is glorified by it.

2. What Jesus taught us about suffering unjustly

a) The pattern of gracious suffering – Let’s first look at the pattern of Jesus’ suffering. How did he suffer?

            Peter makes a strong application of Isaiah 53 in this part of his letter. 1 Peter 2:22-25 is the deepest NT connection to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. It is Peter who identifies Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

            Four reactions stand out in the way Jesus endured the suffering of unbelievers:

            1) Jesus did not sin – Quoting Is. 53:9, Peter notes that Jesus was an innocent sufferer, “He committed no sin...” He did nothing that deserved the suffering He endured. As I shared earlier, our suffering can come from our human condition such as illness, or aging, or death. Our suffering can be the result of sin and poor judgment. But sometimes we suffer because there are mean-spirited people in our lives who want to cause us pain. It is nothing we have done or said; we are simply the target of someone’s frustration or anguish, be it a boss or a relative. And they are socially-challenged to deal with their issues properly.

            2) Jesus did not verbally retaliate – “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate…” (23a). I observed that in Is. 53 three times the writer says he did not open his mouth: “he did not open his mouth” (7); “as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (7b); and “no deceit was found in his mouth” (9). Jesus did not defend himself; he did not object to the cruel treatment; he did not call them names or insult their character.

            It’s hard to keep our mouths shut when we experience injustice. We demand our rights. We tell the waitress off; we complain to customer service. That’s what they are there for, right? When have we learned to be silent like Jesus? How in our world of “rights” have we trained ourselves to endure like Jesus?

            3) Jesus did not threaten revenge – “when he suffered, he made no threats” (23b). Westerns are all about revenge. “You’ll pay for this,” the victim says, and then we wait for the gunslinger to exact justice on the bad guy. Jesus did not threaten the Jews or the Romans with payback.

            4) Jesus submitted himself to God’s justice – “Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (23c). One of the most difficult things to do is trust that God is going to judge our oppressor. God will bring justice; our problem is that we want to see justice done. Can we trust God to bring justice even if we are not there to witness it?

            As we entrust ourselves to God’s justice, our calling is to be gracious in suffering, as Jesus was gracious in his suffering.

            When we are threatened and refuse to compromise our faith, this is grace. When we suffer for what we believe and do not complain, this is grace. When we are passed over and refuse to get bitter, this is grace. When we endure harsh treatment and still praise the Lord, this is grace. When we are falsely accused and do not retaliate, this is grace. When we are ripped off and can still smile, this is grace. When we lose the game but not our temper, this is grace. When we face countless trials but still count it all joy, this is grace. When we love the Lord through our tears, this is grace. This is also being conscious of God.

b) What’s the point of suffering graciously? The point of suffering graciously is demonstrated in Christ’s suffering and victory. This is the way to break the world’s ways and perhaps bring unbelievers to a knowledge of God.

            Peter continues his argument for slave-behavior in the Christian by explaining what Christ won through suffering.

            By suffering, Jesus:

·         Bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.

·         Healed us from our brokenness. “by his wounds you have been healed” (24c; Is. 53:5)

·         Reconciled us to God. “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (25; Is. 53:6).

I will not stand here and lie to you – this is a painful route. To let people attack you for your faith, to suffer when you have done no wrong, to be gracious when others are ungracious, is a tough way to live. When it is appropriate, we can tell a Christian brother or sister when we have been offended. But this is about being a witness to unbelievers and showing them Jesus when all they show us is the devil.

            This is what Jesus endured, not just to save us, but to be an example to us, that we should put up with suffering if only to bring the unbeliever to Christ.

We come to Christmas once again, hoping against hope that the old story of Bethlehem will have something to say to us. While Christmas focuses on the pastoral scene of a baby born in a clump of straw with Joseph and Mary, some sheep and their shepherds standing around the crude manger, the shadow of the cross falls across this picture. The cross and suffering were part of the plan right from the start. Jesus came to die for the hurt and the sin we have experienced.

            We might question God in times of suffering, thinking he doesn’t understand our hurt, or that he has forgotten you. If we do, we’re wrong.

            “Let me pose a hypothetical question for a moment: What if Jesus had answered back when he was attacked? What if he had retaliated? What if he had insulted Herod, mocked Pilate, and used his divine powers to escape the Roman soldiers? He could have fought back. He could have told them off and even worked a miracle to free himself. What if he had? We would not be saved. We would still be in our sins. We would still be lost and on our way to hell. He entrusted himself to God in the midst of his suffering—and the result was our salvation. We’re going to heaven because Jesus didn’t lose his temper.

And what will happen if we do for others what Jesus did for us? Perhaps our powerful silence will convict them. Perhaps our kindness will disarm them. When you resist the urge to get even, when you stop claiming your rights, when you give up trying always to be understood, when you give up your anger and bitterness, do you know what happens? You become like Jesus! And that’s when your life begins to change the world around you.”[1]

            At Christmastime we know one thing for certain: Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. God is with us. He endured pain, suffering, and death – He knows our suffering. And God is with us. Submit to your master, Jesus Christ, and be like him.

                                                            AMEN

---

[1] Ray Pritchard, In His Steps (sermon January 30, 2005)

Called to Holiness #7

ON BEING BUILT INTO A HOLY HOUSE:

THE ROCK AND THE ROLE

Remembrance Day is next Tuesday – so here’s a story about service: One Sunday morning the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.

            The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Alex."

            "Good morning pastor," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor McGhee, what is this?"

            "Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."

            Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he asked, "Which service, the 9:00 or the 11:00?"

            Dying in service for others is one thing, but dying in a worship service is just tragic. I normally just hope the congregation will stay awake.

            The Apostle Peter has described for us the great mercy of God in giving us new birth into a living hope. God has gifted us with salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation, however, is not the end of God’s work in us. It is, in fact, only the beginning. As Abe described last week, we are nurtured by the Word of God to grow in maturity and spiritual health. But that is not the end-goal of the work either. No, now Peter reveals the purpose of God’s great mercy in our lives.

            One verse in our text today explains this succinctly: We are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Our end-goal is service to the King; our purpose in being saved is not merely for salvation’s sake, it is to be a people who minister to God. Consider the Rock and Role of this passage together with me.

1. The Rock: A house where God dwells

Changing metaphors drastically from the nursing mother image to stones, Peter continues his call to holy living. Jesus is called “the living stone,” “the cornerstone,” and a “stumbling stone.” Each “stone” teaches us something about ourselves.

a) Jesus is the Living Stone – Peter writes, “As you come to him, the living stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him…” (4). In the OT, God is often called a rock and a fortress, impenetrable and the best place to seek refuge. Jesus is also referred to as a rock in various places in Scripture, most notably by Paul in 1 Cor. 10:4 where he calls Jesus the spiritual rock. In Daniel, Daniel has a vision of a rock that rolls down a hill and destroys a statue (ch. 2). That rock is Jesus. So it is not odd for Peter to speak of Jesus as a living stone, though we do not think of stones as alive.

            The most important feature of this “stone” metaphor is that it is “rejected by men but chosen by God.” This is what would have resonated most with the people Peter wrote to in Asia Minor. They were experiencing rejection for following Jesus as God. What’s one more God in a culture of many gods? It would have been odd for someone to believe in just one God, but so what? The problem was that these strange people believed that there was no other God but Jesus. As such, they would have been seen as a threat to the whole structure of Roman society. They lived in a polytheistic culture; we live in a pluralistic one, where believing in the Son of God makes you stick out as intolerant and belligerent.

            Faith in the living stone makes you a living stone yourself. “…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…” (5a). Peter could have used the generic word “building” here, but he uses “house.” The importance of this is that we immediately get the image of the temple. We are being built into a temple, a place where God dwells, where the Rock is central. We are being built into the house of Rock.

b) Jesus is the Cornerstone – Rejected by men but chosen by God…this describes Jesus, and it describes those who follow Jesus. He is precious to God; we are precious to God.

            Peter repeats the “stone” metaphor and how precious it is to God. He quotes Isaiah 28:16 which prophesied Jesus’ key part in this temple, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone…” (6). Jesus is the cornerstone. The main purpose of a cornerstone is to control the design of the building or house. It is visible, unlike a foundation. It is the straightest, most perfect stone, geometrically and aesthetically. All the stones in the house need to line up and match this stone.

            As living stones in God’s house, we need to match Jesus. We also need to acknowledge that a stone or brick on its own is quite pointless. “WE” are being built into a holy house for God. Without this unifying image, we are just a bunch of stones lying around on the ground without an obvious purpose. We are together God’s house as living stones.

            W. Barclay tells a story that conveys a similar concept about a Spartan king boasting to a visitor about the walls of Sparta. As the visitor looked around, he could see no walled city and asked, “Where are the renowned walls of Sparta?” The Spartan king pointed to his army and replied, “These are the walls of Sparta, every man a brick.”

            We are a house, not a fortress wall. Yet the idea remains that each of us is a living stone, playing a role in the integrity and well-being of the whole. God’s house is spiritual in the sense that it is made up by the lives of those who come to Christ.

c) Jesus is the stumbling stone – That is the key: “coming to Christ.” That’s how Peter began this passage, “As you come to him…” (4a) and then says, “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious…” (7a). This is how we became living stones. Twice, God is shown to prize Jesus as precious. Those who believe in Jesus see him as precious too; Jesus is considered of great worth to us which is why we “worth-ship” him.

            But to those who do not believe in him he is a stone that makes them stumble. In other words, human destiny is determined by our attitude towards Christ. If we took to heart what the gospels say about Jesus, we too would find that Jesus is not an easy man to follow. He preaches forgiveness where we live in a culture of revenge. He preaches sacrifice where we live in a society of indulgence and pleasure. But what really gets people in our world is the exclusive claim of Jesus, that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come to the Father but through him. It is his exclusivity as well as his challenge to discipleship that makes people stumble.

            If you were building a house, would you not use the material that best accomplished your dream design? Would you use any old wood just because you didn’t want to leave any pieces out? Would you use sandstone for the fireplace even though granite is better? God is building a house using specific material because it is a house that reflects who he is – Holy. So the prerequisite for being a part of that house is coming to Jesus and finding him precious.

2. The Role: A People who serve the Lord

A really stark contrast is made by Peter now as he turns from those who stumble over Jesus to describing you and me, the people who accept and love Jesus. It is unmistakable that there is a difference. He writes, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy,” (9-10).

a) Belonging to God – In some ways these designations are all synonyms of the same thing. On the other hand, they each speak to the role we play in God’s house. Not only are we God’s house as living stones, we are also the priesthood in the dwelling of God.

            These descriptors are noticeably Jewish. Yahweh called Israel out of the nations to be his special people saying, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession,” (Ex 19:5). That is a pretty special appointment. And all throughout the OT God speaks of Israel in this manner.

            So does this mean that Peter has transferred the privilege of being God’s people from Israel to the church? Is Peter suggesting that the NT believers are the new Israel? Some people think that the church has replaced Israel. Some believe that Israel will still play a part in God’s plan. Others feel that the church has not supplanted or replaced Israel as the people of God but now the people of God form one single community (OT saints and NT saints) coming from many nations – not just the one. Paul argued that Christ’s “… purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross…” (Eph 2:15b-16a).

            We belong to God through the cross of Christ. We are tasked then with keeping the unity of his people through the bond of peace.

b) Offering sacrifices to God – Not only are we God’s people but we are all his priests. This is the basis of our belief that we are a priesthood of believers. That means that, unlike the RC, you do not need a human mediator to come to God. You don’t need a priest-confessor or a pope to stand between you and God. You are a priest and you can go directly to Jesus.

            It also means that as priests we have a responsibility to offer sacrifices to God. Unlike the priests of the OT who offered up bloody hunks of meat to God in the fire, Christ was the final blood sacrifice for all time. So then, what do we sacrifice to God? The NT makes a few references to sacrifices that God is pleased with:

            Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship.”

            Hebrews 12:15-16 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

            Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

            Revelation 8:3-4 the prayers of the saints…

            What is sacrifice to God? Our bodies (our whole life)…our praise…good deeds…sharing with others…loving others…our prayers. Sacrifice implies a costly and sometimes painful act that blesses God’s name and is ultimately a joyful experience.

c) Receiving the mercy of God – Why would we do this? Why in our pursuit of Christ would we give up so much? Peter reminds us again of the mercy of God, “…once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy,” (10b).

            A subtle and undetectable connection is made in this phrase to the story of Hosea. God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute as an example of how God felt about Israel. Hosea married the woman but she kept running off and sleeping with other men and having their children. Hosea would go off and find her again and again, bringing her and her children home with him.

            Conventional wisdom would be to divorce the adulterous woman and kick her and her children to the curb. What did Hosea owe her? Nothing. But he committed himself to loving her and showing her mercy. If grace is getting what you don’t deserve, mercy is NOT getting what you do deserve. God made a lesson of this marriage saying, “I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’ and they will say, ‘You are my God’” (Hos 2:23).

            We were once without mercy from God, now God has shown us mercy. The House of God then, is a house of mercy where people who don’t deserve it, find God’s love. That is our role as priests in the House of Rock.

            We are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What is acceptable to God?

            Mick Mooney wrote a tongue-in-cheek story about what it means to be like Jesus.

Once upon a time, a mother made her son a wristband. On it was written: WWJD? This, of course stood for: "What Would Jesus Do?" She instructed her son to look at the wristband before making decisions on how to live his Christian life.

            A week later she was shocked to see that her son had become friends with prostitutes, was hanging out with 'sinners' -- even buying people who were already drunk yet another round of beers!

            Worse still, he had walked into their church the previous Sunday and tore down the book store, overturned the tables and threw the cash register through the window, he then made a whip and chased the pastor out of the building, declaring he was turning God's house into a den of thieves.

            Most shocking was what happened when his mother went to picket the local abortion clinic. To her embarrassment, her son was also there, but he was standing with the women who just had an abortion, and yelled at the protesters: "You who are without sin, throw the first stone!"

            The mother was very distressed, but fortunately she found a solution to this terrible problem. She made another wristband, this time it read: WWAPD? This, she explained to her son, stood for: "What Would A Pharisee Do?" She took the oldWWJD? wristband and burned it.

            Since her son has been wearing the new wristband, looking at it to help him make his decisions, he has become a dedicated tither, a public prayer warrior, an active condemner of 'sinners,' a passionate defender of the Old Covenant law, and has a great reputation as a godly young man amongst other religious people.

            A holy house is not a house of perfect people; a holy house is a house of mercy, of sacrifice, of love at all costs, where Christ is followed and God is glorified.

                                                            AMEN?

Called to Holiness #5

WHAT MAKES HOLY PEOPLE DIFFERENT?

We have talked a great deal about holiness these past few weeks. Holiness is that peculiarity about Christians -- that quality and behavior that makes us stand out from the rest of society.

            The Apostle Peter has written that holiness is single-minded devotion to the Lord; that it is required of Christians because God himself is holy; and that it is a God-conscious fear (love and respect) reflecting the precious blood of Christ. But if that were all holiness was then we would be a very strict, joyless, and rules-oriented people. Holiness is more than living correctly.

            What is it that truly makes holy people different from those who do not acknowledge Christ as Lord?

            On the night before Jesus was crucified, he held a dinner for his closest companions. Peter, the writer of the letter we are studying, was there. And it was Peter who objected the strongest to the strange act that Jesus performed – Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. But Jesus told him, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me,” (Jn 13:8).

            We could call this act the template for Christian service. We could call it a model for humility that all believers should emulate. What Jesus called it was “love.” Jesus was showing his disciples that he loved them and would do anything for them because of that love.

            Jesus then explained his actions as an example for them. He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another,” (John 13:34-35).

            Peter heard these words and had a lot of time to practice them before writing this letter. I believe these words of Jesus reverberate in 1 Peter 1:22-25. As Peter wrote about holiness he knew that the crown of holiness is love. Holiness must work itself out in love for fellow Christians.

1. True Holiness produces Christian love

The command is simple: “Love one another.” The example is perfection himself: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Carrying out the command and living up to the example are much more demanding.

            When is it hardest to love others? When things aren’t going so well. Christians in Peter’s day were suffering for their faith economically and socially. They were persecuted for being followers of Christ. Suffering turns small irritations into conflict between those who normally love each other. Our problems and burdens have a way of dampening the flame of love for others. Self-care takes over and we put our efforts into solving our own problems. When the problems are all solved then we can care for everyone else.

            Peter recognized this tension and reminded them of Jesus’ command in his own words. He wrote, “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,” (22). This is no light suggestion but a holy command.

a) Christian love comes from obedience – Love is not a feeling; love is a decision. Feelings are fickle and depend on circumstantial factors – how good we feel; how the other person makes me feel; timing, etc. No, love is a decision based on the highest character of God.

            Peter wrote that we have purified ourselves by obeying the truth. The truth is that God loved us so much he sent his Son to die for us so that we would not have to cease to exist, but live with God forever. That love was not meant to be hoarded or dammed up, but allowed to flow like a river to us and through us. (like a carbonated beverage)

            The high importance of Christian love is strongly repeated in the NT. Paul commands it in Romans, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love,” (12:10). And Peter repeats himself in this letter, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins,” (4:8). Frankly, we would not have a NT if not for the deep love the apostles had for the church.

            But note this; both Paul and Peter limit this love to the church, just as Jesus did. They call it “brotherly love.” For the sake of gender inclusion (women and men), I have called it Christian love. And Christian love is first and foremost for the family of believers, not for the world. Not that we shouldn’t love the atheist, Muslim or the rest, but the prime target of our love is sister or brother in the Lord. We have to love each other in the church, or love falls apart in the eyes of others.

b) Christian love is sincere – Therefore, Christian love must be sincere. Peter’s word “sincere” means “without hypocrisy.” Love does not wear a mask. If you have ever worn a mask you know the amazing transformation that takes place. You can hide your feelings. You can be someone else and act a part because no one knows you really are under that mask.

            Peter said, “Don’t fake it,” be real in your love for others in your church. If love is a decision, you will act towards others in a way that benefits them, even if you don’t feel tender towards that person. That sounds like hypocrisy. It doesn’t have to be, not if you confess it to the Lord and to a friend, even to the person you are trying to love. I have heard time and time again how deciding to love has kindled a loving feeling towards those who have previously been antagonists.

c) Christian love is fervent – Christian love is “fervent” or deep. Fervent love lasts and lasts and lasts. Outside of the NT the word is used for galloping horses. In Acts 12:5 it describes the manner in which the church prayed for Peter when he was in prison. Fervent love implies effort and emotion.

            While love begins as a decision there is a heart-felt aspect to love that involves feelings. Love requires effort and the effort invokes passion; passion is based on our hope. The power to love comes through hoping in God. If we are not a hope-filled people, we will not be a loving people. So the hope we have in Christ to transform our lives compels us to love the brother or sister in the Lord, no matter where they are in their faith journey.

            While Christian love is unique to the family of faith, that does not mean it cannot be seen in others who are not of Christ. I believe the world has learned Christian love from the church and genuinely copies it, even if they don’t acknowledge its source. I read in the Free Press this week the story of the individuals who ran to help the honor guard (Cpl. Cirrillo) who was shot in Ottawa. They rushed to his side to tend his wound, speak words of love and encouragement to him, and try to save his life. (One woman, a former Navy medic, heard the shots and, rather than run away, ran towards the sound of gunfire. She heroically used her skills to try and save him). He died. But the love they showed to this man they didn’t know was deep.

            Christian love is rooted in the love of Jesus and is sincere and fervent. When there is trouble in this church family, we should be the first ones to run to the trouble.

2. Christian love is the mark of your new nature

The reason behind the command to love one another is the reality of our new nature in Christ. Jesus said, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Love is the mark of the new nature and everyone will know there is something different about us if we love each other. Peter says three things about this reality:

a) When you love you demonstrate the new birth – Peter connects “love one another deeply” to his reason for loving with “For you have been born again…” (23a).

            To be “born again” is to know and understand love in a radically different way than Hollywood portrays love. Almost beyond rescue, the word “love” today is largely perceived as “how you make me feel.” And we think this way in the church sometimes too. People often say “they don’t feel loved in the church,” when what they really mean is they were not “loved” the way they thought they should be loved. Sometimes it’s a failure to read someone’s mind – a very difficult task.

            Salvation is living in the way of love. That does not mean a warm, fuzzy feeling nor friendships around a coffeepot after worship (though love is present there). Love refers to righteous relationships with each other based on God’s character, which Christian behavior reflects. God’s love disciplines the sinning believer; God’s love corrects; God’s love goes the extra mile; God’s love serves; God’s love sacrifices; God’s love is wise and wisdom in action.

            When we love like God loves we show that we have been born again. And we might not get applause for that.

b) When you love you show where you come from – Peter emphasizes the new birth by referring to our new genetic code. He wrote that we are born again “not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,” (23b). When you are born of someone’s seed you take on the character of that person’s seed. It constitutes your nature. You have the DNA of that person. The seed that created us to be born again was the Word of God that is imperishable, living, abiding and eternal. That is who we are. We are a forever people.

            With eternity born in our hearts we have a different perspective on the world around us. Disappointment and failures, suffering and rejection are all seen differently by Christians. People without hope find these things to be the end of their world. We see them as temporary. Having an eternal hope frees us from dwelling on temporary pain and disappointment so that we can look beyond the pain that is caused by others to love them in view of eternity.

c) When you love you proclaim the eternal Word – The inclusion of this final word from Isaiah appears out of place in our subject of love. What Peter suggests by including “All people are like grass…but the word of the Lord endures forever,” is that while trials and suffering tempt us to turn away from God, is that God is faithful to his promises. God’s promises are forever. He has promised to deliver us from this present struggle with the return of Christ. As we believe in this hope, we reveal that we are God’s people. And just as God’s promises are eternal, we are eternal people. If we live like eternal people we are free to love. And through our love we proclaim the eternal Word of God.

            It really is a matter of perspective. How do we look at life? How do we view our world? We can endure a lot of garbage for Christ’s sake and glory if we grasp the truth of what Peter has been saying about holiness and love.

 In Ernest Gordon’s true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Through the Valley of the Kwai, there is a story that exemplifies holy love. It is about a man who through giving it all away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man’s name was Angus McGillivray. Angus was a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly situation. A dog-eat-dog mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed...until the news of Angus McGillivray’s death spread throughout the camp. Rumors spread in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it wasn’t the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died. Finally they pieced together the true story.

The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system very seriously. Their buddy was called their “mucker,” and these Argylls believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their “mucker” survived. Angus’s mucker, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him, everyone, of course, but Angus. He had made up his mind that his friend would not die. Someone had stolen his mucker’s blanket. So Angus gave him his own, telling his mucker that he had “just come across an extra one.” Likewise, every mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get “extra food.” Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got what he needed to recover.

But as Angus’s mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed, slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He had given everything he had -- even his very life. The ramifications of his acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound.

            “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12).

As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray’s death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving oneself away. They began to pool their talents -- one was a violin maker, another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the “Church Without Walls” that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library system. The place was transformed; an all but smothered love revived, all because one man named Angus gave all he had for his friend. For many of those men this turnaround meant survival. What happened is an awesome illustration of the potential unleashed when one person actually gives it all away. (Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 146-147.)

            Christ gave it all away. Holy love compelled him to die for us. The badge he wanted his followers to display to show that they belonged to Jesus was love for one another. How much do we need to love each other in KEMC? How much is enough? Peter said, “Love one another deeply, from the heart.” That’s a lot of love.

                                                            AMEN

Called to Holiness #4

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HOLY?

What does it mean to be holy?

            The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

            As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

            After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, “I’m very sorry for the mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the “What would Jesus do?” bumper sticker, the “Choose life” license plate holder, the “Follow me to Sunday School” sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally – I assumed you had stolen the car.”

            We all have perceptions of holiness. Some view holiness as being serious all of the time; some see it as never laughing or making jokes. You may see this person as stewed in vinegar and so pious he is always talking about religious things. Then we see this person lose it like the lady in the story and decide that if this is what holy means, we want nothing of it. Holiness, we think, is beyond our reach.

            What does it mean to be holy? Holiness is not being so heavenly-minded we are of no earthly good. Holiness is the pursuit of godly character. Holiness is being like God.

            Peter wrote to a people who were already sticking out like a sore thumb and challenged them to be more conspicuous yet. In view of their salvation through Christ, Peter called them to live a life of response to God’s grace. That life is called “holy.” What does this mean?

1. Holiness begins in the mind

If we think that holiness is dull, we don’t really know what it means. People seeking to be holy are people that draw us in with their love and their natural godliness. They have a contagious joy about them.

            The OT refers to holiness as “beautiful” (1 Chron 16:29). There is something beautiful about a holy person because “holiness” means “wholeness.” This is a real person. This person is single-minded, has his or her eye on the goal, is so focused on the person they are following, so keyed in to that person that anything that does not relate to that person doesn’t interest them.

            This is what Peter describes in v. 13. He says that holiness begins in the mind. It is a conscious decision to prioritize one’s life into primary, secondary and tertiary categories, with all things Jesus being primary. Peter describes this dedication in three parts:

a) Get ready to run – Reflecting on the salvation described in the previous verses, Peter writes, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action…” (13a). Literally, he says, “gird up the loins of your mind.” But what does that mean? To us? Not much.
But to OT and NT men who wore long flowing robes with a belt around the waist, it meant to pull up your loose ends and tuck them in your belt. This made it easy to run fast or move around. We might say “roll up your sleeves” and get to work.

            The mind easily wanders. If we let it, the mind can go places it should not. Spiritual trouble always begins with a lazy mind, a mind that is used to getting its way. If you want to be holy, you need to control your mind. Be on guard; get ready to run; be alert to the mind that wants to think negative thoughts, that allows doubt to seep in; that is prone to believe the lies of Satan.

b) Sober up – Then Peter calls for sobriety. Some translations call this “self-control.” The Greek term, however, means to be “wine-less.” There is no questioning or justifying this meaning. Peter means that Christians need to be free from the clouding influence of alcohol or other stimulants. Alcohol can drag us away from God by clouding our spiritual and moral judgment, causing us to lower our standards and compromise our values. This can be applied more broadly to the many influences of our culture – anything that consumes our time and attention (i.e. gambling).

c) Aim for the prize – Finally, Peter says, “…set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming,” (13c). Sometimes the slightest distraction can be disastrous. When I was eleven and twelve I attended a Junior Sportsmen’s Rifle Club. I like it better than CSB because I was better with a rifle than a hockey stick. I was quite a good shot. There were six lanes where we lay in a prone position. I took the last lane for less distraction. But one time I aimed through my peep sight, held my breath and squeezed. I didn’t realize till we retrieved our targets that I only had nine shots on my target. Then the instructor looked at my neighbor’s target and found eleven. I had shot perfectly…at the wrong target.

            The same thing can happen to us spiritually. We can be very religious in our weekly rituals and think ourselves disciplined in all things Christian. But we can focus on the “works” going about our day without a single thought that Jesus might come today. How that would change our day. And why not live everyday in that mindset? We would be a lot more careful how we live in this world.

            Get ready to run; sober up; remember the goal. Prepare your mind for single-minded devotion to Christ.

2. Holiness becomes a lifestyle

Holiness begins with a mental decision to be different in one’s thinking. As we begin to think holy thoughts and to order our minds on what is holy as opposed to what is profane, our lifestyle follows suit. It’s still a decision, however, how you will live.

            Peter said, “…do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance,” (14). Remember the way you used to live when you were without Christ in your life? Don’t go back to that, he says. (think Romans 12:2) Don’t slip back into your old way of life. When you “got saved” your life felt different, you gave up habits and declared some things to be Unchristian. Over time we began to think, “Was it really so bad?” and we compromise our values a little bit, and then a little bit more. We pretend that we are enlightened in our spirituality. We are really playing with fire.

            We need to watch how we live for the sake of holiness. When we adopt the habits, speech, dress and traits of the unholy, we are covering up our identity as God’s children. We are masquerading in the costume of the world. Our outer life needs to match the inner life that Christ has changed.

            Be holy. “…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,’” (15-16). Now there is a standard by which we can measure holiness. Peter quotes the OT, Leviticus 11:44-45. God called his people, Israel, to be different, to be set apart, to be unique in the world. God himself was and is unique: there is no god like him in his grace and love and righteousness. Peter takes this OT mandate and makes it a Christian standard. We too are to be different in how we live in this world. This is not a set of rules; being holy is about God – it’s about being like God. It’s about having a God-consciousness every day. God when I wake up. God in the shower. God at breakfast. God on the way to work. God in every thought. God in every deed. God in my private moments. God with my friends. God when I am happy. God when I am sad. God in the good times. God in the bad times. God in my faith. God in my doubts. God when I succeed. God in my failures. God above me. God below me. God before me. God behind me. God around me. God with me. God while watching TV or surfing the internet. You get the idea.[i]

            This is true holiness. This is our purpose as believers. And without God, I have no meaning, no purpose, and no reason for being here. Be holy, God says, because I am holy.

3. Holiness behaves with reverent fear

Holiness is a lifestyle, and an essential ingredient of this lifestyle is a healthy fear of the Lord. “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as strangers here in reverent fear,” (17).

            We come to a place in the Christian story where God’s love is emphasized over and above his justice. Many want a God who is approachable and accepting. They don’t want to feel that God is like some angry grandfather with a penetrating gaze that undresses you. Fear itself carries a connotation of irrational phobia. That is not what reverent fear is.

            Reverent fear of God is described abundantly in the book of Proverbs. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…” (1:7); “To fear the LORD is to hate evil…” (8:13); “The fear of the LORD is the fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death,” (14:27). This kind of fear has a positive result: we want to do well for fear of disappointing our employers, our benefactors, our coaches or our teachers. This is especially so when they believe in us and encourage us and place some charge in our hands. We could call this “loving respect.”

            There is a fear-factor in holiness that is meant to be scary as well. In Isaiah 6, the prophet had a vision of the LORD in his throne-room and angels singing “holy, holy, holy.” They weren’t singing “love, love, love,” by the way. And when Isaiah saw the LORD and the holiness that is God he felt that he would die because of his sin. Sinfulness should make us afraid in the presence of God. We should want to be rid of it as fast as possible. The angels before God came and touched Isaiah’s lips with a coal as a symbol of forgiveness and cleansing. Isaiah could do nothing to remove his sin and he was afraid. The same is true of our sin – we can do nothing about it and we should be afraid. Our sin must be dealt with in the holy blood of Jesus. That should make us tremble.

            Now God who judges each person and their work, he is the God we live and play and work and love before. We are ever in his presence so that we work out our salvation in fear and trembling.

4. Holiness honors the cost of redemption

You and I were slaves to our sins. Redemption is a word that applies to slavery in ways we have no way of understanding in a first-person experiential way. Yet the fact remains: we were slaves to sin and wickedness. Redemption is the word that is used when a slave is purchased and then set free.

            So Peter counts this cost as precious. He wrote, “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 your from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect,” (18-19). For this transaction, money is worthless. Money is unstable. One week I bought a block of New Bothwell cheese for ten dollars; the next week it was fifteen. But here is a currency that never loses its value – the blood of Jesus.

            Joseph Parker, a 19th century London pastor, wrote (in Preaching Through the Bible [Baker], “The Precious Blood of Christ” [1 Pet. 1:19], p. 294), “Where there is no conviction of sin--conviction amounting to the very anguish of the lost in hell-- there can be no felt need of so extreme a remedy as is offered by the outpouring of the blood of Christ.” He goes on to point out that when a man feels that he has not sinned deeply, he is in no mood to receive what he considers the tragic appeals of the gospel. But, when he feels that he has sinned and is deserving of hell--lost, damned-- then his need can be met by nothing other than the “the sacrificial ... personal ... precious blood of Christ.” It took nothing less than that precious blood to redeem us from bondage.

            The blood changes everything.

            Some time ago a boy fell in love with golf. His parents gave him a club and a harmless whiffle-type golf ball which he could hit around the back yard. But one day, thinking his parents weren’t home, he was overcome with the temptation to feel the click of a real golf ball against the club. He teed up and gave it a hard whack. But the ball was not hit properly. It hooked from its intended flight and went directly through one of the windows on the house with a loud crash. Even worse, the crash was followed by a piercing scream.

The boy ran for the house, burst into the living room and, to his horror, saw his mother standing in front of the broken window with blood streaming down her face. He cried out, “Mother, I could have killed you!” His mother hugged him and said reassuringly, “It’s all right. I’m okay!”

The boy, later a seminary student said, “When I saw my mother bleeding, there were some things I could never do again in the back yard. I could never so much as carry a golf club across the lawn of our back yard. The sight of her standing there with blood flowing down--blood that I had caused--changed my behavior forever.”

            The blood of Jesus changes everything – how we think, how we live, how we view God and how we worship.

Hebrews 12:14 says, “…without holiness no one will see the Lord.” We are called to be holy because God is holy. He is our Father and he wants us to be like him.

            What is distracting you from holiness today?

            There are some people you ought not to be friends with.

There are some books you ought not to read.

There are some TV shows you shouldn’t watch.

There are some places you shouldn’t go.

There are some movies you shouldn’t watch.

There are some Internet sites you shouldn’t visit.

There are some people you shouldn’t date.

There are some relationships that are no good for you.

There are some jobs you shouldn’t have.

There are some habits you need to break.

There are some songs you shouldn’t listen to.[ii]

            To tell you which ones these are is to promote legalism. I can’t tell you what friends to avoid or programs to turn off. Holiness is about your relationship with God. And you know the truth about the things that disrupt your holy life because the Holy Spirit is living in you. Listen to him. And be holy because God is holy.

                                                            AMEN

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[i] Ray Pritchard, Get your mind in gear, sermon, 2004

[ii] Pritchard