Grace Lutheran Church

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Rev. Evan Gaernter
Easter 3A - April 6, 2008
“Time to Live”

1 Peter 1:17-25 (ESV)

¹⁷And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

 ²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴for
   ”All flesh is like grass
   and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
   and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

       And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

We live as…

… people under the impartial _____________ of God. (v. 17)

… people _____________ out of ______________. (v. 18-19)

… people who trust in ______ who ________ Christ from the ________.  (v. 20-21)

… people who from the ____________ earnestly ________ one another. (v. 22)

… people who live by the _________ and ___________   ___________ of God. (v. 23-25)

The format for today’s message of good news is going to be a little different. Today I am going to use preach an expository sermon. This means that we are going to work through a text. In expository preaching, the text is exposed for its meaning. So I have prepared a sermon outline for you to follow along today. The outline has the text of 1 Peter 1:17-25 on it. This is the text we are going to mine for the richness of God’s mercy. Below the text are a series of statements that all share the same opening line: “We live as…”

Peter’s first letter is often considered a sermon that he gave to those that have recently been baptized or confirmed. In this letter Peter outlines our identity as we live in Christ.

I think the question of identity is very important. There are many markers in your life that serve to identify you to others. There are the formal markers like a driver’s license or a passport. Where you live, what you wear, what kind of car you drive also serve to identify you to others and consider how a wedding ring will identify me to others as taken by my beautiful wife.

So what does it mean to live as a Christian?

We live as people under the impartial judgment of God. We may desire to have some sort of special treatment because we live in America or because we are one color of skin or another. We may desire this kind of judgment, but the truth is that we all live under the same impartial judgment of God. No one is excused from God’s call to obey his commandments. Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, and any other person you can remember from the Bible were all called by God to obey his law.

Living under the impartial judgment of God requires humbleness in my actions toward others. I do not see myself as above the law or any less accountable to the law than my neighbor or my enemy. What is true in God’s law must be true in my own life. When I judge someone else’s actions I must also be prepared to be held accountable to God for my own deeds.

We live as people ransomed out of emptiness. We all have a common inheritance, no matter if we have different parents or come from different countries. We share a common inheritance from our ancestor Adam, who sinned in the Garden of Eden. As much as we all our under the impartial judgment of God we also have inherited the futile ways of trying to live apart from the promises of God. We can fill our days with all sorts of business but without Jesus Christ our lives will be empty. What do I have that I could offer to God? He is holy. He is the almighty. He is the creator and preserver of all things. Yet I continue in the futility of reaching into my own well and finding it empty.

U2 a few years ago released a song titled “Stuck in a moment you can’t get out of.” The video that was released with the song showed a kicker in a big football game. It reminded me of wide right, Scott Norwood’s missed kick in the Super Bowl 25. How many times have Bills fans wished that those final 8 seconds would have gone differently. But that is an empty hope. The kick was wide right.

The Lord above all things was not above seeing the emptiness of his creation. The Lord knew that no amount of silver or gold would be able to break you free from the emptiness of sin. You were ransomed out of emptiness. The cost of your freedom was the precious blood of Christ. He was without blemish or spot. We live as a free people, not bound by sin.

We live as people who trust in God who raised Christ from the dead. The God we believe in is bigger than the boogy man. The God we believe in is bigger than death. The God that we believe in is bigger than any scary monster that creeps in the dark to get you. There are many threats that surround us today. The threat of terror, a broken economy, a strained community support system, struggling families, and a fragile health care system all surround us. But no matter what surrounds us we live as a people who trust in God who raised Christ from the dead. The freedom that we believe in through our faith in Jesus Christ is not any empty powerless faith. We trust in a God who defeats death and promises us life eternally.

We live as people who from the heart earnestly love one another. Earlier I talked about the emptiness that we have inherited from Adam in the Garden of Eden. From within that emptiness we cannot find the ability to truly love one another. When God asked Adam what he had done Adam said, “It was the woman you gave to me, she caused me to sin.” Adam in his sinfulness, having disobeyed the command of God was empty in his ability to love his wife at that moment.

We no longer live in the emptiness of that inheritance but we live and love with the fullness of the love of Jesus Christ. Our identity in Christ makes all the difference how we will treat one another. Why should I love you? Why should I love my enemy? Why should I care about anybody but ME, MYSELF, and I? I love because even in my emptiness Jesus Christ loved me. So from the heart that has been made to be beat and pulse by the precious blood of Jesus Christ I sincerely, genuinely, earnestly love one another.

We live as people who live by the living and abiding Word of God. Many plans and programs fade away. We can have vision statements and ministry objectives which can mean nothing but words. What makes us go forward with confidence is that our lives our built on the living and abiding Word of God. “God spoke to his people of old in many and various ways but now in these last days he has spoken to us by his son.” (Heb 1:3) By living and remaining truth of Jesus Christ we are the church. A congregation can become disappointed when things don’t seem to work out right. Our plans may whither like the grass and flower falls. Nevertheless we live confident that the word of the Lord remains forever.

This living and abiding word of the Lord is the same good news that is preached to you. Alleluia! Christ is risen. Alleluia! He is risen Indeed.

Soli Deo Gloria