1 “Holiness” 1 Peter 1:17-­‐23 Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Virginia Beach, VA Third Sunday in Easter, Stewardship 1 May 4, 2014 The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the 24th Chapter: 13
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17
And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27Then A.DeBenedetto 1 2 beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 28As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. The Gospel of our Lord This is the second week we’ve heard from 1 Peter. And I’ll tell you just how cool God is. A few weeks ago I had no idea we were about to have 1 Peter come up in the pre-­‐assigned lectionary (that’s what we call the three-­‐year cycle of Bible readings we do on Sunday mornings). I was looking for a Bible Study for our adult Sunday school class when I ran across a study on 1 Peter. Now, 1 A.DeBenedetto 2 3 Peter is kind of obscure so I was fairly sure most people wouldn’t have had much experience with it and it would be intriguing. Well, lo and behold, the very day we were beginning the study with 1 Peter Chapter 1, the lectionary text in Worship was from 1 Peter Chapter 1. Incredible. Again, way to go God! It turns out 1 Peter is very fascinating. I have spent some time the last couple weeks looking over the book and there are some very valuable things we can learn from this section of God’s Word. 1 Peter focuses on the subject of holiness. What is holiness? Being Holy means to be set apart for God’s work. So, holiness is living a life that allows you to be set apart for God’s work. It means making decisions and patterning our life in a way that forms us more and more into the image of God. It means asking ourselves the questions: “What would Jesus Do?” and “What would please God?” A.DeBenedetto 3 4 Now, thinking in this way would make Martin Luther squirm because we can easily slip into “How can I make God be happy with me?” However, there is actually a significant difference between making God happy with you versus responding to God’s grace by living in a way that pleases God. We can never make God love us any more than He already does. God loves people and forgives them by His grace…fully. There is no, ‘I only love Tom 75% because he’s only good 75% of the time.’ If that were the case we’d all be in trouble. No, Christ died for all of us and as baptized believers God fully loves us 100% of the time. So, living more holy wouldn’t make God love us any more. However, living a holy life does please God; it does bring Him joy. And that is what we’re talking about. When you were a kid did you ever do something your parents would love just because you knew it would please them? Sure, there might have been some fraction of your selfish self that A.DeBenedetto 4 5 wanted acknowledgement, but it was mostly about wanting to make them happy. It was a gift you could give back to them. That’s what we’re talking about. God gives us everything and so we want, we desire, to give something back, simply because is pleases God; it brings Him joy. 1 Peter Chapter 1 really focuses on our holiness. And the author says something really profound. Are you ready for this? He says that God has already declared that we are holy. In verse 16 the author writes, “for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” We could read this that God is saying, “You better be holy, darn it, or else!” But, that’s not the intent. The intent is, “You ARE holy because I made you holy. You shall be holy, because I made you that way. It’s just a fact.” That’s significant. That means it’s not up to you to be holy. God has already made you holy in Jesus. We are holy. Now we have to ask ourselves, “Now what? How do I respond? How do I please a God who is already proud of me? A.DeBenedetto 5 6 How do I live a life worthy of the calling He has given me? It changes things doesn’t it? So, 1 Peter says that battle for living in response of holiness begins in our minds. That’s the tough part. Our minds are complex things, filled with battles everyday. But, that is why 1 Peter focuses on our minds, because what happens in our minds is so central to either our success or failure. Often our mind is where the battle is either won or lost. It’s just that important. So, 1 Peter argues that to be holy, you must prepare your mind for action. We must begin by changing our thoughts. We must begin by changing the patterns of our mind. Have you ever tried the power of positive thinking? The idea is that you begin to practice thinking positively. Let’s say you’re a glass half-­‐empty kind of person. You may continuously look at the negative side of things. Well, the power of positive thinking would say begin to A.DeBenedetto 6 7 choose to think about each thought, each scenario, as being half-­‐
full instead of half-­‐empty. Our minds are kind of like muscles and areas or patterns we workout get stronger. So that means we can literally change the habits of our minds. So, 1 Peter is essentially saying, ‘Choose to change your thoughts to more holy things. Choose to change the pattern of your thinking. Focus on Scripture, focus on their truths rather than other sources of information in our lives, default to prayer instead of worry, listen to positive Christian music, read books with a good message, choose to focus on things of God instead of things of our broken world.’ Contrast that with a person who constantly listens to Korn, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Cannibal Corpse (yes, that’s actually a band) and says, “I just can’t seem to have a positive self-­‐outlook.” Hmmm. I wonder why. Ever heard of, “You are what you eat.” Well, you are what you think. Say it with me. And if you only think of things that are far from positive, far from what God thinks and what God thinks about you, then A.DeBenedetto 7 8 you may not be enjoying the holy life that God intends for you. We need to prepare our minds for holiness. We must think differently. We must believe the best about ourselves as God does. And as we think more and more about Jesus Christ and pursue Him our thoughts and minds do change. We find that the pursuit of Jesus does change our minds and makes us much better at pursuing holiness. Pursuing Christ leads to holiness. Think of it as a glass half-­‐full (or more) of Jesus. So, how do we apply this to our lives? 1) Renew your minds. Romans 12 and verse 2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Choose to think about Christ, to pursue Him, and the kind of life He would have for you. Each of us has a moment-­‐by-­‐moment choice on what to think about. Choose to think about Christ. By renewing your mind, by choosing to think about Christ and things that A.DeBenedetto 8 9 are more in line with pleasing God, you will be transformed. Like I already mentioned, focus your mind on Jesus and his truth. Focus on the truth of Scripture, the power of prayer, listen to uplifting Christian music, read books with good messages, read sermons if it helps you, choose Christian friends that will build you up, etc. Focus your mind on Christ. It doesn’t necessarily mean our lives will be easier, but it does mean they will be more joy-­‐filled and content. The source of the joy will be knowing that our creator is pleased with us and the contentment will come from knowing that we’re living more according to our purpose. Our glass will be more and more half-­‐full (or more)…with Jesus. Renew your mind. 2) Choose to have a life formed by God. Give back to God. As we see the connection of our minds to our life of holiness we see that we can make positive choices; we can choose to have our lives formed by God. What Would Jesus do? What A.DeBenedetto 9 10 would please God? I’ll tell you where this gets difficult for us. It gets difficult when we live in a world of material things. Because the first thing God tells us to do is give back some of what we’ve been given. God knows that we serve what we’re focused on. So, the first step for believers is to take some of what God’s given you: time, talent, and treasure, and give it back to God. This is our very first test, because it focuses us on God, which allows us to serve Him. It’s the first choice. If we can make this mental change and heart change then our dedication and life of holiness in pursuit of Christ will fall into place. But, if we waiver and cling to our material things or what we view as “our own” (time, talent, and treasure), then we’re slaves to those things. Instead of being free to serve God, we get chained to serving ourselves. So, the first thing we are called to do is choose to have a life formed by God. Choose to give back, to make a sacrifice of what’s first been given to you. This is A.DeBenedetto 10 11 difficult, but the very action itself frees you for a life of holiness that you could never imagine. So, what would that look like for you? We’re coming up on pledging time. What is that? Well, a pledge is commitment you make to God and His Church. It’s an act of holiness. A pledge is saying, God, I will make the commitment to give you X amount of time, talent, and treasure in the coming year. We are people who need goals, especially if we’re ever going to grow. Setting a pledge gives you a goal that just happens to also be a gift to God. Your pledge in itself is an offering. Now, many people feel as if a pledge is none of anybody’s business, but I’ll be honest with you, it is the Church’s business. The Church is called to give its people guidance on how to live holy lives; making a commitment of giving to God is important. And only one person, the financial secretary, will ever know it, and that person holds A.DeBenedetto 11 12 confidentiality about individual pledges. Practically from a church finance standpoint and ministry standpoint pledges help your church leaders make vital choices for the coming year. Do we have enough people to do x, y, and z in the neighborhood, to have a choir at both services, to maintain our lawn, etc? Also, do we have enough money in the spending plan to ensure the office runs smoothly to make possible all these ministries we’re offering to change lives? You may not think it, or realize it, but your pledge is a gift to God and this church and it helps change lives. It is an act of holiness and we’re asking you to do it this year. If you haven’t pledged before, I’d like you to consider doing it this year. If you’ve pledged before, thank you, and I hope you realize the blessing you’re not only giving your church, but yourself as well. You’re choosing to put God first and that translates into stronger service and a clearer sense of holiness in your life. A.DeBenedetto 12 13 I’ll tell you what folks. We were created in God’s image at the very beginning of time. And our God is a giving God. Just like how we’re declared holy by our God, we are also made and declared to be giving people. That is not only our role; it’s our identity. We were the first receivers of the Gospel and now God calls us to be the first responders. X2 Our striving for holiness is not a have to; it’s a get to that literally changes lives. And here’s an example: remember last week when you were asked to give to the Malaria Campaign because we had the opportunity for a 2-­‐for-­‐1 deal? Well, God gave you everything including your hearts that long to give. And you gave. We raised over $1,400 dollars last Sunday alone, for a total offering of over $1,700! With the 2-­‐for-­‐1 deal that was over 340 nets?! And just think about that. They aren’t just $10 nets for someone who might use them because they don’t like the annoying sound of mosquitos. Those $10 nets translate into real human lives! People won’t get malaria and A.DeBenedetto 13 14 people will live that would have otherwise died. Your just doing what God created you to do, to be givers, has changed over 340 lives, probably many times over. And when those people ask why we would care whether they live or die someone will tell them, “Because Jesus loves you.” THAT is what renewing our minds and choosing to be holy does in the world. So, let us simply believe that we are made holy and choose to live the way God has intended. Let us renew our minds, choose to pursue Christ, and let us choose to have a life formed by God, to give back to God. It’s exciting to live a life that changes the lives of thousands of other people in the name and power of Jesus Christ, often in ways we will never know. Thanks be to God! Amen A.DeBenedetto 14