Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World: Basic Christianity
I Peter
5:12-14
Introduction: I read this
week a “side story” that was related to the sinking of the Titanic. The week
after the tragedy, the people in Belfast, where the ship had been built, were
devastated. Men met on the city's streets, grasped each other's hands,
burst into tears and parted without speaking a word. One church had lost 16 men
on the Titanic, all served as part of the maintenance crew. The pastor of that church,
the next Sunday, preached from Mark’s Gospel, from the story where Jesus slept
in the boat as it was tossed in the stormy lake. The Lord was then awakened by the
cries of the disciples and calmed the storm with the words “Peace! Be Still!” Jesus asked them, “Why are you so fearful? Why do you have so
little faith?” The preacher concluded,
...only one vessel in all of history had been
truly unsinkable: the little boat occupied by the sleeping Savior. And, the
preacher added, "The only hearts that can weather the storms are hearts
with Jesus inside."
We all
face storms in life. Is Jesus in your boat? Tucked in at the end of this
epistle are a few closing statements made by the Apostle Peter. They are simple
words of greeting, almost a “P.S.” at the end of the letter, but the language
he uses evokes some of themes we have seen going through this epistle. Though
we don’t see explicit imperatives here, the commendations he gives reflect
principles that have been taught throughout the letter, keys to surviving storms,
and to thriving as pilgrims in a fallen world. John Piper summarized the
message of I Peter saying, “Life is hard.
God is good. Glory is coming. Therefore, stand firm in His grace.” That
brings us to...
The Maine* Idea: Because of Jesus we have a sure hope, and so we
stand firm, constrained by His love, proclaiming the message of His grace.
I. Our
Message: The Gospel of Grace (12). We’ve been talking a lot about “keeping the
main thing the main thing,” and without question, the good news of the grace of
God is at the heart of the Christian life.
“By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard
him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the
true grace of God. Stand firm in it.”
“Through Silas, our faithful brother...” There is some question as to
whether Paul is saying that Silvanus was his amanuensis (scribe), or whether he
brought the letter to the scattered exiles of Asia Minor, or both. It seems
probable that this is the same “Silas” who traveled with Paul on the second and
third missionary journeys, and so who would be known by the believers
throughout the region. Now, as he is commended by Peter, we see the apostolic
emphasis on the unity of the church.
There is
so much teaching on the unity of the church in the New Testament exactly
because we can so easily allow things to divide us. The psalmist stated the
principle 1000 years before the time of Christ: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in
unity...” (Ps 133:1). It pleases God, and it brings Him glory as we reflect
that unity in our relationships and in our church. Jesus said it is one way
that the world will know we are His disciples (John 13:33-35).
Peter
refers to Silvanus as a “faithful brother,” and to make it clear that is his
heartfelt personal assessment he adds the phrase, “for so I regard Him.” Not
just Paul or Luke or the believers of Asia Minor, but Peter himself
acknowledged the trustworthy brother Silas.
It may be that Peter spoke to Silas in Aramaic as he dictated the
letter, and relied on this faithful brother to translate his words into Greek
(which might explain the unusually elegant Greek in this letter). You would
only allow someone you trusted that kind of liberty! When we were in Brazil I
was asked to write a chapter for a book on the apostle Paul. I could speak
Portuguese well enough to teach my classes, but putting it in writing, for
publication, would have required extensive editing. So I wrote in English, and
a Brazilian professor from the seminary translated it into Portuguese. When I
read over his work I commented “I didn’t know my Portuguese was so good!” He
was a trustworthy brother.
The
phrase “...exhorting and testifying...”
seems to be Peter’s assessment of what he was doing in this letter. Remember,
the believers to whom he wrote were experiencing storms in the form of persecution
and hardship. Peter was encouraging them to persevere and to stay focused on
their mission. “Exhorting” is the
word parakaleo, which in it’s noun
form is one of the titles given to the Spirit in Jesus’ upper room discourse
(John 14-16). It is the word that described the ministry of Barnabas, who was
so named by the apostles because of his constant encouragement. Peter is trying
to offer encouragement to these believers. He does not minimize what they are
going through, but he offers hope, he reminds them that others are experiencing
the same hardships. We are on
assignment, ambassadors for Christ. The world hates Him so don’t take it
personally if you encounter opposition. As Piper said, “Life is hard. God is good. Glory is coming. Therefore, stand firm in
His grace.”
The
word “declaring” is rendered “testifying” in most English translations.
It is a compound form of the word “testify” or “witness” that is commonly used
in the New Testament. Peter is testifying to them as he urges them to stay
faithful, to continue to speak the truth, to give a reason for the hope we have
in Jesus. Peter is testifying to them in that He is speaking from experience. He
walked with Jesus and learned from Him during His earthly ministry. He shared
in the leadership of the church from the beginning, and was preaching the
gospel on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out on the assembled
believers. He was arrested and he was beaten. He saw friends martyred. Out of
his experience he urged the believers in Asia Minor to “stand firm,” literally,
to “stand firm in it.” In what? In “...the true grace of God...”
First
note that He describes it as “the true grace of God.” That implies
something: there will be those who promote a false message, a
compromised message. Peter warns in the second chapter of his second letter, “But false
prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers
among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies...” (2 Pet 2:1). The rest of that
chapter elaborates of that warning, it is that serious. Jude also warns in the
4th verse of his little epistle, “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for
this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into
sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Peter says stand firm in the true Gospel, in the
true grace of God. He has talked about “grace” throughout this epistle.
Look back at a couple of examples...
He
opened the letter as an apostle, speaking
to the scattered exiles, using language similar to these concluding
verses, about the grace and peace of
God: “...according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience
to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace
be multiplied to you... (I Peter
1:2). He overtly connects grace and salvation...
1 Peter 1:10 “Concerning
this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that
was to be yours searched and inquired carefully...”
1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore,
preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on
the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ...”
In the third chapter he again connects “grace” with “life”...
1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise,
husbands... showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are
heirs with you of the grace of life...”
1 Peter 4:10 “As
each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of
God's varied grace...” Here he refers to the gifts given to the
saved.
1 Peter 5:5 “...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for
‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble...’”
1 Peter 5:10 “And
after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has
called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you...”
The unmerited favor of God. In some cases, since we are saved by grace through
faith, Peter has almost used “grace” as a synonym for “salvation.” Jesus paid
it all. We were bought at a price: His shed blood. In fact, as he is calling
his readers to adopt the attitude of a servant, Peter points to Jesus, he says
in 2:24-25,
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that
we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been
healed. 25 For you were
straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your
souls.”
That is grace demonstrated in history. That is
unconditional love. That is a message worth sharing. And that’s the Maine* Idea: Because of Jesus we have a sure hope, and so we stand firm, constrained
by His love, proclaiming the message of His grace.
II. Our
Motivation: Constrained by the Love
of God (13-14a; cf. 2 Cor 5:14).
“She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen,
sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.
14Greet one another with the kiss of love.”
There is some discussion about the
identity of “the lady” referred to here: the “She who is in Babylon.” It seems highly likely that Peter is using
a commonly recognized metaphor to speak of the church in Rome. The term ekklessia
is a feminine noun in Greek, and Rome, spiritually speaking, is sometimes
referred to as “Babylon.” If Peter is
writing from Rome as is supposed, how could he be sending greetings from a
woman in Babylon, some 2000 miles away? It’s not like he got a call or an email
that morning! He is referring to the believers
in Rome, the church in the capital city of the empire. And he emphasizes the unity of the believers
scattered among the pagans of Asia Minor with those living in Rome, with the
phrase, “...chosen together with you...”
Peter has made a point of reminding his readers that they were “chosen” by God.
In the opening verse he began, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect
exiles of the dispersion...” (I Pet 1:1). In
the second chapter he uses Old Testament [OT] language, that was used of Israel,
to describe those dispersed, elect exiles...
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the
excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light... (I Pet 2:9).
That is the language of intimate relation, of
purposeful election. Notice they are now a people for God’s own possession. God’s choosing and His loving are closely
related. We have an antique “marriage certificate” that says, “...having chosen one another out of all the
species...” GOD chose to love us. Look back to the parallel passage
in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy to which Peter is alluding. Here Peter
talks of God’s choosing and loving the church, those who were not a people but
who now are. In
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 Moses is speaking of Israel,
6 "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession,
out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more
in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose
you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping
the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with
a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Note back in I Peter 2:9 also that the scattered
exiles to whom Peter is writing are chosen for a purpose, that is, “...that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you...” We’ve
talked about this idea quite a bit over the last year. God saved us and left us
in this fallen world on assignment. He
has entrusted to us a message. Our motivation is love. And he has placed us
exactly where we are, and in the process, He has placed a group of people in
our intimate “sphere of influence.” The New Testament uses the term oikos, household, to describe the people
that God has sovereignly and strategically placed on the “front burner” of our
lives. They are our primary mission field. We can’t reach the whole world with
the message of Christ, but we can seek to reach our relatives, friends,
co-workers, classmates, neighbors, that small group that we interact with on a
regular basis. Our oikos.
We are
constrained by the love of Christ. We love, because He first loved us. As
we love him back, we are moved with compassion for those around us, people for
whom Christ died. We also see the idea here
that the church is a family, that we are brothers and sisters, that our mentors
are like spiritual fathers and mothers to us. Peter called Silas “...our ...brother...” (12) and he refers to John Mark, as “...my son, Mark (13)...” He also goes on to speak of what was a culturally appropriate
expression of love when he says, “...Greet
one another with a kiss of love (14)...” That doesn’t mean our greeters
should give everyone a kiss as they come in the door!
I’ve told
you about our experience in Brazil which was a much more physically expressive
culture that that with which I grew up. “Abrassos”
(hugs) were the greeting for all and beijinhos
(kisses) were exchanged between women, and between men and women. This was the
norm, even between people who had just met.
For an introverted gringo like me that was an adjustment! Peter’s concern is not the form, but rather
a warm, culturally appropriate, expression
of welcome when we greet one another.
Jesus said to love one another, and “brotherly love” comes through in
every chapter of this epistle. Before encouraging a “kiss of love” here we’ve
seen...
1 Peter 1:22 “Having
purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly
love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart...”
1 Peter 2:17 “Honor
everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God...”
1 Peter 3:8 “Finally,
all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart,
and a humble mind.”
1 Peter 4:8 “Above
all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of
sins.”
Why is this so important to Peter as He writes? It’s
God’s design for the church. We’re a family, and we choose to love each
other. It is essential to our survival and
success as pilgrims in a fallen world. It is vital to our mission as it
demonstrates to those around us that we belong to Jesus. Because of Jesus we
have a sure hope, and so we stand firm, constrained by His love, proclaiming
the message of His grace.
III. Our
Hope: The Presence and Promise of Peace
(14b).
“...Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
I don’t
want to spend too much time on this third point. It is obvious that “peace” was
a common greeting among Jews generally, and in the church particularly. But
this common term, even as we saw it in 1:2 and as we see it here, from the pen
of the apostle, must reflect something deeper than a mere “hello” and
“good-bye.” For a believer we may think
of at least three perspectives...
First
of all, a foundational truth, we have Peace with God. Because of
Jesus, we have been reconciled to God through the blood of the cross (Rom 5:1).
Secondly,
we have the Peace of God: Even as
pilgrims in a fallen world, sometimes hated and persecuted, we have peace even
in the midst of chaos, peace that passes understanding. In the third Psalm,
David says, “I lay down and sleep, I
awake, for the LORD sustains me...” In Christ we can have peace that truly
passes understanding. I read a story this week...
...about a man who lost his wife, leaving him to
be both mother and father to a six-year-old son. After her funeral father and
son came home, both feeling so alone and grieved by their loss. That night as
they prepared for bed, the boy asked, "Daddy, may I sleep in your room
tonight, too?"
But neither one could seem to go to sleep. They
both tossed and turned until late in the night. Finally, the little boy asked,
"Daddy, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can go to
sleep." And the father answered, "Yes son, I’m looking at you."
The little boy started at last to rest and
finally fell asleep. After he was asleep the father got out of bed, walked over
to the window and pulled back the curtain. He looked up into the starry sky and
said, "Father, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can
rest and be at peace.”
There
is a third aspect of peace: One day we will have Peace on Earth, The
future for which we were created – Shalom!
The day will come when every knee
will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! That is our hope! Until
then, as His ambassadors, we urge men on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to
God.
What is God
saying to me in this passage?
Because of Jesus we have a sure hope, and so we stand firm, constrained by His
love, proclaiming the message of His grace.
What would
God have me to do in response to this passage? Are you facing a stormy time in your life? If Jesus
is in your boat, there is nothing to fear—because of Him you are unsinkable!
Look up, trust Him, stand firm. Life is
hard at times. But God is good, all the time. And glory is coming. So stand
firm in His grace.
If you have not yet received him into
your boat, what are you waiting for? On another occasion Jesus came walking on
the water, and said to his struggling, frightened friends, “Fear not, it is I!” He is God, and you
can trust Him. And believer, be sensitive to those around you who don’t yet
have hope. You are God’s ambassador right where you are living. Be always ready to give a reason for the hope
that is in you. That is our mission.
That is your mission and it is mine. Let’s be faithful! AMEN.
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