2. Living As Exiles
Notes
Transcript
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Introduction
Introduction
One of my ancestors, Galba Fuqua, died at the age of 16, fighting in the Alamo. We all love a good underdog story…
The Christian story is an underdog story.
Series Subject: How do we live as Christians in a non-Christian society? How do we follow Jesus in a culture that rejects the way of Jesus?
Sermon Subject: Who are we? And why are we here?
Somebody famous: “You can’t understand what something is supposed to do until you understand what it is and what it’s for.”
Read: 1 Peter 1:1-2 (ESV)
Body
Body
Who are we?
Who are we?
We are elect exiles of the Dispersion. We are the people of God chosen by God to be strangers in our own land. (1 Peter 1:1)
Exposition
What does it mean to be an exile?
These early Christians were not literal exiles but social exiles. Their highest allegiance and primary identity was not to their native land but to Christ. And that made essentially citizens of Heaven living in a foreign land.
1 Peter was written before Christianity was made illegal in the Roman Empire. These Christians faced “soft persecution,” social exclusion and ridicule. They had no cultural clout. They didn’t hold positions of power and authority in society. They weren’t social influencers. They were scorned by family members, neighbors, co-workers. They were openly mocked for their faith in Jesus. Christianity was a word associated with being an idiot, a bigot, and a fanatic.
Sounds a lot like our society today.
We may be exiles, but we are elect exiles.
“elect” = chosen by God
“Dispersion” = capital “D” means this dispersion of God’s people is part of God’s plan to redeem the world.
Illustration: As elect exiles, we’re in good company—Jesus was an elect exile.
Application: Embrace being an exile
Why are we here?
Why are we here?
We are here for sanctification. God chose us so that we could live for Jesus. (1 Peter 1:2)
Exposition: “Sanctification” has two meanings here.
First, it means “set apart for God.” That’s what Peter meant when he said “for sprinkling with his blood.” See also Eph 1:13 (NET).
13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,
Second, it means “the process of becoming like Jesus.” That’s what Peter meant when he said “for obedience to Jesus Christ.
Am I living like someone who has been set apart for God?
Illustration: When I was a kid, I wanted to be everything when I grew up. But I never asked, “What does God want me to be when I grow up?”
Application: Wherever God disperses you, you are there for his purpose, not your own. We believe every disciple of Jesus is called to live as a minister and missionary in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and every other context, for the glory of God and the common good.
We are here because God, in his wisdom, chose us. God, with perfect knowledge, picked you for his team. (1 Peter 1:2)
Exposition: “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”
In God’s perfect and complete knowledge and wisdom, he has chosen us and set us apart for the special purpose of living in obedience to Christ. He knows that will make us strangers in our own homes. But he has promised us grace and peace, and has strategically dispersed his chosen people all throughout the land.
God’s plan to build a society that honors him, establishes justice, loves one another, and even loves its enemies is the church—we are that society.
Our calling is not to exercise our power and force others to live the we think they should but rather to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to pray for our enemies and bless those who persecute us, to live in obedience to God’s Word, to care for the vulnerable, to include the lonely, to welcome the outcast, to notice the overlooked, to protect the at-risk, and above all, to teach people to follow Jesus.
But for this to work and transform society, we must all participate.
There are people in your life that I will never have the opportunity to talk to about Jesus. But that’s okay. God sent you.
Illustration: God always picks the unlikely hero… The first people to see Jesus alive were women.
Application: See 1 Cor 1:26-29 (NLT)
26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
Conclusion: Matt 28:18-20
Conclusion: Matt 28:18-20