1 Peter 4:7-11

1 Peter 4:7-11

Turn to 1 Peter 4. As you find 1 Peter, think about things in life that cause an urgency to act.

You’re making a sandwich and realize you’re out of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard.

When you’re driving down the road and suddenly realize you’re almost out of gas. That will encourage you to quickly find a gas station and fill up.

You forgot to set the timer when you put the cookies in the oven and now there’s smoke.

Your child has cut and you can’t get it to stop bleeding.

Some of those are a greater urgency than others. Now consider some of the statements of urgency found in the New Testament. The apostle Paul wrote:

Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

James wrote:

James 5:8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

The apostle John wrote:

1 John 2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

And Jesus said:

Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

In those verses what is causing the urgency? The focus is on the return of Jesus. Because Jesus is returning soon and we don’t know when, we need to be alert, stand firm in our faith, and put away the deeds of darkness. In our passage tonight, Peter picks up on this intensity when he writes in verse 7 that the end of the world is coming soon. As a result, Peter says that we should pray harder, lover deeper, and serve smarter.

First, we are to pray harder.

Time is short and prayer is powerful, so pray harder.

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

If you like football, you know what the two-minute drill is. The two-minute drill starts the last two minutes of a football game. In those last two minutes, especially if a team is behind but close enough to win, their entire offensive strategy will change. They may stop going into a huddle between plays. There is a sense of urgency to their attitude because they know they don’t have much time left and they need to do all they can before time runs out.

Peter reminds us that the end of the world is coming soon and Jesus will return. As a result, our time is short. We know Jesus is coming back. We believe, just as the Christians in the early church did, that Jesus could easily return in our lifetime. But it’s still easy to become complacent. We should live with the thought that we are in the last two minutes and the clock is running down. The truth is we don’t know how much time is left, but there may not be much time. For that reason, Peter tells that we should be alert and sober minded and that we should pray.

This is the third time Peter has talked about our minds. In chapter Peter wrote:

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

Then, earlier in chapter 4 he wrote about our attitudes saying:

1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

Since I’ve already said so much about this topic I won’t say much now, except that we need to get to make sure we are paying attention. It’s so easy to be lulled to sleep. Peter, above all others, understood this.

After celebrating the Passover with his disciples in the upper room, Jesus led them to the Garden of Gethsemane where he told them:

Matthew 26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Keep watch. That’s really what Peter is telling us when he says we need to alert and sober minded. We need to be keeping watch. But what did Peter do in the garden that night with Jesus? He fell asleep.

Matthew 26:40a Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

And then Jesus gives the reason for why they needed to stay alert.

Matthew 26:40b “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.

But Peter was not watchful or prayerful. As a result, he ended up acting out with violence during Jesus’ arrest, and during Jesus’ trial Peter denied him three times.

We must be spiritually observant and aware, not asleep or distracted. We must be in our right mind, and under control. The Christian’s mind must be clearly fixed on spiritual priorities and righteous living. Godly thinking and spiritual alertness are crucial. We don’t have much time left to do the work God has given us.

Peter says we need to be alert and sober minded so that we can pray. Prayer, of course, is so important because it keeps us connected to God and connected to all of God’s spiritual resources. So pray harder.

Many people get a little bit nervous when they hear sermons on prayer. That’s because we don’t do it much. Generally, prayer isn’t huge on our priority list. One source said that the average Christian prays about forty-five seconds a day and that’s usually before eating. Another source noted that the average conservative Christian will spend six hours praying in a year. That same source goes on to describe other activities:

Hobbies – 90 hours

Sporting activities – 100 hours

Vacationing – 120 hours

Prayer – 6 hours

Honestly, I’m not trying to take you on a guilt trip. I have to confess my own weakness in this area. I’m just trying to encourage all of us to make prayer a greater priority in our lives. And Peter is saying that as the day of Christ draws closer you should pray more and pray harder.

Second, we need to love deeper.

When we are offended by others or when our neighbors are in need, our response should be to love deeper.

1 Peter 4:8-9 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Peter says that above, most important of all, we are to show deep love for each other. Those two words “above all” put in proper perspective the importance of love in the life of a Christian. Love is supreme. Jesus said that the two most important commands involved love: love of God and love of neighbor. He said that all of the Old Testament laws and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. And Paul wrote to the Romans:

Romans 13:9-10 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

But, it’s not just any kind of love. It’s an agape love. It’s a deep and fervent love. The word translated “deeply” describes an earnestness and strenuous desire. The word described a horse at full gallop. It was giving the rider everything it had. The word pictures an athlete straining with maximum effort to reach the goal. Paul illustrates this when he describes his desire to know Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Can you picture the intensity of Paul’s desire to know Jesus? Do we desire to love others with that same intensity? As one preach put it, we should love people like we are trying to win the love Olympics. Do we love like that? I wish I did. Can you imagine the difference that would make in the world if we did?

There are two aspects to this deep love. First, Peter says that this kind of deep love is so powerful that it covers over a multitude of sins. It’s not that love ignores sin, but in love we are able forgive each other when we sin against each other, just as God has forgiven us.

Second, Peter says that our love should also be practical. He suggests that we should lovingly show hospitality.

I have an aunt that has the gift of hospitality. She can make anyone feel at home and even better, she does it with food. If I were to take you to visit her, and we showed up at dinner time unannounced, and out of nowhere in thirty minutes (or less) she’d have a table covered in food for us to eat. You could stand there in the kitchen with her the whole time and you’d still wonder where all that food came from. I know, because I’ve seen it happen on more than one occasion. Mary Anne can tell the same stories. She does it easily and seemingly effortlessly. Some people have that gift. But we are all called to show hospitality. Paul wrote:

Romans 12:13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

And the author of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

I’ve read that in the country of Albania that hospitality is so part of their culture they actually love the idea. No matter how poor they are they have stashed some special provisions and food in case a stranger comes to visit. The reason why can be found in their motto that goes back more than five hundred years:

An Albanian’s house belongs to God and his guests.

They don’t see their house and their possessions as belonging them, but to God and to whomever God brings to the house. As a result, they go out of their way to show kindness to God and his guests. They show hospitality.

Peter adds that we should do so without complaining. The Greek word means to murmur or mutter under your breath. It’s possible to do the right thing with the wrong attitude. It’s possible to show love but be complaining about it the whole time. When we think of the love God has shown us, how can we not show love to others?

And third, we are to server smarter.

Use your God-given abilities for the glory of God and serve smarter.

1 Peter 4:10-11 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

These two verses convey five powerful truths.

Every Christian has a spiritual gift. Everyone has spiritual gift, some spiritual enabling, or capacity to help somebody else. Every believer has one.

Everyone’s gift is different. Your gift may be different from somebody else’s gift.

Use your gift to help others. Whatever gift you have, you should use it to help other people.

All gifts are helpful. Some gifts are noticeable and others are unnoticeable, but all of them are helpful.

Gifts are given to glorify God. The reason we share our gifts with other people is to glorify God. That means if we aren’t involved in sharing the gifts God has given us that God is not getting as much glory as he could.

Peter says we should be faithful stewards of the grace God gives us no matter what form it takes. The NIV says our gifts may take “various forms.” Other translations word it differently. The KJV talks about the manifold grace of God. In the KJV the word manifold is a word that means many-colored. It was used to describe a garment that had many colors. Peter’s description here is painting a picture. He is talking about many colored grace of God.

If we compare God’s grace to color then it might look like this. God’s grace might shine through one person as blue. In another person it might shine through as green or yellow or purple. Maybe someone else has polka dots. It’s the manifold grace of God. God’s grace is not monotone or not monochromatic. It has different displays. So, everyone has a gift and every gift is different.

When Paul talked about the different spiritual gifts he compared them to the parts of the body. There are different parts with different strengths and weaknesses, but all are important and all are needed. We may think there are some parts of the body that aren’t needed, like the appendix, but that’s just because we don’t know its purpose. I’m very sure God does and that he didn’t just give us an unneeded organ for the fun of it. You may feel like you’re the appendix of the body of Christ. You don’t think you are needed. I assure you that you are needed. You may just need to work a little more to figure out your role. God tells us that everyone has a gift and all those gifts have a role to play in bringing him glory. The church needs every gift you have. No gift is too small. No person is too insignificant.

Most of you will remember when then President Ronald Reagan was shot and put in a hospital. He was basically incapacitated for three weeks. The country didn’t stop though. Arguably the most powerful man on earth was in the hospital, but somehow the country and the world kept running They didn’t shut down.

A couple years afterwards in Philadelphia the garbage collectors protested and stopped working. What do you think happened? The city almost shut down. In fact, the newspaper said, “If the strike continues, the city will be shut down.”

So who’s more important, the president of the United States of America or the trash collectors in Philadelphia? You know what the answer is? All the above. All of them were important. No one is more important than anyone else, they just have a different function, but every single gift is needed.

So here’s how it’s supposed to work: a gift comes from God to you and then flows from you to somebody else. Is that flow being stopped? Have you take the time to discover the gift God has given you? Have you discovered your place of serving in the church, the body of Christ is?

You may be familiar with the story of statue located in a French town. In the courtyard of a small church in the village, stood a marble statue of Jesus with his hands outstretched. One day during the war, a bomb struck close to the statue and severely damaged it. After the battle was over, the citizens of the village decided to find the pieces of their beloved statue and reconstruct it. Patiently they gathered broken pieces and reassembled it. Even the scars on the body added to the beauty of the statue. But there was one problem. They were unable to find the hands of the statue. “A Christ without hands is no Christ at all,” someone lamented. “Hands with scars, yes. But what’s a Lord without hands? We need a new statue.” Then someone else came up with another idea that appealed to the people. A brass plaque was attached at the base of the statue which read: “I have no hands but your hands.”

A few years later Annie Johnson Flint saw that inscription and wrote these famous words:

I have no hands but your hands to do my work today.

I have no feet but your feet to lead men on the way.

I have no tongue but your tongue to tell men how I died.

I have no help but your help to bring men to God’s side.

Whatever gifts and abilities we have received are a gift of grace from God. They are not to be kept for our own benefit but are to be used to benefit others and for the glory of God.

We are all aware that the older we get the faster time flies. I remember when I was six we moved from Nashville to Decatur, Georgia. The house we moved to was seven years old. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed like a really old house. Now I know that seven is nothing. The parsonage we live in now is almost forty. And the youth house we first lived in is over a hundred. Time has a different meaning as we get older.

There was a little boy who said to his grandpa, “Grandpa, were you on the ark?” Grandpa said, “Of course I wasn’t on the ark.” The little boy still couldn’t get it, so he asked, “So, so then why didn’t you drown?” He just thought, “You’re at least that old, so how did you survive the flood?”

Time is moving fast and one day we will have no more tomorrows left. It’s like the old joke that says some of us may not live for another ten years. Some of us might not live for another five years. And some of us won’t live to be as old as we look.

Then there’s the story of the patient who went back to see his doctor after a series of tests, and the doctor said, “The tests came back, and I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. The good news actually is you have twenty-four hours left to live.” And the patient said, “How can that be good news? What could be worse than that?” The doctor said, “The bad news is I was supposed to tell you that yesterday.”

So here’s my question, how would you live if you only had one day to live? If no more tomorrows, what things would change? How would you live in the light of that? Peter says the end is near. Therefore, pray harder, lover deeper, and serve smarter.