“Short Timers”
Notes
Transcript
Good morning!
If we haven’t met -
We are a church family that seeks to encourage one another as we hear, love, and obey Jesus together.
United in Prayer
Harmanings blew up our schedule!
This morning we have some very special guests.
Jarrod, Kacha, Sophia, and Hugo Harmaning are in town from the Czech Republic and have honored us with their presence this morning.
Jarrod and Kacha would you come up here.
If you don’t know Jarrod and Kacha, Jarrod was a former elder at Gateway and Kacha used to run our kids ministry until they left to be missionaries in Prague a number of years ago.
We pray for them and support them financially as they seek to spread the gospel in Prague.
Harmanings
What’s new with you guys? Catch us up on life and ministry.
Jarrod what’s it like living in Prague as an American? Kacha what’s it like for you being Czech and then coming back to America?
Jarrod you’ve said that the culture of the Puget Sound shares a lot of similarities with Prague. What’s evangelism like in Prague and how might you encourage us as we try and represent Jesus here?
How can we pray for you?
Prayer
Scripture
Intro
I
Have you ever been somewhere and felt completely out of place?
For many people, that feeling comes any time they step foot on a golf course.
What do I wear? What do I say? I just don’t want to hurt anyone.
That’s absolutely not the case for me. Being on a golf course feels like coming home. You could put me on a golf course in Timbuktu and I’d be like - these are my people!
I get on a golf course and I know how things work here. I know the language, I know the customs, I know what to do.
I feel out of place anytime I’m at the gym.
Everyone seems to know what they’re doing, but me.
Put me by the free weights with the mirror and everyone is lifting stuff and I’m like I have no idea what to do.
I don’t know what that thing is but maybe if I just start moving it I’ll get in shape, I don’t know.
WE
We know what it’s like to feel out of place.
I don’t know what it’s like to travel to another country live away from home but it was fascinating to hear that from the Harmanings.
Maybe you’ve traveled internationally or lived somewhere else and been a stranger in a foreign country. You’ve felt that homesickness.
When even simple things are hard like going to the grocery story, driving on the wrong side of the road, talking to the barista at the coffee shop, it’s hard.
You stay there long enough and you begin to wonder, who am I? How do I live in this other place?
As Christians, we can feel out of place in our world.
Our cities, our neighborhoods, our workplace, our homes.
And it’s easy to forget that.
I love Sumner. I never want to move. I know how things work here. You live in Lake Tapps, you understand how to get around, how to talk with your neighbors, you live in Edgewood, Puyallup, Lakeland Hills. We feel at home.
And yet, there are times we can feel like strangers in our own cities.
As followers of Jesus how do we live in a world that doesn’t share our values?
We are saved by grace alone,
and yet we live in a world that says you have to earn everything you get.
We value honesty,
but what happens when at your job you’re encouraged to fudge the numbers to close a deal?
As followers of Jesus, we value using our words to build others up, but at a family gathering it may be completely normal to gossip about people who aren’t in the room.
As followers of Jesus, we value generosity, but during the Super Bowl in a couple weeks every single ad will scream at you that if you simply spend your money on yourself a little more, then you’ll be truly happy.
As followers of Jesus we want to honor everyone - and yet we’re in an election year when it is culturally accepted to hate another person for how they vote.
As followers of Jesus, we want everyone we know to follow Jesus with us because we know he is the way to true life - and yet we know that if we start talking like that at work, in our neighborhoods, at family gatherings, with our friends over drinks - we’re going to get those looks.
So how do we see ourselves in 2024 as believers when sometimes it feels like we’re strangers in our own neighborhoods?
How should we feel about that?
How do we stay faithful to Jesus in a world that is opposed to Him?
God
God’s people have been in our shoes many times before, and specifically in 1 Peter we find a situation very similar to ours.
The letter of 1 Peter was written by the apostle Peter to Christians scattered across what is now modern day Turkey - about the size of the Pacific NW - to encourage suffering believers to stand firm in the gospel.
Maybe you say - well, I’m not experiencing persecution! I’m not suffering like Christians who were killed for their faith.
Sure, and these Christians to whom Peter was writing were not being martyred for their faith. That was coming, but it wasn’t there yet.
These Christians in an honor/shame society were starting to get those looks and become those people for sharing their faith. They were being shamed for their faith and Peter wrote to encourage them to not lose hope in following Jesus.
And this is helpful for us even in a western context where being a Christian - being a pastor - isn’t always viewed positively.
“New rule: If churches don't have to pay taxes, they also can't call the fire department when they catch fire. Sorry reverend, that's one of those services that goes along with paying in. I'll use the fire department I pay for. You can pray for rain." - Bill Maher, Religious
How do we live in such a world?
So Peter - who knew firsthand the pressure to crumble under that kind of social pressure - wrote to encourage suffering Christians to stand firm in the gospel.
What would he say to encourage them?
1 Pet. 1:1 -
1 Peter 1:1 (ESV)
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
We are reading what’s often called a book of the Bible but is actually a letter who’s author is Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ.
Apostle simply means messenger, or delegate.
of Jesus Christ - so this letter comes from Peter with the authority of Christ that was given to him.
Who is Peter?
Paul gets all the attention in the New Testament, but Peter’s story is all over Scripture.
I think what we’re supposed to see with Peter is he’s a normal person. He’s got strengths - he’s bold and speaks his mind - but also weaknesses - he’s really bold and speaks his mind.
And even so, Jesus chooses him - and says on this rock I’m going to build my church. And he does become the key leader of the early church.
Imagine being a first century Christian - maybe a farmer in Galatia or a urban mother in the big city of Smyrna and your little house church gets a letter from THE Peter.
It’d be like if I said - “Hey guys I got a letter from John Piper or Tim Keller he wanted to encourage us at Gateway.” It’s not an every day occurrence.
Even so, in our context today, we are suspicious of any authority.
We’re skeptical of anything powerful people have to say. Peter is this just a canned press release about Jesus?
I really appreciate this characterization of Peter by Eugene Petersen in his intro to 1 Peter in the Message Bible.
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language 1 & 2 Peter
In the early church, his influence was enormous and acknowledged by all. By virtue of his position, he was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community. And his energetic preaching, ardent prayer, bold healing, and wise direction confirmed the trust placed in him.
The way Peter handled himself in that position of power is even more impressive than the power itself. He stayed out of the center, didn’t “wield” power, maintained a scrupulous subordination to Jesus. Given his charismatic personality and well-deserved position at the head, he could easily have taken over, using the prominence of his association with Jesus to promote himself. That he didn’t do it, given the frequency with which spiritual leaders do exactly that, is impressive. Peter is a breath of fresh air.
The two letters Peter wrote exhibit the qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit shaped in him: a readiness to embrace suffering rather than prestige, a wisdom developed from experience and not imposed from a book, a humility that lacked nothing in vigor or imagination. From what we know of the early stories of Peter, he had in him all the makings of a bully. That he didn’t become a bully (and religious bullies are the worst kind) but rather the boldly confident and humbly self-effacing servant of Jesus Christ that we discern in these letters, is a compelling witness to what he himself describes as “a brand-new life, with everything to live for.”
Peter is a breath of fresh air and his words in 1 Peter are, too.
That’s the author of the letter of 1 Peter, but who is he writing to?
1 Peter 1:1 (ESV)
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Peter lists five cities which are found in modern day Turkey about the exact size of the Pacific NW.
It’s a wide range of people - some rural areas like Cappadocia and Galatia and some bigger cities like Smyrna and more populated areas.
For reasons we will see later in the letter he is writing to mostly Gentiles - non-Jewish people. People like you and I.
And he calls them elect exiles.
What in the world does that mean?
Let’s break that phrase down. What does elect mean?
It simply means chosen.
In an election we are choosing someone. Peter says elect he means they are chosen people.
So he’s writing to Christians - but he doesn’t call them Christians, or believers, or brothers and sisters, Peter is intentionally connecting these non-Jewish people to the Jewish story in Scripture.
Israel viewed themselves as the chosen people of God.
37 “Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,
Just as God elected or chose Israel - God chose you.
Think about that.
Israel is God’s chosen people and now you are God’s chosen people, too. Even if you’re not Jewish.
You may think you’re just a mom in Cappadocia who’s mother in law thinks she’s crazy because she’s following the teaching of some crucified Jewish rabbi. No, you’re a part of the chosen family of God.
You may think you’re just a farmer in Galatia who’s losing business because people don’t like that you’re not sacrificing to the local gods anymore. No, you’re chosen by God just like Abraham was chosen by God.
You’re being pulled down by the world - pressured to give up your trust in God - but Peter says let me pull you up by reminding that you are honored and chosen by the God of the Universe.
You know who else was chosen by God? Jesus.
This is how Scripture describes Jesus. Honored, chosen, the one God picked to bless the world.
6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
If you are a Christian you are precious and chosen by God.
What would happen if we spent time reflecting on that?
See before we jump to what we should or shouldn’t do as Christians in society, we need to remember who we are.
Before you step foot into your office, what would happen if you just received that message - I am chosen and precious - just like Jesus. How might that change how you view yourself and your life and those around you?
Peter says they are chosen.
What does it mean to be an exile?
How is this a positive term?
If you know the story of Scripture you know that Israel was exiled because of sin. So is being an exile a bad thing?
Not always.
Depending on your translation you may see a different word there.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
The word could be translated sojourners, foreigners, aliens.
You are chosen strangers, sojourners, foreigners, aliens.
Abraham was a chosen exile.
God told Abraham - leave your home and go to a land I will give you.
And so Abraham wandered through places that were not his home because God promised him that one day he would take him to a promised land.
Exile encompasses a social role involving fringe status and a psychological state that includes as its salient features a sense of loss or deprivation and a longing to return to (or arrive at) a homeland. - Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, Leland Ryken
You are chosen exiles - citizens of another kingdom, living in this kingdom.
We are citizens of heaven - precious an chosen by the king of heaven - who are living on earth and experience the suffering and struggles of this kingdom.
You are honored by God, and rejected by the world.
Again, Peter is uniting the identity of these Christians with Christ.
The prophet Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be a chosen exile.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
The gospel message is that God himself became a chosen exile on our behalf.
We made our home in the kingdom of darkness - so God sent Jesus to raid the kingdom of darkness and bring us into his glorious light.
And now through faith in him we share that identity - chosen exiles.
Do you feel the tension in the name - chosen exiles?
It’s like a bungee chord. Pulled up by God - chosen. Pulled down by the world - exiles.
And that tension in life can lead us to either discouragement and disobedience - or to faith.
That tension you feel when you realize God has saved you by his grace - but everything in the world tells you that he’ll only love you as long as you don’t mess up too much.
That tension you feel when your friends start gossiping about the annoying coworker - can lead you to just join in OR it can lead to faith.
It also reminds us that the Bible doesn’t give us a handbook on how to do every little thing. But it reminds us of our identity.
It doesn’t say - here’s how you vote! It says - you’re a chosen exile. Live in that tension.
It doesn’t say - you should homeschool your kids! It says - you are honored by God but you’re going to have a tough time in the world. Live in the tension. Let is grow your faith.
So how did they come to be chosen exiles? How did that happen?
1 Peter 1:2 (ESV)
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit…
Peter says you are chosen exiles according to the foreknowledge of God and in the sanctification of the Spirit.
Lots of churchy words there.
What is the foreknowledge of God the Father?
Peter is saying long ago, God set his affections on you. It’s not just what God knew but who God loved. It’s often been described the fore-loving of God.
You are a chosen exile because before time began God hand picked you and chose to love you.
This isn’t meant to be a theological debate but something we find hope and comfort in that God picked you.
What is the sanctification of the Spirit?
Sanctification just means to make holy. To become godly. Often we think of sanctification like growth in Christ over time.
There was the old illustration like sanctification is like construction in I-5 in Tacoma, it’s never finished. Well, now it is? So there’s hope.
But Peter is not talking about that kind of sanctification.
He’s saying the Spirit has already made you holy.
How could I be chosen by God?
You don’t know my thoughts, my sin, my desires, you don’t know what I’ve done.
I’m dirty!
In the Spirit, you are pure.
That can’t be! I don’t feel it!
It’s maybe not how you feel but it’s who you are through faith in Jesus.
Do you believe that?
A chosen exile - through the foreknowledge of God and the sanctification of the Spirit.
We’re chosen exiles through what God has done but why? For what purpose?
1 Peter 1:2 (ESV)
for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
What does that mean?
Simply put - you are a chosen exile because God wants to be united with you through Christ.
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Peter is saying - that story is now your story but even better.
You are the new covenant people of God because of Jesus’ blood - which is better than any animal sacrifice.
You’re going to obey because now you’ve been purified by the Spirit.
You’re united with Christ as God’s chosen exiles.
YOU
What does this passage call us to do?
Nothing.
This passage doesn’t give us an action.
It doesn’t tell us what to do.
But - like the gospel - it reminds us of who we are.
Remember who you are: united with Christ as chosen exiles.
Remember who you are: united with Christ as chosen exiles.
Before we do anything, we remember who we are.
And we remember that who we are is united with Christ.
Jesus was a chosen exile.
He was honored by God and rejected by people.
Jesus knows what it’s like to hear God say - my beloved son. And then have his family come and say - my boy, I think you’re crazy.
Jesus knows what it’s like to have people in his own line of work think he’s dangerous and to try and bring him down because of his faith.
Jesus knows what it’s like to have your friends betray you and slander you and to say about you, “I don’t even know that guy.”
And so Peter reminds us - you are united with Christ. And his logic is simple: be united with Christ in suffering for a little while and then be united with him in his glory for eternity.
How do I get in on that? Trust Jesus. Give him your allegiance. Receive your new identity as a chosen exile of God.
And what a great sales pitch of Jesus - come to faith and suffer.
And that is the call. But if we are united with Christ - we do die - but just like Christ - he didn’t stay dead.
If we choose to place our identity in the world - we will succeed - for a while.
But I also have to remember that my house will one day be worth nothing.
My money could be gone tomorrow.
My health is no guarantee.
My family and their health, not promised.
Our status at work - our reputation - in 2024, say the wrong thing and it can be gone in a moment.
When we try to hold our identity in the world it’s like trying to hold onto your breath on a cold day. It’s gone before you know it.
And Jesus comes and says - take my identity. Receive my glory. It’s free. It cost me everything and it costs you nothing.
Will you take it?
Will we remember who we are - chosen exiles united with Christ.
You’re not just a mom - you’re a citizen of heaven living in Sumner as a chosen exile for a little while.
You’re not just a teacher, healthcare professional, realtor, firefighter, accountant - you’re honored by the God of the universe, chosen to work for a little while so you can bring blessing to this earth.
You’re not just a grandparent - you’re a chosen exile who God himself commissioned to represent Christ to your little grandkids for a little while longer until he calls you home.
Remember your identity with Christ as a chosen exile.
WE
We all know what it’s like to feel out of place.
Whether it’s the golf course, the gym, we know that feeling.
And it can be discouraging in that place to think - I’m going to have to be here a while.
If anyone had a right to be discouraged, cynical, and angry about being a Christian in the world - it was Peter.
Peter knew that within just a few years, he would be killed by the state for his faith.
But Peter doesn’t call us to fight back, doesn’t call us to just blend in, and he doesn’t call us to retreat into Christian communes.
He gives us hope.
Benediction -
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. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.