A Call to Hope (1 Pt 1:13-21)

Intro/Recap

5th grade flag bearer story:

when i was in 5th grade, at the end of each week our teacher would assign us roles for the upcoming week. Some of them were simple, like ‘lineleader’ or ‘desk cleaner’. But there was one role that EVERYONE wanted. Flag bearer. Each week 2 people would be selected to be the flag bearers. And their job was to at the beginning of the week, take out the American and christian flag and hang them up on the flag pole, and to take them down at the end of the week. And everyone loved this job, because it carried a nobility, to get to do something that helped the school AND you got the privellege to leave class twice in the weak. So it was everyones dream to be chosen as flag bearer - because that identity changed the rythm of your week. It altered your normal course of life, and you got to step into a higher calling with new privelleges and responsibilities.

the identity that we were given shaped our entire week - identity determined our activity

And this is true of the christian walk.

1 Peter 1:13–21 ESV

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. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Our section opens with a ‘therefore’ - one of the most basic rules of hermenutics (how to study the bible) is when we see a ‘therefore’ we must ask, ‘what is it there for?’ This ‘therefore’ references back to our passage from last week. Peter in verses 3-20 speaks of the identity in Jesus. And In light of our new life, and our inheritance and salvation in Christ - that identity is going to call us to change our activity. IT will disrupt our normal way of living and call us in to a new rythm, with new activity and new privelleges and responsiplites.

So Peter says in light of this identity - ‘therefore’ now what?

So what is peter calling us to do, in light of verses 3-12? What is his command? What is the first command that Peter tells us to do in this section?

you might be inclined to say ‘prepare our minds for action’ or ‘be sober-minded’ - and we’re going to talk about these guys.

But, in the text, these verbs are participles. Participles ‘participate’ in explaining the main verb (not always, but sometimes, and thats what they are doing here). They are telling us how to do the thing we are supposed to do.

If we actually want to find the commands of Peter, we want to look for are the imperative verb. If you remember from english class, imperative verbs are commands - things we are telling someone to do. And in greek these have a different structure than other verbs, so they are easier to identify.

We actually havent had one in first peter. The imperative in verse 13 will be the first command in the book. So what is the first imperative? The first command we get is ἐλπίσατε (elpizate) - meaning ‘to hope’ - and Peter is going to tell us how we do that.

Setting our Hope on Christ

The first command peter gives us is to hope. Whats weird about that command?

We are commanded to hope - yet hope is an emotion. How can we be commanded to hope?

I even herard it preached in a sermon just this week, that “you cant command emotions, you command actions” - in response to Paul telling husbands to love their wives.

But as i refelcted on this - i thought “but the bible commands us emotions ALL THE TIME!”

Ben Stuart (pastor in DC) mentioned this in his talk on this subject - its weird to command someone to emote a certain way. How do you do that? We cant just instantly control our emotions.

Example - if i told you to turn to your neighbor and “love them with all your heart” , on the count of three 1,2,3 go- you maybe could do a gesture, like compliment them, or hug them - but you couldnt suddenly, in that moment, change your affections to love them with all your heart. Emotions cant be changed in an instant.

I have always pondered this myself, when the Bible tells us not to be afraid. Its interesting that the most given command in the bible is to no be afraid. but, fear is an emotion! Its nomrally an involuntary reacction. Its almost impossible to control our fears in a given moment!

Example- if you were deathly afraid of snakes - and i brought a snake in here but said ‘dont be afraid’ would that really change anything for that person? No! How do you overcome fear?

Well studies show us that predominatly - two things help us over come fear. Education, and Exposure - 1)we learn more about that thing, for example, ifi were trying to overcome a fear of snakes - I would learn about the types of snakes and learn which ones are dangerous, and then 2) we put ourselves in situations where we are exposed to that thing. So i would got to a reptile exhibit and try to be around snakes.

That overcoming fear takes time - and it takes a rewiring of the mind through education and exposure. Information and experince.

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But thats fear - how do we do control our 'hope' ? well, its interesting - we are given two participles in this verse. Participles are verbs that particpate in the main verb. And these two participles in 1 Peter 13 serve to instruct us on how to do this.

And notice, they both have to do with the state of your mind.

Girding the loins of our Mind

First, Peter tells us to literally “gird the loins of our mind”

While most modern translations render the first phrase of 1 Peter 1:13 as something along the lines of “preparing your minds for action” (ESV), a fascinating word-picture lies at the background of this phrase. The KJV captures this image in the translation “gird up the loins of your mind.” In ancient society, both men and women generally wore robes or tunics. Although equestrian “nomadic herders” from China wore pants as early as ca. 1,000 BC (see Bower 2014), pants were extremely rare in ancient society. In biblical times, men “wore the kethoneth, a knee-length, wool tunic with half sleeves,” which “was held at the waist with a belt” (Matthews 2015, 21). The higher class, including priests and members of the royal family, wore a type of robe known as the me’il (Matthews 2015, 126). Performing certain activities in such a garment, especially the longer robes, would present quite a challenge. The act of “girding it up” consisted of collecting the extremities of the robe and tucking them into the belt, thus freeing the legs for running and other rigorous activities.

Paul A. Himes, 1 Peter, ed. Douglas Mangum, Elizabeth Vince, and Abigail Salinger, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017), 1 Pe 1:13.

What might that mean then to gird up the loins of your mind?

So the call to “gird the loins of our mind” then is to “prepare our minds for action” yes - but it carries this idea that sometimes we need to reorganize and restrucuture some things that are normally good (robes arent bad), but that are inhibiting your ability to run well. If we want to fully fix our hope -

Hope will not become a reality without disciplined thinking. Thinking in a new way does not happen automatically; it requires effort, concentration, and intentionality.

We have to actively engage in the battlefield of our minds, if we want to be people who can fully hope in Christ.

Being Sober

And the second particple we get is to ‘be sober’

What is being sober mean?

Remove something that distorts your normal way of thinking or behaving.

Second, believers set their hope completely on the end by being sober....Peter was not merely saying that believers should refrain from drunkenness. There is a way of living that becomes dull to the reality of God, that is, being [put to spirtual sleep] by the attractions of this world. When people are lulled into such drowsiness, they lose sight of Christ’s future revelation of himself and concentrate only on fulfilling their earthly desires.

Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 78–79.

There are things in our life, that arent just hindering our running - they are actively distorting our ability to focus and hope in Jesus

What are some things that might disrupt your spiritual sobriety ?

social media, entertainment, porn, toxic friends, poor use of time, negative people

Why does this matter? Why is the battle of our mind so important?

moon walking bear video story

back when youtube first launched, there was this video that went viral. It started off by saying ‘this is an awareness test’ and then it showed two groups of people, one team wearing black, and one team wearing white - and you were instructed to count the number of passes made by the white team. however, at the end - it said ‘but, did you notice the moon walking bear?’ and it rewinded the video to show that while you were counting, someone in a bear suit walked through the midddle of the group, and you didnt notice it.

And at the end of the video a screen poped up that said ‘its easy to miss something you arent looking for’ and it was an ad to watch out for cyclists and not hit them

But what this story i think demonstrated even more so - is that when we are commanded to focus our attention on something, and we actually do it - it has the power to shape our reality. right? we all would have noticed the bear if we just clicked play on the video. Its beause we were commanded to focus on something, we limited our mind to only certain inputs to acheive a goal - and that mission changed our reality.

our attention and our focus have the power to shape our reality

So what are focused on? your focus and attention will change your life.

But some of us, if we are honest, are losing in the battlefields of our mind.

if we are honest, during our daily lives - we hardly think about Jesus at all.

if we counted the minutes, and hours - so little of it actually is concerned with Jesus. We might give him some time in the morning and evening, and maybe before meals - but during most of our day, he rarely crosses our minds.

In High school - i had a massive crush on this girl named Jillian. And jillian and i were in the same church group, and our church group went on this big mission trip every summer - about 100 of us would load up into a couple charter busses at go sing across the country. I can so vividly remember this, that every stop we made - every time we got off the bus - my thought process was ‘where’s jillian? what is jillian going to do at this stop? where might she eat, what might she do? what group might she peel off with, and can i peel off with that group? My infatuation with Jillian not only dominated my thoughts, it also dictated my movement.

Now, this was not healthy AT all for high school ben, to be like that for Jillian. But i wonder if we arent supposed to be like that for Jesus?

That our love for Jesus should turn in to thoughts about Jesus. And we should be constantly thinking about him and his mission. And that should lead us to changed living. What if we were like that with Jesus? every time we entered a room, we asked ourselves ‘where is jesus in this room?’ what would jesus be doing in this room? what would he priortize? How can i move in this situation to get closer to him and align with his heart and desire?’

Thats the christian walk. and i think thats what Peter is calling us to. “set our hope FULLY’ on the grace that is to be yours at the revelation of Christ Jesus.

But to actively do this - we have to start turning our attention to him in the controlled moments - so that is spills over into the uncontrolled moments.

We need to focus on minds on Christ in the controled moments- the free time we have, the space we can control, if we want that to spill over into the uncontrolled time - or the time that the subconsius takes over.

We fix our minds on the things of God, the grace we have in Jesus- so that we have a living hope that causes us to move in a new way.

So perhaps one of the most important questions we can answer tonight is what are you thinking about? What are you filling your mind with?

pratically for me recently - this has looked like a couple things. 1) i have started to keep my phone outside of my room at night. I dont like the alure of social media and distraction 1) as i am winding out the day and 2) as i wake up in the morning. I needed to reoreint my relationship with my phone because it was hindering time that i needed to be filling my mind with thoughts of Christ.

and 2) i went to the Axis anything the other day - and one of my biggest takeaways was a call from our elders. Does anyone know - there are two things our elders ask us to do (practical things, not belive in Jesus) - what are they? be in an AC, and read the bible reading plan.

i wont do a show of hands, how many of you do the axis bible reading plan? - yeah, i wasnt either. But then i had to ask myself, why? and it was easy to make excuses, like i’m already reading other books, i dont have time.

But i got really convicted on those excuses really fast - especially as i mediated on this verse ‘set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revlation of Jesus christ’ -

so what i’m reading other books? i can read more books. And you’re telling me ben you dont have time? it takes less than 15 minutes to read the daily plan - you’re telling me if i looked at your screentime, you wouldnt have 15 minutes in there? s

Wraping it up

We are called to hope/think on Christ

Gird up your mind

Be Sober

Set your hope fully on Christ

How do we sober up?:

### 1. **Acknowledge the Problem**

- Admit that you have an addiction or substance abuse problem.

- Recognize how it affects your life, health, and relationships.

### 2. **Seek Support**

- Find a support group or program (e.g., AA, SMART Recovery, or other local groups).

- Talk to friends, family, or professionals who can support you during your journey.

### 3. **Commit to Sobriety**

- Make a personal decision to stop drinking or using substances.

- Set a clear goal and understand that sobriety is a long-term commitment.

### 4. **Detoxification (If Necessary)**

- Depending on the severity of the addiction, medical detox might be required.

- Consult with a healthcare professional to safely withdraw from substances.

### 5. **Develop a Plan**

- Create a structured plan for your sobriety, which may include therapy, counseling, and lifestyle changes.

- Avoid triggers, environments, or people that may encourage relaps

### 7. **Address Underlying Issues**

- Work through personal issues that may contribute to substance use, such as trauma, stress, or mental health conditions, with professional help.

### 8. **Develop Healthy Habits**

- Replace the time and energy spent on substance use with positive activities like exercise, hobbies, or volunteering.

- Practice self-care and mindfulness.

### 9. **Stay Accountable**

- Regularly attend meetings or therapy sessions.

- Find an accountability partner or sponsor.

### 10. **Prevent Relapse**

- Learn to recognize warning signs of relapse and have strategies to cope.

- Be patient and gentle with yourself; recovery is a journey with potential setbacks.

### 11. **Build a Support Network**

- Surround yourself with positive, supportive people who understand your goals.

- Create a new lifestyle free from the influence of substances.

### 12. **Celebrate Milestones**

- Acknowledge and celebrate your progress, whether it’s 30 days, 6 months, or years of sobriety.

Hope in Christ - by flooding your mind with thoughts of God

what you think about will do determine what you care about

Application Questions

As we try to set our hope fully on Christ, what might be some things that are distorting you from fully walking the way of Jesus, that you need to detox from?

What might be some things that are not inhertinly evil, but that might be inhibiting your ability to run after him well?

What are some things that you can do to better ‘set your hope fully’ on Jesus?