By Showing Mercy

The Beautiful Testimony of the Christian Life

2.8.26 [1 Peter 2:9-12] River of Life (5th Sunday of Epiphany)

May the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, restore you, make you strong, firm, and steadfast. Amen. 

Ten years ago, the Super Bowl was here. It featured the same teams: the Seahawks and the Patriots. Both teams were top seeds seeking another Super Bowl victory to establish themselves as dynasties. Star players on teams like that are insanely popular around town. 

One of those star players was Marshawn Lynch. If you follow football, you can picture him in your mind. He’s big and strong. More than a few tattoos, long dreadlocks, and often wore a gold grill over his teeth.  

One late fall day, Jason Lynch—no relation but a big Seahawks’ fan—saw Marshawn Lynch drive up to his local Shell gas station. For a moment, Jason considered asking Marshawn for a picture. But he didn’t want to bother him, so he finished up at the Shell station and then went to pick his son up from school. When he got back home, his neighbor came over and gave him his wallet. Jason didn’t even know it was missing. Then she told him he would never believe who brought it to her. Marshawn Lynch. Jason had accidentally dropped it at the Shell station and Marshawn picked it up and dropped it off. 

To that point, Marshawn Lynch was mostly known for his physical, intimidating style of play. He was proud to represent his tough North Oakland roots. But after Jason Lynch posted about Marshawn on his Facebook, and local and national news picked up on it, people saw Marshawn differently. Sometimes, a single selfless deed can change how people see you. That’s not just true for football stars. 

Today, Peter reminds Christians that how they live affects the people around them. 1 Pt. 2:11-12 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 

When Peter gives us a charge like that, we have to take sober stock of our lives. Are our lives so good, of such a high standard, so beautiful that unbelievers think of us as different? Do they think your ways of thinking and speaking are like a foreign language? Do your Christian deeds and convictions make you stick out like a sore thumb? At times, maybe. 

Maybe, in the very recent past, God has done a full remodel on your heart, mind, and life. Maybe people who have known you well for a long time have seen a remarkable change. Perhaps, at times, you have a few friends who are 1 Pt. 4:4 surprised when you do not join them in their reckless, wild living. They may make fun of you. What, you think that since you’ve found Jesus, you’re better than us, now? When you’re the one being ribbed, it hardly feels like the right time to correct them and tell them Jesus found you, loved you, saved you, not the other way around. In certain moments, it seems like it’s harmless teasing. But in other moments, it feels darkly serious. You know well what Peter is talking about when he says unbelievers   1 Pt. 2:12 accuse believers of doing wrong even when they are doing the righteous thing.

But maybe those reckless, wild days are far, far in the rearview mirror of life. Maybe you can’t even come up with a single person you know well that you would even describe as a pagan or an unbeliever. Life now is more under control and more cloistered. You read your Bible, you say your prayers; you go to church and put a little something in the plate. You don’t run around town. You don’t drink or steal or hurt anybody. You try to keep your head down and be a good neighbor. 

It’s easy for us to settle into a pattern like that and pat ourselves on the back. Now, don’t get me wrong. God wants you to keep the 10 commandments. But he doesn’t want you to keep your head down. He doesn’t call you to a cloistered Christianity. He doesn’t call you to retreat and live a quietly righteous life that doesn’t draw any attention. 

Listen to Peter. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles. You don’t belong here, Peter says. You shouldn’t fit in or fly under the radar. You’re not looking for attention; that’s not why you live such a good life, but you shouldn’t run and hide either. You should live such good lives among the pagans that they notice and comment—even if they confuse your good deeds with wrong behavior. 

What Peter is really exposing here is a treasure trove of sins of omission. Moments when we choose silence instead of speaking the truth in love. Times when we shrink back from helping and defending the hated. Situations where we go along to get along rather than follow God’s command. Do you know what I’m talking about? 

It’s the moments when unbelievers accuse believers of being pushy with their faith. Imposing your beliefs. Trying to convert them. Pushing an antiquated view of sex & marriage. Trying to control women’s bodies. They say we hate our country when we remind them that illegal immigrants are beloved by God, too. They say we are loveless when we also say that the government has a God-given right to uphold the laws of the land and that we must honor them. They say we’re fools when we claim that the consequences don’t have to be unnecessarily cruel. They tell church people that we should stick to helping the poor and not interfere with their lives. That our faith should stay private and not impact public policy. 

And it’s this experience that causes us to withdraw. When we get flak for our faith, we just want to fade to the background. When we suffer for doing good, we think the takeaway is to stop doing good.

But we’ve forgotten who we are and why. Once, we were not a people. This group, and the Christian Church as a whole, was never united because we share the same homeland or language. We come from different places. We have different experiences, likes and dislikes, skills and sensitivities. But now, we are the people of God. Once, like the people of this world, we were merciless. We had not received mercy, and we certainly weren’t going to show it to others—especially our enemies. But now, we have received mercy. 

We have received mercy because God chose to show mercy. Christ came into this world that he created, and the world did not recognize him. Jesus came to live among his own people, the Israelites, and they did not accept him. The Son of God lived as a foreigner and an exile. 

And he was accused of doing wrong. Jesus was accused of doing wrong when he accepted invitations to dine at the homes of tax collectors. Jesus was accused of doing wrong when his disciples didn’t fast or wash their hands when they returned from the pagan marketplace. Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath when he healed the sick on the Sabbath day. He was accused of blasphemy when he forgave sins. He was accused of being a spiritual double-agent when he cast out demons. He was accused of trying to establish an earthly kingdom when he announced the kingdom of heaven was near. He lived such a good life that they didn’t just accuse him of doing wrong; they convicted and executed him for it. 

God did all this so that we might receive mercy. The Son of God did all this so that we might be his people, chosen by grace, his undeserved and unconditional love. The King of kings humbled himself so that we might be made royalty. The Great High Priest sacrificed himself so that we might be made holy and priests. The Light of Salvation confronted and conquered the prince of darkness so that we might be called out of the darkness of sin and iniquity and ito his wonderful and life-giving light. God gave up his one and only Son so that he might redeem you & make you his special possession. 

This is what you are. And here’s the neat thing. You didn’t make yourself any of those things. You cannot make yourself a part of a chosen people. In Christ, God chose you Eph. 1:4 before the foundation of the world. You can’t declare yourself a priest. You can’t apply to become royalty. In Christ, God made you a royal priest. You can’t make yourself holy. God made you holy through the holy, precious blood of his Son. God did it all in showing you his mercy. These are statuses that have been conferred, not acheivements you have earned. God has declared it, because he is rich in mercy.  

You are also foreigners & exiles here. You are citizens, not of this world, but Php. 3:20 of heaven. Remember that when you get flak for your faith. When we suffer for doing good, remember Christ did as well. And this is what Jesus prayed for, for you. Jn. 17:14-15 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. Jn. 17:18 As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. Sanctify them by the truth. Your Word is truth. This is what your Savior wants for you and from you. Why? 

Well, Peter tells us. So that you may 1 Pt. 2:9 declare the praise of him who called you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light. That means as foreigners and exiles, we see things as God sees them. Sin, in all forms, wages war against souls. We cannot coddle it—even when it’s a personal struggle. We cannot pander to it—even when it’s popular. Sin must be rebuked. Sin must be confessed. Sin must be repented of. Sinners must meet the God who is merciful. 

When we demonstrate God’s mercy, we’re letting our light shine. When we forgive those who have sinned against us in grievous ways, the world notices. When we strive for holy living and also to live among people who are not holy, the world sees God’s mercy and love. When we declare the authoritative words of God rather than parrot political talking points, we are letting our light shine in a world of insecurity, selfishness, and sin. They may despise us for doing these things—but on the day Christ returns to visit us, they will glorify him. And, God willing, it won’t take that long. Think about how a simple gesture, like returning a wallet, can change how you see someone. When they hear and see Christ in us, God works eternal changes. Amen.