Easter 2

1 Peter 1:3–9 (NIV): 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

For hundreds of years alchemists toiled in their laboratories to produce a mythical substance known as the philosopher’s stone. The supposedly dense, waxy, red material was said to enable the process that has become synonymous with alchemy—chrysopoeia, the metamorphosis, or transmutation, of base metals such as lead into gold. Alchemists have often been dismissed as pseudoscientific charlatans but in many ways they paved the way for modern chemistry and medicine. The alchemists of the 16th and 17th centuries developed new experimental techniques, medicines and other chemical concoctions, such as pigments. And many of them "were amazingly good experimentalists,” says Lawrence Principe, a chemist and science historian at Johns Hopkins University. “Any modern professor of chemistry today would be more than happy to hire some of these guys as lab techs.” The alchemists counted among their number Irish-born scientist Robert Boyle, credited as one of the founders of modern chemistry; pioneering Swiss-born physician Paracelsus; and English physicist Isaac Newton. But despite the alchemists’ intellectual firepower and experimental acumen, the philosopher’s stone lay forever out of reach. The problem, Principe says, is that the alchemists did not yet know that lead and gold were different atomic elements—the periodic table was still hundreds of years away. Believing them to be hybrid compounds, and therefore amenable to chemical change in laboratory reactions, the alchemists pursued the dream of chrysopoeia to no avail.

But what was once impossible, can be done. I won’t describe the process but the cost is so outlandish that it would be futile to pursue this. In 1980, when the bismuth-to-gold experiment was carried out, running particle beams through the Bevalac cost about $5,000 an hour, “and we probably used about a day of beam time,” recalls Oregon State University nuclear chemist Walter Loveland, one of the researchers on the project. Glenn Seaborg, who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with heavy elements and who died in 1999, was the senior author on the resulting study. “It would cost more than one quadrillion dollars per ounce to produce gold by this experiment," Seaborg told the Associated Press that year. The going rate for an ounce of gold at the time? About $560.

The point is that some people believed that under enough outside force, certain things can be changed substantially. This idea applies to other applications as well. That if a person is under enough pressure (either positive or negative) that those outside forces are going to have a tremendous impact on their personality and belief system. It is sometimes summed up with the phrase, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” That if a soldier is hunkered down in a fox hole and artillery shells are falling all around him, he will call out to God even though prior to this he had no faith.”

I am not denying that this can happen. Some people have report a dramatic change in their live and their beliefs because of a seminal event in their lives, but this is more rare than expected. St. Peter reminds Christians that even though they will face trials (and were already facing some) this would not lead them away from their faith and hope in God but would define who they were and refine their faith.

That is not to say that they had never changed. In fact, they would not be Christians if an outside force had not previously affected them. God had given them a new birth (define). Use John 3 as a teaching point.

1 Peter 1:3 (NIV): 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

John 3:3-8 (NIV) 3  In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4  "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5  Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

James 1:18 (NIV) 18  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. 1 Peter 1:23 (NIV) 23  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

To such Christians Peter give hope in the midst of crisis. Those who once were hopeless in regard to a greater future now has a living hope that they had a future with God. This is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

When Jesus was crucified, it seemed so hopeless. This man who had been so popular in trying to bring about reforms and had a growing audience, admired, believed in, and followed by many, has almost inexplicably been silenced at a critical moment in his career. Just days before he has received a heroe’s welcome as he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the crowds praised God and looked to him as the descendent of David who would save them. His enemies were careful not to cause a public confrontation because they feared the crowd’s response. But overnight he was betrayed, arrested, convicted, and the next day executed publicly with the taunting messsage on his cross “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Meaning: This is what happens to people who try to make changes that are not authorized. It seemed like it was all over. That perhaps the words of Gamaliel woudl come true.

Acts 5:33–39 (NIV): 33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Well, his words were true. Had Jesus been just some other reformer not backed by God, we would have never heard about him. But he was and is special. He rose from the dead. That wonderful event that Christians throughout the world celebrated last Sunday and which give us hope every day.

The Christians Peter wrote to had a living hope too. Described here as an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

An inheritance can give us hope. We may look forward to that day when a parent or a rich uncle will leave us with wealth that we did not earn. We may even store up for ourselves our own “nest egg” so that when we cannot work or we retire we can be supported and maybe even do somethings we could not afford to otherwise. Although we live in a society where many people live paycheck to paycheck and credit card debt seems almost insurmountable, there are those who either have been able to save for the future or who expect an inheritance someday that will enrich their lives.

Well, relying on current wealth for future support is risky. Always has been always will be. And during an economic crisis, those who trust in wealth will find themselves at high riske emotionally and spritually. Here St. Peter points Christians to our God during a time of crisis and reminds them that because their inheritance is kept in heaven, God will use this time to strengthen their faith in him and will indeed shield them with his power until they receive their heavenly reward.

In the mean time, he warns them that they may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

What does this mean? St. Paul’s list. Peter’s experience.

What type of trials do we face? We are reminded every day about the hardships that we are facing at this time. What are they? Some aren’t really harships at all.

Can’t go to the bar or out to eat in a restaurant.

Can’t go shopping.

Should not leave the home more than once a week.

Golf courses and some State parks are closed.

Some items are in short supply.

Others are more difficult.

Can’t visit relatives and friends.

Regular doctors and dentists visits are postponed.

Others really are hardships.

Laid off from work and strapped for cash.

Extreme financial loss in retirement accounts.

All church activities are cancelled until further notice.

We are all vulnerable to this virus — it is so contagious and it does cause severed respiratory distress and can be fatal.

How is this impacting us as Christians? Well, since we trust in God who has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of JEsus Christ, from the dead and into an inheritance in heaven, doesn’t this define who we are and refine our faith in God.

St. Peter uses a common analogy of the refiner’s fire. Although attempts to change lead into gold have failed for scientific reasons, the attempts to produce refined silver and gold from ore has been successful for thousands of years. How is this done? RESEARCH

Of course, ore has no pain recepters but intense heat causes stress. Through the refiner’s fire, a genuine product is produces. St. Peter identifies trials and tribulations to the refiner’s fire. Since we do have pain recepters, it hurts. (See Hebrews). We “suffer grief”. But when we believe that the purpose of this is to purify our faith, we are filled with joy in the midst of that grief.

Conclusion