THE SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS HE

INTRODUCTION

Opening Story: If you were to ever spend time with Yogi Berra you would inevitably walk away feeling deeply that this dude is just different. The iconic catcher for the New York Yankees, everything about him was just different. For example, these are actual things that he said:

You can observe a lot by watching. Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical. The future ain’t what it used to be. A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore. Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours. Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. If you arrive at a fork in the road, take it. I never said most of the things I said.

THIS DUDE WAS JUST DIFFERENT. THE NAME YOGI BERRA IS SYNONYMOUS WITH DIFFERENT!

Creating the Need

What’s true of Yogi Berra should be true of Christians. In fact, the very name was first given to followers of Jesus in a town called Antioch, because they were, well, different. Our name- little Christ’s- should scream DIFFERENT.

In fact, Peter picks up on and really hammers on this point of how you and I should be different in the book of I Peter. Right out the gate in I Peter 1:1- in the very first verse- he calls us the elect exiles. THE GREEK WORD FOR EXILE MEANS THE CLOSE STRANGER. One of the best ways to think about this is the word immigrant, which some of you gladly are. You are geographically close in that you live in our country. But it’s clear you are not from here. The way you talk says different. Your cultural preferences and practices scream different. You live here but it’s obvious you’re not from here. THIS IS THE LANGUAGE PETER USES IN DESCRIBING WE CHRISTIANS. WE LIVE IN THIS WORLD, BUT WE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD. WE ARE SPIRITUAL IMMIGRANTS. WE ARE DIFFERENT!

IF THERE’S ONE WORD THAT SUMS UP AND CANVASSES THE WHOLE OF OUR PASSAGE IT’S THE WORD DIFFERENT. PETER WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND THAT FOLLOWING JESUS IN THIS WORLD MEANS THAT WE ARE TO BE COMPREHENSIVELY DIFFERENT. DIFFERENT IN OUR ACTIONS AMONG THE WORLD (1-6), AFFILIATIONS TO THE WORLD (7-11) AND OUR ACHES IN THE WORLD (12-19).

GOSPEL CONCLUSION? OR GOSPEL DISCLAIMER:

LET ME MAKE A GOSPEL DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE JUMP IN. THE PUNCHLINE TO THIS SERMON IS NOT TO LEAVE SAYING, I REALLY NEED TO TRY HARDER TO BE DIFFERENT. REMEMBER, THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT ABOUT OUR MORAL STRIVING. WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT IS THE ONE LIVING INSIDE OF US RIGHT NOW WHO GIVES US THE POWER TO LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL. I CORINTHIANS 6:19-20

GEORGE WASHINGTON’S HOUSE IN MOUNT VERNON. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT IS WHO LIVED THERE. WHAT MAKES YOU AND I DIFFERENT IS WHO LIVES INSIDE OF US!

DIFFERENT ACTIONS AMONG THE WORLD- I PETER 4:1-6

EXPLANATION: PETER BEGINS BY CALLING WE EXILES/SPIRITUAL IMMIGRANTS, TO BE DIFFERENT IN OUR ACTIONS AMONG THE WORLD. HOW HE USES GENTILES. NOW WHAT IS THE WORLD? IT’S NOT USED PREDOMINATELY IN THE NT TO SPEAK OF A PHYSICAL PLACE. IN OTHER WORDS, PETER IS NOT CALLING US TO NOT CARE FOR TREES, THE ENVIRONMENT OR THE CONDITIONS OF OUR ROADS. INSTEAD, WORLD IS MANY TIMES USED TO SPEAK OF A SYSTEM OPPOSED TO THE WAY OF JESUS. A FEW EXAMPLES- JESUS SAYS IN JOHN 15 THAT IF THE WORLD HATES US THAT WE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND IT HATED HIM FIRST. HE’S NOT SPEAKING OF TREES OR ROADS, BUT OF A SYSTEM. PAUL SAYS TO THE ROMANS IN ROMANS 12:1 WE ARE NOT TO BE CONFORMED TO THE WORLD…AND IN I JOHN, WE ARE TOLD TO LOVE NOT THE WORLD…ALL OF THIS SPEAKS TO SYSTEMS OPPOSED TO THE WILL AND WAY OF GOD.

APPLICATION: NOW THIS BRINGS UP THE AGE OLD QUESTION- HOW ARE WE AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS TO RELATE TO THE WORLD? IN 1951 H. RICHARD NIEBUHR WROTE A CLASSIC BOOK LAYING OUT FIVE HISTORICAL WAYS CHRISTIANS HAVE SOUGHT TO ANSWER THIS: 1. CHRIST AGAINST CULTURE. 2. CHRIST OF CULTURE. 3. CHRIST ABOVE CULTURE. 4. CHRIST AND CULTURE IN PARADOX. 5. CHRIST THE TRANSFORMER OF CULTURE. WE’VE BEEN WRESTLING WITH THIS FOREVER AND IT’S LEAD THE CHURCH DOWN SOME WEIRD PATHS. ME AND FUNDAMENTALIST BIBLE COLLEGE- NO DRINKING. NO DANCING- WEDDING IMPLICATIONS. COULDN’T GO TO THEATER BUT COULD RENT RATED R VIDEOS FROM BLOCK BUSTERS. OKAY, VIDEOS...THINK OF IT, FIVE WAYS? DOES THIS MEAN I KEEP MY KIDS FROM ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS. AS A COLLEGE STUDENT DO I NOT PLEDGE, OR ATTEND THE FRAT PARTY? DO I JOIN A MONASTERY, ABSTAIN FROM ALCOHOL? IS THIS WHAT PETER IS GETTING AT? NO…

ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTIANITY WAS MEANT TO BE LIVED DISTINCTIVELY, DIFFERENTLY IN THE BOAT. A BOAT WAS MADE TO BE ON THE WATER. BUT THE BOAT WAS NOT MADE FOR THE WATER TO BE IN THE BOAT. THE BOAT GIVES ITS BUILDER GLORY WHEN IT INTERACTS AND RELATES WELL WITH THE WATER. THIS IS WHY IT WAS CREATED. SO IT IS WITH CHRISTIANS…WE WERE MEANT TO INTERACT WITH THE WORLD, TO BE IN THE WORLD, JUST NOT TO BE OF THE WORLD. ROMANS 12:1.

EXPLANATION 2: LOOK AT THE DESCRIPTIONS PETER LAYS DOWN. SEE A THEME? ALL OF THIS SPEAKS OF A PERSON WHOSE LIFESTYLE IS GOVERNED BY THE APPETITES OF THIS WORLD. THEY LIVE FOR THE MOMENT. THEY ARE CONSUMED BY THE MOMENT. WORLDLINESS AS PETER DESCRIBES IT, IS NOT JUST ENJOYMENT, BUT IT IS A MYOPIC FIXATION AND CONSUMPTION OF THIS LIFE. IT REPLACES GOD WITH GOD’S GOOD GIFTS.

APPLICATION: IS WORLDLINESS GOING TO A PARTY? NO. JESUS WENT TO PARTIES. WORLDLINESS IS LIVING FOR PARTIES. IS WORLDLINESS HAVING A DRINK? NO. JESUS MADE GOOD WINE. INSTEAD, WORLDLINESS IS LIVING FOR ALCOHOL. IS WORLDLINESS HAVNIG POSSESSIONS? NO! JESUS DIDN’T REBUKE MARY WHEN SHE POURED EXPENSIVE PERFUME ON HIS FEET. INSTEAD WORLDLINESS IS WHEN POSSESSIONS HAVE YOU. WORLDLINESS OBSESSES OVER GOD’S GOOD GIFTS MORE THAN GOD. WORLDLINESS OBSESSES OVER THIS LIFE MORE THAN THE NEXT. KIDS…LET ME COME TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND SHARE WITH YOU WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR HOME, AND ASK YOU A QUESTION…HOW CLOSE TO THE WORLD, OR CHRIST? CLOTHES, MUSIC, ETC.

DIFFERENT IN OUR AFFILIATIONS TO THE WORLD- I PETER 4:7-11

EXPLANATION: FOLLOWING CHRIST MEANS THAT WE NOT ONLY ACT DIFFERENTLY AMONG THE WORLD, BUT THAT WE ARE DIFFERENT IN OUR AFFILIATIONS OR RELATIONSHIPS TO THE WORLD. THIS IS WHAT PETER GETS AT IN VERSES 7-11. THE EMPHASIS IS ON HOW WE RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER. NOW IN ORDER TO REALLY GET AT THIS WE HAVE TO DO SOME WORK TO SEE HOW THE WORLD DID RELATIONSHIPS BACK THEN. PETER IS WRITING TO A STATUS OBSESSED SOCIETY THAT WAS VERY HIERARCHICAL IN NATURE, AND NEVER DID THE CLASSES MIX. SO THAT RELATIONSHIPS, WHO YOU HUNG OUT WITH AND ATE WITH WERE OPPORTUNITIES TO EITHER INCREASE OR ENTRENCH YOUR SOCIAL STATUS. JESUS CONSTANTLY BEING CONDEMNED FOR EATING WITH PEOPLE SEEN AS BENEATH HIM. WHY? THE WORLD VIEWED RELATIONSHIPS AS BEING TRANSACTIONAL. I ONLY RELATE TO PEOPLE WHO BRING SOMETHING TO THE TABLE. AND ALONG COMES JESUS AND HE BREAKS ALL THESE RULES. HE SITS WITH A SAMARITAN WOMAN AT A WELL. HE EATS CONSTANTLY WITH TAX COLLECTORS. AND HE’S CALLED THE FRIEND OF SINNERS. LOOK AT WHAT HE SAYS TO US IN LUKE 14:13-14: 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” HOW DO CHRISTIANS LOOK DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD? WE DO NOT DO RELATIONSHIPS FROM A TRANSACTIONAL POSTURE! WE WALK WITH PEOPLE WHO SEEMINGLY BRING NOTHING TO THE TABLE.

APPLICATION: WHOSE IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU ARE IN COMMUNITY WITH THAT WHEN OTHER PEOPLE SEE YOU ALL BREAK BREAD TOGETHER IT TURNS HEADS AND RAISES EYEBROWS? WHO ARE YOU WALKING WITH THAT’S NOT IN YOUR TAX BRACKET, COULD AFFORD TO LIVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD…NOT WHO ARE YOU WRITING CHECKS TO.

EXPLANATION 2: THIS IS PETER’S POINT HERE. HE BEGINS BY SAYING LOVE ONE ANOTHER EARNESTLY. THE WORD EARNESTLY WAS USED IN GREEK LITERATURE TO SPEAK OF A HORSE WHO HAD STRETCHED OUT AND WAS RUNNING AS FAST AS THEY COULD TO THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION. RACE. PETER IS SAYING DON’T JUST LOVE, BUT LOVE TO THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION. NEXT HE CALLS US TO SHOW HOSPITALITY. THE GREEK WORD HERE IS BOTH A COMMAND AND IT MEANS LOVE OF STRANGER. IT’S NOT JUST ENTERTAINMENT. HOSPITALITY MEANS TO LEVERAGE YOUR RESOURCES FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS AND THE GLORY OF GOD. ENTERTAINMENT IS ABOUT ME AND IMPRESSING. HOSPITALITY- THE LOVE OF STRANGER- IS A POWERFUL WITNESS GOD COULD USE TO DRAW PEOPLE TO HIMSELF.

ILLUSTRATION: SHAY AND YOLANDA. JADEN- ARE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE? JOSH COMES TO CHRIST, AND THEY ARE SO CLOSE!

EXPLANATION 3: SERVE ONE ANOTHER. SPIRITUAL GIFTS. BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST. WHY SHOULD I DO ALL THIS? VERSE 7- END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND. SELF-CONTROLLED…SOBER-MINDED. TO BE SPIRITUALLY ALERT. THE WAY WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE RELATIONALLY, AND BETTER THE LIVES AROUND US AND OUR WORLD, IS BECAUSE WE HAVE ONE EYE ON ETERNITY.

"If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished Slave Trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven, and you will get earth "thrown in': aim at earth, and you will get neither. – C.S. Lewis.

APPLICATION: WHEN WE REFUSE TO GO THE WAY OF THE WORLD IN RELATIONSHIP WHICH IS TRANSACTION, BUT WE LOOK TO TRANSGRESS SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LINES TO WALK WITH PEOPLE, THINK OF THE IMPACT THAT WILL HAVE IN ETHNIC UNITY, IN OUR WITNESS TO OUR FRIENDS IN THE GAY COMMUNITY, AND AMONG THE POOR AND THE RICH?

DIFFERENT IN OUR ACHES IN THE WORLD: I PETER 4:12-19

EXPLANATION. LET’S BE CLEAR, IF BY SUFFERING YOU MEAN GOING THROUGH HARD TIMES, EVERYONE HAS AND WILL SUFFER. BUT PETER HAS SOMETHING FAR MORE SPECIFIC IN MIND. LOOK AT WHAT HE SAYS IN 12-15. MURDER AND STEALING WERE CAPITAL CRIMES IN ROME. THE PUNISHMENT WAS SUFFERING. WHAT’S CLEAR HERE IS PETER IS TALKING ABOUT SUFFERING NOT AS ONE’S JUST DUE, OR NOT EVEN TO THE FACT THAT WE LIVE IN A FALLEN WORLD WHERE CANCER, DISEASE, SICKNESS AND EVIL PEOPLE ARE THE NORM. INSTEAD HE’S TALKING ABOUT SUFFERING FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST. THIS IS WHAT HE MEANS BY THE FIERY TRIAL. NOW GRANTED, THIS KIND OF SUFFERING IS THE BIGGEST DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE WORLD OF THE NT, AND OUR WORLD TODAY. TO BE A CHRISTIAN BACK THEN WAS TO INVITE A PECULIAR KIND OF SUFFERING. YOU COULD BE THROWN INTO THE COLISEUM AND ATTACKED BY WILD ANIMALS. YOU COULD BE SEWN IN BAGS WITH WILD ANIMALS AND THROWN DOWN THE RIVER. YOUR BODY COULD BE HUNG FROM POLES, AND SET ON FIRE ALL FOR FOLLOWING JESUS. 11 OF THE 12 DISCIPLES WERE MARTYRS. THEY SERE CRUCIFIED, SAWN IN TWO, RUN THROUGH WITH SPEARS. WELL, THAT’S NOT REALLY HAPPENING IN AMERICA TODAY, AND WE SHOULD PRAISE GOD. SO HOW CAN WE APPLY THIS? THREE THINGS TO DO WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE ACHES OF THIS WORLD.

PERSPECTIVE- VERSE 16. “DO NOT BE SURPRISED”. TO BE EMOTIONALLY IMPACTED. DON’T LET IT THROW YOU. GET PERSPECTIVE. GO TO WAR WITH THE HAPPINESS ETHIC. GOD’S NOT ULTIMATELY AFTER YOUR HAPPINESS, HE’S AFTER HIS GLORY. WE SEE THIS IN 16. WESTMINSTER CATECHISM. GIVE GOD GLORY. TELESCOPE ILLUSTRATION. HOW CAN I BRING GOD CLEARLY INTO VIEW THROUGH THIS ACHE?

ATTITUDE- 13. REJOICE. INTERESTING WORD, COMES FROM SAME FAMILY OF WORDS AS GRACE. TO REJOICE IS OUR RESPONSE NOT TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT TO THE GRACE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES. SLAVES WHO SANG.

POSTURE- ENTRUST. VERSE 19. A FINANCIAL TERM. WHEN I GO TO THE BANK. LEAVE IT THERE. I DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT. I’M NOT CHECKING ON IT ALL THE TIME WONDERING IF IT’S THERE. I’M GOING TO LEAVE MY HEALTH, MY REPUTATION, MY MINISTRY IN THE HANDS OF GOD.

GOSPEL CONCLUSION- MOUNT VERNON