The Hope that Lives
The Hope that Lives
1 Peter 1:3-9
Grace, Mercy, and Peace, be multiplied to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When the apostle Peter wrote this letter it was directed to those who were suffering. So I often share it with people who are going through some particular affliction of body or soul. It has brought comfort and assurance to me many times when I have been under severe stress.
But, I chose this text for our meditation, not because of its strength to comfort, even though that is certainly important, but because I think it describes the quiet unassuming faith and life of our friend Arthur Frederick Sebald.
Joan, my conversations with you and your family confirmed this to be the right scripture for this occasion. As I listened to your kind recollections, the image formed in my mind was of a man who lived a life of Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But what is it about this God that might have helped fashion Art’s gentle, loving spirit and kind-heartedness? Well, if we look at things as they really are in life, we immediately recognize its greatest obstacle, death. And death, scripture tells us, is the consequence and payoff of sin. And, as we can see, not even the very best of people can escape it. Not even our good friend.
How very sad and hopeless this all seems. And it is hopeless except for one thing, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from this God there is no hope for any of us. Yet, with Art, we are enabled to Praise this God because of what He has done for us.
You see, it isn’t just physical death that scripture speaks of when it says, “The wages of sin is death.” And it isn’t just the sins we commit that condemns us to the sentence of death. From the day of conception, the heart and spirit of man is turned in opposition to his God, which is spiritual death. But that is what God deals with in and through the person and work of His One-and-Only Son, Jesus Christ.
In mercy, God sends His Son into the world to assume into himself the human nature and physical life of mankind. By doing that, He demonstrates his own gentle, loving Spirit, and kind-heartedness toward sinful mankind; toward people who least deserve it. In other words, in Christ Jesus, God raised his condemned creatures out of the sleep of death and brought them into his own sinless glory and life. Therein is the new birth of spirit in us. Therein is the living hope of all mankind. Therein is the living hope of the resurrection. Therein is the eternal “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” Therein is the life of our friend, Art Sebald, and all who believe.
Yet, not all people get it. Only those whose hearts are turned in faith toward God receive the promise and benefits of what Jesus Christ has done. So how valuable is this faith? Speaking with Art during the time of his illness, he voiced its value for himself when he said, “everything depends on Jesus Christ.”
How appropriately the words of Peter fit the life of this one sinner made saint by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is as though Peter himself is saying to Art and to us, “The living hope and the eternal inheritance, is kept safe in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s Power until the day when all things are revealed for what they really are.”
You see, that faith causes us to rejoice in God our Savior, even under the most difficult situations of life. So, its value is inestimable. Not even the most highly refined elements of creation, like gold tested by fire, can endure God’s test for quality and genuineness. Not even one of God’s children can endure this test, except for faith.
During his illness, Art made a comment about feeling as though he had been poisoned. Indeed, when cancer attacks the body, it is like poison. But Art knew another kind of poison besides cancer. He knew about the spiritual poison that has far greater consequences, eternal consequences, than any cancer. And that is why I think he said, “Everything depends on Jesus.”
Apart from Jesus Christ, Art knew he would never measure up to God’s standard of absolute perfection, no matter how good a man he was. But, he also knew first hand how Jesus Christ is God’s promise of perfection and a right standing with God, to all who believe. He trusted God’s promise made to him in baptism, that our lives are connected to God in Christ in the likeness of his death and resurrection. And that means a new life, a new way of living for Art. He could live, knowing that if he died, God is alive. And if God is alive and we are connected to Him according to his own promise, we too have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in us.
There is so much more to Jesus’ life; death, and resurrection than meets the eye. He is much more than a historical figure who happened to live and die some two thousand years ago. The event of his life, death, and resurrection is the eternal event in which all flesh lives through faith. Jesus Christ is God. He will not fail us.
You see, Art believed the words of the God who caused this word to be written: “All who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Yes, I believe if Art could speak to us now, he would want to reassure his family and friends that the promise of God is real and stands secure over-against any poison that might attack the body, spiritual or physical. He would want us to know that we too can simply rest in the faithful hands of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Is it any wonder then that the apostle could encourage the beloved people of God undergoing the trials of persecution and even death with the words: “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, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls”
Family and friends of our departed brother in the faith, in this time of our grief the hope that lives will fill our hearts and minds with the assurance of victory over sin, death, and the grave. Amen.