Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Faith in Action”*

*1 Peter 1:13-25*

* *

~*Intro - You will often find within the church and I would bet, even in this church, that there exists a difference of opinion of what it means to be a faithful Christian.

And you will certainly see it played out in a larger extent in our community and around the world.

If you were to follow around a random sampling of us here to observe what Christianity looks like to him or her, you would likely see different highlights.

Following one person you might observe countless hours spent reading commentaries, atlases, systematic theologies, and Christian blogs - and this may be to the exclusion of any practical service to the church, neighbors, or community.

You may choose to follow the person sitting on the other side of you the following week.

You see this person spending the same amount of hours at the homeless shelter handing out clothing and soup, engaging political events, meeting people at the coffee shop and talking about the rock slide or the olympics – and this perhaps to the exclusion of a growing knowledge of God or the gospel.

Which person best represents what we are called to if we are on mission with God?? Neither one!

Right??

The first person correctly believes that we need to know more of God and His Word, but perhaps neglects to apply what he learns.

The second correctly believes that there is an obligation for Christians to be engaging our world.

The pitfall is that we can become so busy “doing”, that it essentially becomes empty service if not combined with an accurate presentation of God and His Gospel.

It is the tension we feel between knowing and doing – between ivory towers and soup kitchens.

And I think that we will see that this is a major thrust of Peter’s message for us this morning.

This week’s text is 1 Peter 1:13-25.

Please turn with me to this passage of Scripture, if you have not done so already.

I’ve entitled this sermon as *“A Holy Life”.

*I believe that this text gives us four crucial elements in order to live that holy life.

We will see that they involve thinking and doing.

First, let’s read the text.

A first crucial element for a holy is “*Get Your Head in the Game”.

* Perhaps you’ve seen goalies before the beginning of a hockey game, or a starting pitcher before he takes the mound.

Many athletes have a particular method of preparing themselves mentally.

They recognize that being mentally engaged is crucial to their performance in the game.

Rarely will you see someone jump out of their car and onto the ball field.

They would not be properly equipped to begin.

How much more important is it for us as Christians to ensure that we are mentally prepared for action?

Verse 13 contains three participles.

The ESV translates two of them as simultaneous action to the main verb.

I think some other translations convey the concept more accurately as they have translated them as imperatives like the main verb here.

So they are actually three commands in this same verse.

But the first thing we notice is that our passage begins with the word “therefore”.

Peter is now going to exhort his readers to do something in light of what he has just told them.

And we saw last week that Peter was reminding his readers that, in spite of their trials and persecutions, they possessed a living hope and eternal inheritance that was yet to be fully realized.

He told them also that perseverance through those trials actually validated their genuine faith.

And that their salvation was secure until the return of Jesus Christ.

So in light of this great salvation that God brought about on their behalf.

Peter tells his readers that they now have responsibilities to carry out.

He starts by telling them to prepare their minds for action, to be sober-minded, and to set their hope fully on the grace to come.

To “prepare our minds for action” is literally rendered “to gird up the loins of our minds”.

The language and imagery would be quite familiar to the original readers.

It conveys the idea of pulling up the loose robe from around your legs and tying them into your sash.

It is a way of eliminating the hindrances so that we are ready for action.

The life of the Christian is not one in which we say “whew, I’m saved.

I’m not going to hell now.

I think I’ll just sit back and wait for the return of Christ.

I made it.

Thank you, God!” Once we are born again by the Spirit of God, we need to be active.

You see the idea here is similar to that in Ephesians 6 where we are commanded to put on the belt of truth.

Do you remember the armor of God passage?

To put on the belt of truth is to pull all the loose ends together, to tighten and hold together the armor.

When you go into battle you don’t want to be fumbling and stumbling over your sword or garments.

You need to be unhindered.

And the same is true with regard to our minds.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we cannot hope to be successful in this Christian life if we are not actively and mentally engaged.

Let me illustrate this to you on a practical and personal level for me.

As you know, we were recently in Southern California on vacation.

In the hustle and bustle of our “relaxing” vacation, we would often rise early in the morning so we could beat out the big crowds at the San Diego Zoo and Sea World and the like.

I noticed on one of the days, I was becoming short with my family and acting inconsistently with being a godly father and husband.

It didn’t take long for me to connect the dots.

In the midst of the hurried mornings, I had neglected to get my head in the game.

I hadn’t cracked open my Bible nor spent time with my Father in prayer.

And that was only a couple of mornings.

I can’t imagine what my life would look like if that continued for a week, or for a month.

If I am not active in renewing my mind, I will not become more holy and I will actually regress in my spiritual walk with Christ.

And that’s what Romans 12:2 is talking about when Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So what are the hindrances?

What are those things that we are to lay aside in order to prepare for action?

Hear the words of John Calvin: “he [Peter] intimates that our minds are held entangled by the passing cares of the world and by vain desires, so that they rise not upward to God.

Whosoever, then, really wishes to have this hope, let him learn in the first place to disentangle himself from the world, and gird up his mind that it may not turn aside to vain affections.”

We live in an age of distraction.

There are so many possible things to /do, /it is seriously overwhelming.

We live in an age of transportation and communication.

If we can afford the price of gasoline, we have the freedom to go just about anywhere we desire.

We can communicate with almost anybody anywhere.

We live in a culture of recreation.

In Squamish, we can ride our bikes, scale rock walls, play in the water, ski and snowboard in the winter, play hockey, football, or soccer.

We also live in a culture of vacation.

And this is truly a combination of our age of transportation and our culture of recreation.

We live in an age of the internet.

I am convinced that you could probably entertain yourself on a 15 inch screen for the rest of your life.

There is so much information, entertainment, communication to keep you going endlessly.

But how many of these things help us to prepare our minds for action in the Christian life?

But what does Peter say here?

He says to prepare our minds for action and to be sober-minded.

When we look at that second command, it is quite easy and appropriate to apply that to refraining from intoxication from drugs and alcohol.

We are definitely not prepared for action when we are unable to think clearly.

But I think that it goes even beyond that idea.

Many of the distractions I just briefly mentioned are not necessarily evil of themselves.

The problem is when we are /intoxicated/ by them.

How do we know when we are intoxicated with the things of the world?

I’ll ask you the same things I ask myself to keep in check?

And this is just a sampling.

You can ask yourself different questions. 1) When I get out of bed in the morning, do I open God’s Word first or my e-mail inbox?

2) Do I spend more time mountain biking or studying my Bible? 3) Do I spend more /money/ on biking or giving back to God?

I think you get the idea… They become sinful and intoxicating when they overtake our desire for God and holy living.

They essentially become idols.

Rather, we are to set our hope fully on the grace of Jesus Christ.

Last week, we talked about the grace that is already revealed in the life of the believer.