Christianity

07/29/08

Good Reasons for Good Living

1Peter  1:13-25

I want to start off this morning by doing a little exercise to get you brains moving. We’ll call it Sunday Morning Jeopardy. I am going to quote a well known advertising slogan and all you have to do is think of the product being advertised. Are you ready?

If I were to say…

"We love to see you smile." You would think about McDonalds Pretty easy right

Ok lets try “You've Got Questions; We've Got Answers” And you would think Radio Shack.

"M'm! M'm! Good!" would be Campbell’s Soup. 

"Nothing runs like a Deere" would be John Deere

"Be all you can be." Would be the United States Army

"We try harder." Would be Avis Rent A Car

And one last one and this one we will go back a bit “"A little dab'll do ya." Of course is from Brylcreem.

Well how did you do? I wouldn’t be surprised if most of you scored 100, or missed only one. You see Advertising is a billion dollar business. Advertisers use catchy phrases and memorable words because they want us to remember their products. And more that that they want us to desire their products.

Every commercial on the T.V., Radio, and in print is designed to make you believe that your lives would somehow be incomplete if that product wasn't in your garage or closet or cupboard or wallet. They want us to think that their products are rare, one of a kind, unusually good, and uncommonly efficient. A slogan or ad that accomplishes that goal is said to be sticky. It sticks in our minds and becomes a part of our cultural language.

You may be surprised to learn that Bible also has a word to describe things that are rare, unusual, one of a kind, and different. It is used to describe the character of things or people who are set apart from all the rest. Unfortunately, it isn't a very sticky word. Maybe it will be by the time we're through. The word found in many places in the Bible but this morning we need to look for it in out text. I will give you a hint though we are looking for the word "holy."

Turn with me to 1 Peter 1: 13 - 25. Let's read our text, then pray.

We know what advertisers mean when they say their products or services are unusually good or of fine quality. They try to convince us that they are better, cheaper, quicker, and closer. They create the feeling that if we use their product we will be smarter, richer, healthier, happier, and better looking. But what does the Bible mean when it talks about being rare, unusual, different and one of a kind? What does the Bible mean when it uses the word "holy?"

In our text Peter mentions five characteristics that make Christians rare, one of a kind.

The first characteristic he mentions is self-control in verse 13.

You don’t have to ponder to long about self-control to conclude that self-controlled people are rare in our world. Watch the latest news out of Washington D.C. or Hollywood or Birmingham. Pay attention to television and radio commercials. Our market driven society is interested in asking and answering only one question; what does the customer want?

We stand neck deep in a river of unquestioned wants, unqualified obsessions, and unchallenged ambitions while we try to sandbag our lives with self-control. People who think critically about the morality and virtue of their desires and who sometimes say no themselves are unusual. But that’s what we are called to be.

The second characteristic Peter mentions that makes Christians holy, or one of a kind is hope also in verse 13.

Hope is such a great word. It is more than a wishful imagination, it’s an attitude about life and time. Hope believes that the present moment, desperate as it may be, is only temporary. Hope believes there will be a future in which everything will be different. Without hope, self-control is pointless. Why deny yourself the pleasures of the moment if the future will be no different than today?

Hope believes that the world and time and people are all speeding towards a moment where the questions will be answered and the injustices will be righted and the pain and despair of life will be erased. People who have hope swim in an ocean of cynicism.

Next Peter mentions obedience in verse 14.

Peter puts a strange spin on the notion of obedience. We normally think of obedience as conformity to a standard. But Peter says that obedience is just the opposite; it is non-conformity. "As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance."

Think about that for a moment, people who take God's laws seriously are serious non-conformists. They are not interested in acting like other people in their neighborhood; they are not interested in following the lead of city council, and would never follow the lead of another church. They are truly autonomous. 

Henry David Thoreau called it marching to the beat of a different drummer.

The writer of the gospel of Mark called it following a different way.

John called it walking in the light.

Whatever you call it, being one of a kind, being rare and different, being holy means obedience to God, and God alone.

In verse 17 we get our fourth characteristic of being Holy and that’s reverence.

"Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear."

Reverence is a bog word that you only hear in Church but we don’t really ever go farther that saying that you must be reverent. So what does it mean?  Well the Jeremy Houck definition is the ability to be in awe of someone or something.

So if we are holy we cannot cease to be amazed by God even if the rest of the world seems bored and unimpressed with him.

Finally in this section Peter mentions one other characteristic of these strange people; brotherly love.

Vs.22. "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers and sisters, love each other deeply, from the heart."

It is easy to love the lovely isn’t it? I can be patient with those who present no challenge to our thinking with out a thought. We are all kind to those from whom we expect something in return. And readily available to those who we think might be worth the investment of time.

But it is another thing altogether to live out this characteristic of holiness. Peter urges us to love those who don't deserve it. To be patient with those who push our endurance; to be kind to those who sometimes behave unkindly; to be available to those from whom we expect nothing in return.

Holy people are self controlled, hopeful, obedient, reverent, and loving. In other words they are grand non-conformists. The question is, then, why would anyone want to be holy?

I can understand why one would want to live in an exclusive neighborhood, drive a one-of-a-kind car, do her shopping in unique department store, and sport a specially tailored wardrobe. But why would anybody want to discipline their desires in a permissive society, exercise hope in a cynical world, voluntarily submit to the authority of a God he's never seen, and stay continually in awe of a God when everyone else seems so unimpressed?

It is questions just like that, that keep the church and her individual members teetering between holiness and Godlessness. But in our text Peter gives us 3 good reasons for good living.

First, in vs. 16 Peter quotes God himself; "Be holy, because I am holy."

Maybe it’s because we Christians talk more about the laws than the lawgiver, but for some reason it seems that people in our world think that God has some kind of love affair with rules. They imagine that God is like a heavenly congressman who loves nothing more than writing new laws into existence, and then God acts like a kind of self-appointed supreme court whose soul purpose is the conviction, sentencing, and execution of all us rule breakers.

But when Peter wanted to give us the first reason for being holy he didn't say, "Be holy because it’s the law." He said, "Be holy, because God is holy." A holy lifestyle is commanded not for the sake of the rules but for the sake of a relationship.

God is different. He is one of a kind. There is a beautiful song that says “Lord, there is none like You.” If we intend to share a relationship with Him we are going to have to begin to share some common interests and characteristics. I have trouble being friends with people who contradict everything I consider important. If honesty is important to you, you don't want to share a relationship with someone who lies all the time. If hard work is important to you, you aren't going to get along very well with a lazy person.

Similarly there are certain characteristics which are essential to the character of God. Honesty, love, justice, mercy, among many others. God cannot share a relationship with people who are given to dishonesty, hate, injustice, and cruelty. We are called to be holy because that is what we must be if we want to share a relationship with this holy God.

We find our second reason in verse 17. "Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives here in reverent fear. "

We must be holy because there is going to be a judgment day. And God is the final judge all of us must face.

That is an important thing to remember because we can sometimes get so caught up in the present moment that we forget that the decisions that we make and the actions that we take have far reaching consequences.

The Apostle Paul once said, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade people." In other words, the stark realities of heaven and hell are powerful motivations for living holy lives. Let’s make two quick observations about this verse.

First, the imagery Peter uses to picture God in this verse is very balanced-­fair and balanced.

Notice that Peter first calls God "Father," then "final judge." If God were only a loving Father, then we would be susceptible to the temptation of taking him for granted. He'd become a doting, quaint old man almost amusing to us.

But if God is only final judge, then we become susceptible to the temptation of imagining him as nothing but an angry, fearsome, fire breathing monster god. So Peter offers us a balanced picture of a God who is not to be taken for granted; he is the final judge before whom all must stand. But neither is he a heavenly monster who haunts our nightmares and terrorizes our future. God is the loving Father in whose presence all may feel safe and wanted.

The second observation is that Peter suggests that the future is ours for the making.

He would not be providing motivations for a holy life if we were locked into an unchangeable future. Why warn people about God the final judge or reassure them about God the loving father if they can't do anything about their destiny? So what Peter is really saying is something like this; you choose which characteristic of God you wish to embrace; loving father or final judge.

Finally, in verses 18 - 21 we see a third motivation for choosing a holy life. There is the issue of a relationship with a holy God. There is the inevitability of judgment. And then Peter mentions the expensive price which was paid for our redemption.

Read vv. 18 - 21

The word "redeemed" is not one we use very often. In my wallet, I have a Mama Fu’s card. Every time Trista and I go to a Mama Fu’s in Huntsville and buy an entrée the guys there punch an F through one of the numbers. When they've punched nine F’s, I can redeem the card for the entrée of my choice. I'm two away from redemption. And while that's one meaning of the word redeem, it doesn't even come close to the meaning here in 1 Peter.

Now let me give you a little history on Peter's use of the word redeem. Remember that his culture slavery was as common as going to your favorite restaurant is in ours. Many people lived their entire lives indentured to someone else. But freedom could be won. The most common way an enslaved person could win his/her freedom was with money. That's why Peter mentions silver and gold. If you could somehow save enough money you could buy your freedom.

That's the background for what Peter means when he says redemption. But what does that have to do with people who live in the freest country in the world? We don't feel like slaves. We don't have to buy freedom - we are born into it. Or are we?

Peter says that Jesus redeemed us from an empty way of life. He set us free from the slavery of living empty lives. You may not think you are a slave, but you may not be as free as you think. Anyone who has ever felt enslaved by a habit they just can't break knows what slavery is.

Anyone who has ever wondered at the insanity of going to work to make money to spend on things that don't fulfill them, then going back to work to make more money to spend on more unfulfilling things, knows what slavery is.

Anyone who has ever pulled off to the side of the road out of respect for mourners in a passing funeral procession and contemplated the inevitability of death knows what slavery is.

And anyone who has ever wondered and worried about how they will fare come judgment day knows what slavery is. We may not wear shackles and chains, but our slavery is just as real. But the good news is that Jesus paid a high price to set us free from emptiness. Not silver, not gold, but his very life. And it was, as Peter says in vs. 20, for your sake.

Why would anyone want to live a holy life if it means self-control in a permissive society, hope in a sea of cynicism, living a life of awe before God when everyone else seems bored with Him, obedience, and sacrificial love?

Because God is holy and if we want a relationship with Him we must be holy too. Because there is going to be a judgment day at which my eternal destiny will be announced. And because God gave His Son to set me free from emptiness. Because of Jesus I can be empowered to live up to the demands of holiness. Because of Jesus I can embrace God as a loving father and not fear the final judgment. Because of Jesus I can be free.

Passages like this one do two things.

They confront us with God's standards and the risks of ignoring them. They remind us that we will be judged if we reject a relationship with God. They warn us to get serious about our standing before the final judge.

But they also announce hope. They proclaim that we do not have to live in slavery to sin or in fear of the judgment. They promise us that if we will embrace Jesus in faith, we will, as Peter says in vs. 22, be purified by our obedience to the truth. Are you holy? Are you different from everyone else?

Have you obeyed God's command to be baptized, to be cleansed and healed and made new? Holiness is not only a very real and near possibility for you. It is immediately available, completely free, and once and for all given.