Alston Road Church of Christ Podcast

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

In a story for the Atlantic called “The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake” David Brooks argues that the detachment of the nuclear family from extended family has been a mistake. Throughout history, extended families lived near one another — working family farms and businesses together. Grandparents were useful and cared for, moms and dads worked alongside aunts and uncles, cousins grew up learning and working together, and the many children had many hands to catch them when they fell. There was abundant economic and emotional support.

But as society became more industrialized and jobs moved to the cities, extended families started splintering. Throughout the 20th century people started valuing independence and dream-chasing over sticking with the family. People freed themselves from the family’s expectations. But, Brooks says, “We’ve made life freer for individuals and more unstable for families. We’ve made life better for adults but worse for children.”

There were once many hands to provide, cook, clean, care for and support kids. Now mom and dad are alone as they live life and carry the load that the extended family used to carry with them. Divorce has skyrocketed and children are being dislocated further from their family stories and from a sense of belonging to anything. Children are often not raised with a sense of being committed to anything larger than themselves - which is a very lonely way to live. Instead of becoming economic contributors to the family, children are raised with the expectation that they will run away and chase their dreams.  They are free to endure the anxiety and pressure of “dreaming big” and “finding themselves” in a world without borders. We are free from the family to chase the wind.

And so Brooks wisely insists that detached nuclear families are freer from responsibility, but are also without embodied economic and emotional support.

But, not being a man of God, his ultimate solution rang hollow. He rightly saw that people should broaden their definition of kin and form closer-knit communities with people around us. But there was no substantive base underlying the new communities he suggested, except the common desire to be in community. The sense is: “just get in community and be there for each other so you are supported.”

Peter is addressing Christians as exiles in the world. And as you can imagine, Brooks’ piece touches on a serious challenge for people who are marginalized by society and exiled from home. Scripture clearly illustrates the solution: not only should we care for our biological family, the Christian community is also our family. And while Brooks is unable to help beyond “get in community and redefine kinship,” Peter tells us how we should redefine kinship, why we should love one another and how we can grow in our love for one another. As we read 1 Peter 1:22-25 together, notice how the word “seed” is not talking about plants but the Father’s seed that generates rebirth.

1. Love Earnestly Because of Your Common Seed (1:22-25)

There are many purpose statements throughout the Bible explaining why God has done what he’s done. Verse 22: we were purified by obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly, familial love. But we all have been born from seed from so many different fathers. We are so different. Why would we look at and love one another as brothers and sisters? Notice verse 23. We have been given a common rebirth through the Father’s imperishable seed. This makes us kin and makes sincere brotherly love possible.

And here’s what is so neat — Peter says that this seed is the living and abiding word of God. That’s a wild way to describe God’s word. Unlike human fathers’ seed that perishes, God’s word is seed that abides and is so powerful it inseminates and gives new birth to people throughout all generations.

In order to enrich our vision what Peter means by speaking of God’s word like this, he quotes Isaiah 40:6-9. In Isaiah 40 and later, Isaiah speaks to a future generation of exiles who feel forgotten by the Lord. But Isaiah comforts them with a word, good news from God. “I reign as king. I will end your warfare, hardships and oppression. I will forgive your iniquities. I will redeem you from exile and bring you home. And then Isaiah says, “Flesh is grass (people are unreliable)... but the word of the Lord (my promise, this good news) remains forever (it will outlive you, you can rely on it).

Notice the end of verse 25. Peter says this same word, good news that was preached to those exiles has been preached to us. God reigns as king in Jesus. You too are under the thumb of Babylon, but God will deliver you. He will deliver you from your sins and from the grave. And Isaiah and Peter are both reminding us: this word of God — good news — is not going to fade away like the plans of men. It endures. God reigns and will deliver.

When received, this good news is so powerful to us, that it is like seed from the Father that causes us to be born again to imperishable life to the Father. Red, brown, yellow, black, while, male, female, rich, poor — this new birth makes us family and it means we ought to love one another sincerely with a deep, brotherly, familial love. 

When we struggle with sincere familial love like this for one another, why is that? Let me put my finger on two possible reasons. First, we don’t love like this when we allow another word, another explanation of reality to reorganize our thoughts and lives. How we forget the power of various idealogies, political persuasions, and secular ethics. Do we feel different, estranged from the people in this church? Consider: maybe we aren’t letting the same good news give us new birth. Maybe we have given our ears and eyes to other promises and hopes than the Christian hope; to other ideologies and politics than the framework of God’s kingdom; to other ethics and priorities than the Christ’s. We must take care that we are not divided by different idealogies, politics and ethics. In fact, we must take extra care that we are not united under them too. Our world is being turned upside down right now and there are many people dressed in sheep’s clothing vying to reshape our worldview. If we will listen very closely, we will hear a dragon’s voice behind the sheep’s clothing.

Second, maybe we don’t love sincerely and deeply like this because we just forget we are indeed kin. Our superficial differences get in the way. Maybe we see ourselves as the family of those who share the same superficial differences. While we seek to rescue the lost, we must remember that those who do not receive God’s seed are not God’s children and are not our family. They persist in the futile ways inherited by our forefathers. Not us. We may look different - but we are family. 

I love the example Jesus sets in Mark 3:31-35. (ESV) “And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

We live in such an era of independence. We are pioneers forging our own paths to seize our dreams that fulfill us. We can get so lost trying to create our own personal legacy. But our obedience to the truth has made us kin and joins us with God’s legacy. This “chosen family” here is our legacy. Your children are my legacy, and mine are yours. Let us love one another sincerely, earnestly. Now,  in 2:1-3 Peter tells us to put away unloving actions.

2. Put Away Unloving Actions, Long for Spiritual Milk Instead (2:1-3)

Since we were purified and born again by the Father's seed, let's put away unloving actions. We are family and exiles together. Let's not have malice — evil behavior toward one another. Let's not deceive one another — lying to and tricking our family. Let's put away hypocrisy — be genuine and not two-faced. Let's put away envy — why not look at one another’s situations and stuff and rejoice in how God has blessed our family? And let's put away slander — why busy ourselves by spreading junk about each other? It is amazing how this all works in theory — until we have an actual wedge between one another. That suddenly becomes an excuse to treat one another differently.

We are exiles and we cannot survive apart from one another. These behaviors are poison that will destroy our new birth. But just as our Father gives us seed to produce new birth, he gives milk to nourish us. Verse 2: long for the pure spiritual milk. This is most likely another description of God’s word. To be clear, he’s not saying you should desire the milk of the word versus the meat of the word — that’s what is happening in Hebrews. Peter is enriching our vision of God’s word: see it as milk. 

Consider how powerful this makes God and his word. Peter has described God’s word as both seed and milk. And by implication this makes God a Father who gives us his seed and a mother who nourishes us with milk. 

If we aren’t careful we may miss something subtle here. We may be tempted to pit the word of God and love against one another. Some get agitated, “They are all about love but they don’t know the truth.” Others are arrogant, “We may not know much of the truth, but we love each other.” Do we see what Peter is saying here? What purifies us for brotherly love? Verse 22: obedience to the truth. What makes us family and motivates us to love one another? Verse 23: the word of God. What urges us to put away unloving actions and to grow in our salvation? Chapter 2: God and his nourishing milk, his word. We are to live in a flow and balance: hear the truth and live the truth; meditate on the word, live out the word.

There is a danger of hearing the word and not being a doer of it. There is also the danger of being like every generation of Israel before the exile: creating a new standard of right and wrong apart from the word and doing what is right in our own eyes.

So what should we do? Long for the milk like newborn infants. Cindy was just saying the other night that in this wild time when people are saying so many things, it is such a comfort to return to the word and know what is true, real, right. I treasure my memories of my parents and grandparents in their old age humbling feeding on God’s word. When my grandpa died in 2014 I went into his office and noticed his Bible on his desk. The Bible was only a few years old, but it was used up with notes everywhere. And lest you think my grandpa was always lost in his office secluded from the world, he was not. He was as involved as anyone in loving the brothers and sisters.

But why should we long for it in this way? That by it we may grow up into salvation. When we think about salvation we normally think salvation from hell. Peter is thinking, “No, salvation is something you grow up into.” Salvation is not just what we are saved from, it’s what we are saved to. We are being saved from our childish, selfish ways to be grown ups who perfectly love God and his family. We are saved, but not really, not yet.

This milk is how we continue “tasting” the Lord. Jesus is said to be the word of God because if you have what someone says - their words - then you can truly know and experience them. If we have tasted that the Lord is good, we should return to the milk. When David was exiled from Israel by Saul he almost lost his life when he sought refuge among the Philistines. But he cried out to the Lord and the Lord rescued him from his troubles. In Psalm 34 David then urges: taste and see that the Lord is good! 

Conclusion

In the many afflictions of exile it is easy to lose our way and seek out different sustenance. When we stop returning to God’s nourishing milk we stop growing up. We start dying. And we also lose the seed that makes us kin with the Father’s children.

Apart from the word of God, we are stuck with Brooks’ solution. He concludes, “Everybody should have membership in a forged family with people completely unlike themselves.” What a lonely, God-forsaken way to move through life - clawing for chosen family with people who have hope only in this life and in the comfort of community now.

We are exiles. But we can have a hope, community and good news that endures eternally. Let us long for the word of God like milk so we can be one with the children of God.

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

I’ll never forget the feeling I had when Jose Altuve hit his third homerun in the first game of playoffs in 2017. I was with Taylor at the game. And when the Astros won the world series, I cried. I felt like I was apart of something so much bigger than me. We crave to be part of something that matters, something that is bigger than us. We take pride in the country we are from and the city we live in. We fly a flag and we wear the colors of our favorite teams. And when the thing that is bigger than us is successful — when the Astros win it all — we feel like we are apart of something that matters.

But this craving to be apart of something can be hijacked by Satan. He wants to find “innocent” ways of injecting our lives with “meaning” and “purpose.” He wants to hijack why we are here, what we represent and the image we bear. Satan can use the Astros and the Texans, our school and our company, the United States, political parties and activist groups, and so much more to hijack why we are here. 

But Peter has spoken to us about how we are part of a family created by God’s imperishable seed. After speaking to us about how we ought to have a brotherly love for one another, Peter drills into us a clear picture of who we are together and what our purpose is together. We will see two pictures of who believers are and one picture of the end unbelievers are destined for.

Stones and Priests in a Spiritual House for Offering Sacrifices (vs. 4-6)

Peter uses Old Testament Scripture throughout today’s text to make his points. Here, he quotes Isaiah 28. In Isaiah 28 God indicts Jerusalem and her leaders because they think they can reject God’s word and still cheat death. So God promises that a storm is going to pass through and their deal with death will be annulled. But, as Peter quotes, Isaiah says that this doesn’t mean Zion is completely doomed. God is laying as a foundation a tested stone - and that stone isn’t going anywhere. Those who are full of unrighteousness and lies will be swept away. But those who believe in and cling to this foundation, this stone — the storm will not sweep them away. Cling to the foundation stone of Zion and you’ll be just fine.

But how in the world is someone to do that? The implication of Peter and Paul as they quote Isaiah 28 is this: the foundation stone, the cornerstone of Zion is the God-man Jesus. Everyone is building their cities and “temples” to honor their great name and the names of their gods. They will all fall. Even the Jerusalem below will fall. But God is building Zion for his honor and Jesus is its foundation. Cling to him, believe in him and it doesn’t matter what storms come against the cities of this world, they cannot touch us.

So Peter grabs onto this image of God building his city Zion and this spiritual house. You have come to this living stone and you yourselves are like living stones being built into my spiritual house. Not only that, you are a holy priesthood in this spiritual house here to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. 

I love the stones image because Peter is addressing Christians who are scattered all over the place living as a minority culture in a world that is hostile to them. I can imagine that from ground level, they seem to be a silly, disorganized band of radicals who will never collectively amount to anything at all. And don’t we feel like that at times? Massive forces play tug-of-war for this world and sometimes I feel like we are just a forgotten, scattered mess of nobodies eating crackers, drinking grape juice, worshipping an executed criminal. But actually, from heaven’s view, we are all stones being built together as one great spiritual house on Jesus the foundation, the cornerstone. And just as he was rejected, we will be. And just as he is chosen and precious in God’s sight, we are too. And God promises that no matter what, the spiritual house he is building, the Zion that he is constructing: it’s going nowhere. In Revelation 21, we see that project finalized: the completed new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven.

I love this image of us being priests because of the purpose and meaning it infuses into everyday life. Through Jesus we have also been qualified to be priests who offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. The priests of the Old Law lived all around the tabernacle and they were charged with bringing holy offerings from the people to the throne of the Lord. But they could bring wrath on themselves and the congregation at any moment, so they had to be very cautious. We are now the priests who constantly live before the throne of the Almighty God. What sacrifices are we bringing? When we worship God with both our mind and our heart, it is a sacrifice acceptable to God. It matters. When we serve and love one another for God’s honor, it is a sacrifice acceptable to God. When we forgive sins, when we kill sin, when we repent of sin, when we stand up for real justice in an unjust world, when we do our jobs as for the Lord, when we instruct our friends and children in the Lord and bring them to him — it matters. We are bringing sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So God has bestowed us with great honor. We are stones in a spiritual house that will not fall. We are priests bringing sacrifices that will be accepted by God. But not everyone receives this honor. In verses 7-8 Peter is going to weave together the messages of Old Testament Scriptures to show those who reject Christ are doomed to fall.

Unbelievers Reject God’s Cornerstone Stone and Stumble (vs. 7-8)

The picture of the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone comes from Psalm 118. In Psalm 118 David says that the nations surrounded him on every side, but the Lord helped him cut them down. His enemies had made a foolish mistake. Builders who don’t build on the cornerstone are going to build a house that will crumble. Similarly, nations that reject God’s true king will fall because of it.

The “stone of stumbling” image comes from Isaiah 8. In Isaiah 8, everyone is terrified of the conspiracies surrounding the shifting powers in their world. They are running around frightened — but nobody is trembling before Yahweh. They are ignoring him. So God says, I’m a rock that’s a sanctuary. Run to me and you’ll find shelter. But, he says, I’m also a rock of stumbling. Those who don’t fear and dread him as they should will stumble over me and be broken.

Zoom out and see the big picture here. David is the king the nations could have submitted to, but they were all cut off because they fought against him. God is the great king of the whole earth that Israel should have dreaded and sought refuge in, but they feared everything else, ran, stumbled on him and were broken into pieces. Peter is now merging these images and applying them to King Jesus. People who disobey God’s word do not believe in and give allegiance to King Jesus — for that they stumble and are destroyed.

Why do this? Why can’t Peter just stop judging everyone and just focus on who we are? The Spirit of God in Peter knows that when we see the destiny of unbelievers, it helps us have compassion on those who fall. Furthermore, it helps us see who we are more clearly. It builds our group identity. And that’s important because there is always the danger that the new Israel will become like the old Israel and stumble over King Jesus.

In our pluralistic society it’s pretty easy to adopt the wrong understanding about people who say “no” to the gospel. Sometimes we can think they are innocent people on neutral ground. “Hey, my faith isn’t their thing. No big deal.” And to be clear — we aren’t to be rude or arrogant. But let’s also hear Peter clearly. Those who encounter Jesus can never stand on neutral ground. Those who do not believe in Jesus are rejecting the true king of all and they are rejecting the foundation stone of Zion — the only city in which there is any security. To reject Jesus is to sin and to ultimately be destined to stumble and fall and be broken. 

The world is a mess because it has not been built on Jesus the cornerstone. This is what happens when we reject God’s stone for God’s city. Are we a mess too? Let me insert Paul’s plea to the Corinthians here. What are we doing yoked together with people who have rejected the very foundation stone of God’s house? Yes, we should witness about Jesus to them. But if they keep rejecting Jesus, they will fall. If we are arm-in-arm with them, they will bring us crashing down with them. We have been granted such an honor — let’s not throw it away with the world! Peter has one more identity-building image for us in verses 9-10.

Chosen Race, Priesthood, Nation to Proclaim His Excellencies (vs. 9-10)

This text is awesome. Israel was God’s special possession to stand as priests between him and the world. They were nothing from a worldly perspective — idolaters and slaves — but God brought them out of darkness and made them something. And here Peter weaves together at least three Old Testament Scriptures (Exodus 19, Isaiah 43, Hosea 2) that talk about God’s special purposes for Israel and he applies them all to us.

Here’s why that is so significant. First, this means we receive the promises that were granted to Israel. You know all those prophecies that speak of how God is going to forgive Israel’s sins, restore their land and make them powerfully reign over their enemies? Those promises from Daniel about how the people of God will rule over the beastly nations? Those promises about how God would grant Israel mercy and make them his priests, his representatives once again?By having the faith of a true Israelite, we have become heirs of all those promises. This is one reason why the gospel turned the world upside down — Gentiles rejoiced along with some Jews, but some Jews were straight up angry. 

Do we see how insanely merciful God has been to graft us into his plan? Who are we that we would inherit the king and the hope of ancient Israel? Who are we that we would be granted the honor of becoming the true Israel of God?

Second, this is so significant, because as Peter talks about here, this means we now get to adopt the purpose of Israel. Once, we were called, “Not my people,” but now we are called “my people.” And we have been given a charge: proclaim the praises, the excellencies of the one who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We can so often forget why we are here and who we represent. Satan is trying to hijack our meaning and who we represent. We scratch and claw for some sort of significance in something greater than us. And in our craving to be apart of a community, a project, a team, club, country, political party, school, company that means something — if we are not careful we will give our whole hearted allegiance to “big things” that do not perfectly reflect Christ’s values and do not exist to magnify Christ’s name. We become the Astros and Texans guy, the Republican or Democrat guy, the activist guy, the Longhorns-Aggies-Razorbacks-etc. guy, the United States guy, the guy or gal that’s going to change the world with our new invention or medicine. And though we would never admit it, maybe we look at ourselves and our world a little too much through these lenses. Oh, I see nothing wrong with flying the flag, wearing a sports shirt, voting for Trump or Biden, hash-tagging BLM, or doing good things that have an impact — but only if we refuse to give any of our hope or identity to these things.

We are ambassadors, priests representing the name of our God and it is in our partnership with him that we make a real impact on the world. Our labor in the Lord “is not in vain.” We are bridges to help the world see how marvelous God is. That’s why we’re here. 

Why can this be tough? It’s tough to proclaim God’s excellencies when we don’t see how excellent God is. If we are going to proclaim God’s excellencies, we have to see them! This is why I love the word of God. Every text gives us a fresh view of how great our God is. (This is why I love have the best job in the world — you pay me to tell you and others how great God is.) As we meditate on God’s word consistently, what happens is we carry these VR goggles with us everywhere and we start seeing the greatness and majesty of God behind everything.

Conclusion

If we struggle to embody this identity — stones in God’s house, priests to sacrifice to his name, a nation devoted to proclaiming God’s praises — it’s time to become more acquainted with our magnificent, holy God. It is time to fall in love with him — for the first time or all over again. In the words of Paul, it is time to see how worthless everything else is in comparison to knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. It is time to see how beautiful everything becomes when Jesus is our life. We don’t have to be nobodies. We don’t have to search high and low, scratching and clawing to become someone of significance in this world. In Christ, we are a people. And with us, God is building an everlasting house and city on the foundation of Jesus, and it will never fall. Let us surrender our identities and purposes to our great God.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: Psalms (Worshipping God)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

The Israelites had been tired, exhausted slaves for generation after generation. Each day they rose early to make bricks in the heat all day, sometimes being whipped. Each day they came home late, their bodies full of aching , slowly eating their dinners. They had cried so much. They had lost so many. So many sons. They were tired, discouraged and hopeless.

But not today. Today, there was a different energy in their cities when they got to the dinner table. Their homes had been cleansed of all leaven. A spotless lamb had been killed. Its blood had been put on the doorposts because the Angel of Death was coming that night. The lamb had been roasted over the fire. And when they gathered for dinner every single Israelite had their staffs is hand, sandals on their feet and belts fastened with their robes tucked in so they could move quickly. Most nights they slowly ate their food with tears, but not tonight. They shoveled that lamb and unleavened bread in their mouths with haste. They were tired, but there was a fire, a focus and a fear in their eyes. And when they finished dinner, all the leftover lamb was shoveled into the fire and burned. All previous goals, plans, passions were forgotten. They looked like they were ready to run. Why?

1. Set Your Hope Fully on Grace at Jesus Revelation (1:13-16)

Israel all in this way because tomorrow was the day their slavery would end. All other plans, purposes, goals, hopes for promotions or success or comfort in Egypt were forgotten. Tonight, the power of their God would be revealed over their masters and tomorrow they would be free.

Peter calls us to a similar kind of mindset in 1 Peter 1:13. Therefore: because of verses 3- 12, because you have been promised an imperishable inheritance, guaranteed a death-conquering hope, assured your trials will cause your faith to result in glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus, and because you now see the beginnings of a grace anticipated by prophets and angels - because we stand at a weighty moment in history anticipating the salvation to come when the king of everything is revealed —

(1) Prepare your minds for action. Gird up the loins of your mind. Tuck up your mental robes and get ready to run. (2) Be sober-minded. Not mentally intoxicated. Not speaking to a "joyless gloom" (Clowney) but a clear-headed focus. (3) Set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We are slaves in exile and the grace to be brought to us at Jesus' revelation is just around the corner. But if we don't live with that intense, ever-present clearheaded ness and hope on our heart, we will become lazy, fearful , distracted, hopeless. Like running a race if we don't keep the finish line in our mind's eye, we will wonder "what in the world am, I doing out here?" Then we start walking.

But we have to stop that foolish thinking and remember what is coming. We are in exile under foreign powers but we serve the king of everywhere and everything and any minute he will be revealed from heaven with grace to be brought to his loyal subjects.

When I am running and I wonder “why I am out here?” I try to think about how good it feels the rest of the day after I run, I think of how it will be over soon enough and my headphones will say, "Goal Completed."

We have to do that during this exile. Babylon promises so much, but all they are doing is rearranging chairs on the Titanic. We are working on a temple that will be filled with glory. We are eating our last meal in haste before judgment comes on Egypt. We are ready move into the city that comes from heaven. Long gone should be three days when we hope in the progress of Babylon for our security or when with live without hope, getting drunk on whatever substance, media or activity we can get our hands on to numb the pain. There are mountains and valleys, blessings and curses between now and then-despise whatever distracts you. Any affliction is light and momentary in comparison to the weight of eternal glory coming. Set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus.

2. You Shall Be Holy, for I Am Holy (1:14-16)

When Israel was preparing to leave Egypt they were commanded to purge their homes of all leaven. Leaven often represents the spreading, defiling influence of sin — it's even in the air. But God was drawing near and they must be clean and holy as he is holy. Later, when God drew near Israel in the tabernacle he commanded them to live lives distinct from the nations, putting away sexual immorality. Why? Leviticus 18: you shall be holy

as I am holy.

Peter calls us to a similar life in verses 14-16. Whether we grew up being taught about Good or not, it is so important to draw a distinction between what parts of us should be former life and what should be us currently. Peter says we ought not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. I like how he says that because here's the reality: each of us used to be ignorant (some of us still are), so the cravings for power, set, money, popularity, honor, knowledge and success controlled us. We were ignorant, so we didn't realize these passions would never pay off, would control and destroy us. They became our hope , our comfort, what we meditated on and longed for. I love how Titus 3:3 puts it. “We ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” (Titus 3:3 ESV) That not only sounds like a miserable life-it's just straight up ugly. That was the life of our former ignorance and Peter says, "Do not be conformed to those passions." He gives us a new mark to aim for. Be holy in all your conduct. Do we have that picture in our minds? Every part of our lives should be holy. Distinct. Clean.

Why? Why did Israel so carefully purge their homes of leaves? Because that very night God was drawing near to judge their enemies and rescue them. And the God who called them is clean, holy. And we all must urgently seek to cleanse our lives because the God who draws near to rescue us out of exile is the same holy God. “You shall be holy for I am holy.”

God's holiness motivates our holiness. Consider his holiness — he is perfect, pure, powerful. He radiates life, love and beauty. We see that in the wonder of what he does. The beautiful creation. The wisdom in his carefully crafted plan to rescue his corrupted world. The unending patience and love. His willingness to wear our sin and shame on the cross. He has a holiness that is not simply a rigid moral purity, but the power of a lion and innocent purity of a lamb that totally transcends our ignorant, selfish obsession with worldly passions.

And this is what I have seen for the first time this week: this is one reason why he created us. This holy God does not see fit to simply self-exist in his beautiful holiness. Part of his holy character is this: he is willing to go to every length to teach and share this holiness with us. How great is our God!

We cannot become the holiness of God while we are slaves to our lusts and passions. Let us not be conformed to our former ignorance . They do not give us what we are looking for. Let us set our eyes on the pure holy power, love, and innocence of God and do whatever we need to do to confess and put that old life away.

But we will not become this by our own will power. That is one reason why we set all our hope on the grace — not wrath (Jobes) — to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He will finally transform us into the image of his Son that we have been striving for all along. “When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3 ESV)

Conclusion

Have we been defiled by the pleasures of Egypt in our sojourning? Have we become distracted by the passions, pursuits and parties of Babylon?  Salvation is nearer to us than it first was. We must adopt the Passover mindset. Tonight the angel of death comes for Egypt. Tonight the Medes make a breach in the city wall. Tonight the enemy is judged and they are all doing business, buying and selling, getting married, and drinking booze like tomorrow will come. But we know better.

1. Clean out the old leaven, the passions of our former ignorance, because the God who calls us is holy.

2. Be sober-minded. Think with clearheadedness. Don't get lost in the party and success. Think about the big picture of history.

3. Focus on the finish line. Set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. May we pray, "Maranatha, Lord come quickly" with the early saints. Let us be hopeful and holy in our exile among the nations.

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Joseph had been exiled from the land of promise to Egypt. He was sold by his brothers and had become the slave of Potiphar. He was unjustly mistreated. He was all alone. He heard nothing from his father. He received no more dreams from God. From our perspective, it seems he had been completely abandoned. That kind of aloneness can really eat away at a person. The desire we all have to know and be known can grow and become ferocious. Having a secret pal to lie with in his exile could have been a great comfort.

But when Potiphar’s wife invited him, he refused her. Not only would this be a complete betrayal of his master’s trust, he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Day after day he refused her. One day when he went in the house to do his work and no one else was there she grabbed his garment. “Lie with me,” she said. But he ran.

That kind of integrity and fearful respect for God and for others doesn’t happen accidentally. It takes a lot of heart work to foster. But brothers and sisters, it is that kind of fear that will save our lives and spare us tremendous pain. How can we live with that kind of sobermindedness, loyalty, and fear in our exiles?

As Peter writes to Christians who are also exiles dispersed and enduring a difficult trial, he instructs them, “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” He gives them three reasons, motivations why they should live with this kind of fear.

1. We Call on a Father Who Judges Us Impartially (1:17)

Being able to call on God as “Father” is such a tremendous privilege. Fathers stand ready to jump into action to help their children at a moment’s notice. Fathers realize that everything falls on them - to plan, provide, and protect. For children, being able to call on our fathers relieves so much fear and anxiety. Just knowing they are there when we need them is a comfort. You realize that even more when you lose a father or grandfather. When my grandfather died I suddenly felt more weight on my shoulders. I just lost someone that I could call on. In one sense, I felt like I was just given some of the burden he was carrying. 

It is a privilege to call on our God as Father. The fact that he would be willing to respond to that title as we use it of him is astonishing. After the past year we have had with our two kids, I am scared to have more children. Being willing to be called father means you take responsibility for them. It means submitting yourself to the rollercoaster that is their lives. God could say, “I will be their King, their Lord,” but he goes further and says, “I will be their Father.”

May we conduct ourselves with fear out of respect for the one we call on as Father. I don’t know how that kind of respect for a father is developed. Some children look on their fathers in this way. Some children totally disrespect their fathers. Why disrespect the one who gave you life? Why disrespect the one who would give anything in the whole world for you? Fear him. Respect him. Call on him. Lean into him. Feel his love and protection. Listen to him.

But let us recognize this: the Father we call on judges us impartially during our exile. Bad theology has crept into the church in recent years as different forms of Calvinism have made a resurgence. Some oversimplify the Bible and say we won’t be judged by our life but instead by Christ’s righteous life that has been imputed to us. This is the key tenant of Calvinism. We who believe in Jesus need to know that we are declared innocent and forgiven by faith in Jesus. But we who are exiles need to understand that God judges each one’s actions impartially to determine if we really do believe in, trust in, give allegiance to Jesus. One person said it well, “Our knowledge of Him as Father must not dispel our dread of him as our Judge.” (Beare, 1970: 100) Another person said it like this to help us see God really is our impartial judge, “The pagan life that God abhors will be no less abhorred it is is lived by one who professes to be a Christian.” (Jobes)

How can we develop fear like Joseph’s? See God as our precious Father who we call on and respect him for that. See God as our Father who judges us impartially.

2. We Have Been Ransomed with Christ’s Precious Blood (1:18-19)

The more I see my daughters do the wrong thing, the more clearly I see myself in them, and the more I see the truth of this statement. We really did inherit futile ways from our forefathers. When we gathered for my grandmother’s funeral and we listened to stories about my grandparents and her parents, sometimes I thought, “Wow, it’s cool how their legacy has been passed on,” and sometimes I thought, “Eek, here we are a hundred years later doing the same things our parents, grand parents, and great grandparents did.” 

Peter says here that God is redeeming us from those ways. Here I am trying to be the best father I can possibly be, but God is saying, “Please let me adopt your children ASAP so I can rescue them from the mess you are making.” So often we can be proud of the heritage and way of life that has been passed down to us. And, we can be thankful for that. Timothy should have been thankful for the faith of his mother and grandmother that lived in him. But we also need to have humility to recognize we have inherited the futile ways of our forefathers as well. All the way back to Adam and Eve, our parents have been teaching us the same empty-headed behaviors. And it feels there isn’t anything we can do about it. It seems we are all doomed to repeat our parents’ failures and pass them on forever.

But God has done something spectacular to stop the cycle. He has ransomed us from our slavery at the cost of the precious blood of Jesus. How can we develop this fear? Have a respect for the blood that was spilt to set us free from those old ways. If we respect Jesus at all, we should have a fear inside us that we would profane his sacrifice. In case we are tempted to ever say, “Sin is just not that big of a deal,” God is sending an opposite message here: sin is so worthless, so debasing, so destructive, so vandalizing of our lives and of the world that it required the blood of Jesus to set us free. This is what God tried desperately to teach the people of Israel about in Leviticus through the sacrificial offerings. Blood wasn’t just brought before God’s throne on the Day of Atonement. Everything had to be cleansed. The people. The altar. The tent. The articles in the tent. Why? Their sin didn’t just separate them from God. It vandalized everything. It trashed the world. It trashed God’s sanctuary. But now we have been redeemed from those futile, vandalizing ways through the blood of Jesus. May we conduct ourselves with fear because of that.

3. “Your Faith and Hope Are the Result of God’s Eternal Plan to Raise and Glorify Christ” (1:20-21) (Jobes)

Let me put what Peter is saying here in the form of a rhetorical question. Live with fear, or do you not realize that your faith and hope in God are the result of a massive, orchestrated plan to raise and glorify Jesus? He says here twice that what was planned and what happened with Jesus was to cause us to believe in and hope in God (vs. 20, “for the sake of you,” vs. 21, “so that your faith and hope are in God.”). 

Here is the lens. We are all stuck in futile ways resulting in dishonor and death. We are all hopeless losers. But God foreknew before the world Jesus. Jesus who would take on all that hopelessness, dishonor, and death. God planned in advance to raise him from the that dishonor and death and instead glorify him. Why? So we would see how God gave life and glory to that dead dishonored man and put faith and hope in God that he might give life and glory to we who are dead and dishonored as well.

Peter wants us to conduct ourselves with reverent fear in our exiles because of our awe and respect for the careful plan of God to bring us to trust him. Our trust and hope in God were not easily or haphazardly accomplished.

Conclusion

Think about how that same fear was in Joseph. He was powerless and all alone, but his hope was in God, not in the comfort that is found between the sheets. Potiphar say that Yahweh was with Joseph. How did Potiphar know about Yahweh? Why would he think Yahweh was with Joseph? Because Joseph talked about him. Why? Why would Joseph talk about this God? The God of a father who did nothing to rescue him? The God who promised he would be exalted above his family, but now he was the slave of an Egyptian? Because: he believed in the plan God foreknew and delivered to him by dreams even though God seemed silent. And so he feared because of that. He didn’t want to ruin what God had planned. And when God did bless him in Potiphar’s house, Joseph gave glory to Yahweh before his master and continued living fearfully in exile. His hope was in God and he was not about to throw that away no matter how much of his family he lost or how debased he became before the world.

And that fear saved Joseph’s life.

We have the privilege of calling God our Father. We are judged impartially by him. We have been set free from our futile ways by the precious blood of Jesus. Our faith and hope in God are the result of God’s carefully orchestrated plan. Let us fear because of that. It will save us when the tempter comes to entreat us with other comforts while we wait.