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1 Peter 1:1-9 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the
Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2who
have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit
to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace
and peace be yours in abundance. 3 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into
a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and
into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In
this you rejoice,
even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so
that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that,
though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise
and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Although you
have not seen him,
you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and
rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9for you are
receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Faith. It’s one of those words that
gets batted about in Christian circles on a regular basis. It brings to mind ideas such as belief
and trust – maybe even loyalty or allegiance. There’s also the notion of a
sense of mysticism – faith is something that exists beyond the limits
of human reason and intellect.
And we have some understanding that faith is necessary to the
Christian life. But for a term we
use so often, and so commonly that perhaps we scarce give it a second
thought, do we actually understand what it means? I think the topic of faith –
even specifically Christian faith – could fill an entire library of
books. And I certainly have
neither the time nor the ability to fully explore its meaning today. But we can take a few key ideas from
Peter’s message about genuine faith in the life of a believer. If someone were to ask,
“What is faith?” I imagine that many – like myself –
would have some phrasing of Hebrews 11:1 pulled from memory. Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This hints at that mystical aspect of
faith – a belief in something that we can’t see and yet
we’re convinced of its existence.
Then again, when discussing faith, another favorite verse that often
comes up is James 2:26 – faith
without works is dead. This
gets at the more practical side of faith, that understanding that Christian
faith is not merely belief (for even the demons believe) but it’s
belief that results in action.
And indeed, if you read the rest of Hebrews 11, the chapter sometimes
referred to as the Heroes of the Faith, you’ll see that each example of
faith was given with a particular action on the part of the individual. So faith is belief, assurance,
conviction, and it’s also an influence to action. But is there anything more to it? What is its significance? Peter teaches us that faith is
our part in the process of
salvation. Yes, salvation is from
God. It is only by God’s
great mercy – it is only through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
– that salvation is possible.
But our response, our acceptance of this merciful gift of grace is an
act of faith. Peter is not the
first to express this. Paul
speaks many times of our salvation being by grace through faith. God has done everything he can do to
bring about salvation, through the work of his Son, Jesus Christ, but the
faith of the individual is just as key to the salvific process. Now we must never forget that
although faith is our part, faith
is not something we have in and of ourselves. We are born into this world as sinful
beings, and if left entirely to ourselves would not care about God or
anything he has to offer us. Yet
God’s grace goes before us, awakening a sense of yearning for him,
giving birth to our faith even before we realize we have need of it. Any faith we can claim is as much a
gift of God’s mercy as everything else he has accomplished in
salvation. Still, faith is the
part we must enact. And faith is not only our part
in accepting salvation, faith is our part as we go on being saved.
Peter is writing this letter to Christian believers, to those who had
accepted Christ and his teaching.
But he speaks of salvation as something his audience already has as
well as something that is yet to be.
We refer to this as the existence between the now and the not
yet. Yes, God has given us a new
birth into a living hope. We are
new creatures. We have been
chosen by God. We have been
sanctified by the Spirit in order that we might be obedient to Christ our
Lord. But there is also an aspect
of our salvation that is waiting to be revealed in the last time. The beginning of salvation sets us in
right relationship with God. But
we all know that a relationship is a living thing. If not nurtured, it will die. In right relationship with God our
love responds in faith, seeking to live in obedience according to his
teaching. Thus, our faith
produces works. And our obedience
is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This process goes on and on, a growing
living relationship, until eventually – in the “last time”
– we will become glorified and our relationship to God will become even
more perfected. So, faith is belief,
assurance, conviction, and an influence to action. It’s also a response to
God’s gift of salvation and a working out of that salvation in
obedience by God’s Spirit.
But is that all? What does
faith actually look like in the life of the believer? Peter is rather straightforward. Genuine faith must be tested. Genuine faith endures trails. Remember that Peter’s
audience is the Church. He
addresses them as exiles of the dispersion. In one sense they had been literally
dispersed. Christians were driven
from None of this should come as
any surprise. Christ promised
that the life of his followers would not be easy. The world did not accept him, and in
following his example we should not expect the world to accept us
either. Peter merely reminds us
in this passage of what we already know – Christians sometimes
suffer. But our suffering need
not be in vain. The God who created all, who
knows all, who understands all, who sees all, is also trustworthy and
faithful and overflowing in love.
I will not lie and say I understand everything about the way God works
and chooses to act. I believe
that God is good. I know that we
live in a fallen world. For now
these two truths must co-exist.
But I also believe that God promised to be with us in the midst of all
suffering. Likewise he promised
to work all things together for the good for those who believe in him and are
called according to his purpose.
Thus I believe the encouragement of Peter. Suffering will come, to the sinner and
the Christian alike. The
difference is that we can give God opportunity in our suffering to make our
faith genuine – to test it, even as gold is tested by fire. I don’t know all the
details about the ancient purification process of gold, but I know that it is
intense and detailed. Gold had to
be melted and cooled several times so that the impurities could be
separated. Gold has a melting
point just under 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s pretty intense, but even
at those extreme temperatures the purity of gold comes through and is not
damaged in any way. It’s
true that pure gold is not terribly strong. In fact, it’s a very soft
metal. But the value of pure gold
does not lie in its strength. Its
value is in its rarity and beauty, and the fact that it can be easily
hammered out or drawn into wires.
And yet for all the value of gold it is perishable. Genuine faith – faith tested by
the fire - does not perish. In
fact genuine faith will be found to result in praise and glory and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed. Praise to God the Father, of
course, but also praise from God
the Father. Imagine the emotion
you’re going to feel when the God who has created and redeemed you
looks upon you, his child, and says “well done” – when he
acknowledges with praise that his Son’s blood together with your faith
have made you worthy. Glory also
to the Father but glory to the believer as well, for Christ himself will give
glory to genuine faith, even the glorification of our own souls. Likewise honor to God and Christ but
genuine faith will be honored by our fellow believers and even the angels
themselves. Perhaps some might think,
‘well this is all well and good, but what does it really matter?’.
After all, even if we choose to believe all that will happen,
it’s in the future, when Christ is to be revealed. But my suffering, my life is in the
here and now – does having faith really
make any difference? To such
questions I can only answer as our brother Peter did – genuine faith
not only endures trials, but it also rejoices with hope. Most everyone who knows me
fairly well knows that I am an avid Star Wars fan. And certainly my enthusiasm was cause
for much amused observation and friendly teasing when the final film was
released this past May. In
retrospect, I probably looked forward to that film more than any of the
others. And in some regard it has
become my favorite of them all.
Yet it was a painful film to watch. The themes it portrayed were of
betrayal and death, watching loved ones make wrong choices and then suffering
the consequences of those choices.
I have to say that if this last film were the end of the overall story
it would be a miserable tale indeed.
But such is not the case.
Although it was the final film, it was actually mid-way through a
story that George Lucas told. And
having the benefit of knowing how the entire story ends, with themes of good
triumphing over evil and those fallen loved ones finding true redemption, I
could sit through this recent darker film and observe the painful events
portrayed with a strange kind of satisfaction. I experienced, and even greatly
enjoyed, a bittersweet acknowledgement of the joy to come simply because I
knew how the rest of the story would end. Christians know how the rest
of our story is to end. No, we do
not know how the end will come in explicit detail, like the playing out of a
film. But, because of our faith,
we believe the promise God has made to us. We’ve been promised an
inheritance. That inheritance is
imperishable – it cannot be destroyed. It is undefiled – utterly pure
– evil has no place and never will in this inheritance. And it is unfading – never
diminishing in any way even as it continues through eternity. This inheritance is kept in heaven for
us, God’s children, until the day when Christ will be revealed. Better still, we and our inheritance
are being protected by the power of God.
The Greek language of this passage uses terms that associate images of
a sentinel or guard keeping watching at a fortress, as in a place of
custody. But it’s no mere
human guard who keeps this post, nor is it even an angelic guard – it
is the power of God the Father Almighty himself standing duty. Never doubt – regardless of your
circumstance today - that as a child of God you are ever under his watchful
eye, on his mind, and in his protection.
In honor of your genuine faith the power of God seeks to protect
you. In light of that it’s
no wonder we can rejoice, even in the midst of suffering. Have we seen this
inheritance? No. Have we seen this God who protects it
on our behalf? No – at
least, not in the sense that we have seen him face to face. But, because of faith, we
believe. We believe with an
assurance that defies all logic that our inheritance is sure. And we accept the existence of this
our great protector – we even love him and choose to order our lives
according to his teaching.
Because of this we also rejoice.
It’s not always the type of rejoicing one associates with
bubbly, “feel-good” emotions. Because, let’s be honest, in the
midst of suffering we often feel pain, sorrow, loss, and other such
emotions. But the joy is still
there, like a calm and steady sense of peace. Just as genuine faith extends beyond
human reason so Christian joy extends beyond understanding – as Peter
describes it here, an indescribable and glorious joy. This is why our faith matters. Because in the end, despite our
circumstances, despite our trails, genuine faith is our response to the God
who reached out to us. And we
rejoice because we are receiving the outcome of our faith, the salvation of
our souls. |