Harmony, 15 November 2015

Note: This message is similar to one preached at Scio Community Church, September 20, 2015.
Harmony: Christian Togetherness
Series: What In The World Is Going On? A Study of 1 Peter
1 Peter 1:22-2:10

Series Overview:
God’s grace is present in the midst of suffering.

Big Idea: When persecuted, we have not only hope and a call to holy living but also a harmonious family of God we are to love.

Introduction

This morning we continue our series on 1 Peter, “What in The World is Going On?” This short letter to the early, suffering church is a powerful message not only to an ancient people but is increasing relevant to modern Christians as we face persecution. We may never face the horrors of ISIS victims, but nevertheless we can—and perhaps should—feel in the minority as followers of Jesus in a world consumed with money, sex and power. The theme of this book may well be called hope and grace in the midst of suffering.

The book of 1 Peter was never written as a book. It’s a short letter, often called an epistle. As we noted two weeks ago it was written by Peter—one of Jesus’ three closest friends— to early Christian exiles scattered in five provinces. If you read through 1 Peter, you may find it lacking order. I was relieved to read one writer who said,

Once again, Peter’s style here—weaving in and out of topics, exhorting and then stating the foundation for the exhortation, and digressing to cover important ideas— prevents many readers from finding any logical sequence. (Scot McKnight)

If you like a neat, organized, three-point sermon with each point beginning with the same letter or forming an acrostic, you will not find it today or probably in any sermon in this series. You’ve been warned! But don’t take that to mean this letter is disorganized or unimportant. The messages are timeless, timely for us today, and a true treasure.

Two weeks ago the focus was hope. Last week the key word was holy, being and living different, set apart lives reflecting Jesus. Today’s word is
harmony.

As a musician, I love harmony. On the piano, I take it for granted since I can play several notes at once, but when I began playing
the trumpet I realized only one note can be played at a time. An unaccompanied trumpet sounds okay, but when additional instruments are added, the result is exponentially more beautiful.

I have great memories of my grandparents playing their trumpets together in church, my grandpa playing the melody line and my grandma playing the harmony, blending together so beautifully.

As we dive into today’s text in 1 Peter, bear in mind we were not created to live our lives as solo individuals. We were made for community, for relationship—with God and with one another. The only thing God said was not good during creation was a single man (The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” - Genesis 2:18). This letter we’re studying is not written to an individual but rather a church, a community, a people.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1:22-23)

Children of God have been born again (John 3). We have been born again through the word of God. We’re all related…by blood. Notice Peter connects obedience and loving one another. As we’re going to see, following Jesus is more than an individual journey. We are a part of a family. We have not only a Father and a Big Brother, Jesus, but also spiritual brothers and sisters we are to love…deeply…from the heart.

If we could just do this one thing—love one another deeply—we’d be almost done! The two greatest commands are love God and love others…and we love God by loving others.

The word “deeply” cannot be overstated. We use the word “love” in English to describe so many things, yet this is a radical commitment, fervency, constancy, and effort. We are to share both phileo love—brotherly love—and agape love which is godly sacrificial love. Loving deeply is not tolerance; it may be the opposite of tolerance!

When we are adopted into God’s family we experience a new birth, receive a new family, and are given an unconditional love we are to share with others.

When we were born naturally, we were given bodies that will die. When we are born again, we are given the eternal Word of God. Some modern Christians call the Bible the Word of God—and it is—but the same word, logos, is used in John 1 to describe Jesus Himself.

Remember, Peter’s readers did not have YouVersion on their iPhone or a leather-bound NIV Study Bible! He quotes Isaiah 40:6-8.

For,

“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”


And this is the word that was preached to you. (1:24-25)

We’re like the grass. We will eventually die. No matter how strong, smart, cool, or talented you are, you’re going to die. God and His word are eternal. That’s why we need to read it. We need to let it read us! We need to study it.

Therefore, …(2:1a)

What’s the therefore there for?

Because this world is temporary and God’s Word is eternal…
Because born people will die but born again people will live forever…
Because we are not merely children of our parents but children of God…

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (2:1-3)

We need to get rid of sin. Last week we said, “Be holy.” Be set apart.

There are several lists of sins in the Bible. Perhaps the most famous one, the Ten Commandments, talks about murder and stealing and adultery. Peter lists some rather common sins.

Malice is congealed anger; an unforgiving spirit. Are you bitter? Is there someone you need to forgive. They don’t deserve to be forgiven, but neither do you! That’s grace. That’s agape love from God. Get rid of malice. Give it up. Surrender it to God. Replace it with God’s grace.

Deceit is guile. Ananias and Sapphira were deceitful (Acts 5). The devil is a deceiver. We are to be filled with the truth.

Do we need to talk about
hypocrisy? One of the greatest criticisms of Christians by non-Christians is we’re hypocrites. We say one thing on Sunday and do something different on Monday. None of us is perfect, but when children of God screw up, they confess and make it right.

Envy. This is one of those somewhat acceptable sins, perhaps because it’s easy to hide. Look around. Whose job do you want? Whose paycheck? Whose car? Whose family? Whose body? I believe the opposite of envy is gratefulness and contentment. God has showered all of us with a vast array of gifts, beginning with Jesus and continuing to our freedom to worship today.

Slander…of every kind. Gossip. Behind-the-back criticism. If you wouldn’t say it in their presence, don’t say it in their absence!

We need to get rid of all sin in our lives…but it’s not enough to just say, “Stop it!” We need to replace sin with Jesus, with the fruit of the Spirit, with character and godliness…because we’re God’s kids, children of the King! We need to confess our sins and invite the Holy Spirit to fill us with God’s presence and power.

I love Peter’s metaphor of spiritual milk. Babies crave milk. They long for it. They are passionate for it. They cry for it! Many of us have tasted and seen that the LORD is good! We used to crave sin and now we are to crave prayer, obedience, serving others, sharing Jesus…God. We can fill our lives with vices or virtues.

The psalmist famously wrote in Psalm 42:

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. (Psalm 42:1)

The LORD is good! He’s so good! He’s greater, smarter, stronger, more present, more loving, more kind, more compassionate, more powerful…than anyone or anything.

One reason we gather is to be reminded we are children of a mighty God!

This week you may have faced criticism, bills, broken cars, broken bodies, bad news, sickness, addictions, temptations, fear, anxiety…but God is greater! The LORD is good! We must run to Him. We must flee sin and run into the arms of our Daddy who loves us unconditionally!

We are to desire the word of God, spiritual milk. We need to grow and will discover the goodness of the LORD. We need to worship. We also need to get into the word of God!

I often pray the prayer of a father who exclaimed to Jesus,

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Does your passion for God grow when you’re with other believers?
Does your passion for God grow when you’re in God’s Word?
Does your passion for God grow when you worship?

LORD, I want to want You! Give me a passion for You such that knowing You is truly the greatest thing in my life!

Now Peter shifts gears.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (2:4-5)

Precious is an interesting word, especially for a fisherman, but Peter used it liberally. Jesus said He would build His church. Peter was a little stone like us. God is building a living temple. A better translation is “build yourselves.” Take action. We are to come together as living stones connected to the living Stone to form one spiritual house where—like the old temple—God dwells.

The foundation is salvation. You come to the living Stone broken.

For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.” (2:6)

Jesus is this stone.

  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”

  and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”


They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. (2:7-8)

Here Peter quotes Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14.

These aren’t rolling stones but stable rocks.

We all choose to accept or reject Jesus. He’s a stepping stone or a stumbling stone.

We live in a world that rejects Jesus. Peter’s audience was rejected by the world. We may be rejected, too, but the world’s rejection pails in comparison to the Father’s acceptance. The story is still being written. Vindication is coming.

Now we come to our focus today.


But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (2:9)


We are a chosen people/generation. An elect race. These people are a scattered diaspora but they’ve been chosen like the people of Israel. We choose Jesus because He’s chosen us. We love Him because He first loved us.

We are a royal priesthood. In the Old Testament God chose the nation of Israel to be priests. They sinned so God-fearing Jews and Gentiles were chosen to become priests. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a priest. We are royalty. In Peter’s day, royalty was inherited, but we have been adopted as sons and daughters to be not only children but priests who serve God.

Dr. Scot McKnight says, “To become a Christian is to be raised to the ultimate height in status because we suddenly become children of the God of the universe, and we have direct access to him because we are his children.” Hallelujah!

We are a holy nation. We’ve never been fully holy in conduct but we are holy in our relationship with God. Jesus is our righteousness.

Our purpose is to declare God’s praises. We are to announce good tidings of peace and joy. We are to show the light to our dark world. Some will accept and some will reject.

We are special people, a peculiar people, people of His own, a special possession. We are a ragamuffin collection of broken sinners who have found salvation in Jesus. We are God’s. We belong to HIm. He invites us to not only be with Him but also to love the people of this world and one another.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (2:10)

God is rich in mercy. He has made us a people, a family filled with mercy.

So What?

God has not created us to know Him in isolation.
God has not created us to live in isolation.

God exists in community—Father, Son and Spirit—and created us to do life together, to be a family, a nation, a people, a group of priests that know God…and make Him known.

We are a family. We are a body. We are various stones that together form a house.

We need one another.
We are to complement one another…and compliment one another!
You need me and I need you.

One of the great lies of our culture is individualism. Just me and Jesus. Or just me and me! We were created to be interdependent and depend on one another and God.

First Alliance, many of you are not connected to the body. Perhaps you’re new—like me—or you’ve just been a spectator, but you’ve not experienced real community, relationships, like together. I urge you to get connected.

Participate in a Sunday School class at 9 AM. There’s a list in the bulletin.
Visit some of our small groups. There’s a list in the bulletin.
Join a ministry team. There’s a list in the bulletin!

I know we live scattered around NW Ohio, but when we come together—Sunday mornings as well as Monday through Saturday—we can experience the deeper meaning and joy of community, of oikos, the Greek word for extended family…on God’s mission together.

No matter what trials we face, we are to be a united, harmonious family, faithful to Jesus. We are God’s people. We are a priesthood, a nation, a people. Nobody serves alone. Nobody plays alone. We were created for
harmony. We the people! Let’s live like it!!!

Credits

Some ideas from

Be Hopeful (1 Peter): How to Make the Best of Times Out of Your Worst of Times (The BE Series Commentary) by Warren

Thru The Bible audio messages by J. Vernon McGee

1 Peter (The NIV Application Commentary) by Scot McKnight

You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
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