Are You Part Of A Legacy Of Love That Lasts?

Good Morning Friends,

Peter preached and many of those sermons are said to have been the basis for the Book of Mark. So, if you sense a connection with his letters then you are on target with the reality of the writing. After Peter preached at Pentecost some of those who believed returned to their homes through Asia and some to parts of the Roman Empire where many died as martyrs. In time some would die in Rome. Peter wrote the letters for the diaspora…those who did not have the inheritance of the land in Israel realize. He wrote encourage these believers scattered around the known world to persevere through suffering. For in suffering they are following in the footsteps of their Savior, by whose death and resurrection they are saved. As Jesus the Word made flesh was conceived by the Holy Spirit as the first born of a new creation so too, we now in the power of Jesus’ grace are tempered and strengthened in the trials of life. The inheritance here is not the promise of land but like the Levites…those who would lead worship in the Word would inherit God himself…Jesus. So today we give up the thought of a prosperity Gospel in return for something better… a heavenly minded worship that lives on. So, Are You Part Of A Legacy Of Love That Lasts?

Scripture: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who 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. 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, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so 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 honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although 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, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look! Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” That word is the good news that was announced to you.

1 Peter 1:1-25 (NRSV)

Message: Today’s scripture starts like a liturgical hymn of praise we might sing as a doxology in a church service. It reads as if Paul has had some influence on Peter though not so much as to be overly complicated. In the writing Peter is leaving us a legacy that witnesses to his belief in Christ and the relationship we are to have that brings us salvation. This is a call of praise for something we do not yet have. It calls out that the best is yet to be. Setting our expectations on what this life can give us is important. But now for Christians we experience the worst life we will have for the next is so much better. Even so it is not easy to embrace the reality that we are called as Christians to suffer for the sake of righteousness and to trust God in the suffering when life is not fair. This life is a vapor which we must transcend. Now the tenses used in today’s text is interesting for it describes salvation as being threefold in how it transforms us as it gives us a footing in how we are to react to the crucifixion. It is communicated in scripture in the perfect tense which implies a onetime occurrence that continues, for it is ready, pregnant, imminent, but will be fully revealed in the last times in a love that lasts. So, there is a past aspect to salvation for when we first believed in Christ we were saved from the penalty of sin because we were justified and declared righteous, our sins were placed on Christ and his righteousness placed on us. In Christ we are saved from the penalty of sin. But presently we are being saved from the power of sin too. It no longer has dominion over us. The final aspect of our salvation is being saved from the presence of sin. For sin will not exist in the world to come. There will be no conflict, pain, suffering, grief, guilt, sorrow, anxiety, tears, discipline, hatred, disappointment, misunderstanding, weakness, failure, ignorance, confusion, imperfection and on and on. It will be perfect. Pure joy, pure peace, pure love with death swallowed up. It is of little consequences what happens in this life. We enter this world with nothing, and we will leave it with nothing except our relationships of love. As Christians we are not to claim we offer the best life for others now. Though the sentiment is not bad it is an unfair burden that is not ours to offer but God alone. We need to live in the light of our best life and best self which is to come. We are to be in the world but not of it. Christ is the source of the gift. We must know the true and living God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have not merited our inheritance. It is a gift. All that heaven holds for us is a gift. The source being the mercy of God. It is not because we deserve it but because we desperately need it. Here there is a difference between grace and mercy. Grace applies in relationship to our guilt and mercy applies in relationship to our misery. God gives us grace by forgiving our sin and mercy, sparked by compassion, by relieving the consequences of our sin. God delights in mercy. Because of God’s mercy we are loved but even in God’s love we cannot yet experience the full measure of God’s mercy. He has caused us to be born again with a living hope in an inheritance that lasts. The only way to receive the inheritance is to become an heir of God and the only way to become an heir of the promise is to become a child of God and be born from above into God’s family. We cannot have it all in this life. The hopes of this world die. The living hope is in the living Word of God manifested in a relationship with God who is in heaven. That is why Paul says to die is gain. The living hope in how we die is only found in Christ. All the rest fades away…everything. It all perishes except Jesus who is incorruptible. The inheritance of the land becomes insignificant. Jerusalem has been level to the ground up to seventeen times by enemies. Our inheritance of God however cannot be plundered. And cannot be given away. Heaven will never be invaded. A place for you has been reserved. We are protected by the power of God’s faith in us that endures because of God’s love. That is what salvation is all about. And Jesus’ resurrection opened up the doors of heaven. Because Christ lives so shall you. The sacrifice was sufficient. Jesus conquered death. Our inheritance lasts because we are like the Levites, for we are without the inheritance of land as the diaspora, but we can have the inheritance of worship and praise in a relationship with God. And that lasts as a legacy in our witness of the Salvation that transforms us.

And So, it seems to me that the greatest legacy we can leave behind, is the lasting legacy of love and praiseful worship. Because God first loved us and asks us to stop sinning, we are to give up anything that we might desire more than an experience with God. For then we love with the right heart. Here even the smallest act of kindness can change a life. The smallest act of service can totally transform someone’s world – and that is something that can ripple right across the world, even down through the generations, in ways that we simply cannot comprehend today. This love manifested in the worship and in the Word of God practiced in our daily lives gives us a transformative power that never runs out. It is a security better than retirement accounts for they cannot absolutely guarantee earthly security. This amazing love in the Mercy of God gives us a new birth into a living hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we place our faith in Jesus to forgive our sins, we receive an eternal inheritance through God’s power. Because of this inheritance, we will live forever and never run short of what we need. Planning for retirement is a good idea if we are able to do so. But this does not bring ultimate security. It is so much more important to have an eternal inheritance that never runs out—and that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ. This is why those who suffered and had this faith even though they died cruel deaths in the Colosseum in Rome were able to suffer and still praise God. Here is the mystery of the cross and the witness of believers that shows us just how far we have not come in our worship of God and our understanding of the salvation Christ offers through the cross and resurrection.

Pray we look to the future glory. Pray we are thankful for a life in Jesus. Pray we trust our souls to our Creator. Pray we are established for a future in Christ not just now. Pray we celebrate and worship the inheritance to come… a living hope. Pray we live in the life to come. Pray we get a grip on our heavenly inheritance. Pray we rejoice in all things. Pray we not just keep a focus on the letter of the law regarding our dealings with each other but abide by the spirit of the law of love in our relationship with God as well. Pray we recognize the divine authority of Christ. Pray we realize that inheriting eternal life is about becoming a child of God, dependent on God. Pray we be on guard against all greed because our life is not in the abundance of possessions. Pray we realize that to get though the eye of the needle we like the camel must become free of all our baggage. Pray therefore that we are unburdened so we might love the Lord with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. Pray we love our neighbor as our self because Christ has set us free. Pray we never turn away from God.

Blessings,

John Lawson