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April 14, 2002
3rd Sunday of Easter
1 Peter 1:17-21
Pastor Joel Zank

Christians, You Are Strangers Here!

(1 Peter 1:17-21) Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

In Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, dear fellow redeemed,

Picture this scene from my past. It is nine years ago. My wife and I are walking through our neighborhood in Rochester, MN with our four-year-old daughter and two of her four-year-old friends. We soon meet up with a gentleman who, like us, is also enjoying an afternoon stroll. I smile and say hello, but just as he begins to respond, one of our daughters friend's jumps in front of the man, points her finger at him and begins to yell at the top of her lungs, "Stranger! Stranger!" Instantly the man's face turned red. Though he had done nothing wrong, the little girl's warning alarm made him feel awkward, uncomfortable, out of place. I'm sure he just wanted to move along and that's exactly what he did.

Today God's Word does something similar for us. Our God is not out to embarrass us, but he does want us to realize that we're out of place in this world. So he points at us and says, CHRISTIANS, YOU ARE STRANGERS HERE! Why? Two reasons, 1) unlike the world, you know how you were redeemed; and 2) unlike the world, you know how to live for your Redeemer.

Now we were not always strangers here. There was a time when we were right at home in this world-a time when we fit right in. Maybe those sound like the good old days. After all, being at home is a good thing isn't it? Being part of the family is desirable right? Not when the family is the sinful human race. The Apostle Paul explains in Ephesians 2: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath" (Ephesians 2:1-3).

Being at home in this world means being a part of a dying breed-a breed of sinners who spend all their time living only for themselves. Peter, in his words to us today, calls such a selfish lifestyle "the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers" (v. 19). Peter first wrote these words to Greeks whose ancient myths and philosophies could do nothing to make them right with God. Peter wrote these words to Jews whose ancestors had tried in vain to earn a place in heaven by keeping God's commandments. Peter writes these words to us, whose forefathers dedicated their lives to securing for all of us, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." But as noble as we might regard their efforts, our fathers also handed us an empty way of life. Because along with their high ideals we inherited their sin; and sin with its selfish agenda always empties life of its meaning, purpose and value.

For example, sin regards liberty as the freedom to sin more-as a license to gossip, to slander, to lust, to hate, to hurt, to steal. Our sinful nature regards the pursuit of happiness as the right to do whatever we want to do, whenever we want to do it. You know I'm telling the truth because there's a part of you longing to live that way right now. You know as well as I do that our sinful self loves to fill every moment with self-gratifying sins of every kind. The more despicable the act, the happier our Old Adam is to do it. What an empty way of life indeed! For to live in this way makes us, as Paul says in Ephesians, objects of God's wrath-targets of his punishment. And when God takes aim, he never misses. The soul who sins is the one who will die in hell forever (Ezekiel 18:20).

As people who once lived and breathed that empty way of life, we were hell-bound souls; and nothing, not our good old American ingenuity, nor our famous mid-western work ethic, not our life-savings, nor all our promises to improve could get us out of the eternal predicament we were in-so lost, so hopeless, so condemned were we.

But, then, God came to us with news that seemed too good to believe, news that we could not have believed, still would not believe to this very day, if it had not come packed with its own faith-working, trust-building power. I'm talking about the news of our redemption-the news that the very God whom we have offended with all our sin, is he who has paid the price to buy us back from sin's guilt, sin's power and sin's punishment. Peter knows that this news has had its way with us and has brought us to faith in God's saving love through Christ's saving work. He writes: "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God" (vv. 18-21).

God's love for you is eternal, for it was back in eternity that God, who even then knew of your sin and its impending curse, went looking for the perfect victim to sacrifice in your place. The substitute he sought had to be absolutely holy, without the slightest blemish of sin, without the smallest moral defect. Otherwise he'd have his own sin to pay for and would useless to God. Here's the Bible's Good News: God found his holy victim in the person of his own Son who, in time, took on flesh and blood and was revealed in Bethlehem's manger as the God-man, Jesus Christ. In all the universe, only his blood, spilt on the altar of the cross was payment enough to satisfy God's justice and move him to declare you and every sinner not guilty of sin. This verdict was first announced on Good Friday by Jesus from the cross and was then ratified on Easter Sunday by God the Father when he raised Jesus from the dead and gave him the glory due the Savior of our human race.

Thanks to the blood of Jesus, every sinner has been redeemed. But only those sinners who know and believe this truth enjoy the freedom Christ has won for them. All others remain slaves to their sin. Sadly many are still lost in their empty way of life. But not you! God's grace has found you and has taught you to know your Redeemer and what he has done for you. God's grace has claimed you and marked you as his very own child. You belong to the Father, but you are not yet living in the Father's house. Soon you will be. You're on your way home. But until you get there you're traveling as strangers through a strange land.

Don't let this bother you. It's all right to be a stranger here. In fact God wouldn't have it any other way. His servant Peter tells us: "Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear" (v. 18).

We might think it odd that Peter tells us to fear God, but actually this phrase has a double meaning for us Christians because we all posses dual natures. As we journey heavenward, it's critical to our eternal well-being that we remember we still possess a sinful, evil nature that cannot be converted, must not be ignored, and dare never be underestimated because it's just waiting for a chance to rule our hearts and lives once again. For this reason our God serves us notice today, warning us that should we choose to surrender control to our Old Adam, should we decide to indulge his appetite for sin, God will not hesitate for a moment to disown us forever. Because he is an impartial judge who on Judgment Day will show no favoritism to those who pretended to be his people, but in reality made themselves right at home among sinners, sharing their sinful attitudes and joining in their sinful lifestyles.

Why does God want us to know this? Why does he want to remind us of this frightening truth every day? Because although our sinful nature cannot be converted to Christ, it can be terrified into submission and held in check by our sincere repentance. This is what God is doing for us today. This is what he will do for us every time we study his Word. He will prick our conscience by showing us our sin. The threats of his law will cause us to fear his wrath. He will drive us to our knees in repentance and, then, in that very same instant, he will banish our fear by forgiving our sin and removing its guilt for the sake of our Savior. It's in that moment, the one marked by pardon and peace that the new man in each of us shows his reverent fear for God. Yes, the saint in us also fears God, but in an entirely different way. This fear is not defined by terror but is demonstrated by our grateful respect for the God of all grace.

You know how to show God your respect, for unlike the rest of the world, you know how to live for your Redeemer. You know how you want to thank him for the perfect life he's lived for you, how you want to praise him for dying your death in hell, how you want to honor him for triumphing over the grave on your behalf and returning to heaven to build you a mansion there. To thank him for all this grace and more you want to live as a stranger in this world, avoiding the sin that is all around you because you know it might cause you to forfeit God's peace and your place in his kingdom. To honor God's work in your life, you want to train your heart to value heaven's treasures more than earth's trinkets of gold and silver. You want to train your eyes to recognize that all they see here and now is perishable, temporary- only heaven is forever. You want to train your tongue to speak of Jesus in order to share him and his life-giving news with others so that like you, your family and friends, your classmates and coworkers may know how they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God.

Living in this way will make you seem strange and out of place in this world. That's never easy. I'll never forget how embarrassed I was that day when my daughter's friend pointed out that stranger. I was embarrassed for him, but much more embarrassed for myself and for what he must have thought of us. Embarrassment is a powerful emotion that we try to avoid at all costs. But may feelings of embarrassment never keep us from living as strangers in a world we're only passing through. Just remember- heaven is our home, for Jesus' sake. Amen.