Sermon for Easter 4, May 8, 2022
Almighty and
everlasting God, You bid us to walk in this passing world as pilgrims and
strangers, ever looking forward to that eternal home which You have prepared
for us in heaven. We pray that You would
so govern and guide our hearts by Your Holy Spirit that we, avoiding all the
fleshly lusts that wage war against our souls and being quietly obedient to the
rule You have placed over us, may show Your glory in this world by our good
works; for Jesus’ sake and in His name we pray.
Amen.
Grace and
peace be yours in abundance, given in the great mercy and living hope of Jesus’
resurrection. Amen.
1 Peter 2:11-20 11Dear
friends, I urge you, as aliens and temporary residents in the world, to abstain
from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul. 12Live an honorable life among the Gentiles
so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble
deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us. 13Submit
to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the king as the
supreme authority 14or to governors as those who have been sent by
him to punish those who do what is wrong and to praise those who do what is
right. 15For this is God’s
will: that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16Do this as free people, and do
not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but use it as servants of God.
17Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 18Slaves,
submit to your masters with total respect, not only to those who are good and
kind but also to those who are harsh. 19For this
is favorable: if a person endures sorrows while suffering unjustly because he
is conscious of God. 20For
what credit is it to you if you receive a beating for sinning and patiently
endure it? But if you suffer for doing
good and endure it, this is favorable with God. (EHV)
Pilgrims here, we live as citizens of
heaven.
Dear fellow citizens of the kingdom of
heaven,
War
has been in the news these past few months since Russia invaded Ukraine. It seems that Russia mistakenly assumed that
they would be welcomed by the Ukrainians and victory would come easily. Obviously, that wasn’t true. Therefore, thousands of soldiers have died on
both sides, and of the many people being displaced, millions have become aliens
in foreign lands.
After
any serious war, the leaders of the victorious side send ambassadors to the
conquered state. That work can often be
difficult, even dangerous. It requires
tact and a delicate hand to extend friendship to a former enemy, now conquered. As you might expect, there often is a lot of
distrust and, even, hatred and animosity against those ambassadors of the
victorious state.
In
our sermon text, Peter addresses the aftereffects of the spiritual war in which
Christ has won the victory over sin, death, and Satan. Our Lord has assigned you and me, now citizens
of heaven, to live for a time as temporary
residents (some translations: pilgrims) here among those who remain allied with
the conquered foe. Therefore, our Lord reminds
us that as Pilgrims here, we live as
citizens of heaven.
Our
sermon text begins: “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and
temporary residents in the world, to abstain from the desires of the sinful
flesh, which war against your soul.”
These fleshly desires are what caused the whole human race to be at war
with God. The desire to possess
something more than what God had promised, or provided, led Adam and Eve into rebellion. Those same desires in our sinful nature have
battled against us ever since.
Still,
Peter wants us never to forget that the eternal war is over. Christ Jesus came to this world to be its
end. All those lusts that cause our
sinful nature so much grief were conquered by our Savior with His perfect
obedience to His Father’s will. St. Paul
wrote, “God made him, who did not know
sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in
him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Christ took our sin upon Himself so that we
could have His righteousness. Therefore,
those who believe in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior are no longer allied
with the devil in his war against our Creator.
We have been washed clean of all our sinfulness and connected by Christ
to the heavenly kingdom.
Having been made perfectly clean and holy in God’s
sight through faith in Jesus, we are now citizens of God’s kingdom, the kingdom
of heaven. Accordingly, Peter tells us
not to go back to serving God’s enemy, but to “Abstain
from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul. Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so
that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble
deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us.” Here, Peter explains why we should live
honorable lives. If we live in the sins of
Satan’s allies, all the world will assume that we also remain allied with the
devil. The people of the world may
temporarily like us more, but wicked behavior would give them no encouragement
to turn to something better.
However,
as the enemy’s allies see us living lives that are different from the ordinary
sinners’ lives, they will have reason to question why. Why don’t we follow the lies of the
devil? Why don’t we participate in the
sins of the world? As they see us avoid
the wickedness that causes so many problems, some sinners will be drawn to the only
Savior of the world. As they come to ask
us why we avoid evil ways, we can share the Gospel of Christ Jesus, and some of
those who formerly slandered us may believe, giving God glory by their new faith
in Christ when God visits them through the Holy Spirit’s work in Word and
Sacrament.
As
citizens of heaven, sojourning here on earth to serve as Christ’s ambassadors,
we might say that we have diplomatic immunity.
We are no longer subject to the curse of sin on this world for heaven is
our home. However, God doesn’t want our
freedom to be a stumbling block to those who might yet believe and be
saved. Thus, He says, “Submit
to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the king as the
supreme authority or to governors as those who have been sent by him to punish
those who do what is wrong and to praise those who do what is right. For this is God’s will: that you silence the
ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Do this as free people, and do not use your
freedom as a cover-up for evil, but use it as servants of God.” This is God’s will, that we citizens of
heaven continue to live in His grace and in obedience to His every
command. We do this not because the law
has any authority over us, but so that we can be His sanctified representatives
bringing the riches of salvation to an enemy people. Just as our Lord Jesus submitted Himself to
every law for our benefit, He asks us to follow His example for the benefit of
those around us.
Occasionally,
the news will tell of some foreign ambassador who has broken the law. This often causes hard feelings and,
sometimes outrage, if the diplomat won’t be charged with a crime because He has
diplomatic immunity. Such is the case
with you and me. God holds no charge of
sin over our heads for Christ paid the full penalty for all our guilt. However, we are not serving our Lord if we,
in our liberty, should defy Him or cause offense in this world. Yet, we always remember that this submission
to law is a work of love for Christ, for we are truly free of all that the law
requires.
As
Christ humbled Himself to serve His enemies, and save them, so we are
instructed to live humbly. Peter writes,
“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” Have you ever struggled to honor someone who
is causing you grief or even great hurt?
This is how we imitate Christ—by honoring all people regardless of how
they treat us.
Chances
are good that we have struggled to love even some of our Christian brothers and
sisters. No doubt, our sinful nature
affects us as long as we live on this planet, so it is not uncommon for there
to be difficulties even among the faithful.
Yet, Jesus loves us even when we offend, so we also love. Fearing God means respecting both His wrath
and His love. Honoring the king means to
give due respect and obedience to all authority God places over us here on
earth. Jesus gave us the best example of
this in His life. He paid taxes just as
He was required by the authorities. Jesus
showed no disrespect to any person even though many disrespected Him. Even as He was led to His suffering and death,
Jesus gave honor and love to all.
Now,
how do you react to the next sentence? “Slaves, submit to your masters with total respect, not only to those
who are good and kind but also to those who are harsh.” Boy that can be tough, can’t it? It’s harder to submit to the unkind
master. We think of how harshly some of
the slaves of our American past, and elsewhere, were treated and we wonder, how
could they endure it? Or, think about a
prisoner of war still being held and abused long after the war is over, could
we bear up under such an abusive master?
Our Savior instructs us to serve even the harshest authority, because in
doing so, we follow and serve our heavenly King who promises, “For
this is favorable: if a person endures sorrows while suffering unjustly because
he is conscious of God. For what credit
is it to you if you receive a beating for sinning and patiently endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and endure it,
this is favorable with God.”
If
we get punished for doing evil, no one would think twice about it. Most people expect that the criminal deserves
punishment. Likewise, almost everyone recognizes
that undeserved harsh treatment is an injustice. However, it is when we take that undeserved
abuse without complaint that we resemble our Savior. That is when people will come and ask how, or
why, we bear it, and we can tell them, Jesus walked the road to the cross,
knowing that He was completely innocent of any charge, but He willingly carried
our burden of guilt so that we wouldn’t have to suffer eternal death. Jesus endured the punishment we deserved so
we would be set free.
Jesus
lived His life in perfect and complete harmony with God and then patiently bore
the pain and death we had earned. “Therefore God also highly exalted him and
gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11) Because Jesus did it everything needed
to save you and me, we gladly bear up
under the injustices that are put upon us in this world. Because of the salvation and eternal
citizenship in heaven that Christ has given to us, we gladly endure our role as
His ambassadors here on earth.
Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters.”
(Luke 16:13) As we serve our earthly masters, whether good
or harsh, we remember that, ultimately, it is Jesus we are serving. He alone is our head, so we follow His lead,
and His instruction, and for our service born of faith in Him, we can be confident
that one day Christ will say to us, “Well
done, good and faithful servant! You
were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21) We know that we will receive our heavenly
reward not because of what we have done here on earth, but because Jesus, in
His great love for us, came to this world to win us for His Father as citizens
of His heavenly kingdom, a citizenship that was marked on our foreheads as we
were washed in the waters of Baptism, cleansing us from all sin. Therefore, as Pilgrims here, we live as citizens of heaven.
Dear friends, being “aliens and temporary
residents in the world” can sometimes leave us feeling pretty sad and
lonely. We may feel abused, hated,
mocked, and scorned by those around us.
There may even come a time when we are hunted down for our faith or put
on trial as traitors to the rule of this evil world. Jesus understood the world into which He was
sending us, for He said, “Look,
I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:3)
But He doesn’t send us out alone.
Isaiah assures us, “Like a shepherd he will care for his flock. With his arm he will gather the lambs. He will lift them up on his lap. He will gently lead the nursing mothers.” (Isaiah 40:11) Our Good Shepherd
is continually caring for us, protecting, leading, comforting, and defending us
from every evil.
Jesus already endured all of the trials and abuses
this world could dish out, so that we could be His, and He promised to be with
us always. He comes to us every time we
hear, read, or meditate on His holy Word.
He strengthens us with His body and blood every time we partake of His
holy Supper. On a cross outside
Jerusalem, Jesus bought us back into His heavenly kingdom as He paid the full
price to set us free from sin, death, and the devil. Furthermore, we have nothing to fear in any
of these things, for just as Jesus rose triumphant from the grave, never to die
again, so He assures us that will be raised to live and reign in peace with Him
forever. Therefore, we gladly serve our
Lord and Savior for while Pilgrims
here, we live as citizens of heaven. Amen.
The
peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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