Sermon Text: 1 Peter 1:17-21
Date: April 23, 2023
Event: The Third Sunday of Easter, Year A
1 Peter 1:17-21 (EHV)
If you call on the Father who judges impartially, according to the work of each person, conduct yourselves during the time of your pilgrimage in reverence, 18because you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was chosen before the foundation of the world but revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through him you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Jesus’ Resurrection Brings Us New Life
What is the point of a nation’s jail and prison system? You’ll find a lot of different opinions on that question. Some might say it’s to separate vulnerable people from dangerous people. Some might say it’s to inflict punishment on the wrongdoer. Some might say it’s to keep people in check—to keep people from doing bad things because they don’t want to endure the difficulty of time in jail. Still others will say that it should be about rehabilitation—a system set up to take someone who has gone down a wrong path to learn how to move forward in a different way.
That rehabilitation idea is where I’d like to center our thoughts this morning, not really on our criminal justice system, but on our faith. What is the point of Jesus’ resurrection? What is the point of God’s forgiveness? It’s rescue and rehabilitation. It’s a new life.
We heard in our Gospel how the two men walking to Emmaus from Jerusalem had a lot of confusion and heartache. While not part of the inner circle of the Twelve, these followers of Jesus had lost someone dear and precious to them. They likely had heard Jesus say that he must suffer, die, and rise from the dead, but they didn’t get it. They needed to have Jesus explain the plan to them that God had revealed through promise and prophecy throughout the Old Testament. (Oh, to be journeying along with that trio to hear Jesus explain everything about himself!)
In our Second Reading, Peter does a bit of that educating too. Writing decades after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Peter has clarity about these things that he did not have in those first days and weeks after Jesus rose from the dead. From this vantage point, Peter can see and explain what the plan was: [Jesus] was chosen before the foundation of the world but revealed in these last times for your sake. God was not “winging it” when it came to the salvation of mankind. He had a plan in place from the beginning of time of how he would save mankind from their sin, just as Jesus said in the Gospel: “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” (Luke 24:26). As we emphasized repeatedly during Lent and Holy Week, Jesus’ suffering and death was not a case of things spiraling out of control for him; everything from the Garden of Gethsemane to Pilate’s courtyard, to the cross, to the tomb was all as God had planned. He had to go through these things, this plan was put in place before the foundation of the world.
To what end? Peter explains: You were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot… Through him you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. This plan, Jesus’ death and resurrection, means forgiveness for you. Every sin is gone. You have been purchased for God, redeemed, with the priceless blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. By God’s grace, you have trust in him as your Savior. Your faith is in God; your confident hope is in God. You fully lean on him.
And that means that you do not fear death—your grave will end up empty just like Jesus’! You do not fear punishment—Jesus took your punishment on himself! You do not fear God—he has shown you the full extent of his love as your dear heavenly Father and will bring you to himself in heaven!
So, what about rehabilitation? Peter began our reading this way: If you call on the Father who judges impartially, according to the work of each person, conduct yourselves during the time of your pilgrimage in reverence, because you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers… Peter says that God’s work for you in Jesus should change your life, should rehabilitate you.
We received an empty way of life from our parents and their parents because from them we inherited a sinful nature. We inherited a nature that rebels against God, hates God, and fights against him. Peter’s word “empty” almost seems like an understatement, doesn’t it? It’s not just empty; it’s disastrous. It’s eternally condemning. That empty way of sin leads, ultimately, to hell.
So, Peter says, once we have come to know that we have been redeemed—bought back from the very jaws of eternal damnation with the precious blood of Christ—that should change us. It should rehabilitate us. It should lead us to live a life not governed by the sinful nature but governed by thanksgiving and joy to God. Peter describes that life as conduct[ing] yourselves during the time of your pilgrimage in reverence.
That phrase “the time of your pilgrimage” is fascinating. Peter is referring to our lives here on earth. Some translations talk about sojourning, some as a time of exile. Regardless of the English words we use, the point is clear. It’s a recognition that this life is not home. This life is not the ultimate that we have waiting for us. This life is what we have to get through for us to enjoy what God has really won for us, given to us, by Jesus’ death in our place.
But do we treat this life like that? Do we reject that empty way of life we inherited from our parents, or do we still find ourselves embracing it? Do we live differently than the unbelievers around us, or do we seek to blend in with them? Could someone identify you as a Christian not by your jewelry or badges attached to your car but by your words, your actions, your tone, your attitudes? Do you stand out like a sore thumb (in a good way!) in this world corrupted by sin, or do your words and actions look like everyone and everything else?
How has your life been in the two weeks since we got to celebrate the highest of high festivals in the Christian church—the resurrection of our Savior? Did our Easter celebrations change you? Did the message of Jesus’ resurrection empower you to live a very different life, or has it looked kind of the same as it was before? How present has sin been in your attitudes toward your neighbors, your friends, your family, or your coworkers? Would someone objectively looking at the past 14 days say, “Wow, that person has been rehabilitated!” Or would they cringe if they could see our words, actions, and thoughts of the heart laid out before them?
I really, really don’t want my heart laid bare before you all because of the great shame my sinful nature brings to me. I’m sure none of us would want a detailed listing of our attitudes and actions projected on a screen for the whole congregation to review. But this, my dear sisters and brothers, is where we have commonality. We may not have the same sins, but we all sin. We may not all have the same struggles, but we all struggle.
So, we have not conduct[ed] [our]selves during the time of [our] pilgrimage in reverence. Instead, we have often treated this life as if it’s the best and only thing we have coming, that this life is truly home. We have not behaved as if we were redeemed from [our] empty way of life handed down to [us] from [our] forefathers. Instead, we have often held up that way of life as delightful, fun, tantalizing, and full of value.
So, what now? Have we lost the hope God gave to us? Have we abandoned our redemption? Hardly! It was for this very reason that Jesus redeemed us with his blood. It was for this very reason that Jesus proved that redemption through his resurrection. You and I will not go through this life without sin—that is impossible. But we can make an effort to curtail it. We can make it a goal to not love sin and have it dominate our lives. We can make it our task to bring those sins to Jesus each and every day and say, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
And what is Jesus’ response? “My dear child, I have had mercy on you. I have paid for your sins and they are gone. You will be safe with me in eternal life.” That does not change. For as many sins as we commit, those were the sins that Jesus paid for and redeemed us from. And if you want proof that it is so, we only need to hear the angels’ words again: “He is not here! He is risen!”
That redemption proved by his resurrection then leads us to a new life. Our lives will not be perfect, but we will hold on to that as a goal. We will wrestle with that inherited empty way of life until we are brought to our Savior’s side in eternity. But we will let a new life shine. We will let the words and comforts we’ve been reminded of here today impact our relationships and work ethic, our attitudes and our motivations. We will seek to live a life that doesn’t embrace sin but seeks to thank God for his forgiveness.
Our motivation to do what God wants is not simply because that is “right” and to do the opposite is “wrong.” No, we have far grander and loftier motivations. We live this new life to show our gratitude to God for his forgiveness. We most often express that gratitude through how we treat other people and even ourselves. We know our time of thanksgiving here is limited—we are but pilgrims, exiles, strangers in this life; heaven is our home. We will let our joy in that forgiveness and eternal life permeate our hearts and minds, every aspect of our lives.
My dear friends, conduct yourselves during the time of your pilgrimage in reverence, because you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like a lamb without blemish or spot. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
