Monday, May 1, 2017

April 29-May1, 2017 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Peter 1:17-21 “YOU DON’T BELONG HERE!”


EASTER 3

April 29-May1, 2017

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Peter 1:17-21



“YOU DON’T BELONG HERE!”

                                      1. So Live Your Lives in Reverent Fear.

                                      2. You’ve Been Redeemed.

                                      3. Your Faith and Hope are in God.



1 Peter 1:17-21 (NIV 1984) “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18For 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, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”



          You. Don’t. Belong. Here. Those are four words. The tone with which you say them makes a big difference. “You don’t belong here!” are mean words when they are said to exclude a person from a playground game or planned sleepover. “You don’t belong here!” are loving words spoken by a mom scooping up a child whose crawling toward danger. It just matters how you say it. Through the Apostle Peter God says those four words to us today. You don’t belong here. How does He mean them? Let’s find out.

          “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” We call on a father who judges impartially. God doesn’t play favorites. With these words Peter reminds us that lip service to God does not cut it and never will. God did not put up with the lip service of the Jewish people even though His Son would be born from them. When they drew close to God with their lips but their hearts were far from Him God didn’t put up with it. Do you remember how they did that? Made sure they got to church each Sabbath but once they left the stole from each other and had no mercy. How would it look among us? Coming to church and then leaving only to curse at the guy who pulls out ahead of you in the parking lot or street. Worshipping God here, calling on His name for help, but then living the rest of the week with me in charge, giving no time to God, His word and prayer.

          Instead we are urged to live in reverent fear. There is a lot of fear mongering going on these days. And so you might find yourself fearing what North Korea is doing or Syria. You might fear growing crime. Maybe you fear how you will be treated as a Christian who holds to God’s Word and God’s morals in a country that more and more does not. Reverent fear is different. It means living with a desire for God’s approval and a fear of disappointing Him. Reverent fear happens when we hear God’s voice in our heads and our hearts saying “You don’t belong here looking at things that cause you to lust. You don’t belong here breaking up someone’s marriage by flirting with their spouse. You don’t belong here harming your body with drugs. You don’t belong here in this facebook post, chat room or Instagram/twitter feed that uses filthy language or is mean and derogatory.” You don’t’ belong in those places because you don’t belong here in a world filled with sin. Heaven is your home.

          Why? You are a redeemed child of God. “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, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” You don’t belong here, you aren’t really a part of this world because you’ve been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. To redeem means to buy back. They don’t seem to be real popular up here but down south there are pawn shops everywhere. If you need a little extra money you bring an item. They give you money. If you did that with something special to you, if you want your guitar or video game system back you have to buy it back. Not by God’s choosing but because Adam and Eve chose to sin they and we and all people were lost to Him. We pawned ourselves to the devil through sin. But God wanted us back. He wants us with Him in heaven. So He redeemed us. Even though God owns this entire world there is nothing in it that could pay the price so God paid the ultimate. Jesus. He came. He lived. He suffered Hell. He died. We are bought back. At the time Peter wrote this he acknowledged that the Old Testament believers didn’t know the whole story but New Testament believers like us do. It’s been revealed.

          And now we don’t belong here. We’ve been redeemed from an empty way of life. The empty way of life for people at Peter’s time included Jewish people whose religion was just a formality, a ritual. They went to church every Sabbath, they brought their tithe, they adhered to an outward keeping of the 10 Commandments but it was done just because that’s the way it was. It included Gentiles who tried to keep all their many gods happy knowing that in the end the Fates would decide what would happen to them. Today there are all kinds of empty ways of living. Think of a worker who hates his job, drudges through, gets home, falls asleep in front of the TV waking up to eat and go to bed, living for the weekend when a case of beer will make it seem bearable. Think of the teens who feel so empty only the drug high makes life bearable. Think of the millions who live to surround themselves with things only to realize to late that things don’t bring happiness. You don’t belong here says God. I’ve redeemed you. Heaven is your home. Because the tomb is empty your life is full. You get to live storing up treasures for heaven. You get to treat things as things. You get to have your  God sized heart hole filled with God. You don’t belong here.

          Your faith and hope are in God. “Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” Think of all the phrases or mottos that talk about believing. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. – Buddha. Think of how many sports teams urge on their fan base with sayings like “You just gotta believe!” But see there’s this thing about belief. It’s only as good as what you believe in. Did you believe the Bucks would advance in the playoffs? Why didn’t they? Because you didn’t believe enough? No, they couldn’t deliver. I can believe all I want that I have the ability to fly but if I jumped off of a high rise building I would find my trust in myself misplaced. I can believe with all my heart that a board will hold my weight as I step on it to cross a narrow canyon but if it is not strong enough I will fall no matter how hard or how sincerely I believe. We don’t belong here, trusting in things or people that will inevitably let us down.

          Your faith and hope are in God. He has the power to deliver anything. Go back to Easter. God raised Jesus from the dead. He has the power to do anything. So you don’t belong here getting your hope and confidence from how much money you have saved up. You don’t belong here only being happy when things seem to be going well and getting all down and worried when you have to face obstacles or challenges or dealing with sickness and death. You don’t belong here letting your inner peace be robbed by countries and politicians behaving badly. Your faith and hope are in God who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. Who has promised to work all things for the good. Who disciplines those He loves.  Your faith and hope are in God who gives us back our dead so you can look forward to the life to come in our real home where the peace, joy and happiness never wavers or gets robbed because we forget where we belong.

          Because, brothers and sister, you don’t belong here and neither do I. God says that us in love. He saw before the Creation of the world that it would not be the perfect place he intended. He knew we wouldn’t belong here. So from the start He planned and carried out our salvation. He committed Himself to paying the price of His Son. The next time you see a believer dying or are gathering at their funeral, remember what really happened. God said, “Shh! You don’t belong here with hurts in your heart and a body that is failing. It’s time to come home.” And until that day happens for you live in such a way that shows, you don’t belong here. Amen.


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