Hope and Holiness
Notes
Transcript
Good morning!
If we haven’t met before my name is Chris, I’m the pastor of Gateway Chapel, the lovely church family that gathers here in this building.
We are a church that encourages each other as we hear, love, and obey Jesus together.
If you want to learn more about following Jesus with us, feel free to come talk to me after the service, or you can connect with us on our website
Gatewaychapelpnw.com
You’ll find a tab that says “I’m NEW” where there is a contact form to fill out that is sent to the elder team where you can ask any questions about membership, community groups, serving.
There’s also a page on our website for prayer requests. Again those go directly to the elder team and we’d love to serve you by praying for you.
If you are interested in learning about what it means to follow Jesus with us, your next step is coming to a membership class.
Our next class is Sunday March 17 right after service we’ll have lunch and childcare available.
We define membership as a mutually recognized commitment between the church and the believer.
Membership is not jumping through a hoop to enter some inner ring in the church. It’s a way in which we help each other see today what it means to really be a part of the church.
It says in Acts 2 that after the Spirit was poured out on the disciples, Peter preached the gospel, and thousands of people came to faith and were baptized, it says they devoted themselves to each other. And that’s what we’re trying to do here is show that being a part of a church is more than attendance it’s about responding to the gospel and devoting ourselves to each other as a result.
So if you’re interested, come on March 17, you can RSVP by sending an email to info@gatewaychapelpnw.com to let us know who’s coming and if you have any food allergies.
And
in two Sundays on March 3rd we’re doing another church potluck after the service so keep your calendar after church open and bring a dish as we share a meal together.
Before Annika comes up to read our Scripture we’re going to spend a few moments United in Prayer together.
Two weeks ago we got the privilege of praying with Jarrod and Katcha, last week we spent time praying over the city of Sumner, and this week we’re praying for our Puget Sound region.
Maybe some of you know that Cindy Petersen works for Union Gospel Mission and Cindy helped put these prayer requests together today as we think about the thousands of people living on the streets in our region.
Prayer
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
Homelessness is one of the big issues facing the Puget Sound area. Pray for the physical safety of men and women living unsheltered in the cold and rainy weather. Pray for children of unhoused parents. Either kids living unhoused themselves or separated from their parents. Pray for peace and comfort. Pray that families will be reunited.
The Fentanyl crises is a major contributor to homelessness. We have never had a drug that is this addictive, this easy to access, and this devastating to the mental and physical health of people. Pray that men and women would seriously consider the daily offers to come in off the streets and get into a recovery program. Pray for men and women in recovery programs—pray for those almost finishing and pray for those that are brand new, maybe just a few days or weeks into their recovery journey.
Pray for organizations that work with homeless populations. Pray for encouragement for their staff and wisdom to know how to serve this community.
Pray for Spiritual Awakening. Pray that Jesus will revive the Church and awaken our region to His greatness and supremacy. Pray that many will be convicted by the Holy Spirit, repent of their sins, and turn to God with all their hearts.
Scripture Reading
Intro
I
What does it mean to be holy as God is holy?
This week I read an article in Christianity Today by Russell Moore, and he began by telling this story:
A friend and I were talking once about the first concerts we ever attended. His was Van Halen; mine was Amy Grant.
"Okay, second concert?" he asked.
Him: Mötley Crüe. Me: Petra.
After a minute or two of silence, he said, "You realize we would have hated each other in middle school, don’t you?"
Can you relate? Which friend are you?
I think my first concert was Chris Tomlin and I think the only non-Christian concert I’ve gone to was Trans-Siberian orchestra so I’m not even sure if that counts.
WE
What does it mean for us to be holy as God is holy?
Is holiness listening to Christian music and not secular music?
What does that mean for us to be holy today?
How does a holy person live?
And why does it matter? If, as Peter says, this isn’t our true home then why does it matter how we live?
As we read in our Scripture today, we are called to be holy.
And holy is not a word we use often.
What does it mean for us to be holy?
GOD
Peter cared about this, too, as he wrote to Christians in first century Asia Minor what is now modern day Turkey to Christians he called chosen exiles.
Another way to say that might be holy strangers.
These first century Christians were living in the tension of following Jesus while still living in their neighborhoods while they were increasingly seen as strange.
And as we’ve seen so far in 1 Peter he writes to tell them, don’t forget HERE IS WHO YOU ARE - chosen exiles. And as Gene preached last week - HERE IS WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR YOU - given you a living hope and an eternal inheritance. He pours on the hope.
So this morning we’re going to consider this: what does our hope have to do with our holiness?
HOPE
13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Peter begins by continuing to point us to hope.
We see this because the first word of our passage is - therefore.
And we ask, What is the therefore there for?
It’s to point us back to what Peter has already said
He’s said - here’s who you are - chosen exiles, holy sojourners, citizens of the kingdom of heaven, you’re like Abraham who was called by God to wander through places that were not his home to one day come to a promised inheritance. You’re united with Christ who was honored by God but rejected by men, who suffered for a little while but was raised to glory.
So, too, you are suffering grief in all kinds of trials - we can relate, can’t we? - but it’s just for a short while and it’s for a purpose - God is refining your faith and on the day that Christ returns your faith will be seen as more valuable than anything even Taylor Swift could ever buy.
He’s said even though you can’t see Jesus - you love him. He brings you joy.
He’s said that you are more privileged than even the writers of Scripture who longed to see the day of Christ’s resurrection, you are even more privileged than angels who wished they could get a glimpse of the reality you’re living.
And so as we consider what it means to be holy, we cannot overemphasize the therefore.
We cannot skip over who we are and what God has done for us, or else holiness becomes a list of dos and donts.
Holiness is shaped by hope.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action
ESV has a little footnote that says in Greek the wording is literally - girding up the loins of your mind.
What in the world?
We might say - roll up your sleeves. Get ready.
Peter is making a reference to the Exodus story.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.
God tells Israel - Gird your loins - the picture is of a person hiking up their long clothing because you need to be ready to run - tonight we’re hightailing out of Egypt.
You were living in darkness, I’m bringing you into the light.
And Peter tells us, like Israel, your ultimate freedom is coming. Roll up your sleeves.
But not in a physical sense of be ready to run or fight, but get your minds ready.
Be sober minded -
Be self-controlled.
How do we do that?
Look at what Peter writes...
1 Peter 1:13 (ESV)
…set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
How much hope?
All of it.
Like you throw all your weight on your be because you know it will support you, rest in this hope.
100% of your hope.
But how do we know we can have that hope?
In kind of a literary envelope, Peter talks about hope again in our passage in verses 20-21
20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
How do we know we can have that hope?
Because Jesus was raised from the dead.
Before God said let there be light, Jesus was there with Him and now in the last days of history, he has revealed himself. He was rejected for our sakes and was raised to new life - so that our faith and hope are in God.
And it’s that resurrection of Christ that gives us hope that he is coming again. We have a living hope.
By the way, we all need hope.
Did you know emperor penguins can swim underwater without oxygen for 22 minutes.
Hope is like oxygen for us. Without it, we won’t make it very long.
Where are you putting your hope?
Having money gives us hope because it can give us a sense of a better future as my money grows. But money changes us as people, doesn’t it?
Having family gives us hope because our families give us purpose and joy. But our families won’t be here forever. And people let us down. Jesus is the true and better hope.
Gateway, no one ever put too much hope in Jesus.
You cannot be too hopeful about the return of Christ.
It is impossible to be too eager about Jesus coming again.
Try as you may but you can’t be too confident about Jesus.
Biblical hope endures even when things get worse. It goes beyond the grave. Biblical hope is living hope because it’s hope in the risen Jesus.
LONG PAUSE - 5
So how does our living hope shape how we live today?
First, Peter shows how NOT to live.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
Peter urges us to not be shaped by our old desires.
Peter’s audience was full of non-Jews who only recently came to know God.
Their former ignorance was their life before they knew how amazing God is. They didn’t know his grace. They didn’t know his amazing mercy. They didn’t know how much he loved them. And so they just lived doing whatever they wanted to do not knowing that it went against the God who made them.
So how does somebody escape that old way of life?
Look at verses 18 and 19
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
In an honor/shame culture, Peter dramatically points out the idolatry of the people who would revere the ways of their forefathers, and says actually it’s futile, vain, empty.
But God brought you out of that life.
How?
You were ransomed.
With what?
The precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
What’s Peter doing?
He’s again tying non-Jews to the Jewish story of Passover.
Back in Exodus, God ransomed Israel from Egypt on the night of Passover. On that night the Israelites sacrificed a lamb without blemish or spot and put its blood over their household to say - We’re a part of the family of God. And so God passed over their houses and spared them from his wrath which he poured out on the gods of Egypt.
And Peter is saying - God is at it again but this time it’s even better.
Just as God saw the blood of the lamb back then and passed over their houses, so God sees the blood of Jesus - the precious blood of the lamb of God - and passes over us and does not give us the wrath we deserve but instead invites us into a new family.
How does this affect how we live?
How you live today matters because you’ve been bought at a great price.
Your life matters. It is valuable.
Tomorrow, when you walk through the door of your office, what would change if you pondered how precious you are in God’s eyes? Valuable enough in God’s eyes that He would send Jesus to die for you?
How would that shape how you talk to an annoying coworker?
How would that shape your work ethic?
How would that shape your attentiveness to God during your shift?
Your hope is certain.
Your worth is unthinkable.
You’re a part of a new family.
LONG PAUSE
So if we have this living hope and we’ve been set free from our old life, how ARE we to live?
15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
Because we have a living hope we are to live a holy life.
Because we have a living hope we are to live a holy life.
Because we have a living hope we are to live a holy life.
Notice in our passage we’ve treated it like a sandwich - looking at the bread first (the hope) then the cheese if you will (the old life) and now the meat (call to holy living).
Look at all the repetition of the word holy.
What does holy mean?
In the Bible…
To be holy is simply to be sacred, or set apart.
It’s the car in the garage that only comes out on that perfect sunny day, or your fine china that you got 30 years ago and only use for the most special occasions.
As we see in our text God is the one who is truly holy.
TRULY special. TRULY worthy.
God is holy like our sun is holy.
The sun is terrifyingly powerful. And also it is the source of all life on our planet.
Sovereign power and sustaining and life giving presence.
Terrifying! And tender.
And he is a personal, communicative being who calls us, as it says.
And so Peter says because this holy God CALLED you - personally reached out to you through Jesus - be holy in all your conduct just as he is holy.
Why?
Since it is written
Peter is flipping over in his Bible to Leviticus, so let’s do the same.
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.
What’s repeated three times in that passage?
I am the LORD your God. I am yours.
What is happening in Leviticus?
Leviticus is about a God who wants to be with us.
And because of sin, we don’t want to be with Him. We’re afraid of him, we’re ashamed of our sickness, and in the light of his holiness, we’re actually in danger in His presence.
Leviticus shows the lengths God will go to in order to be with us.
So why quote Leviticus?
Peter is saying just like God saved Israel through the blood of the lamb and made a covenant with them and called them to be holy as they wandered in the wilderness, it’s the same with you.
Holiness is not about behavior management.
It is about behavior, but it’s about a story of God loving us, saving us, and calling us to be His people who look like Him to the world.
Holiness is what happens when we set our hope and set our gaze on the God who loves us.
15 As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.
But there’s a tension here, right?
Holiness is tender and holiness is terrifying.
This God who is ablaze with holiness is worthy of reverence and awe and as Peter puts it, fear.
Look at what he says in verse 17
17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
“God’s tenderness and love as Father is mingled with his judgment and the fear that should mark Christians in this world.” - Thomas Schreiner
There is a weight to your life.
God is watching.
And you say man, that doesn’t sound like good news.
But I think it is. Here’s why.
Daily life is a grind.
Isn’t it?
Michael story - it’s non-stop.
I don’t often find myself fighting the passions of my former ignorance. Sometimes, yes.
Other times, I’m just lulled into the monotony of daily life. Can I get an amen?
Wake up, brush my teeth, put in my contacts because I’m basically blind without them, eat a protein bar because I spend so much time cooking for the kids I just want something easy for myself, work, eat, make more food, clean up all of Simon’s mess after dinner, do bath time which gets really boring, and then maybe get an hour to hang with Morgan before we go to bed and do the whole thing tomorrow.
But this text reminds me that every day, every moment, every second God is with me and life at its core is anything but boring.
Be sucked in by the blazing glory of a holy God. Let your life be shaped by His dynamic power and Holy Spirit. Why? Because he’s given you a living hope. He’s called you into a new family. He’s called you to live a holy life. What a privilege.
YOU
So what might it look like for us to respond to this passage?
Your life today matters.
Your life today matters.
Jesus paid it all, and it matters how we live.
We can’t simply say that it doesn’t matter what we listen to, what we watch, what we read, what we look at on our phones, how we eat, how we drink, how we work, our temperament, our emotional life, it doesn’t matter because we’re saved by grace! That’s not how God works.
How do we know that? Peter says you’re a part of the Old story. And the old story is about a God who saves his people, redeems them with the blood of the lamb and calls them out to represent him and be holy as he is holy.
How we live as exiles matters.
Sumner needs to see Jesus in us. They need to see his kindness. They need to see his care for the world. They need to families who stick together. They need to see us care about the food bank.
and
Your life today is shaped by where you put your hope for tomorrow.
Your life today is shaped by where you put your hope for tomorrow.
Your life is not shaped by information.
Stuff you know about God doesn’t change your life.
How you live your life is not shaped by trying hard to be holy.
Hope drives us. Joy powers that hope!
Where are you putting your hope?
What brings you joy?
When you think about Jesus, does your face light up?
When you think about God giving his precious Son for you, letting his life blood bleed out to save you from death, are you in awe?
When you think that your hope is secure because of the resurrection of Jesus, do you just want to sing?
Have you put your hope in Jesus?
Watch the joy that pours into your life.
Consider this week you could set an alarm at 1:13 this week and when it goes off you just read 1 Pet. 1:13 - get your mind right, set your hope in Jesus. He’s coming again soon.
Because we have a living hope we can live a holy life.
WE
Imagine for a moment that tomorrow you’re going on vacation.
Like, a really good vacation.
The one you’ve been waiting for for a long, long time.
Your friend invited you to come, paid the way, all expenses paid. You just get to come along.
Tomorrow is the day.
How does that feel?
Man it feels good.
Consider, because you know tomorrow you’re on vacation, how will you live today?
When you get stuck in traffic, will you erupt in rage? No, tomorrow I’m free.
Will a bad email send you spinning? It’s a bummer, but tomorrow the worry will be gone.
How will you spend your time? Everything you do will be in relation to your trip. If you’ve got an early flight, you’re going to go to bed early. Your trip tomorrow will absolutely shape how you live today.
How much more with us as chosen exiles?
Because we have a living hope we can live a holy life.
Being holy as God is holy is so much more than Amy Grant vs Motley Crue. It’s so mcuh bigger than Lauren Daigle vs Taylor Swift.
Peter wants us to know that we are living in the night of Passover.
The night is dark, but God has said - “My children, I’m coming soon. Roll up your sleeves. By tomorrow morning when the sun comes up, you’ll be free. Hold on, I’m coming for you. Be holy as I am holy while you wait.”
Communion
We’re going to take communion together as a family since this text ties us so closely with Passover and the freedom meal which the Jews celebrated for thousands of years and was consummated in the death of Jesus.
So Ben and the band are going to play one song, during that time please come grab the elements and once that song is done we’ll take and eat together and end with one joyful refrain.
Benediction
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.