"Sanctified" - 1 Peter 1:1 - 9
A Sermon by Alex Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
From Sunday, November 1, 2020 – All Saints’ Day
I Peter 1:1-9
“SANCTIFIED”
What do you say to people who need encouragement in the midst of life’s trials and tribulations? What would be a helpful word to a community that feels burdened, stressed out, lost, bewildered?
Those are pressing questions right now, right?
We continue in this long and unsettling season of a global pandemic. We keep hoping we have “turned the corner,” but COVID 19 seems stronger and more persistent that our best hopes.
We are also on pins and needles with a presidential election this week. There is good reason to wonder if the very fabric of our society may be in peril. Election worries, foreign interference, uncertainty about when we might know the results, concerns about violence and unrest – all cause anxiety and stress.
And we all have other circumstances and issues that burden us – racial and economic challenges, more protests in the streets because of killings by police, personal crises, and more.
Most scholars agree that the letters of Peter, near the back of the New Testament, were written near the end of the first century as Christian communities were emerging in various parts of the Mediterranean region. Peter, a prominent disciple of Jesus, writes these letters to encourage the early church, especially as they faced trials and tribulations, persecutions and peril.
Listen now to the opening words of 1 Peter:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire— may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Do you sense the encouragement that Peter seeks to offer those who feel so burdened, perplexed, bewildered? Peter is essentially telling them who they are and what it means for their lives and peril. Peter uses vivid, spatial language. Notice his words -
“Chosen” – think about that – loved and selected as special to God. Is there anything more important? Life may be full of peril, but our lives matter very much to God. That news changes us, changes everything about us.
Then – “Destined” – your life has a certain direction and destiny. That destiny – no matter what happens in our lives - involves God and God’s loving care. Nothing can separate us from God – not anything in all creation.
Then – “Sanctified” – this is the word for today. It means “set apart” – and then it gives us the word “saint.” Saints are people who seek to live into the truth that life is rooted in God: we are chosen and destined to live a certain way – with and for God. “Sanctified” and “saint” mean – our lives seek to have a certain shape and focus – we seek to become the kind of people Jesus teaches us to be – loving and kind, joyful and justice seeking, who trust God and promote the purposes of God.
However, living as people “set apart” – “sanctified” - as saints carries huge challenges, for sure, because of the trials and tribulations that come our way.
It seems that there are three different kinds of trials that come our way, that threaten us, that cause us to stumble, that make life super hard.
First, there are the trials and tribulations that simply emerge. We were going along with life, and then boom – we get the diagnosis that sets a new course for us. Or, maybe it is not a diagnosis – it is an unexpected accident, or event, or loss. We live in a dangerous world. Bad things happen. It is not our doing. But we find ourselves in a new crisis that demands our attention and probably resets our life. Life includes trials and tribulations. God’s presence and care do not protect us from bad stuff. Bad stuff happens to all of us.
Second, there are trials and tribulations that we absolutely bring upon ourselves. We often make bad decisions that bring us harm and difficulty. We can participate in stupid activities and make a mess, for ourselves and our loved one. Our actions, and our inactions, can contribute to increased challenges for ourselves, our health, our wholeness, our daily life, our ability to live well in the world. Life can be difficult enough; bad actions can make it so much worse.
Then third, life can get more difficult, more disastrous, by the things we do to each other. If a few people keep hoarding wealth and resources, life is much worse for others. If we do not address systemic issues of racial injustice, or climate change, a whole portion of the population struggles and remains so vulnerable. If we are more intent on preserving our gun culture, then we have much more violence in our society. If we are rude and unkind, harsh and cruel, aggressive and selfish, life gets worse for us . . . and for others.
The journey as God’s people is just that – a journey. The process of being “sanctified,” set apart, and nurtured as God’s people lasts all through our lifetimes. That journey includes losses and struggles, tribulation and peril. But, as Peter reminds us, we are always held by God. We have a destiny; we have been given “a living hope;” he uses the words “given an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled.” All these affirmations are God’s promises, truths about our lives. This identity is meant to shape how we live, especially in the midst of trials and tribulations.
So, to be “sanctified,” to be called “saints,” does not mean we are pious or live perfectly. It reminds us Who is at work in our lives – God and God’s abiding love in Jesus Christ. “Sanctified” means God’s Spirit surrounds us and sustains us in all times and places. Sanctified means we live with God – even in the midst of trials and tribulations – and we seek to become the people Jesus teaches us to be – covered in God’s love and serving God in all things.
Karl Barth was a prominent theologian in the last century. Barth depicts as well as anyone what being “sanctified” looks like. Imagine yourself in the corner of a very dark room. You are not just in the corner, you are hunched over, or in a fetal position. Barth says that being “sanctified” looks like this: the door of that dark room opens, and light begins to come in changing everything around you. More than that, it is not just light that comes in. The Spirit of God enters the room. And God’s Spirit, God’s strength, come all the way over to the corner where you are, and the Spirit does not say “get up.” Actually, the Spirit of God reaches down and lifts you up, and with kindness and care, guides you to the light, and out, going with you every step of the way. That is Barth’s picture of what being “sanctified” looks like. It is all God - opening the door to our darkness, coming in, helping us up, guiding us out, and going with us always so we can and do live faithfully in the world - sanctified.
Life is full of trials and tribulations. But we are “chosen, . . . destined, . . . given a living hope, an inheritance, . . . the power of God even to salvation.” This is Peter’s message. This intends to frame our lives too – even in a pandemic, or facing a chaotic election season, or juggling any manner of things. We, friends, live our lives with and for God – we keep seeking to become the kind of people Jesus teaches us to be - doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly with God.
Never is God not working on us, working for us, working with us, to move us closer to the peace and possibilities of God, to light and hope and freedom.
Today - All Saints’ Day - we celebrate all those who have gone before us. We sing “For All The Saints.” And then we seek to devote our lives to living as saints – sanctified – doing the things that God calls us to do. We have to see and sense beyond the trials we face to trust our lives to God. We have to be willing to be a bit uncomfortable in order to find our way to God’s better plans. We have to keep stepping up - against injustices, against cultural temptations, against sloth. God is at work in us. We are in the process, always, of being sanctified!
The great poet, Mary Oliver has a short poem entitled “Roses.”
“Wild roses,” I said to them one morning,
“Do you have the answers? And if you do, would you tell me?”
The roses laughed softly. “Forgive us,”
they said. “But as you can see, we are
just now entirely busy being roses.” (M. Oliver, Felicity, “Roses” p.7)
What if, in the news of our destiny with God, in the news that we are being “sanctified” – as saints - we could be “entirely busy,” just striving to be God’s trusting, loving, serving people, today, tomorrow, forever. That is who Jesus teaches us to be. God is always at work in life and in the world for good things. “Sanctified,” we busy our lives with loving God and serving God.
Let’s keep going that way together. AMEN
Prayer of Commitment: Lord, cover us with your presence and strength; carry us to the light, and keep blessing us to be a blessing in the world, following Jesus. AMEN
Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon for Sunday morning worship on Sunday, November 1, 2020. This is a rough manuscript.