“STRANGERS IN THE WORLD”
1 PETER 1:1-13
STRANGE THINGS HUMANS DO …olsonnd.com/weird-things-humans-do/
I was thinking about our passage today, and I got to thinking about the word “strange.” The word “strange” to me means odd and unexpected or out-of-the-ordinary. Strange means not normal. I was wondering about the strange things that people do. We all have strange habits and things we say and do that make us seem strange. I found an article by Dr. Scott Olson who says he is a Naturopathic Doctor… I am not even sure what that means. Anyway, he had an interesting article about 10 strange things people do.
1. Not Sleeping when we are Tired
Look around you: dogs, cats – even the mice in your walls – all lie down and sleep when they are tired. We don’t do that; we reach for sugar or coffee. Animals don’t do that, they simply lie down and sleep.
2. Not Relaxing
You, your body, your mind, and your soul need a time out. I’m not talking about sitting in front of the television, but true relaxing, just hanging out and doing nothing. To understand what I mean by relaxing, try picturing a day at the beach. The beach seems to be one place in our society where it is okay to just sit and do nothing.
3. Eating Grains
Our bodies have not adapted to the large amount of carbohydrates we put into them. High blood sugar which results from eating grains is responsible for more ill-health than smoking cigarettes. Try replacing grains with fruits and vegetables at every meal. You will be astonished at how much better you feel.
4.Wearing Shoes
Putting shoes on your feet seems pretty normal, right? Actually, your foot is incredible complex and wearing shoes all the time is harmful to your feet. I suggest you spend at least part of the day waking around without shoes.
5. Live Inside
We live most of our lives inside and this is just not healthy. Not only is the air pollution inside a home or office often much worse than outside, we are also not getting enough sunlight.
6. Drinking Calories
Drinking calories only becomes a problem when those calories are mostly sugars. Sugars in liquid form are absorbed rapidly into our bodies and create all sorts of havoc including: weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and maybe even cancer. Our bodies are woefully unprepared for calories to come in a liquid form.
7. Stretching Before Exercise
8. Not Moving Your Buns Around
We sit a lot! We sit in cars, we sit at work, we sit on the couch… humans are professional sitters. Our ancestors had far more muscle mass than most of us do today. Muscle mass is one of the keys to not only how long we live, but also to general health and weight loss. You need to get up and move your buns around every day and build up your muscle mass.
9. Not Going to the Bathroom when we Need to Go
Once again, look to the animal world and find one animal that will stop its urges to go to the bathroom. I know it is hard, because of how we live our lives, but try to not ignore your body’s urges.
10. Cooking Foods
As I mentioned earlier, it is best to eat foods as close to the way that they are presented to us as possible. When we cook foods, they lose vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients. The most grievous of losses are the loss of essential fatty acids, or EFAs.
I don’t know if you consider any of those things strange or odd! The passage that we will look at today is the beginning of 1 Peter 1 in which the Apostle Peter calls us all strange. Do you believe that?! The Apostle Peter calls those of us who are believers “strange.” Well… sort of… in the first verse, he calls believers in Jesus Christ “strangers in the world.” He tells us that we are strange, out-of-the-ordinary, and odd when it comes to this world we are living in. Let’s read from 1 Peter 1:1-13 about what makes believers in Jesus Christ stick out strange in this world.
I. THE SANCTIFIED ONES (VERSES 1-2)
READ 1 Peter 1:1-2
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
These verses tell us that as believers in Jesus Christ, one of the reasons we stick out strangely in the world is that we are sanctified. We have been “chosen by God” and we have been “sanctified by the work of the Spirit.” A little later in verse 2 it tells us that we have been “sprinkled by His blood.” What does that mean? All three phrases mean that we are the sanctified ones.
Sanctification means we are purified of our sins in God’s sight.
Sanctification means we are made Holy for God’s use.
Sanctification means we have a God given purpose for our lives.
The key phrase in these verses I think is the “sprinkled by His blood.” I say that because Hebrews 10:22-23 says also, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
That phrase “sprinkled by His blood” is a descriptive phrase of our standing before God as forgiven sanctified people. What has sanctified us is nothing we have done or nothing we have earned, but Jesus Christ and His death on the cross has provided us a way to be forgiven of our sins. Being forgiven makes us stick out in a world that is bogged down with sin. Normal is darkness, selfishness, materialistic, guilty, and separated from God. Abnormal is chosen by God, sanctified, forgiven, and purified.
ILLUSTRATION… Odd People 1… guinnessworldrecords.com/2015/preview/
I spent time looking up odd and strange people this week. I looked up one guy in the Guinness Book of World records who might be the strangest person I came across. He has a real name, but his “spirit name” is Ashrita. I am pretty sure my regular name called his spirit name a little dumb. Anyway, he has committed his life to very strange things.
Most consecutive forward rolls 8,341
Fasted sack race against a yak 16:41
Fastest mile pushing and orange with his nose 22:41
The things this man spends his time doing are very odd. He pogo sticks underwater. He runs with hula hoops. He walks with milk bottles on his head. The man spends his life breaking records no one thinks of to even go for. He is odd because of what he does.
II. THE BORN AGAIN ONES (VERSES 3-7)
READ 1 Peter 1:3-7
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
These verses tell us that as believers in Jesus Christ, one of the reasons we stick out strangely in the world is that we are born again into the family of God. Those of us who are believers are not spiritual orphans, but belong to God in a very permanent way. To use Jesus’ words from John 3:5, we who have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been born of the water and the spirit. To use the language of 2 Corinthians 5:17, we have been made new creations. We who are believers in Jesus Christ belong to a family that is bound together by the blood of Jesus and our faith in Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit in each one of us.
In Ephesians 1:4-6, the Apostle Paul reminds us, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Normal in the world is to be an orphan, lost, without belonging, and without support. Normal is suffering in this life with no guidance and no answers and no hope. Abnormal is to be part of the family of God and born into a family that is shielded by the power of God and offers hope through a connection to God through Jesus Christ.
ILLUSTRATION… Odd People 2… guinnessworldrecords.com/2015/preview/
I looked up more people in the Guinness Book of World records and I found more odd and strange things. I found that a group of 325 people willingly dressed up like penguins in November of 2013 and gathered together on a wharf in London. The purpose? Just to get into the Guinness Book of World Records I think. There does not seem to be any constructive reason for so many people to dress up like penguins. They are all odd for dressing up like penguins for no reason.
III. THE FAITH-FILLED ONES (VERSES 8-12)
READ 1 Peter 1:8-12
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
These verses tell us that as believers in Jesus Christ, one of the reasons we stick out strangely in the world is that we are filled with faith in God and in Jesus Christ. In John 20:29, Jesus tells the Apostle Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We live by faith, not by sight.” Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The people of God are people who define themselves by their faith in the God they serve and in the Savior in Whom they trust.
The result of having faith is outlined in these verses:
The result of faith is joy that we cannot explain.
The result of faith is that the grace of God fills our lives.
The result of faith is that we have the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven.
Normal to the world is only trusting what is right in front of you. Normal to the world is looking out for #1 and believing in self. Normal to the world is to be filled with desires for self-gain and accomplishments of fame. Abnormal is to have faith in God that He will direct our paths and He brings ultimate fulfillment in our lives.
ILLUSTRATION… Odd People 3… guinnessworldrecords.com/2015/preview/
In my search of odd people I found even more. There is a man who has his tongue insured for 14 million dollars because he can distinguish between thousands of different flavors of coffee. And here I thought coffee came in just one flavor… gross. Hopefully he never eats anything spicy or bites his tongue accidentally. There is another man who insured his nose for almost 8 million dollars because it is essential for his production and managing skills of his vineyard in France. What happens when this guy gets a cold… does he get an insurance pay out? I find it odd to insure just one body part rather than an entire person.
IV. THE PREPARED ONES (VERSE 13)
READ 1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
These verses tell us that as believers in Jesus Christ, one of the reasons we stick out strangely in the world is that we are prepared for the return of Jesus Christ. These verses tell us to prepare our minds for action and to be self-controlled and to set our hope in God for the eventual revealing of Jesus Christ when He returns. When Jesus Christ returns, He will judge the world and everyone in it. We will all give an account of ourselves. Time and life on this planet will cease and God’s Kingdom in Heaven will reign. While we are waiting for the return of the Son of God, we are preparing ourselves.
The Apostle Paul shares with us in Ephesians that while we are waiting for Jesus to return that we should be about His business. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
It is normal in the world to live life for life itself. It is normal to live only for family, to live for our job or to make money, to live for the weekend, or to live for the next drink. That is normal to the world to do all of those things. Our abnormal actions while we wait for Jesus to return make us strange and odd in this world:
We read our Bibles and conform our lives morally to Him
We worship together with people who believe like us and encourage one another
We love our neighbors and help without strings attached
We share the faith that we have with those around us to who do not know
ILLUSTRATION… Odd People 4… guinnessworldrecords.com/2015/preview/
I found more groups of odd people. Guinness Book of World Records reports gatherings of people who dress up alike.
2268 people gathered with false mustaches
867 people gathered in Superman costumes
516 people dressed as trees
470 people dressed as cows
APPLICATION
Everyone is different. Every single person who is born on this planet is crafted by God as an individual. Some of those people end up being very odd, strange, and stick out in obvious ways. The fella who wants to race yaks in a sack might need to talk with someone who is a professional. The people who dress up like penguins or cows or trees probably did it for charities or for good reasons or may be even just to make it into the record books. People who insure their body parts are trying to make money. Everyone is odd in some way or another.
I have to tell you, I think as believers we want to be “strangers in this world” (1 Peter 1:1). It should be our goal as believers in Jesus Christ to conform to Him and pattern ourselves in His likeness rather than what we find in the world (Romans 12:1-2). As believers in Jesus Christ, if we blend in and look like the world, we have lost that which makes us unique. If we blend in we are no longer salt (Matthew 5:13) or light (Matthew 5:14) or any other metaphor we normally use to describe Christians in a world that thinks and acts differently than us.
Today I challenge us to be different in all aspects of our lives as the Apostle Peter has also challenged us. Don’t be odd or different just for the sake of being strange, but be different for the sake of giving God glory and pointing people to Him!
Be different in how you raise your children and grandchildren.
Be different in what movies and TV shows you watch.
Be different in how you wear your clothes.
Be different in how you spend your money and how you view your material possessions.
Be different in how you talk and how you use God’s name.
Be different in your marriage.
Be different in your friendships.
Be different in how you help people through difficult times.
May you be a stranger in this world for Jesus Christ!
CONCLUSION
