THE PECULIAR PEOPLE
Text:1 Peter 2:9-16
1 Peter 2: 1 - 10: Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner’, 8 and ‘A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy,
"There is the story about a guard who was on duty during a train trip. He had a rose in his buttonhole. A drunken man came along and snatched it out. The guard turned red but did not say anything. An onlooker said, "However did you keep your temper? You said nothing." The guard replied simply, "I'm on duty." As Christians we should remember that wherever we are and whatever happens to us, we are always `on duty'." (A. Naismith. 1200 Notes, Quotes And Anecdotes. Great Britain; Pickering Paperbacks, 1998, p. 317). This onlooker thought that the behavior of this guard was strange or odd, because it was not the usual way that most people would have acted. “Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander” (1 Peter 2:1 NRSV). The guard was acting appropriately because he was remembering who he was--- a representative of the company that he worked for. As Christians we are always on duty. 24/7/365!
We might not be a guard on a train for guard duty,but we cannot deny that we must always be on guard for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
It has been said, that “Some Bible expositors see the rose of Sharon as Christ and the lily as the church, His bride”. https://www.gotquestions.org/Rose-of-Sharon.html The Rose of Sharon that these Biblical expositors often refer to is in Song of Solomon 2:1. If Jesus is our Savior, then we need to remind ourselves that He does not rest on some button hole in our coat, but sits on the throne of our hearts as the King of kings! If Jesus is the King of kings who sits on the throne of our hearts, then our hearts should be transformed from “malice, guile, insincerity, envy and slander” because we are supposed to graduate from milk and grow in grace! (1 Peter 2:1- 2)! What Peter is telling us is that we should not let the things of this world, nor the people of this world distract us from the business of the Gospel!
Today we want to talk about provocateurs, peculiar people and our priesthood.
PROVOCATEURS
Who or what provokes you? Does a critic provoke you?
1) Critics without: “If you are a Christian, you can expect folks to criticize, but you ought to live so nobody will believe them”. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Our world is full of critics and critics who critique each others as if one were superior to the other. Every single day in the news we hear about these opposing critics stir up strife with each other and try to gain supporters.
2) Critics within: Critics on the outside are bad enough and critics on the inside can cause conflict and factions that cause people to look at those of us in the church as flawed, distracted and lacking unity.
3) Confusion: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians_14:33 ESV).
What is Satan’s motive as a provocateur?
1) God’s enemy: Is Satan's motive to confuse us? God promotes unity, adds and multiplies, conquers evil and promotes life and community! It is Satan who confuses, divides, deceives and wants to destroy and kill!
2) Building Material: “The building of the tower of Babel was man’s first attempt to build a society from which God was to be excluded. “Babylon” in the Bible symbolizes rebellion against God and confusion in religion. We see Babylon opposing the people of God throughout the Bible, culminating in the “Great Babylon” of Rev. 17-18. … Their materials (vv.1-3) - “And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick” (v.4). It is interesting to note that God builds with stone (I Peter 2:4-8) but man uses brick. Brick is simply hardened clay which man puts together.” https://www.family-times.net/commentary/the-tower-of-babel/ Satan wants us to build on dead and inanimate things, but God calls us to be established and built on Jesus Christ the living stone---the solid rock to be built as a spiritual house!
PECULIAR PEOPLE
When you hear the word peculiar, what do you think of?
1)Modern day: In modern day, we might think that word, strange, odd, but that is far from what the original meaning was.
2) Original meaning: The original meaning of the word comes from the Latin word “peculium” which meant “a slave is private property”. (George A. Buttrick. ed. The Interpreter’s Bible. Volume 12. “The First Epistle of Peter: Introduction and Exegesis”. Archibald M. Hunter. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1984 (thirty-fourth printing), p. 111). If were someone’s slave then you had no rights!
3)Redemption Slaves were not treated as being worthy of honor. During the time of Jesus' earthly ministry when a slave was past his ability to work, he could be thrown out to die. (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of Luke. Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 84). When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he was paying the price for our sins. We were redeemed by the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:19). Consider 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God Made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (NIV). The last thing that Jesus said before He died on the cross was, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Those words in English do not do justice to the original translation of the Greek which is “tetelestai” which translates “paid in full”.
How did ancestors go from being nobody to becoming somebody?
1) Calling: It was God’s call for God’s chosen people to be “priestly” as His covenant people to being a light to the nations so that His “salvation could reach the end of the earth” (see Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6). I Peter 2:9 reminds us of how God is calling us today!
2) Possession: If we are God’s chosen people m and we are, then we belong to God. It has been said, that we as Christians are the “New Israel”.
3) Strange: What makes us strange in the modern day sense of the word peculiar is that we are strangers-exiles, God’s priesthood in a heathen land where we have been sent to reach the last, the least and the lost.
PRIESTHOOD
What is the role of a priest?
1) Sacrificial role: Priests would help people get right with God. In the Old Testament, a priest would perform a ceremony where the sinner could be reconciled to God by some sort of sacrifice. An animal usually had to be sacrificed because there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22).
2) Priest and sacrifice: These sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins had to be done over and over again until Jesus’ perfect sacrifice took care of the need of other sacrifices once and for all (Hebrews 10:12-14). Jesus is both our High Priest (Hebrews 6:20) and sacrifice----the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
What is our role as God’s royal priesthood?
Our role as God’s royal priesthood is submission in two ways, submission and sacrifice (according 1 Peter 2:5.
1) Built by God: Submission is when we let God be the builder We need to let God do the building. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, we build in vain”. In the Bible Babylon is always used as a metaphor of things contrary to God’s will.
2) Babylonian architects: Rebellious builders always destroy things because they oppose God.
>>> We all remember what happens when the human race built apart from God when they built the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. God scattered the people and all over the earth and confounded their language to prevent them from destroying themselves (Genesis 11:7).
>>> When God’s religious leaders in the Old testament took the priesthood in there were also consequences. Consider Ezekiel 22:26 Its priests have done violence to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
?How often how we seen historical parallels of failure both in the past and in the present, when we try to build without God?
3) Sacrificial living: As members of this priesthood, we who have been called out of darkness into His wonderful light are to bear witness, proclaim and declare praise to God who called us into His light (1 Peter 2:9). We are to offer spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5). We are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1 NKJV).
4) The Priesthood of all believers: The idea of being part of a royal priesthood means that God has called everyone who believes to be in ministry. Before we believed, there was a time when we were not a people (First Peter 2:10). It is God's mercy and grace bestowed to us through Jesus' sacrifice that enables us to be people who are worthy. As members of God's royal priesthood also know as the priesthood of all believers, we are to help others who are lost to find their way to God.
5) Evangelical mission: God called us to salvation first and service evangelism second. God did not and does not intend for us to be members of His royal priesthood who will pass by on the other side of peoples' estrangement, loneliness, pain and suffering (Luke 10:32). God wants us to be priests who will not only love God with all of our heart, soul strength and mind, but He also wants us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Luke 10:27). How will those that are lost call on God and believe in God and His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ if they have not heard (Romans 10:14)? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
6) Burn the boats: "Saint Columbia, a sixteenth-century Irish missionary, was sent to evangelize northern Scotland. The adventure was hazardous because of the Picts who occupied the area. Columbia and twelve men sailed to the nearby Island of Iona. The first thing that they did was to burn their boat. They were afraid to trust themselves with a seaworthy craft which might tempt them to leave. Thus, a boatload of men brought Christ to Scotland." (G. Curtis Jones. 1,000 Illustrations For Preaching And Teaching. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1986,p. 184). Much like John Wesley, who "saw the world as his parish", they saw Scotland as their mission.
7) Dying to self: As new converts, we are God's possession---God’s peculiar people who have been made new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As Christians, we must die to the old self and grow and increase in the new nature as Christians (John 3:30). As members of God's royal priesthood we must strive to help those who feel like they are "nobody" realize that in and through Jesus Christ they can become somebody as one of God's children. "But as many as have received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God" (John 1:12 NKJV).
In the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
