The other day a man told me what it is like to change from life as a long-time drug user to one who is drug free. It is not just a matter of quitting the drugs, but of replacing old friends with new ones, old activities with new ones, and old thought patterns with new ones. He said that people who were used to him the old way can’t stand the change. They don’t recognize him anymore and aren’t sure they like it. For example, his wife who has put up with a drug-using husband for 10-15 years, doing without him in family responsibilities, taking care of finances herself since he wasn’t reliable, now sees this man trying to come back home and she isn’t sure she wants him. People trying to make changes like this need encouragement.
Our scripture this morning also deals with change. When Peter wrote this letter, he was writing to people whose lives had changed from what they used to be. They were scattered throughout what we call northern Turkey today. They were different from what they used to be and different from the people around them. People like this need encouragement and that is why Peter wrote to them.
As we learned last week, Peter told them they could stand strong because of the mercy God showed them, the hope of eternal life he gave them, the inheritance he prepared for them, and the joy he put within them. After he underlines all of those foundational qualities, he writes about the changes in lifestyle that should come as a result. Inner transformation changes the outward life.
Note in v.13 his use of the word Therefore, an important step between what he just said to what he is going to say next. He shifts from what has happened on the inside to the changes on the outside. We will focus on three things.
1:13-16 Got holiness?
The first is holiness. Holiness means being like God. It doesn’t mean being an odd person, but a different person. We may have the tendency to think that when God saves us, we become like him instantaneously. God pushes the button and the light comes on; that God is in the driver’s seat and we just go along for the ride.
But that’s not the impression Peter gives. Here is what he says:
1. Prepare your minds for action. Roll up your sleeves, like Jesus did on Passover night when it was time to wash the disciples’ feet. Use your minds as Philippians 4:8 tells us. Do you think about how you should live now that God has saved you? Does it enter your mind each day that you are a follower of Christ?
2. Discipline yourselves. Be sober so you can give your full attention. We know that alcohol and other substances impair one’s abilities to drive, to think, to act. Other things can too. Last week less than a block from here a driver heard his cell phone ring. He reached for it. Next thing he knew he rear-ended the car in front of him. In your spiritual life, give your travel with God the attention it deserves. It may mean re-arranging your priorities so you can take time to meditate on God’s word or so you can gather with God’s people for study and prayer. If you get so busy during the week that you are too tired to get up for church, you are doing something wrong.
3. Set your hope on the grace of Jesus Christ. If you have committed yourself to Christ, you have driven a stake in the ground where you have started from. But that is not the end. Christians live in the future tense, with their eyes on the prize. As teenagers Sue and I dated for a couple of years. Then we announced our engagement. In that next year and a half we dreamed and planned what life would be like after we were married. Just as an engaged couple makes plans in light of their wedding, so as Christians we live with the expectation that one day we’ll meet Jesus face to face and hear him say, “Well done.” One who is holy lives with a future with Christ in mind.
4. Don’t be conformed to former desires. One of the threats to holiness is our past life, the ruts we used to be in. You may be old enough to remember what muddy roads were like. Cars on those roads made deep ruts for the wheels. You may have wanted to drive outside the rut, but because the road was soft and the ruts were deep, the car kept trying to fall into those ruts. You don’t stay out by focusing on the rut. You stay out of the rut by staying on higher ground. Sometimes the patterns from the way we used to live our lives pulls us back into the old ways. Those old impulses keep trying to interfere. Don’t let them do it, Peter warns. Head for higher ground.
5. Be holy in all your conduct. Warren Wiersbe tells of a woman in Canada who had been converted as a young person, but had drifted into a “society life” that she thought was exciting and satisfying. One day, she was driving to a card party and happened to tune in a Christian radio broadcast. At that moment the speaker said, “Some of you know more about cards than you do your Bible.” Those words convicted her. God spoke to her heart, and she went back home and from that hour her life was dedicated fully to God. How do your activities and your priorities stack up before a holy God?
People who know I used to teach at Bluffton College sometimes ask “What’s it like to be retired?” I get the impression that they think now that I don’t teach, I sit around all day. The fact is, I haven’t retired in that sense. I have refocused. Retirement doesn’t mean sitting around doing nothing. Nor does holiness mean sitting and waiting for God to put a halo on your head. Being holy is something you actively pursue. Becoming like God is something you long for, something you pray for. It is also something you do. Your thoughts, your behaviors, your words – everything should sound like God, look like God, be like God. God’s holiness should increasingly replace our natural character of worldly appetites.
(Sing “Take my Life”)
1:22-23 Got love?
If you have confessed your faith in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God and God is your father. God has called you into his family. And you are now brothers and sisters with others who have made that same confession. And now we are all one big happy family, right? Well, not always.
One painful fact of life is that the people of God do not always get along, whether because of ruts we fall back into, or lack of discipline, or something else. I know of a church in which members say that hugs and handshakes are few these days because people disagree.
Peter reminds us in verse 23 that we have been born anew. We are different from what we were. We have all experienced the same birth. And we express the same love. What kind of love is he talking about?
1. Genuine love. In business and success psychology we see examples of people manipulating each other to get what they want. Genuine love means we offer, we give, rather than try to get. Pushing buttons and manipulating others should be a thing of the past. In God’s family, love should not be superficial or pretending. It is genuine, heart-to-heart sharing when we dare to get honest with each other and take off our masks. We are to love each other sincerely, without hypocrisy. “If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other.” (I Jn. 1:7,8)
2. Mutual love. This is what the Bible calls “one another” love. Mutuality is the art of giving and receiving. It’s depending on each other. Family members tend to stick up for one another. That is because they belong to each other. And that is the way it is in God’s family. Our love doesn’t just run in one direction; it flows both ways.
3. Constant love. V. 22 says “love one another deeply from the heart.” You may have a note in your Bible that says we can use the word constantly. That is the kind of love God has for us: constant, steadfast love. The love we are talking about is a place where we experience grace, where mistakes aren’t rubbed in but rubbed out. (Rick Warren. Purpose Driven Life) We all need mercy because we stumble and fall and need help getting back on track. That is the kind of love God shows us. That is the kind of love we show each other. Forgiveness is such a wonderful gift. What would we do without it? Pastors wouldn’t stand a chance without forgiveness. We have had to ask for forgiveness many times.
If you know of something between you and someone else, why not go to that person and give or receive forgiveness so God can bring you together in love and harmony. While we sing.\, if you need to go to someone instead of singing, go.
Sing: Bind us together
2:1-3 Got milk?
A baby, no matter how small, needs nourishment. The first reflex of baby is a sucking reflex. The baby wants milk. Peter uses the example of an infant to explain the natural process of a growing Christian. He expects the process to include 3 things.
1. Desire spiritual milk. “Long for the pure, spiritual milk.” What is the food for the Christian? At the end of chapter 1, we read about the enduring word of God. It is God’s word that serves as our spiritual food. We should read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it. Without it we will shrivel up. Make time each day to expose yourself to it.
2. Get rid of evil practices. Peter recognizes there are some things that will keep you from growing. Sometimes a child has no appetite because he has been eating the wrong things. Here are some wrong attitudes and actions that hinder spiritual growth. If you practice deceitfulness, you won’t grow. If you live with hypocrisy, you won’t grow. If you carry attitudes of envy around with you, you won’t grow. And if you engage in gossiping you won’t grow.
3. Grow Up. A healthy baby can’t stay the way he is. He or she has to grow. The same is true for believers. If you are a follower of Christ, you should be different from what you were a year ago. Spiritual growth is not automatic. The Kingdom of God is not an excuse for laziness. You must want to grow. Following Jesus always begins with a decision. The commitments you make will either develop you or destroy you. The Bible tells us to think the same way that Christ Jesus thought. When Paul talked about this he wrote, “Stop thinking like children. In regard to evil, be infants, but in your thinking be adults.” (I Cor. 14:20) He expected growth. It is a matter of maturity. (I Cor. 13:11)
Are you growing? Are you drinking pure, spiritual milk so that you become a robust Christian? This principle was so much on Peter’s mind that he closed his second letter with these words: II Pet 3:18.
So before we sing I ask you again,
1. Have you got holiness? Our highest priority is not health or happiness, but holiness.
2. Have you got love? In chapter 4, Peter says love makes up for practically anything.
3. Have you got the milk of the WORD that helps you to grow up in Christ?
Sing: Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah
