Jesu Juva
“Christians in an
Unchristian World: Glory”
Text: 1 Peter 5:1-14
Grace, mercy, and peace
to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
Amen.
As we arrive at the final chapter of First Peter,
Peter directs the attention of his flock, these
Christians scattered far and wide and living in an unchristian world, to the glory
promised by Christ. Which is important. For it is
quite easy, when you are in the midst of trials and suffering of sometimes
great magnitiude, to focus only on them; to see
nothing but the problems weighing quite heavily right now, and not look beyond
them, or even be able to. When there seems to be no end in
sight. When you do not even know how you’re going to make it to
tomorrow. At such times its
easy to wallow in self-pity and resignation and think about nothing else.
Peter knew it. He’d been there. In spades. He was, as he says, a witness of the
sufferings of Christ. Yes, he saw Jesus arrested while he was still
wiping the sleep from his eyes. He saw Jesus on trial and condemned while he
was busy denying that he even knew the man. Three times.
And then he saw Jesus hung on the cross and then dead while
he was too scared to even help take his friend down and bury him. He knew the
terror of hiding behind locked doors with his friends and thinking that every
noise you hear outside is the sound of the Jews coming to lift you up next. He
knew what it was like to be arrested and abused for following Jesus, and to be
on death row, mere days or hours from having your head removed from your
shoulders. If anyone knew what those scattered Christians were going through,
it was their shepherd Peter.
And so He reassures them. That though they are
suffering now, when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
unfading crown of glory. Now, that is talking about when Jesus comes
again in glory at the end of time. But there’s more to it than that, I think. Another layer that can help us now. For think about how
Peter was on that Easter Sunday night, after he had witnessed the sufferings of
Christ and was living with his own cowardice and failure and guilt. And
then the chief Shepherd appeared. Locked doors couldn’t stop Him. He
came right to them and said: Peace be with you (John 20:19). Peace, not fear. Forgiveness, not punishment. Hope, not despair. Joy, not
sorrow. Everything Peter needed right then, Jesus came and provided. Because the chief Shepherd is alive and caring for His flock.
And how He does that, one of the ways He does
that now, after His ascension, is through His elders, which is a biblical word
for pastors. Peter wants those pastors, those undershepherds,
to do what Jesus, the chief Shepherd, had done for him that night. Go to and be
with them with the Word of peace, forgiveness, hope, and joy. Go to them and
remind them of the glory of which we are now partakers, yet the fullness of
which still awaits us. Go to them and preach to them that the victory has
already been won! And that there will be an end to the
suffering, to the sin, to the scattering. For when the chief Shepherd
appears, it will be for them just as it was for Peter that night. So I
exhort the elders among you, Peter says, as a fellow elder . . .
shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Wherever that is, however
that is. Be there for them, that they not be alone.
And then Peter adds this admonition: Clothe
yourselves, all of you, with humility. I think that too is a word to
the pastors, but applicable also to all. Clothe yourselves with humility (or
self-forgetfulness), because humility’s opposite, pride (or self-focus), is the
great enemy of faith. For there are two dangers lurking with pride: thinking
too much of self and too little of others, and looking too much to your own
abilities and strength. Those are the opposites and enemies of faith because
faith always looks out, not in; faith always looks to God in faith and to
others in love, not at ourselves.
So if we are proud or looking at ourselves or
relying on ourselves, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,
Peter says. God humbles the proud so that we will instead turn to Him in
repentance for thinking too much of or only of ourselves, and turn to Him in
faith to rely on Him and His strength and forgiveness alone. For only in Him
are we anything, and only in Him is our strength and
our deliverance.
But while God opposes the proud, He gives grace
to the humble. So, Peter continues, humble yourselves, therefore, under
the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
For His hand is mighty, not yours. He will exalt, not you. And
at the proper time. So do not oppose or resist Him, or even doubt Him or
despair of Him, but humble yourself under Him in faith and trust. And cast
all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. He truly does care
for you. Do you need more proof than the cross? He cares for you. The
devil certainly doesn’t, He is looking to divide and devour you. Many in the
world do not, and are the cause of your suffering and anxiety. But He does,
your God and chief Shepherd does. And at the proper time, He Himself will
restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Because He has
called you to His eternal glory in Christ. Notice that’s past
tense. He has called you. It’s already done. He called you by the
Gospel, baptized you into His Son, and has promised you eternal glory. That’s
all past tense, yours now, though not yet in all its fulness.
But that day is coming. And it is as sure and certain for you as the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Just as locked doors could not stop Him
from appearing to Peter and his frightened friends, so no grave will be able to
stop Him either. What He has promised, He will do. For to Him belongs all
dominion - all power and authority and rule and strength - forever
and ever. Amen.
And thus Peter ends his letter. A letter which began with the certainty of baptism, and ends with
its fulfillment. A letter to the scattered, yet who
are united in Christ. A letter to the suffering that
they have the mind of Christ. A letter of hope, when the flock seems
small and the struggles loom large. A letter of encouragement, for it will
never be easy to live as Christians in an unchristian world, and even moreso when that world is not just unchristian but turns
anti-christian and anti-truth.
Does it seem so for you? In
your life? In the world? Can you relate to some
of what Peter was talking about? You would be a rare Christian indeed who would
say no. For satan is an
equal opportunity attacker, the world you will always have around you, and your
own sinful flesh will constantly battle against the new man in you.
But in the midst of all that is Christ. Who like
a conquering king staking his claim to the land he has won by sticking his flag
in the ground, so Christ our King has stuck His cross into this earth and
claimed the victory for you. A victory that continues to
go forth into the world through the Word preached, the water of baptism poured
out, and the Body and Blood of Christ given, giving the victory of the
forgiveness of your sins. For the Head that once was crowned with thorns is
crowned with glory now (LSB #532).
And your head, too. Now a glory we believe,
then a glory we will see. And so until that time we pray, as we will in the
final hymn:
O Christ, do Thou my soul prepare
For that bright home of love
That I may see Thee and adore
With all Thy saints above (LSB #673 v. 6).
In the Name of the
Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.