1 PETER 1:13-21
THE RISEN SAVIOR RAISES OUR FOCUS.
M: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the name + of Jesus.
You will have nothing but problems if you do not have the right focus. A major league baseball player who is not focused on the pitch will fail to get hits. He will end up being cut. A worker who is distracted by solitaire on his computer will not be productive. He may not advance in his company. A boy on a date who is distracted by other girls in the restaurant will probably be getting dumped pretty quickly. If you do not keep the right focus, you will suffer consequences.
It is all the more serious when it comes to God's word. If you do not keep a proper focus on God's word, you will be deceived and may even hold to a false faith. In the worst case, the consequences are eternal. But even in the short term, there are nothing but problems. Consider the two disciples who were referred to in our gospel lesson. They had high hopes regarding Jesus. They spoke about “Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:19-21) Were they wrong? It depends on what they expected Jesus to do. What was their focus? More miracles? An earthly kingdom? If so, they were not focused on what Jesus had taught them. So when Jesus was crucified, they lost all hope. And when reports were going around about Jesus' resurrection, they were confused. If you do not keep the right focus, you will suffer consequences. For these disciples, the consequences were sorrow, confusion, and despair. Jesus rebuked them because they had lost their focus. Then he opened the Scriptures to them to restore it. The risen Savior raises our focus.
St. Peter does the same in his epistle. He reminds you what you have been rescued from and wants you focused on what you have been set apart for. He wrote, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'” (1 Peter 1:14-16) While some of the people Peter wrote to could have been criminals or morally despicable, this is not really an appeal just to behave themselves better. He certainly urges godly behavior when he wrote, “You shall be holy,” (1 Peter 1:16) but Peter wants us to focus on more than just good behavior. He wrote, “Do not be conformed to the passion of your former ignorance.” (1 Peter 1:14) This ignorance comes from not knowing the grace of God, the word of the Lord, or his purpose for you. If you are not properly focused on these things, you subject yourself to confusion, deception, despair, and possibly even damnation.
For example, many people believe that God just wants us to be happy. It sounds like what a loving God would want, and—even better!—it is what I want too. If you believe this, you have lost your focus. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God just wants you to be happy. To believe this is to hold God to a promise he did not make. Additionally, what would it take for you to “just be happy”? The Lions win the Super Bowl? More money? Extra-marital affairs? The death of a few people such as a co-worker, a politician, or ISIS? God does not promise to fulfill our selfish desires. Or perhaps what would make you happy sounds more noble—world peace, a solution to poverty and hunger, or the end of cancer and bullying. Even you desire noble things, they still boil down to this: “I want the world to run the way I think it should.”
Ultimately, this is a condemnation of God. You judge God has a failure because you are not happy. This is why Christians become atheists; they refuse to acknowledge a God who does not perform the way they think he should. They want a God who will just make them happy, and they can never find one.
The risen Savior raises your focus. Jesus did not promise that you would “just be happy,” but that you would be saved. St. Peter also focuses you there: “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:17-19) You have been delivered from the ignorance of thinking that, despite your limited wisdom and puny power, you are greater than God. You have been ransomed from a life that is focused on having your own way and being annoyed by others who stand in your way. Such a life results in bitterness, disappointment, and damnation. But you have been ransomed from that.
The risen Savior raises your focus. Jesus has purchased and won you for himself with his holy, precious blood. He has bought you for himself—not because he benefits from having you in his kingdom, but because it benefits you. It brings the Lord joy to save you and bless you. Now he has set you apart for a life that benefits others—to use your skills and abilities, interests and income for the good of your family, your friends, and your fellowman.
St. Peter wrote, “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile...” (1 Peter 1:17) We live in fear—but only of ourselves; for we know that we are weak and easily distracted from the word that saves. God knows how easy it is for us to focus on what makes us happy for the moment. But the risen Savior raises your focus. He not only has redeemed you to be a saint who will receive glory in heaven, he has not only set you apart to be a godly person who is productive and has purpose, but he also delivers you from ignorance about who he is, what he does, and why he does it. While the risen Savior does not explain everything to you, he tells you what you need to know so that you can focus on that for comfort, for encouragement, and for confidence. It is not for you to worry about how God rules the here and now, but it is for you to know that whatever he does serves your eternal good.
The risen Savior raises your focus. He reveals to you that you have been in his plans from eternity. St. Peter writes that Jesus Christ “was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God...” (1 Peter 1:20-21) From eternity, God had you in mind—not just to put you on earth for a while, but to have you marked from eternity to be his for eternity. Before the foundations of the earth were laid, God the Son was set apart to become a man to save mankind. And God did not leave this plan a secret. As soon as a Savior was needed, he revealed it to sinners. God continued make his mercy known through the salvation which would be accomplished by Jesus. This message continues to be proclaimed to you so that you will not be ignorant of God's love.
The risen Savior raises your focus. Far too many people guess or hope or assume that God will just take people to heaven. They don't know why. At best, they live in doubt. At worst, they are terrified of the future. They are trusting in assumptions and wishes. But you are no longer ignorant. God has revealed his word in the Bible. He focuses you on promises that are written down so you can read them, learn them, and take them to heart. You know you are saved because you have God's promise on it. Those promises were guaranteed by Jesus who lived the holy life credited to you, who died the cursed death suffered on your behalf, and who rose form the dead to show you God's approval of Jesus' redemption of you. And that promise was sealed upon you when you were baptized into his name. The Lord gives you his word in Scripture so that you know what to trust and will not be deceived by promises which are based on emotion rather than revelation.
The disciples who were walking to Emmaus did not find comfort or assurance until Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. Only when they were focused on what God had clearly said did they find joy in God's salvation; for then they trusted that Jesus had done exactly what was promised. This is what saved them. This what saves you, too. And it is why Jesus wants you focused on it. The risen Savior raises your focus so that you will find comfort and joy in the here and now and glory and peace forevermore.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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