April 6, 2008 1 Peter 1:17‑21

Since you call on a Father who judges each man=s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Just look at the recent headlines from a renowned internet news source -

3rd Graders Arrested in Wild Plot to Kill Teacher

Schoolgirls Find Woman's Severed Head on Beach

Two Wives Divorce Husband at Same Time

Imam: Non‑Muslims Deserve to Be Raped, Killed

Police Nab Burglar Playing Dead at Funeral Home

Teen Sues School for Zero Grade on John 3:16 Drawing

Pro Wrestler Gets Life in Jail in Sex Slave Case

Aren=t these shocking headlines to come from regular news sources? You might expect it from National Enquirer, but not from national news. Yet does any of this really shock us any more? Unfortunately, this stuff is seemingly more and more Anormal@ to our society. When you get in normal conversations with classmates and co-workers it doesn=t take long to see how troubled people=s lives are. You find out your co-worker was sexually abused as a child. You find out your classmate=s dad was arrested for selling drugs. This stuff is becoming more and more rampant every day.

God calls on us to stand out from the crowd and be different - to be strange. Peter talks about this strange life in his letter. Now, he doesn’t give us different hairdos to wear or special clothes or uniforms. He doesn=t even get into specific examples. Instead, in this portion of God=s Word he writes in more sweeping generalities which apply to each and every one of us no matter what situation we are in. Whether we are a father, mother, son daughter, worker or employee - we can all apply this to the way in which we live.

The Lives of Strangers

I. Work in Fear of the Father

Peter starts out, ASince you call on a Father who judges each man=s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.@ Peter reminds us of our prayer life. Daily we lift our hearts to heaven and depend on our God and Father to take care of us. This reflects the fact that we believe that God is in control of everything that happens in this world. We believe this because God=s Word says it. Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. Jesus also reminds us that God has every hair of our head numbered. Isaiah writes that God has a name for every star in the universe. (40:26) So we call on this all powerful Father and rely on Him to take care of us.

Yet Peter also reminds us that this Father Ajudges each man=s work impartially.@ What does that mean? Consider the opposite -

There was a man and a wife who were married for 15 years. They had two daughters together. The wife decided that her husband was not the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She had grown up in the church. Her parents belonged to the church. She was seeking divorce for no good reason. Her husband had grown up in a different church body and joined hers when they got married. In reality, she should have been disciplined and told to go through counseling - to stick it out with her husband and stay married. Instead, the pastor feared the repercussions that would come from her and her family if he told her she had no right to get divorced. He and the elders did nothing. The man reproached the church for not dealing with the divorce properly and then left the church. She remained a member in Agood standing@.

In this case, as in many, the leaders of the church were being partial in their judgment. If his family had the background in the church, you can=t help but think it would be approached differently. This is what happens in this world. We show favoritism. We judge partially. If our children are the ones who are being accused, we throw out evidence and come to the defense of the indefensible.

God doesn=t show partiality. If you are baptized, if you have lived with the name Christian your whole life - it doesn=t mean that God will automatically give you a pass on your lifestyle. you call on a Father who judges each man=s work impartially. The God who sees all - sees the way you are treating your spouse and your children. He hears how you think about your co-workers. He knows when you are struggling with sin and when you are diving in head first. When you make excuses for your sins He knows. Even when the government and your parents or spouse let you get away with sin - God doesn=t say Athat=s ok.@

When you remember this it effects the way you live. It has to. Peter says in light of this to live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. It doesn=t matter if you can get away with cheating. It doesn=t matter if your union clout and experience makes it possible for you to be lazy at work. It doesn=t matter if your pastor or parents are gullible enough to believe your lies. You know that God is watching. He knows the truth. Joseph may very well have been able to Aget away@ with having sexual relations with Potiphar=s wife. But he knew God was watching. He feared God=s wrath. He said, Ahow can I then do such a wicked thing and sin against God?@ So God=s Word also warns us, Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, ADo not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.@ We fear the threat of hell. We don=t want to make God angry with us. That=s the last thing we want. So we live differently.

A majority of the world only thinks of God as someone who might frown a little at sin - but never condemn it or the sinner. Fear of God causes us - like Lot - to live differently than the rest of ourr world - like strangers. Fear of God causes us to even fear committing Alittle sins@ in the eyes of the world. We know with God there are no Alittle sins.@ All sins are worthy of God=s anger. We live different because of fear.

II. Know We are Bought by the Blood

But there=s something else that makes us strange - something besides fear. Peter writes, Ayou know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.@ Gold and silver are thought to be precious commodities. The value of gold has gone up tremendously in the past weeks. But what makes them so precious - more precious than aluminum or copper? 1 Kings 10:21 says, AAll King Solomon=s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon=s days.@ It=s kind of interesting. The value of an item depends on it=s supply and demand and the opinion of the society towards it. In God=s mind, silver and gold aren=t worth much because they are Aperishable.@ Silver and gold can be corroded and weak. They are limited by time and space. They will be destroyed on Judgment Day. Yet this is what your neighbors and classmates are living for and chasing after - things that can be lost and lose their value - things that won=t do them any good when they are dead.

Apply this to our relationship with Him. In His holiness, God demanded that a payment be made for the sins of the world. What good would it be to try and give God something that He created? What good would it be to offer Him something that would not last? What would God buy with gold and silver? Who would He buy anything from? Instead, God demanded something much more precious and rare to pay for our sins - something that was pure, precious and eternal - the blood of His only Son. God shed His only Son=s blood to pay for our sins and pay for the hell which we deserved. God=s blood is precious. It can be in multiple places at once. It has the power to forgive all people of all times. It never loses it=s power.

What does this mean to us? Why does it make us live Astrangely@? Think of it this way. Imagine if your grandpa gave you a Honus Wagner T206 baseball card. The baseball fanatic would jump up and down at such a card, put it in a protective sleeve and probably sell it for over a million dollars. The little five year old child would put a clothespin on it and place it on his bike to make noise. There is a profound difference over the two treat the same thing because one knows the value and one doesn=t. If the five year old were to take the card from the baseball fanatic and try to put it on his bike, the five year old might get in some big trouble.

When Paul was persecuting Christians, Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus and said, Awhy are you persecuting ME?@ He took it personal that Paul was hurting HIS CHILDREN - because He paid for them with His own blood. Apply this to the way WE view ourselves as Christians. The shedding of Jesus= blood must mean that we are precious in His sight. Even if we don=t see any value in and of ourselves - the fact that God shed His own Son=s blood for us and covered us in His blood through baptism must make us precious.

This has to effect the way we live. The guy you work next to may think it natural and good to talk about your rotten boss in a derogatory way. But you don=t want to use your tongue in this way, because it belongs to God - and He doesn=t want you slandering people. Your spouse may not think it a crime to eat all you can at the all you can eat buffet. But you recognize that your body is a gift from God who tells you that gluttony is a sin against your body - which is in reality His body. So you think twice. Strangely, at the all you can eat - you don=t eat all you can. You regard yourself as God=s precious commodity - more than a million dollar Honus Wagner card. Even if your parents or your spouse or your boss treat you like dirt, you know you=re not. Because of God=s promise to you in Christ you know that you are God=s precious possession. You live with a self worth - knowing that even if you can=t hold a job or win a beauty contest you are worth everything in God=s sight. This strange view of ourselves comes because we see what Christ did for us.

III. Hope in God through Faith

Speaking of Christ, look at how Peter says His whole life unraveled. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Here=s a mind boggling thought. Before God even created the world, He had chosen Christ to be the Redeemer of the world. This means that even before the Fall of man into sin God knew that He would have to die for man=s sin. It means that He was creating that for which He would die. Why did God create it then? I don=t know. Ask God. What I do know is that Jesus=s death was not an accident. God planned it this way from eternity.

Peter also reminds us that God raised Jesus from the dead and then glorified Jesus. How did He Aglorify@ Jesus? Peter writes in 3:22 that Jesus now has Aangels, authorities, and powers in submission to him.@ Paul writes in Ephesians 1:20‑22 that God Araised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. If you reason says, Ahow could God ordain His own Son to die?@, then Peter tells you to look at the end result. Yes, he died. But he was also raised. Now - after the cross - after paying for the sins of the world - Jesus is ruling over all things for the good of the church. Jesus now has all power and authority.

What does this mean for us? God calls on us to live as strangers. Being strange is difficult. It means we stand out. It means that people get angry at us. It means that like Jesus, we carry a cross. Peter wrote of this in the fourth chapter of his 1^st letter. 1 Peter 4:3‑4 Ayou have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to doCliving in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you.@ If we don=t join in the excuses and the behavior of sinners, then they have a bright light shining on them. They don=t like it. Ask any teenage kid who doesn=t go to the parties - and he or she will testify to the abuse. Ask any worker who doesn=t join in the break room slander or participate in the laziness of the company employees, and they will say the same.

How can we endure? Through Afaith and hope@, Peter says. Faith and hope in WHAT? In JESUS. Look at what God did for Jesus. First of all, the cross was ordained for Him. God knew it was coming. It was under God=s control, and He ordained it for a good purpose. Secondly, after the cross - He gave Jesus glory and power. If this is how God treated Jesus - then this is how God will treat US. Our crosses and trials that we go through our known by God - for OUR good. He works all things out for good to those who love him - to those who HAVE BEEN CALLED. Through faith in Christ we too will rise from the dead with glorified and powerful bodies. We too will live in heaven forever with Jesus. Jesus is the living proof and example that Peter gives us - to give us faith and hope so that we continue to live a strangers in a strange land.

Usually people don=t like being strange. Even the kids that dress in Goth or strange hairdo=s - do it to mix in with the other Goth kids or the kids with strange hairdo=s. Being strange and different causes people to look at you with suspicion and blame you for things you didn=t do. You are an easy target. But sometimes you can=t help it. You=re just born that way.

Jesus was born the strangest of them all. He walked on water. He healed the sick. He reproached the Pharisees and Teachers of the law. He never lied. Never cheated. Never feared. Never sinned. So the people crucified him for it. They shed his blood. But God still ordained it and raised him from the dead.

When you were baptized, you were set apart in this world as a strange person. Being strange isn=t fun. God never said it would be. It=s scary to be strange. But as Christians you have a choice in life. Either fear men or fear God. Either deny who you are or be who you are. Jesus paid a precious price for you to make you strange. He covered you in His precious blood and gave you His Holy Spirit that makes you strange. He promises you a resurrection from the dead to eternal life because of this strangeness. This is the life of a stranger. Like it or not - it is what you are. Instead of denying it, God calls on you to live it. Amen.