St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Easter 3 April 7 + 10, 2005 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.

Jesus Christ is risen—he is risen from the dead. Because he lives—we too shall live. Amen!

This third Sunday of Easter God’s Word is again a message of law and gospel—sin and grace—forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. I had TV on during lunch the other day—when the picture suddenly switched to a high speed chase out in California. Well—it wasn’t actually high speed—it was slow speed. A guy in a white car—with a sun roof was driving all over the road. He was waving this purple silk robe out the window. Sometimes—he would practically climb out of the car—sitting in the window—the cruise control set—apparently steering with his foot? Behind him—like a parade—as many as 9 or 10 squad cars. It was maddening! This guy would wave at the police helicopter—blowing them kisses. Why didn’t the police stop this guy? Oh, they said—that was very controversial. They said—if they even followed too closely—and there was a crash—people would say—his lawyer would say he was being pushed by the police. That he was afraid to stop because the police were so close. They would say it was the police officers’ fault. So they hung back for the better part of what? 2 hours! Then when this guy finally pulled into the Donut World parking lot and parked--was it ok for the police to grab him—handcuff him—and take him away to jail! I’m afraid there are all sorts of people who think when it comes to their sins—it’s kind of like one of those high-speed chases. That there isn’t much God can do about their behavior. I mean—what’s He going to do? Strike me down? Shoot me into some place of flaming eternal destruction? Am I supposed to be scared? Yes! Our sins are a horrible offense in the sight of Almighty God! Our sins—my sins—deserve eternal destruction. It is only because Jesus lived and died for me—that my guilt is removed. It is only because of God’s amazing grace that I am forgiven and an heir of Heaven. It is God’s amazing grace that gives my life purpose, meaning and direction. Today God’s Word encourages us:

Don’t blunder through life!

1. Live as strangers in reverent fear.

2. Know that Jesus saved you.

The part of God’s Word that we are concentrating on today is from the first of two letters that the Holy Spirit moved Simon Peter to write. Today is the second of what with Jesus’ permission will be 5 Sundays in a row with readings from Simon Peter’s first letter. Simon Peter wrote this letter to believers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia—around what is today the nation of Turkey—to the north of Iraq and Iran. Around 62 to 65 years after baby Jesus was born—Christians in Rome were literally being thrown to the lions. On the fringe of the Roman Empire—Christians were being persecuted—discriminated against. Remember last Sunday—Simon Peter talked about our living hope? In this you rejoice—though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trails. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Trials—tests come—when people give you a hard time—on account of your faith. Do you know what that’s like—to have someone where you work—give you a hard time because of your faith? When I worked as a maintenance guy for a huge green house company there was a guy there who used to spend Fridays telling me all the absolutely filthy and obscene things he planned to do over the weekend. This was followed by Mondays where he would recount in painful detail his gross and godless weekend. I had co-workers who used to scour the news for reports about pastors and priests who were guilty of adultery, embezzlement, child abuse and worse. I had co-workers who used to forever ask me what it was like to be in my twenties and still have to go to Sunday School? Or they would ask about eternal destruction—dry heat for growing cacti or moist heat—in which case tropical plants—African violets, ferns and vines. They would forever ask—was this a sin? Was that forbidden? What was it like—serving a God who took all the fun out of life? What would be the point of spending eternity with people who all thought they were better than you—when you could spend forever—with people who knew how to have a good time? These people would literally giggle when they saw me coming! Turn the other cheek—they would say! It can be worse! There are people who get pushed, bumped, groped. There are people who are bruised, bloodied even tortured and executed because they love Jesus. When the Holy Spirit fills your heart—you can rejoice—rejoice even in suffering for the sake of the Gospel—as we wait for Jesus to take us home.

God’s Word says—don’t blunder through life. God’s Word says, “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” God our Heavenly Father is our eternal forever judge. We are all answerable to Him. Our Heavenly Father judges each person’s work impartially. God doesn’t play favorites. You can’t butter up God on Sunday morning—singing very loudly—folding your hands very tightly—closing your eyes very tightly—making salt water drip down your cheeks—like you are really really sorry on Sunday morning—then lying, cheating and stealing on Monday morning—and indulging sinful appetites on Friday and Saturday nights. You can’t fool God by epoxy fastening a thin veneer of pious words and spiritual actions whenever anyone else is watching. Oh, you might be able to fool the pastors. You might be able to fool your fellow members. You might be able to fool your in-laws—your own spouse—your own children. But you can’t fool God.

Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. I’m but a stranger here—heaven is my home. We are sojourners—campers—people just passing through. One of the best parts of being a pastor—is visiting shut-ins. It is a reminder—every time you visit Marquardt or Zinzendorf or Beverly Terrace—that houses once full of things and stuff—has been reduced to one small closet and one small dresser of clothes. One bed, one easy chair—one TV—your tooth brush—your hair brush—a drawer full of your most secret papers—and that’s about it! All your stuff reduced to one small room—a bulletin board full of pictures of people—that maybe visit—and maybe don’t—and that’s it! Your most prized possessions all divided between relatives who maybe squabbled over them. Or your most prized possessions neglected, abused—even thrown out by relatives who thought they were just worthless junk! We are strangers here. Pastors come and pastors go. How many people still remember pastor Uetzmann? How many people still remember Pastor Stertz? Pretty soon we will be names engraved on pieces of marble. Who will remember us? Before long—we too will be forgotten by people here. But that’s ok. Because we will be forever in Heaven!

Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. Reverent fear… That phrase is both law and gospel. Reverent fear has to do with our sinful flesh. It has to do with the concept—we have met the enemy and they are us! We have met the enemy and they are us! Who said that? Do you know? A possum—a possum named Pogo—back in 1970—on the first Earth Day. A possum in a polluted Okefenokee Swamp—full of garbage—trash and litter. We have met the enemy and they are us! We are our own worst enemy again and again. Our sinful flesh—we take it with us everywhere we go! We take our flesh to restaurants where we order and consume too much food—into taverns where we drink too much—into our cars where we drive too fast—into our living rooms where we watch bad movies. We bring our sinful nature to church where we look around and see people who aren’t as well dressed as we are—don’t have their hair as nice as we do—don’t drive as nice a car as we do—don’t live the spiritual and moral life that we do. They just aren’t as good as we are. Or our sinful flesh thinks—they have it all! They are better than me—have everything that I wish I had. And you know what—I hate them—I literally hate them for having everything and being everything I wish I was! Our sinful nature needs someone to put a lid on it. Otherwise—the horrible evil that we are capable of—will do painful harm to our hearts. And the horrible evil that we are capable of—will ultimately translate into self-destructive action.

Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. Reverent fear… That phrase has to do with the Gospel. Reverent fear is respect—loving respect for our Heavenly Father! That respect shows itself in the clothes we wear. It means modesty. It means not wearing clothes that are too short or too tight or too small or too thin or too anything! It means being careful about what we say and how we say it—not only when we are drinking soda and coffee but if we are drinking beers or old fashioneds or martinis. We show respect for our Heavenly Father by showing respect for our boss at work—respect for our supervisor at work—showing respect for our customers—showing respect for our teachers. Parents teach their children by showing respect for their teachers. Encouraging and helping their children with their home work. Discussing concerns they have with their teachers privately with that teacher first—which is what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 18. If you think someone has sinned against you—go and talk with them alone! Teach our children respect by showing respect! Husbands—show respect for your wife and her feelings. Fathers teach your children respect by always showing respect for your children’s mother. Our children should never see their father yell at their mother. No—everyone doesn’t do it. Our children should never see their father embarrass or shame or criticize or push or shove or hit or threaten their mom. Our children should see their father protect and defend and tenderly love their mom. Our children should see their father respect their mom because we respect our Heavenly Father.

It is not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. We are redeemed—bought back—forgiven for Jesus’ sake. I like to read the writings of a man named Charles—a man of great intellect. I looked up his biography on the Internet. It seems he has degrees from Oxford and Harvard. He was a psychiatrist who discovered a form of manic-depressive disease. He has written articles and given talks on just about everything. He’s that gifted! I was reading one of his articles that said, “I’m not much of a believer…” and I thought how sad is that? How sad is it—to have degrees from Oxford and Harvard—to have been a department head at Massachusetts General—the hospital that Charles Emerson Winchester III always aspired to. To have literally won the Pulitzer Prize—and yet not really believe that Jesus took your sins away. What can I do about that? I can write to my friend Charles—and tell him in the most essential terms that Jesus died for him. That the Gospel is the only real wisdom that will make a different a moment after he dies. I saw Charles on TV yesterday. Time is of the essence. Perhaps I should e-mail him and try. Try to tell him about Jesus before it’s too late. Do you know someone who would say they aren’t much of a believer? If you do—tell them they were redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus. Tell them before it’s too late!

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. There was a man named Ming—delivering Chinese food to an apartment in New York that went missing the other day. He delivered the food—then disappeared. They found his bicycle chained to a light post by the front door of the apartment building. But no sign of Ming. He didn’t come back to work. He didn’t come home. He was gone. It didn’t take the police long to figure out what must have happened. They searched the bushes around the apartment—checked the dumpsters—even dragged the nearby river. Still no sign of Ming. Three and a half days later they found him. They found him in an elevator. It seems the elevator broke loose and plunged some 40 floors before getting stuck between the 3^rd and 4^th floor. Ming got on the phone—the intercom and talked to the building security. They couldn’t understand his Chinese—so they just turned the intercom off. The elevator was busted—but nobody did anything to fix it. When they finally found Ming—3 ½ days later--he was not only hungry—he was almost delirious from thirst! Can you imagine how helpless he must have felt? We were in more desperate straights than that! We were dead in our trespasses and sins! Jesus rescued us. Jesus saved us! He bought us back—not with gold or silver—not with things that tarnish, spoil and fade. Jesus died to save us. He spilled his precious innocent blood to buy us back eternally. How can you thank God for a gift like that? By not blundering through life—but by living each day dedicated to serving and glorifying Jesus. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz