Eastertide
1 Peter 1
A Call to Holy Living
13 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. 14Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, 16for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
17 If you invoke as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s work, live in fear during the time of your exile. 18You know that you were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20He was destined before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your trust and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart. 23You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
Set Your Hope
“Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1:13)
You can live differently because your future is not tied to what this world can give or take away.
Be Holy
“Be holy in all you do.” (1:15)
Holiness is not about being weird for the sake of being weird.
Holiness means you belong to God.
Live in Reverent Fear
“Live in reverent fear during your time as temporary residents.” (1:17)
Temporary Residents:
- “Resident Aliens”
- “exiles”
- “citizens of another kingdom”
- “people who belong elsewhere”
- “a colony of heaven”
Love Deeply
“Love one another deeply, from the heart.” (1:22)
This is what makes the church different.
Crave Growth
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk.” (2:2)
You cannot survive on yesterday’s faith.
Set your hope.
Be holy.
Live in reverent fear.
Love deeply.
Crave what helps you grow.
That is what it looks like to live like you belong to Jesus.
Practical Guides:
What kind of church helps people actually live this way?
or... What sort of community would be required to support an ethic of nonviolence,
marital fidelity, forgiveness, and hope such as the one sketched by Jesus?
Scripture
The church must keep telling the story.
- learn forgiveness by hearing stories of forgiveness.
- learn hope by hearing resurrection stories.
- learn enemy-love by hearing Jesus say, “Love your enemies.”
- read Scripture regularly and deeply
- keep Jesus and the kingdom at the center
- preach not just “how to survive” but “how to live as God’s people”
- return again and again to practices like communion, confession, testimony, and prayer
Tradition
The church must recover practices that form holy people.
An understanding of grace is formed through habits:
- class meetings or small groups
- accountability relationships
- shared prayer
- visiting the sick
- serving the poor
- fasting
- making peace when relationships break down
Reason
The church must be honest about what is shaping us.
If people spend more time being discipled by politics, social media, consumerism, fear, outrage, and entertainment than by Jesus, then we should not be surprised when we struggle to live differently.
- What stories are forming me?
- What voices do I trust most?
- What habits are making me more anxious, angry, selfish, or afraid?
- What habits are helping me become more like Jesus?
Experience
The church must become a place where people actually experience the kingdom.
People need to see:
- marriages held together through grace
- enemies reconciled
- meals shared across differences
- people who stay hopeful in suffering
- people who forgive what should not be forgivable
- people who refuse revenge
- people who show up for one another in crisis
What makes the gospel believable?
“a visible, practical Christian community.”
- Join or start a small group
- Tell the truth
- Ask for help
- Stay when it would be easier to leave
- Forgive someone
- Reconcile with someone
- Visit someone lonely
- Pray with someone hurting
- Let people know your real struggles
- Build the kind of church where nobody has to suffer alone
Questions to Consider:
- Where do you feel pressure to fit in?
- What is trying to tell you who you are?
- What parts of your life look good on the outside but still leave you empty?
- Who is God asking you to love more deeply this week?
- What would change if you really lived like you belong to Jesus?
