Peter begins his letter celebrating the salvation that we have received as followers of Christ and the new birth it gives us into God’s Family. 1:13 begins with a “Therefore,” signifying that there is a response expected of us based on this salvation. In 1:13-2:10, Peter calls his readers to six responses to this salvation: 1) 1:13 – Hope; 2) 1:14-16 – Holiness; 3) 1:17-21 – Fear of God; 4) 1:22-25 – A familial love for one another; 5) 2:1-3 – a deeper desire for the word of God; 6) 2:5 – Christians are the come together to build themselves into a spiritual house.
This celebration and transformation of and through salvation has challenged me to look internally and examine where my passions point my heart. If I have tasted that the Lord is good (2:3) then my cravings should be for him, his Kingdom, and the church that embodies the kingdom around the world. Anything I hold on too tightly that is of this world intoxicates me and keeps me from having clear vision to see where we need to go. In order to be the living stones built on the Living Stone we must continually crave God and his Kingdom. Everything else is a distraction. We, the church, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and his special possession (2:9).
When we know where our citizenship is founded (heaven), then we are able to live a life that is not weighed down by allegiances of this world. We move this Sunday into a hard section of this letter (2:11-3:7). It is a hard section because the voice of our culture screams independence and self-sovereignty and what Peter calls Christians to is, submission. We don’t like the word “submission.” We have a lot to say about our personal rights and will even fight to preserve them. There is a lot to be said about the social changes that need to come with these passages and the liberation of oppressed people. It is understandable why some groups wouldn’t like these passages. What I want to focus on this Sunday are these questions which arises from amongst these verses:
When you become a Christian, does it make you a better _____? When the church undergoes persecution, is it because of how well we love others? When people reject Christ, are they doing so because of their experiences with his people?
When I think about the people in NoDa and in the Johnston YMCA who do not know Christ, my hope and prayer is that when they think of our congregation they will be able to say, “I don’t know how I feel about Christ or Christianity, but all I do know is NoDa Church is good for our community and they are some of the most loving, kind, peaceful, and joy-filled people I have ever met.”