Who Are We? A Holy Nation 1st Peter 2:9,10 (Wednesday Night Reflection)
We have been seeking over the past few weeks
to recapture our identity in God as an effort to answer how understanding that identity
would effect our response to the events of this world. We have done this basing our understanding on
1st Peter 2: 9,10. As I began
considering this series on “Who Are We,” one of the first things that stood out
was the phrase “a holy nation.”
Why? Well, it is because I cannot
begin to tell you the number of times I have heard conversations or been part
of conversations relating to our nation being “a Christian Nation.” Discussions about prayer in schools—how dare
they get rid of it, we are a Christian nation.
The removing of the Ten Commandments from courthouses—how dare they
discuss that, we are a Christian nation.
The removal of the Christian Flag and the kneeling soldier monument in
King, NC—what are they thinking, we are a Christian nation. The question of
whether or not a football coach can take a knee by himself at the end of a
ballgame, how dare they violate his first amendment rights; we are a Christian
nation after all. If it is not one issue it is another, whether it is the
perception of Christian freedoms being taken away, or the allowed observance of
other religions practices. This sermon
is not about whether or not the United States ever has been, is, or will be a
Christian nation—the original intent or our Founding Fathers or not…because
Peter was not writing about the United States when he offered this description
of who we, as Christians are to be. In
fact, as Peter wrote, “But you are…a holy nation…”, was not writing about any
geographically bound region—remember, this letter was being written to a group
of Christians that were scattered about Asia Minor. This means that Peter is talking about
something that extends far beyond a politically governed territory. Reviewing where we have been the last couple
of weeks should help us get a grasp of what Peter was thinking.
We began by considering that we are a chosen
race. We learned that this has nothing
to do with the color of our skin, the color of our hair, the color of our eyes,
the language we speak, or any other aspect of our ethnicity. It has to do with being chosen by God, called
into a relationship with Christ. It has
to do with being loved by God, being valued by God, and having a God-given
purpose in life—the purpose of leading all the world to that day when every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Last week we considered that we are a royal
priesthood. We remember that through
Christ we all have access to God the Father…and that we, like the priests of
the Old Testament, and like the High Priest of High Priests, Jesus Christ
Himself, are called to stand in the gap between God and those who are far from
God. We are called to be mediators of
forgiveness, possibly even to those who do not realize they need
forgiveness. We are to be mediators of
God’s blessings, pronouncing God’s providential care and love, and making it
real in meeting the needs of those who are in the world. And finally, as has always been connected
with the role of priests, there is sacrifice—though we are not called to
sacrifice livestock and produce, Christ put an end to that in the giving of His
own life, but like Christ, in our role as priests in the line of the King of
Kings, our sacrifice is like that of Jesus, that of our own lives.
So what does it mean, then, that we are also
to be a holy nation?
For that matter, what does it mean to be holy?
To be “holy” means to be set apart. It means to be different. It means to be Christ-like.
We are called to be different.
God loves and accepts us right where we are when
we encounter Him (He doesn’t encounter us, for He has knowns us since before
time began). Covered and bound by sin,
God loved us enough to enter into our world through Jesus. We find forgiveness through the blood of
Christ as God realizes that we could never atone for our sins on our own. Washed in the blood of Jesus we are seen by
God, not in our sins, but in light of the righteousness of Christ.
However, God loves us to much to leave us as
sinful, but forgiven wretches…He desires that we become transformed into
something beautiful. He desires that we
leave the sin behind and find our lives changed, truly changed, different than
they were before, different from the world around us.
Too often we make excuses. We claim that we are “only human.” We claim we are just wired this way. We claim that “only Jesus was perfect.” We claim that “this is just how God made
us.”
We forget that God created us “human” and
prior to the fall, there was no sin within us…that our original design was to
be perfect. We forget that from
Leviticus to Peter we hear God’s declaration “You shall be holy, for I am
holy.”[i] We repeatedly hear Paul talk about it telling
folks to cast off the ways of the flesh and to be clothed in Christ—reminding
us that there is a transformation that takes place as we come into a
relationship with God. Will we be made
perfect this side of the grave, we don’t know—most of us continue to struggle,
but we are not to give up…we are to constantly strive to be holy…John Wesley
called this striving for perfection, seeking to grow in sanctification and be
made perfect in love..
Some of us want to throw our hands up and say,
“I can’t. I can’t be holy. I can’t do
it.” And the truth of the matter is,
that is right. We can’t. None of us can. On our own.
However, as God pours His Holy Spirit out upon us, we are given the
strength, His strength, to become something new, something different, something
holy.
Why are we called to be holy? We are we called to be different?
Because this world needs us to be. This world, as a result of sin, finds itself
in growing darkness and in disparate need of something bright, something
different, something holy. . God calls us to be holy in order to be the
light that is needed in this darkness…in a world filled with hate, we are
called to be love; in a world filled with violence, we are called to be peace;
in a world filled with fear, we are called to be hope and courage; in a world
filled with vengeance, we are called to be forgiveness; in a world filled with
selfishness, we are called to be selfless and self-sacrificing. If we are no
different than the world, if we hold onto our sin instead of being transformed,
then we only add to the darkness, we become like the clouds darkening the
skies, or like the moon eclipsing the sun, casting a shadow over
everything. However, if we surrender to
the movement of God’s Spirit within us, we will find ourselves changed,
transformed, from darkness into light.
We find ourselves becoming a lamp on a lampstand, a city on a hill, the
light of the world.
However, this transformation is not simply
about each of our individual lives. It
is about our life together. We are
reminded that we are a holy nation. We
as a holy nation, the Church, are called to be different. We are called to be holy as a gathered
people, transformed by the same Holy Spirit.
Too often we lament the church’s falling
away…that attendance and membership are in decline…and study after study
reveals that many who have left the church or who refuse to come are because
they don’t see anything special about it…they don’t see it as being any
different than the world around them.
They encounter churches where petty arguing and unforgiveness are the
rule of the day, where folks won’t talk to other folks, but will gladly talk
about them. They encounter churches
where outsiders aren’t welcomed, where differences are highlighted and
ridiculed, where prejudice and hatred are practiced. They encounter judgment and
condemnation. When that is the case, is
it any wonder that we find more folks outside the church than inside—for if we
are no different in here than the world is out there, why come? We aren’t to be about reflecting the worlds
sins, but offering the life-giving, hope filled, transforming grace of God,
reminding those in the world that there is something more and different than
what they encounter every day.
We are called to be different. We are called to be set apart. We are called to be transformed from the
world and it’s thinking. We are called
to be the holy, as individuals, and as a gathered people, the holy nation that
God through Peter, declares us to be. We
are called together as citizens, not of the Harkers Island, not of the North
Carolina, not of the United States, but as citizens, first and foremost, above
everything else, of the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of God. It means that while we might live in the
world, we are not of this world. The
allegiance we pledge is to Christ above all else. To be a holy nation means that we live under
the rule of our King…the King of kings—and that it is His reign that we
proclaim; His grace we offer, His love we share…offering to the world what it
cannot find on its own.
Who are we…a chosen race…a royal priesthood…a
holy nation…
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit…Amen.
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