1 Peter 1:3-9.                     Glorious joy!!!                                                   23/4/17

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

He is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Yes, our Lord Jesus has died and risen again for us so that we can get on with life with hope and confidence. In a world that is full of bravado, but no sure confidence for the future, this is a welcome relief. With all that is going on around us, that is disheartening and distressing we have here in Jesus that which enables us to lift up our heads and get on with life.

We don’t have to look very far these days to see a world that has lost its way, and constantly chasing false hopes and coming up disappointed. Politically, morally, economically and in almost every other area, we are seeing this taking place. All this is taking its toll on people’s lives.

We can see the results of this in the ‘escapism’ that is so prevalent all around us. Most significantly we see it in the alcohol and drug abuse and the high rate of suicides. But all around us we face lives that are trying to avoid the reality of life in our troubled world.

Unfortunately, people have also lost hope in the churches in our society. They see them as also giving false hopes and false messages. There is some truth in that, but the media and the whole of society has worked hard at discrediting the churches and its message.

Too often also, the message presented to the public is that Christianity is simply about being good moral people. If you read the Easter messages from the religious leaders, you would readily get this impression that this is what Christianity is all about. It seems that we need to present a soft and pleasing message rather than the central truth about Jesus Christ and the importance of his death and resurrection and what that really means for us today.

Easter is much more than an example of love and sacrifice for us to follow. It is far more than some vague notion of new life that we can now live. It is more than having courage in the face of terrorism and war. It is more than us being able to care for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Unless we understand the real meaning of Easter, all these attributes are something more that we are to strive after, as a burdensome task. They also become another form of ridicule and disillusionment with the churches when we fail to live up to these ideals. These are just more works that we have to perform in order to be ‘christian’ without and real impetus to do so.

Without the real meaning of Jesus death and resurrection they are just another thing that we have to work at, without the power and help to do so. They are nice words and good things to be done, but without Christ they are just more things to be done and failed.

First and foremost, we need to know and understand that Jesus Christ died for all of our sin and failures. He took our punishment on himself so that forgiveness of sins, life and salvation can be extended to each and every one of us. We can again then be a part of God’s family and live in a personal relationship with him. Then he was raised again on the third day so we can be absolutely sure that here God himself is at work, and that all who are connected to him have the assurance that they too will be raised again to be with him in heaven.

It is this which makes Easter, Easter. Here is what enables life to be turned around for us as people who are living in a sinful, troubled world. It is this which gives hope and meaning and purpose to our lives. Here, life changes for us and enables us to now live in the face of all that surrounds us with confidence and certainty. This is spelled out in this reading that we have before us.

Now we can look to the Almighty God with thankful hearts, full of praise for all that he has done for us so that we can have a sure and certain hope for the future. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

But more than that: into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you. Think about that. Despite our sinfulness he has freely given us an inheritance, with himself in heaven. Absolutely amazing. Now we can go forward with the certainty that everything will work out for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus.

Just because the promises and realities of life in this world, perish, spoil or fade; not so what God has here to give. Even though we might get old and frail in this life; or we lose our riches and health; and the like, we have God’s assurance that when our life us up here on earth, we then will go on to share in the greatness of what God has for us in heaven. There we will be truly beautiful, healthy, and all the rest, with nothing to hurt and harm us.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. All that needed is for us to trust that God is true to his word about this. We can have this faith because of the certainty of Jesus’ death on the cross, and his resurrection three days later. That power that raised Jesus from the dead will also shield us so that we can sure that this will take place for us.

The last time, Judgement day, will truly reveal and bring to light the reality of what God tells us here in this reading. It will happen because God says it will happen. We can be sure of it. So we can praise God and get on with living boldly and confidently into the days ahead.

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. So even in the midst of all the problems and difficulties of life that we might be experiencing here and now in this life, we can still rejoice. In fact, it says that we can greatly rejoice, already here and now. We know now that this is not the end of the story. There is always, better things ahead. So even though we are in a state of grief and suffering, we can have an underlying confidence and even joy.

For here we are reminded that even these trials and difficulties that we face here, are now seen as a good thing. They have their purpose in the whole scheme of things. We read: These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

So the trials we face are there to test our faith and to show how genuine this faith is. What God has promised us is sure, so we can stand firm and solid. Jesus death on the cross and resurrection are our guarantee that everything he has said is true.

This faith and trust that we have in this, will be proven to be true and will result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed on the Last Day. As we endure our trials and sufferings we can have a sure and certain confidence that our faith is not in vain; but will be proven to be genuine.

This genuine faith we are reminded here is far more precious than refined gold. Gold only has value here in this life, whereas a genuine faith has great value for all eternity. This is what God sees now, and what will bring praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Peter then concludes this reading with words of encouragement for us who have not seen Jesus and who are living at a time of great scepticism. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Yes, even now we can love him and be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. There is no need to see him and touch him as Thomas did after the resurrection. We can have every confidence that God is true to his word. It will all work out as he has said and promised. Jesus death and resurrection has happened and it has won for us forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. It is all sure and certain.

So now we can get on with life with confidence and joy. Because of Easter we are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Of this we can be certain; and this then changes everything for us as we live out our lives every day. Even if are facing the lions as the people that Peter is addressing were.

We can have a great joy in our lives, underneath our grief and suffering. Jesus death and resurrection ensures it all. To him be all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN.

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish