Where there is life...There is hope
1 Peter 1:3-7

March 30, 2008
Second Sunday of Easter

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Maybe Peter was overweight and out of shape. Maybe John was just a better athlete than Peter. Whatever the reason John won the race to the tomb. He took a peek, but he would not go in. Then Peter, perhaps huffing and puffing, arrived at the tomb. Nothing was going to stop him from going into the tomb. He looked and he saw that Jesus was not there. This changed everything for Peter for he knew that where there is life...there is hope. Now 30 years later, Peter is writing to Christians who were in need of some hope. Lives filled with trouble and hardship and persecution were eroding that hope away. To give that hope a boost, what does Peter do? He points them to Jesus' resurrection because he had learned so well that where there is life...there is hope. This is the message he uses to give our hope a boost today.

The birth of a new baby is such a neat time. Here is a new life, it hasn't been shaped by nurture, nor does its nature show itself quite yet. There is all that potential. What is this child going to be like? What is this child going to do in life? Have you ever wanted to have a fresh start? Wouldn't it be nice to start over with a clean slate like a newborn child? When Jesus visited with Nicodemus, he told him that unless a man is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus questioned how this could happen, it seemed physically impossible. Jesus said that it was physically impossible, but not spiritually impossible. This new birth is the reason that Peter gives praise to God in the text today. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth." New birth or being born again means being brought to faith in Jesus. The old life that is controlled by the sinful nature is gone and now the new life, a fresh start with sins forgiven begins.

This new life is filled with a living hope. This hope Peter calls a "living hope". In other words we have hope because Jesus is alive. Just as Peter was filled with hope when he saw the empty tomb, so also we are filled with hope because Jesus is alive. But this isn't just any hope. This is not like when we say, "I hope it doesn't rain because I am going to Valley Fair or we are having a picnic." It might rain and it might not. It doesn't matter how hard we hope if it is going to rain, it is going to rain. When the Christian says, "I have hope." That hope is in something that is certain. It is in God's promise which is always kept.

What is it that Christians hope for? Peter answers that, "an inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade." This is what Jesus was talking about when he said to Nicodemus, "Whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." This is the inheritance that awaits us. The challenge is that we can't see it. We can't touch it. We can't check the bank statement and see that it is in the account. But it is real, and it is ours. God says so and Jesus resurrection guarantees it. It is better than any earthly inheritance. Things in this life, even if they are made of metal or stone, fade, spoil and fall apart. The inheritance that God gives us will never fade away or become useless to us. I always love the tulips in the spring. They are a very pretty flower, but they don't last very long. They bloom and are beautiful, but they slowly fade into nothing. In the same way the things that we chase after in life: giant flat screen televisions, houses, cars, money, landscaping, pictures, videos, even our families themselves, they all get old, fade, spoil and eventually we throw them away or they are unusable. Not so with the inheritance that God gives us in Christ. It is eternal. It is glorious. It is ours.

But it seems like that inheritance is so far off in the future. When will it be mine? When will I get it? How do I know that it will still be there for me? Peter says that 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."

It is like God puts a big force field around us to protect us from everything in this world that seeks to take our inheritance away. He protects us from the attacks and temptations of the devil who would like nothing more than for us to forfeit the inheritance that God has for us. Just his promise alone that our inheritance is kept in heaven for us is comforting, especially as we find ourselves in troubled times. The stock market may crash. Buildings may burn down. Banks and investment firms may fail. Businesses may fail. Doctors may fail. The love of family members may fail. But the eternal life that God promises you is kept in heaven for you and you are shielded by God's power until you receive that eternal inheritance.

We are shielded through faith, that is we trust in God's promise to protect us and we base our hope solely on God's promise. Even if it doesn't seem possible that we would have this inheritance, we trust God's promise that we do. Our hope in that promise is valuable because it isn't based on what we have done to earn that inheritance, but on God's promise to give us that inheritance.

If we are shielded by God's power, how is it that life is so hard while we wait for our inheritance? That is a good question. Peter assumes that question is going to be asked as he continues to write to the believers scattered all over Asia Minor. He writes, "In this [inheritance] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."

Notice how, in a matter of fact way, Peter assumes that his readers are suffering? Of course they are suffering, and they are suffering partly for being a Christian. Unlike what many people say and preach, the Bible never promises an easy life. In fact it promises just the opposite. There will be trouble. The temptation for Christians is to see these troubles as evidence that something is wrong with my relationship with God. I must have angered God in some way. Why is God punishing me?

First of all, Peter says not to worry because these things are temporary. He says that they have had to suffer a little while. Sometimes our problems are temporary. As quickly as it comes, it goes away and we suffer for a little while. Unfortunately as quickly as one trouble leaves another comes. Peter, when he mentions suffering for a little while, is comparing our relatively short difficult lives on earth, with the eternal joys and lack of suffering of heaven. A little while can be our whole life, but the length of our life is nothing compared with eternity. So Peter says don't be worried about this suffering for it is temporary. As one Bible translation puts it, "There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while."

Better yet Peter says that these troubles strengthen us for the future. He says, "These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine." Gold is melted and exposed to extreme heat to take out the impurities so that what comes out of the fire is pure gold. In the same way we feel the heat of trouble in our lives which God uses so that our faith comes out stronger in the end. Trouble teaches us that we have no power on our own to fix our miserable situation, but must rely on God and him alone for help, strength and safety. God sends us trials because he cares about us. God sends us trials to remind us that we are not in control. God sends us trials to remind us that we need him. The fires of affliction are not designed to reduce our faith to ashes. They burn away our self-confidence and drive us to our Savior. So if we go into a difficult stretch in our lives with confidence only in ourselves and come out the other side relying solely on God, then our suffering served God's good purpose.

What is the result of a life of testing and trial? Peter says, "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."

Peter takes us right to the day of resurrection of all who have died. It is the day when Jesus Christ will return again. God continually refines our faith by fire so that on the day Jesus returns we will be found trusting in him for salvation and giving him the praise, honor and glory that he deserves. All of this as our bodies are raised from the grave never to die again. Our souls are put back in our bodies to exist there eternally.

Aren't Peter's words encouraging. He was speaking from experience. He felt the fires of affliction after he spoke three times denying that he knew anything about this Jesus. He felt the fire of Jesus' glance burn in his heart. Yet when he looked in that tomb and saw that Jesus wasn't there he had hope again. He knew that where there is life...there is hope. Peter got a new life, his sins of denying Jesus were forgiven. He also got an eternal inheritance in heaven. He wants us to see that we have the same thing. Whatever our sins may be, whatever we have said or thought our done, Jesus resurrection gives us a new life and an eternal life. Amen.