Good morning, church. Our sermon text is 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 7 through 11.
Let me ask you to turn there with me. As usual, the text will be on the screen,
but let me encourage you to have the text open in front of you while we consider this passage
together. If you want to do that in the Pew Bible, it's page 955. 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 7 through 11.
All right, let me read for us. The Apostle Peter writes this,
Let's pray together.
Father, through your Son, Jesus Christ, you commissioned the apostles to teach in your name,
and by your Holy Spirit, you inspired them to do the same.
And so we realize, having read Peter's words, we have read your words, Father.
Grant us the grace now to receive these words and to live these words. And may the words of my mouth
and the meditation of all our hearts be pleasing in your sight, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
So, the end is near. That is how Peter begins this paragraph before us. The end of all things is
at hand. Now, maybe, I don't know about you, maybe you don't think a lot about the end of all things.
Maybe for you, that just sounds like something for religious fanatics or sidewalk preachers,
you know, the kind who self-publish books with titles like 77 Reasons the World Will End in 1977
or things like that, you know. The end is near.
But maybe for you, maybe for you on the other hand, the idea of the end being at hand
is not so easily dismissed. You look around the world and you see ongoing proliferation of atomic
weapons. We look around the world, we see ongoing degradation of the environment.
And maybe the end of the world isn't something you can just write off so easily.
Or maybe for you, the end is near doesn't bring to mind sort of global crises, but personal crises.
Old age? Or serious illness? The end of all things is at hand.
Now, no matter how much you think about such things, I wonder if you've considered that what
you really believe, what you really believe about the end of all things has a pretty profound impact
on how you live. Every year, it seems like there's another pop song written about how the world's all
going to end anyway, so we might as well enjoy whatever life we have left.
You know, whether it's going 2.47 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu or however that song went.
Do you remember that one? You know? We're gonna dance until the world ends.
I don't think people would want to see me dancing until the world ends. That would be kind of embarrassing.
But you know, this trope kind of in popular music, it goes all the way back to the first century.
Even earlier, let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. If we're all going to be annihilated anyway,
if it all comes to nothing, maybe by a nuclear crisis or just the crisis of old age,
why not just live to please ourselves and have fun?
But as we find out pretty quickly, such a life doesn't end up being very satisfying.
In other words, if we have an utterly empty view of how things end,
we will inevitably have an empty view of what it means to live.
And whether we like it or not, we all live with some end in mind.
What's yours?
And if I can be so bold to ask, how's it working for you?
What Christianity offered to the ancient world and continues to offer to our world
is a better ending.
And because of that, a better way of living.
Because while Christians do care deeply about things like global peace and global warming,
our view of the end is not simply annihilation.
Rather, for Christianity, the end is God.
Who will bring judgment, justice, and the wonder of a new creation.
When Peter says,
the end of all things is at hand,
he means that in the story of God's redemptive plan,
the only chapter left is the return of our creator and king,
who will judge evil, defeat death, and make all things new.
Peter's saying,
we're living in the last chapter of God's great story.
That chapter might be long or short,
but it's the last one.
The end is at hand.
I like how Karen Jobes puts it in her commentary on 1 Peter.
She says,
Peter is saying that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
his readers are living in the last stage of God's redemptive plan,
and the goal of that plan is being realized.
Earlier in this book,
Peter has called this our living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
This is what the psalmists used to sing about.
Like we heard in Psalm 96 earlier in the service,
The psalmist says,
This past Friday was Earth Day, you know.
So don't be afraid to go plant a tree, Christian,
because one day that tree is going to sing for joy at the return of its creator.
And when people ask you why you care for the environment,
you can just tell them that you're getting the choir ready for the conductor when he comes back.
Now, maybe you're not sure about the Christian view of the end of all things.
Maybe it seems more than a little implausible.
But why don't we take a look at the life,
at the sort of life it produces,
and then maybe you'll at least see how beautiful it is
and consider it for yourself.
And for those of us who are Christians,
Peter's showing us here the life that our hope should be producing now.
So let's take a look.
Peter says,
The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore, in other words,
here's how you should live in light of this glorious end that we have in Christ.
And what Peter says here, we can state very simply,
and then we'll spend some time unpacking it.
In essence, Peter says,
You're living in the last chapter.
So first, verse 7, pray.
And second, verses 8 through 11, love.
Let's look first at verse 7.
The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
In other words, living in the last chapter of God's great story moves us
from distraction and dissipation to divine communion.
It moves us from preoccupation and perplexity to prayer.
How often do we find ourselves riddled with a hundred distractions these days?
Whether it's the kind of constant news feed on our phones
or the ping of another text
or the mindless scrolling through social media.
And you know, we're constantly distracting and preoccupying ourselves.
Why?
Why are we so prone to distraction and preoccupation?
I think because so often we're looking for something, anything,
to just sort of dull the gaping boredom or even nihilism
that just yawns under the surface of our lives.
If you think that life ends in nothing,
that this beautiful world ends in nothing,
then really everything is just a distraction, isn't it?
A number of years ago, Alan de Botton wrote an excellent book
called The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work.
But at the end, he simply says,
okay, so what's the real purpose of work?
If the universe just ends in a tidal wave of oblivion,
then isn't the most meaningful work
just a distraction from the inevitable?
He concludes his book by saying,
let death find us as we are building up
our matchstick protests against its waves.
Of course, that sounds a little heroic at first, doesn't it?
But actually, it's deeply and profoundly unsatisfying.
Because, friend, life isn't simply a series of distractions
until death washes everything away.
Life is a series of pregnant moments
ordained by your loving and just creator
to be lived in fellowship with him
and his purpose of redemption.
Therefore, Peter says, be self-controlled and sober-minded.
Don't live a life of endless distraction.
Rather, live a life of prayer
that is of communion with the God
whose story is about to come to its thrilling close.
Because Jesus has risen from the dead
and the last chapter is upon us.
Now, what does this life of prayer,
of communion with God, look like?
Well, as we read the pages of Scripture,
we see that there are many well-marked paths
paths that God himself has marked for us
and which saints for generations have walked.
There's the path of adoration,
delighting in the godness of God,
praising him and enjoying him.
There's the path of confession,
unburdening our souls to God,
naming and releasing our failures and sins
into his merciful love.
There's a path of thanksgiving,
gratitude for all God's gifts,
supremely the gift of God's own son
and the gift of the cross.
There's a path of lament,
expressing our negative emotions to God,
sadness, anger, fear,
letting him be God in the midst of our loss and trials.
There's the path of petition,
asking God for our needs,
for ourselves, for others,
entrusting our desires and needs to him to provide.
Imagine a life walked in these paths
and not the endless distractions of our digital age.
Isn't deep down that the kind of life that you want?
With a deep center in the holy God
who made you in all things?
The God who's coming to judge and to heal?
How can you begin to walk these paths of prayer,
of communion with God?
Let me suggest maybe a simple practice
if you're getting started.
Simple practice.
For 15 or 20 minutes,
find a quiet place
and turn off your phone.
You know it has an off button, right?
Your iPhone.
It's that little thing on the side.
You can push it,
but you got to hold it in
because Apple's smart
and they don't want you to turn off your phone.
You got to hold it in
and then your phone turns off.
That's possible actually to turn it off.
Then, take a physical Bible
because remember,
you've turned off your phone.
So you take a physical Bible
and just read one psalm
or one paragraph in the Gospels slowly.
Read the same passage once or twice slowly.
This isn't the time to do your annual Bible reading plan.
If you do one,
you can do that another time in the day.
This is time to commune with God.
And as you read slowly,
listen, ask with an open heart to the Lord.
Where is God in this text
inviting you to walk the path of adoration
or confession or thanksgiving
or petition or perhaps even lament?
What path is the Lord opening up before you
and beckoning you to come walk?
Maybe you read the story of the disciples
struggling at the oars,
trying to cross the Sea of Galilee in a storm,
and how Jesus comes to them on the water
and says,
it's I, don't be afraid.
And then you realize
that you are afraid.
You've been pulling at the oars of your life
and the water's still choppy
and you're afraid.
You don't think you'll make it to the other side.
So you pray a prayer that's something like a lament.
I don't know where all this anxiety and fear is coming from,
but I'm giving it to you, God.
And then you read the passage again
and you listen to the sovereign Lord
as he says,
it's I.
Don't be afraid.
So you pray a pair of petition.
Jesus, fill me with your peace and presence.
And suddenly,
it becomes a path of adoration.
Lord, you are sovereign.
I see you standing on the waves.
You are in control.
Nothing surprises you.
I know you'll see me safely to the other side.
And as you read
and as you pray,
if you find that you've prayed all the things
that God in this 15, 20 minutes
is inviting you to pray,
then simply be still before him
and enjoy his presence.
Be self-controlled.
And sober-minded
for the sake of your prayers.
You're living in the last chapter, friends.
Don't let distractions rule your life.
Begin communing now
with the God who's coming soon.
But Peter doesn't stop there.
He speaks not just of prayer,
but of love.
Look at verse 8.
Above all,
keep loving one another earnestly
since love covers a multitude of sins.
You're living in the last chapter,
so love one another earnestly.
Why?
Because love covers a multitude of sins.
Peter's quoting from the book of Proverbs there.
In Proverbs chapter 10, verse 12,
we read,
Hatred stirs up dissension,
but love covers all wrongs.
So this idea of love covering wrongs,
or in Peter's paraphrase,
a multitude of sins,
is the opposite of stirring up dissension.
In other words,
love doesn't repay evil for evil.
It breaks these cycles of petty retaliation.
It breaks the cycle of assuming the worst in someone else.
And Peter knew that we would need that.
Peter knew that living life as the church would be hard.
Why?
Because Christians are sinners.
Christian marriage would be hard.
Christian parenting would be hard.
It would be delightful,
and it would be joyful.
And being in the church would be delightful,
it would be joyful,
but it would at the same time be hard.
Why?
Because we're all still battling our sinful desires.
What's the antidote?
Peter says it's the love
that covers a multitude of sins.
But where does that come from?
It doesn't come from our old nature.
It comes from the new nature
that we've received in the gospel.
Do you remember earlier in this letter,
Peter wrote in chapter 1,
verses 22 and 23,
he says,
Love one another earnestly.
The same command.
Why?
Because you've been born again
through the living and abiding word of God.
And what is this word?
Friends, it's a message
that the God who made all things
took on human nature
in the person of Jesus
to live the life that we should have lived
and to die the death that we deserve to die
so that in love
he might cover over all our sins.
God did not repay us
the wrath and judgment
that our sins deserved.
Instead,
he absorbed that cost
into himself on the cross.
Amazing love.
How can it be
that thou, my God,
shalt die for me?
And three days later,
God raised Jesus from the dead
so that all who receive
the risen Christ by faith
might be given a new heart
and a new nature.
We're born again,
Peter says,
and in this new nature,
we're able to turn to others
and forgive
because we've been forgiven.
It covers a multitude of sins.
So this is what love doesn't do.
It doesn't pay back in kind.
It covers a multitude of sins.
But what about what love does do?
And in the rest of our text,
Peter gives us kind of two pictures
of love in action.
We're living in the last chapter
of God's story.
Above all,
we must love.
And here,
Peter says,
is what love looks like.
First,
it looks like hospitality.
Verse 9,
show hospitality to one another
without grumbling.
Once we were filled
with sort of hostility
and animosity
towards one another,
but in light of the hope
that we have
that's broken in upon us,
our hostility
is traded for hospitality.
Don't you see,
if this life
is all that you have,
if this life
is all that we have,
then of course,
we're all just scrambling
for a scarcity of resources
and the scarcity of time
being the most poignant of all.
And if that's true,
why would I even open my home
to another?
Why exercise hospitality
when it's so costly
and time-consuming?
But if this chapter
of God's story
is about to give way
to justice,
healing,
and the new creation,
if that's what
we're looking forward to,
then our homes
opened in hospitality
become a signpost
of the coming kingdom.
Hospitality would have been critical
to the life of the church
in the first century
since most churches
in the first century
met in believers' homes.
Hospitality made
church gatherings possible.
So remember that,
small group hosts,
the next time
your small group
gathers in your home.
You are practicing
one of the most ancient
and vital
of Christian practices.
As you open your home
to fellow believers
for the purpose of prayer
and Bible study,
you stand
in a long line
of saints
who have blessed
and supported
the people of God
all the way back
to the time
of the apostles.
Be encouraged.
But of course,
hospitality isn't just
for hosting formal gatherings.
A local church
is meant to be
a fabric
of relationships
where there is welcome
and support
and care,
where we welcome
one another
as Christ
has welcomed us.
You know,
in the first century,
many Christians
were losing their friends
and being ostracized
by their families
because of their
allegiance to Christ.
So the practice
of hospitality
didn't just sort of
meet those needs
of belonging
and relationship,
but it was a sign
that in Christ
there's now
a new family,
a new belonging,
a new place
to be welcomed
and loved.
Of course,
you don't need
to own a home
or own a big apartment
to practice hospitality.
Hospitality literally
just means love
of the stranger.
So the next time
you're headed out
for lunch or dinner,
you can just invite
someone from church
that you don't know well.
Welcome them
to come along.
That's showing hospitality.
That's the first way
to love that Peter
mentions,
hospitality.
The second way
we see in verses 10 and 11.
Look at that with me.
He says,
as each has received a gift,
use it to serve one another
as good stewards
of God's very grace.
Whoever speaks
as one who speaks
oracles of God.
Whoever serves
as one who serves
by the strength
that God supplies.
In order that in everything
God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ,
to Him belong glory
and dominion
forever and ever.
Amen.
So if love moves us
from hostility
to hospitality,
Peter's saying
it also moves us
from selfishness
to service.
Everyone in the family
of God
has received a gift,
Peter says.
When the Holy Spirit
causes us to be born again
into this new family,
into this new body,
the church,
He makes sure
that we have
a vital role to play.
In other words,
no one is an appendix
in the body of Christ,
right?
There are no useless organs
in the church.
The appendix
is that little thing
that's supposedly
we don't have any use for,
right?
That's supposed to be funny.
You're supposed to laugh
at that.
Never mind.
I'll go back to the drawing board
with that illustration.
Okay.
What do we do
with these gifts
that we've been given?
Do we hoard them
or do we share them?
Peter uses this great metaphor
of a steward.
You know,
a steward in the ancient world
was put in charge
of a household
to make sure
that all the resources
were distributed properly
and everyone got
what they needed.
But the steward
wasn't the owner
of the household.
They were responsible
for what belonged
to another.
They were put
in this position
to care for what
belonged for another.
Friends,
if you are in Christ,
you have gifts to share.
But these gifts
ultimately belong
to another,
to your generous Lord
who gave them to you
and you are called
to steward them
for his sake.
Some of you maybe
have particular gifts,
as Peter says,
in speaking.
You can teach,
you can instruct,
you can counsel,
you can offer wisdom
or discernment.
Don't hoard these gifts.
The church needs them.
Speak as one
who speaks the oracles
of God,
Peter says.
That is,
do it with the boldness
and the humility
that comes from realizing
whose word it is
we're teaching.
because we teach
and instruct from God's word,
we can do so
with boldness
because it's God's word,
not ours.
But at the same time,
we do so with humility
because, again,
it's not our own.
Some of you have
particular gifts in serving.
You can organize
and administrate
love and care,
identify needs,
design solutions.
Do so,
Peter says,
with the strength
that God supplies.
Just as our speaking
ultimately derives
from God's word,
so our serving
ultimately derives
from God's strength.
That's why we're stewards,
right?
Because it's God's word
and God's strength
at work through us
by God's spirit.
Now, of course,
the best way
to figure out
what your gifts are
is to actually
start serving.
give something a try.
Ask to help lead
a Bible study group
in small group.
Join a ministry team
and give it a try.
If you don't know
where to start,
ask an elder
or ask a deacon.
We'd love to help you
find your particular gifts.
We're stewards,
Peter says,
of God's varied grace.
There's a beautiful
diversity of gifts
in God's body,
a varied grace
that when each part
finds its place
as a body,
we sort of shine
like the splendor
of a stained glass window
where every piece
sort of contributes
to the beauty
of the whole.
We're not meant
to hoard our gifts
but to share them.
That's why we sort of
crafted our membership vows
to say simply
but profoundly
that we're committing
to give and receive
gifts of love
and service.
We're living
in God's last chapter.
Life's about more
than just stockpiling
comforts for ourselves.
It's about giving
and receiving
these gifts
that God has poured
out on us
in these last days.
That is,
these days between
Christ's resurrection
and His return.
So this is how
we're meant to live then.
Because the end
of all things
is at hand.
We're to move
from distraction
to communion
and from hostility
to hospitality
and from selfishness
to generous service.
And when we live
like that,
who gets the credit?
Who gets the glory?
Not us,
Peter says,
but Jesus.
He ends by saying
we do all this
in order that
in everything
God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.
To Him belong glory
and dominion
forever and ever.
Amen.
If it is God's future
that changes our lives
so dramatically,
then surely
it is God's name
that gets all the credit
and all the attention.
And when you think about it,
isn't that the last
great gift to us
of this living hope
that we have?
Being liberated
from having to live
for ourselves
so that we can live
for something greater,
something greater
and more lasting
than we had ever dreamed.
Our own little story
is a part
of a much grander drama,
a much more
magnificent tale.
Isn't that ultimately
what your heart
longs for?
A place
in a greater plot line.
And here it is.
Peter says,
the end of all things
is at hand.
Come step into this story.
Christ is risen,
the kingdom is on the move,
and the last chapter
is speeding
to the conclusion.
Christ will return
in glory
to judge
and to save
and to make all things new.
You can keep living
for your...
Flooding into history
and covers the earth
like the waters
cover the sea.
Join your story
to His.
Live for someone greater.
live for His glory.
And then watch
as your distraction
becomes communion
and as your hostility
gives way to hospitality
and as your selfishness
becomes generous service.
To Him belong glory
and dominion
forever and ever.
Amen.
Let's pray.
Our Father in heaven,
as we sung
before considering
Your Word,
we pray again
that You would
take our life,
take our lives,
and let them
be consecrated to You.
Take our moments
and our days,
take our speaking
and our giving,
take our hands
and our feet,
and use them
for Your praise.
We ask this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.