Triumphant Living in Trying Times

I Peter 1:6, 7; 13 – 25

1.  These are times that try men’s souls in terms of the constant change, crunch, and conflict.

a.  change – in 1952, when I started first grade…

  1. Coke was 5 cents
  2. Hershey’s bar was 5 cents
  3. Cup of coffee was 5 cents
  4. Crayola crayons were 15 cents a box
  5. A first class stamp was 3 cents
  6. A gallon of gas was 25 cents
  7. A new Chevy was $1,200
  8. Only 9% of U.S. households had a T.V.
  9. A teacher earned $2,640.00 per year
  10. The most basic computer cost $5,000,000
  11. Blue laws
  12. 9-5, 5 day per week workday is now 24/7/365
  13. We have come from Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets to Nintendo and X-box, Magic School Bus and CD-ROMs.
  14. We have come from going to jail for playing lotteries and numbers games to the fact that today the biggest bookies on the block are State governments.
  15. We have gone from sneaking bubblegum to school to metal detectors, frisking and surveillance cameras and policemen on campus.
  16. In the olden days “crack salesman” meant someone who was really good at selling.
  17. In the olden days we had Smith-Corona’s and the only choice was pica or elite.
  18. “Log on” meant something you put in the stove.
  19. “Download” meant taking the wood off the wagon.
  20. “Micro-chip” meant the small potato chips at the bottom of the bag.

I ask, “do you think you will ever come to a time in your life when there will be less change than there is today?”

b.  Crunch: the pressure cooker of stress (time, performance, production.

  1. Cramped void of emptiness: disconnected
  2. Crowded loneliness
  3. Yawning gulf of uncertainty
  4. Heaviness of sorrow
  5. Flaming trials of faith – many live in portable, personal, and private hell.

c.  Conflict – Satan’s attack

  1. Sudan – Christians routinely killed, sold as salves for $15 a head, children stoned if they don’t recant.
  2. Saudi Arabia – citizens receive $3,000 reward for informing on Bible students.
  3. David Barnet – Regents University – 1994 alone there were 156,000 martyred Christians worldwide.
  4. Michael Horowitz – a Jewish lawyer of the Hudson Institute – “on a worldwide basis, Christians are the most persecuted major religion in terms of direct punishment for practicing religious activities such as public worship, evangelism, charity.

So, How can I live triumphant in such trying times?

Peter speaks to us as he did those scattered strangers and persecuted pilgrims of his day. He says we must see ourselves as:

I.  An efficient worker

  1. I Peter 1: 13 – “Gird up the loins of your mind.” A worker in Bible days had to “gird up” their long robes to prepare to work.
  2. He pictures a wide-awake, willing worker
  3. If you had to create a one-page resume for our church as if we were a person applying for a job, what would you put for our qualifications with regard to:

a.  education

b.  experience

c.  accomplishments

d.  references

e.  knowledge

  1. How about if you were applying to become a Christian?
  2. According to one social scientist, our world is suffering from relational anorexia
  3. Don’t you think our church could and should provide a better place to build relationships than an on-line chat room?
  4. Don’t you think that what is doing on here is more important and interesting than what anyone will ever find on a screen or in a headset?
  5. I like Bonoro Overstreet’s attitude expressed in his poem entitled, “To One Who Doubts the Worth of Doing Anything if You Can’t Do Everything.”

“You say the little efforts that I make will do no good: they never will prevail to tip the hovering scale where justice hangs in the balance. I don’t think I ever thought they would. But I am prejudiced beyond debate in favor of my right to choose which side shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight!

  1. Ah, you might say, “but I’m not properly trained to talk of such things as Theology, Homiletics, and Eschatology.” You say, “I can’t be an effective worker.” How much training did you need to be qualified to talk to someone, about your grandchildren? The last ballgame, trophy fish, or a favorite recipe?
  2. When you stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, would you rather be told that you:

a.  Believed too much or too little?

b.  Cared too much or too little?

c.  Forgave too much or too little?

d.  Tried too hard or didn’t try hard enough?

e.  Well done thou hyper-helpful and risk-taking soul or well done thou underachieving and play-it-safe soul?

  1. I like the poster IYAD; WYAD; YAG; WYAG – “if you always do, what you always did, you always get what you always got.” Do the best you can with have you have, where you are, right now.
  2. Effective workers are always so busy doing “W”CUBED – whatever, wherever, whenever; they can’t attend their own pity party.
  3. Effective workers are mentally

a.  tuned

a)  awake

b)  alert

c)  aware of what is avoidable, available, attainable.

b.  Trained – maintain discipline, discretion, dignity

c.  Tough – you can focus on your failure if you want to. I’m gonna focus on my future. We should not focus on what we have lost, but on what we have left.

II.  An ethical child – I Peter 1:14-16 – “As obedient children…holy”

  1. John 1:12 – “but as many as receive Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God.”
  2. Romans 8:18 0 “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God!”
  3. We really need to live and love as family.
  4. Christian stranded on a desert island, was asked why are there two churches? – One to attend and one to avoid; one to bless and one to boycott.
  5. One comment made regarding church: “The only denominations I like are $10, $20, $100.”
  6. T-shirt – “Jesus, save me from some of your followers”
  7. Social Scientist Mark Granovetter’s phrase “the strength of weak ties” – in the past we enjoyed deep and lasting relationships – now they are fleeting and functional.
  8. When I was young:

a.  Only 4% of church members had been raised in a different denomination than they were in.

b.  Today, that figure has risen to 40%.

c.  We have moved from membership mode to subscription mode. “I’m a subscriber.”

  1. Do you think that it might be time for us to move from the “Gold” to the “Platinum” status?

a.  Gold card (Golden Rule) – Matt 7:12 – “Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law of Moses in a nutshell.” (New LB)

b.  Platinum card (Platinum Rule) – John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” How? How much?

c.  Greater love – John 15:13 – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” What are you willing to lay down that others may pick up faith?

d.  There’s a story about two questions that will be asked at the entrance of heaven –

a)  Did you come alone? (and if yes…)

b)  How could you?

III.  An enlightened pilgrim – I Peter 1:17 & 18 – “…since you know…pass your time as a sojourner…”

  1. The church should be a
  2. Repository of the past for traditions that are true.
  3. Laboratory of the present for teachings that are true.
  4. Observatory for the future, for a tomorrow that is true.

a.  Tomorrow – our future is/will be, ours by either

a)  Design

b)  Default

  1. Our future is neither discovery nor destiny. It is decision.

Our future is not a function of chance but of choice. In the Christian faith, roads are made by walking.

  1. We are enlightened pilgrims who have a unique advantage. We have a book that serves as a fast forward button on history. We know how and where it all ends. As the saying goes, “The bend of the road is not the end of the road, if you make the curve.” Well, I’m going to curve Straight UP! The absolute worst thing the devil can do to me (death) will send me straight up!

IV.  Emancipated slave – I Peter 1:18-20 – “redeemed…precious blood…manifest in you.”

  1. Romans 8:15 – “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage to fear (you are not again a slave to fear), but you have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father.”
  2. Harvey Cox argues that our nation today, especially our youth, suffers from what he calls, Ecstasy Deficit, hence the attraction of drugs for an artificial ecstasy.
  3. As the cartoon character Calvin, in the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” says, “Happiness isn’t good enough for me! I demand euphoria!” This catches the essence of this generation.
  4. This is the generations who demands extreme experiences (example: two types of deodorant)
  5. Polo/Polo Sport Extreme
  6. FedEx – sends packages marked “extremely urgent”
  7. Taco Bell – extreme combo meal
  8. Pontiac announces that it is “taking you to the extreme”.
  9. Mattel has “Extreme Dinosaurs.”
  10. Extreme Makeover
  1. If you want a life that is comfortable, conventional, and convenient, you do not want to sign up for the Christian life!
  2. Jesus is not an eventless experience –

a.  He is the Extreme Experience – Holy Ghost.

b.  salvation – emancipation experience

  1. He invites you to live “dangerously Christian!” He shows up in your

a.  tragedies and triumphs

b.  defeats and victories

c.  conflicts and calmness

d.  crucifixions and resurrections

Life often sends us the:

e.  unexplained

a)  Abraham – offering his son

b)  Christ – forsaken me

c)  Paul – thorn

f.  Unexpected

a)  Moses and the Red Sea

b)  Daniel and the lions’ den

c)  Hebrew boys and the fiery furnace

g.  Unending

a)  Joseph and his family, business, personal problems

b)  Joshua – 7 days, then 7 times in one day.

  1. But for every

a.  Abraham experience – ram caught in the bushes

b.  Joseph – ye meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

c.  Moses – parting of the sea

d.  Joshua – the walls fall down

e.  Daniel – Leo the Lion - lockjaw

f.  Hebrew boys – the 4th man

g.  Paul – grace sufficient

h.  Jesus – crucifixion and resurrection

V.  Eternal soul – I Peter 1:23-25 – “…born again, of incorruptible seed…by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever!”

  1. Who would want eternal emptiness or empty eternity, or even an empty event?
  2. James Rosenfield in Millennial Fever: Packaging, Processing, and Passion” says of this tattooing and piercing phenomena that a generation is trying to: “cope with a sense of emptiness by punching holes in their bodies – a kind of self-inoculation; a covering of their skin with tattoos, simultaneously denying and affirming corporeality.” (bodyness)
  3. I’m glad I can tell you that this is not the only event experience – this life is not even the main event experience. I’m going to the Extreme Experience – Eternal: where nothing is too wonderful to be true!

Conclusion:

VI.  I can personally say – “thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

  1. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth
  2. My faith is the result of an internalized response to a divine revelation.
  3. My faith is an expressed relationship based on love.
  4. My faith:
  5. Sees beyond
  6. Knows for certain
  7. Obeys completely
  8. My faith overcomes:
  9. The failures of my past
  10. The frustrations of my present
  11. The fear of my future.

I Believe God!