Today we’re beginning a new series; An Exiles guide to living. It’s a study on 1 Peter. As we begin this series, I want to encourage you to read through 1 Peter. It’s a short letter, only 5 chapters so it won’t take you long. Just carve out some time and read it. But as a group, we’re going to work through it at a slow pace so that we can really soak in all the great things Peter has to say.
Now if you’re anything like me, when you read it, you’ll start thinking . . . are you kidding me, Peter wrote this. I mean this is the guy that was always sticking his foot in his mouth. Act and then think or maybe not even think at all. He was always saying and doing the wrong thing.
This was the guy who denied Jesus three times in his most desperate hour of need. He can’t even stand up to a little teenage girl and tell her that he’s a follower of Jesus. I mean that’s this guy.
But when I think about Peter being that guy, it’s actually encouraging to me. I mean, he’s got all these flaws and yet Jesus was willing to restore him and use him.
A few days after denying Jesus, we see in the book of Acts that the Spirit of God comes upon him and he leans deeply into God’s presence to lead him and he’s able to stand up in front of thousands of people and be the first one to share the gospel and because he did 3,000 people became followers of Jesus.
I mean, this guy totally changed.
If you keep following the story of Peter in the book of Acts, you’ll find that he; along with Paul become the leaders of the church. Peter led the Jews who had converted to Christianity and later Paul comes along to lead the gentiles, those who were not Jewish.
If you go after the book of Acts and just look at church history, Peter becomes the leader of the church in Antioch and it’s that church that sent Paul and Barnabas as missionaries to the gentiles; to those in Asia Minor where modern Turkey and Eastern Europe are today.
And although their callings lead them in different directions, at the end of their lives, both of them end up in Rome and are ministering to the churches there. And it was from there, in the 60’s, that Peter wrote this letter.
Now that’s Peter and we could talk about him a lot but I actually think that it’s more important to understand who the recipients of this letter were; who they were and why Peter was writing to them.
That’s where we’re really going to understand the depth of this book and what it is teaching us today.
In the very first verse Peter says, I’m writing this letter to all these people in all these different regions. Now, you may not have any idea where any of these places are but if you look on a map you’d see that all of these churches are in the Asia Minor, and it makes me kind of wonder something . . .
Who was the one who planted all of those churches? Paul. And if Paul was the one who planted all of those churches and mentored them and disciple them and strengthened them in the early years, then why is Peter writing them a letter.
It’s because Paul can’t write to them because he’s not around anymore.
You see in the 60’s there was this guy named Nero; who became the emperor of Rome. And while he was emperor, there was fire in Rome that destroyed the city and there is strong evidence that Nero himself did it . . . it’s a long story but essentially he had a plan that involved destroying the city of Rome.
And when people got wind of his plan and began accusing him of setting his own city of fire, he realized that maybe it wasn’t a good plan because his people were beginning to reject him and so he needed to find someone to blame. So he blamed the Christians.
Now up to this point, Christians were kind of neutral in the Roman Empire. There were a lot of different religions so no one really cared that there was a new religion called Christianity.
Now the Jews didn’t like Christians because they challenged their traditions and so they persecuted Christians all the time but the Romans didn’t care one way or the other about Christians as long as they didn’t cause any problems. You know, like boycotting stores or plastering hate messages all over social media.
So for the most part, everything was good for Christians until Nero blamed them for burning Rome to the ground. And from that point, Christians became the enemies of the Roman Empire.
That’s not good.
And around 64 A.D. persecution broke out against the Christians beginning in Rome and spreading out through the Roman Empire, including those churches in Asia Minor.
Within two years of this persecution, Paul was beheaded in Rome.
So think about this, you’re new church in Asia Minor and everything is fine. You’ve got a good reputation, you’ve got a good standing the community, you’re free to worship Jesus, and then all of a sudden everything changes.
You walk down the street and people are looking at you funny. You go to work and people are messing with you, family members who are not Christians don’t trust you, and you get singled out and profiled in the airport just because everybody thinks that you are responsible for the burning of Rome.
And that was just the beginning . . . soon Christians were being tortured and killed in some of the most gruesome ways.
On top of that, the person who you have relied on to give you guidance and comfort and encouragement is gone.
And in the midst of all of this suffering and loss, they starting thinking to themselves, “what is going on? What’s happening here? Why is this happening? Where is God?”
Maybe is should just dump this whole Christianity thing because it’s going to be a lot easier if I just stopped following Jesus and started acting like everybody else.
And that's when peter steps in and writes this letter to these people and he begins with these words.
Now that doesn’t sound very exciting, just a greeting and our instinct is to say, “Let’s just skip this part and move on to the meat”
But if you just pause here for a minute, it will really blow you away.
You see for these people, whose lives have been absolutely rocked, and are wondering “Has God rejected us? Has god left us?” these two verses are the most encouraging thing they could have read.
What they hear is, you are not alone. Peter, the guy who walked and talked and was mentored and sent out by Jesus is with us . . . in this . . . together. And he’s telling them that there is no way that God has left you . . . in fact he has chosen you.”
Remember when you were a kid and you had to pick teams. And you desperately wanted to be picked early on in the draft and certainly didn’t want to be the last one standing in the line.
Peter is saying . . . God chooses you. Not because you are last in line but he chooses you at the top of the draft. That’s pretty cool.
But he chooses us to be aliens; exiles. He looks at this big group of people waiting to be picked and he chooses you and he changes you and makes you into a new creation; so different that when he puts into the game, back to where you came from, you don’t fit in.
But he does that intentionally because the world desperately needs to see what it’s like to be a new creation of God.
But let’s be honest . . . that’s not what we like to do. Like these early Christians . . . we’d much rather just try to find a way to fit in, do what everyone else is doing; even if that means setting aside Jesus.
Or sometimes when we’re being mistreated and life hurts, we just want to get away from it. We’d rather surround ourselves with people who think the same way we think, who have the same values we have; people who will send us virtual hugs when we share our pain on social media.
But Peter is saying . . . that’s not the best plan.
You have been chosen by God and set apart and you have been scattered throughout Asia Minor.
This word, scattered is the same word farmers used when they scattered seed. Farmers don’t just haphazardly throw out seed. They are intentional about where they put it so that it will produce the most fruit.
Peter is saying, “This time, this place, these circumstances are all part of God’s plan to bring about restoration and salvation for all people. You’re suffering isn’t something to run from, it’s something to embrace because it will give you an opportunity to show Jesus to the world.”
It’s not going to be easy . . . but you won’t be alone.
As you are in this place of suffering, God’s Spirit is with you and He will mold you and shape you to become more like the one you are following and I will surround you with others who are broken and hurting and suffering and they will walk with you, and pray with you, and rejoice with you and together you will show the world what it means to be a new creation in Christ.
And he finishes his greeting with these words, Grace and Peace be yours . . . in abundance.
These people are suffering and even though this simple greeting Peter brought them comfort they had to still be thinking to themselves, “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if we’re going to survive this. I don’t understand.”
And Peter is saying . . . I know you are hurting but I am praying God’s peace upon you. Peace to cover your confusion. Peace to soothe your anxiety. Peace to ease your fear. Peace to give you courage. Peace to take a risk.
In the days that followed . . . those early followers of Jesus would be ripped apart; they suffering would become even great and they needed a peace that was tangible, something they could walk past and touch, or wrap around themselves in dark moments of doubt and pain. And we do, too.
I don’t know what all of you are going through in your lives right now. But I know that some of you know exactly what it’s like to experience pain and suffering. Maybe not to the extent these first disciples but in your suffering, you’ve asked the same question . . . “Where is God?” or perhaps thought that being Christian just isn’t worth it because it’s just too difficult.
This morning I want you to hear these words of Peter . . .
You have been planted just where God wants you. It may be difficult, it may stretch you beyond your limits but God sends you his Spirit and he surround you with his church so lean heavily into God’s Spirit and His Church because in the midst of your suffering he will bring you peace; peace in abundance.