“You’re strange!” Those are words that we typically don’t enjoy hearing. A young child on a playground might be brought to tears if the other kids said that to him. By nature, we all want to fit in, to be accepted, and to have other people think positive things about us. That begins already when we are young, as the crying child illustrates.
The words of our text for today do not encourage us to fit in or do what will make us popular. In fact, they tell us just the opposite. They tell us to be strange, well, not exactly strange as we might often use that word, but as strangers in a world that is not very familiar with God and his will. Peter assures us that if we do that, we will be better off than if we try to fit in with the often sinful and self-serving ways of the world. Let’s turn to these verses to see why Peter encourages us to
“Live As Strangers”
I. With a God-centered Value System
II. With a God-serving Calling
Peter sets up the context of his statement when he writes, “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” Peter lived in a world that was, in many respects, quite different than our world today. But there were also ways that it was quite similar to our world today. One similarity is the worldly value system that was in place at Peter’s time which was, unfortunately, very similar to what we often see today.
Today, as in Peter’s time, success is often measured by how much you have acquired in material possessions. While that, in itself, is not wrong, efforts to succeed, based on such a value system, can often by quite ungodly. If we fall into the devil’s trap of seeking success through ungodly means, we will one day face, as Peter calls him, “a Father who judges each man’s work impartially.” Pursuit of worldly success can sometimes lead to sins of greed, envy, lying, stealing, and the like. Remember, Adam and Eve fell to the convincing lie of Satan that they were missing out on something, that God had held something back from them.
Don’t get me wrong. As I said before, attempting to be successful and even to acquire earthly possessions is certainly not sinful. Possessions are gifts from God who chooses to give them to us in a variety of ways. But we have to remember that God has a different value system than what we often see in the world. In God’s eyes, it’s not always about “stuff.” Peter wrote concerning what God considered success saying, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
Peter reminds us that silver and gold are not the most valuable things that we can possess in our lives here on earth. God looks beyond the amount of money that we have in our bank accounts or how many square feet there are in our homes or what kind of car we drive. God looks beyond what he have acquired in our lives to what is in our hearts. Peter told us that Jesus did not use solver or gold to redeem us, but his own blood. God looks to see if there is faith in our hearts to determine if we are successful in our lives. He gave up his greatest possession, his Son, to save us from our sins. He wants to see if Jesus is our most important possession.
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That’s what would make us different, “strangers” in a world where success is often measured in dollar amounts. And that is why he tell us to “live as strangers here in reverent fear.” Our Lord explained the value system that God uses when he said to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt. 6:33) Those who have made God’s word their guide, who have followed him through life, have found true success. And that true success will bring a joy and happiness that nothing else in the world can give.
There is a story that I read about that is supposedly true. It is a story about a man who cam to a psychiatrists office and explained that he was experiencing depression and sadness in his life. He seemed to be perfectly healthy. An exam didn’t turn up any physical problems. The psychiatrist determined that it must be an emotional problem. He decided that the man needed to have some fun in his life, to do something that would cheer him up. He told him that he had heard about a clown who was performing in town named Grimaldi. Everyone who saw him went away laughing with a big smile on his face. “Go see the clown,” the man was told, “and you’ll be fine.” But the man disagreed. “I’m Grimaldi,” he told the doctor.
How could the clown who brought so much joy and cheer to others be so miserable himself? How could the person who has so much in life, who seems so successful be considered a failure when he stands before God? It depends what value system you are using. Where the world often looks for “stuff” God is looking for faith.
So how successful are you at this point? How is your relationship with God? How strong is your faith, and how beneficial to your faith is the life that you are now living? Are you taking advantage of the tools God has given you to be “successful?” Or are you just trying to fit in with the rest of the world so that you don’t stand out as the “strange” one? Do you think more about what others might say about you, or about what God will say about you? He gave his Son for you, and he wants you to live, as Peter said, “in reverent fear” to show your love for him.
If you do so, you will be successful. If you listen to the Lord and live according to his will, you will find contentment and happiness here on earth, because you will see what God has planned for you while you live here on earth.
II. We Have a God-serving Calling
Peter was writing this letter to people who had been convinced that they weren’t important. They had been judged by the world’s value system and had been found lacking. You see, their Christian faith and lives had made them outsiders. No one wanted to associate with them. Christianity was not a popular religion, and those who claimed it were viewed negatively. People didn’t want to have anything to do with them.
But God used Peter to tell these people how happy he was because of their faith. He wanted them to know that he did not consider them failures just because many in their lives had turned against them. He reminded them of the cost that he had paid to make them his children. He had given up his Son, “a lamb without blemish or defect.” And Peter also spoke about the care and concern that God showed in developing and carrying out his plan to save them. He wrote, “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” God sent his Son to be our Savior so that we might have “faith and hope.” Equipped with faith and motivated with hope, we can do
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things that other people cannot do. I don’t mean that we can accomplish earthly things that others cannot do. They might be far ahead of us in many of the earthly categories. But we are able to do things that bring joy and gladness to our Lord. In fact, everything that one of God’s children do out of love for him brings him joy and happiness. We have been called by God to live as his children, and, as Martin Luther wrote, “to be his own and live under him in his kingdom and to serve him in everlasting innocence, righteousness, and blessedness.”
We have a purpose for being here. We have a reason for getting up each day and going about our business, and it’s much more important than trying to earn a buck and pad our bank accounts. We are here to be what God has made it possible for us to be. We are here to serve him, to take advantage of the opportunities that we have to show him our love and devotion. And those opportunities come in many ways, and often at times when we do not expect them.
As God’s children, we see things differently than others do. Consider the way that we face an illness or other medical setback. While some may grumble and complain, or give up and despair, we can see it as an opportunity to put our trust in God and show our trust in God. I’ve sat in many hospital waiting rooms, and I can tell you that there is a huge difference between the Christians who are waiting to hear about a loved one and the people who don’t have that same faith. A huge difference. Even in challenging and difficult times, we are able to “live in reverent fear,” putting our lives in God’s hands and trusting his love for us and his decisions for our lives.
There will be times when we fail to serve God by what we say or do. We will sin many more times than we want to admit. And when we do, we have to remember that God does demand perfection and that he is serious about his hatred of sin. So again, we put our faith in God, we trust his promises, and we repent. We ask him for the forgiveness that Jesus was sent to win for us, and we believe when he says that it is ours. That, too, will enable us to serve him, moving forward with our efforts to do what God wants us to do.
Sometimes people around us will decide that we are weird, that we are strange because of the way we live our lives. Serving God and living according to his will is foreign to them and doesn’t often make sense. And if that is the case, then it’s OK to be considered strange, to live differently than others, to live the way God wants us to live. God chose us to be different, to be driven by different motivations with different goals than others may have. So don’t be ashamed to say that you are a stranger in this world, because you know that you will always be welcome in God’s world, here on earth and forever in heaven. Amen.
“The peace of God…”
–Rev. Roger Rockhoff