God's Choice :: 1 Peter 2:9-10
Hello! My name is Jerry, and I’m recovering from an identity crisis.
For a half century now, people have been calling me Jerry. But that’s not my real name. William Gerald Smith Junior. That’s me. By the way, that’s Gerald with a G. I’m Jerry with a J.
Mom and Dad had planned to name me Michael. But surprise! I was born on Dad’s birthday. So they appropriately stuck me with the Junior tag, and called my younger brother Michael. They couldn’t call me Bill, because that’s what everyone called Dad. But I did go by Bill for three years in high school. I suppose they could have called me Will, but, as it turns out, that’s what everyone outside the family calls my son. We call him Aaron though.
So how do I come by Jerry? Because Grandma wanted to call Dad Jerry. Alas, after Dad was born, her brother was holding Dad and declared, “This boy’s not a Jerry; he’s a Bill.”
So there you have it ... an identity crisis.
Now, I gotta ask, do you know who you are?
I do.
Neither you nor me are who we once were.
WE HAVE A NEW IDENTITY IN CHRIST AS GOD’S CHOSEN ONES
Dear Saints of Trinity Lutheran Church, God has chosen you in Christ. Your Heavenly Father has named you. The Holy Spirit has given you a new identity.
And here you thought you were your own person.
Our readings all strike at the heart of this identity crisis. Saint Thomas didn’t know where Jesus was going, and Saint Philip didn’t know who Jesus was! Nor did the people in Jerusalem ... as they dragged Saint Stephen into the street and murdered him for calling the people to a new identity ... to have faith in the way, the truth, and the life ... our Lord Jesus Christ ...
... who is risen! Who is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!
So today we are going to dial in on what Saint Peter has been telling us. Peter strikes at the heart of our identity crisis by reminding us just who we once were and who we really are now today. You are God’s Chosen Ones.
His message should be music to your ears.
As the Psalmist realized ... our Lord brought us up from Sheol ... that is from the dead. God has given you new birth from above, pouring out his Holy Spirit upon you in your baptism, and sanctifying you, that is setting you apart from the world ... Now because of His work ... you will not be put to shame. ...
Because ...
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you once had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you recognize your new identity?
Hearing about this new identity was certainly music to the ears of the people to whom Peter sent this letter, because they, like you, are someone who ... felt like aliens in this world.
It’s easy to forget that ... that you were born into a world that has been corrupted by sin and death ... that you once lived in darkness. It’s especially easy to forget the identity chosen for us when you have been separated from the Word and sacraments for so long, as you have these past 49 days. We struggle with that concept naturally as sinners who sin. But apart from the Word and sacraments, we starve.
The Word and Sacraments deliver to us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.
So you should be able to see now how Peter’s message isn’t just for a particular group of people at a particular time in a particular place.
This letter is for you.
To be sure, Peter was in fact writing to those he called sojourners ... that is, temporary residents of the country we’d call Turkey. You know these folks as the Galatians, Colossians, Ephesians, among others. These folks were beginning to face enormous persecution because of their identity as Christians. Suddenly, they were feeling like aliens and exiles amid a world of paganism. They were scared to come together for worship because of what was going on in the world around them.
Cities in the first century were like religious institutions. Everything was built around a city’s god. The economy of the city was designed to serve the god of that city. The biggest buildings of that day reflected the god they served.
What’s the biggest building near you?
Now you may be telling yourself that you’re not like the people of Peter’s day. It’s not like Appleton City has an arena where we can cheer on lions devouring bears.
But ... have you been to Arrowhead Stadium?
What will steal your attention away from God’s Word this week?
Will it be the news from Wall Street?
Is your adulteration as easy as dialing up ABC?
Make no mistake: The darkness of sin ... whatever yours is ... and here you really need to be honest with yourselves, masks everything we do. It leads us into hypocrisy, envy, and idolatry. We love to think of ourselves first. To protect our pride first.
Do you feel pressure ... however slight ... from your non-Christian friends to leave your life in the church?
C’mon, it’s only one Sunday on the lake, they say.
You don’t have to worship every week, do you?
You don’t have to believe everything the Bible says ... do you?
We want more than one way, one truth, one life. One way flies in the face of the world today ... one truth opposes science.
But God has chosen you for new life in him, with him. And that life has been revealed to you through the precious Word of God. This is why Peter is urging you to long for the pure spiritual milk ... or maybe more accurately ... the honest milk of the word ... that by it you may grow up into salvation.
The scriptures aren’t about you. They are about Christ. The scriptures aren’t against you. They are for you. As Saint John reiterates all through his Gospel, these things are written so that you will have faith in Jesus Christ and that by believing you will have life in his name.
And so you do ... because God has chosen you to have faith in the way, the truth, and the life. God, the source of all light, saw you in your darkness, in your sin. But God didn’t want to leave you that way. So the Good Shepherd came looking for us, calling to us ... his chosen ones. And he found you ... and gave you new life through the word.
You have been born again, born from above, born into a living hope. And with this living hope we see in the Word of God that He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! And that the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation await those of us who will receive the Lord’s Supper with glad hearts.
Our new life is tied to this truth.
Jesus Christ, our great high priest, has made the ultimate sacrifice to redeem you from sin, death, and the devil. Perfect in every way, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, was sacrificed on the cross for you.
God so loved the world that he chose his only son for this special task. Now Jesus Christ, true God from all eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is our lord. By these two virtues the beloved Son of God became the way, the truth, and the life ... the only possible savior. God chose him from all eternity and Jesus fulfilled it through his baptism, transfiguration, and especially his resurrection.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
And now you too have been chosen to hear and receive this glorious truth that fills you with inexpressible joy. The curtain in the temple that separated you from God was torn in two at Christ’s crucifixion. No longer are you expected to shed blood of animals to atone for your sins. Jesus chose to shed His blood for you. No longer are you expected to turn to priests to offer your sacrifices. Jesus chose to empower you.
And you have been chosen by God for eternal life, God has made you one of his own.
So what are you going to do with this glorious Gospel? How about recognizing that God has chosen you to proclaim the praises of His great mercy.
He is risen! He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!
He did this so that you may be his Chosen Ones, living with him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. Now proclaim it to the world.
It is your new identity.