Sermon 9th March 2008
Today our Vicar, Cameron Barker, preaches based on the scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-22
Half-term may now seem quite a while back, especially for those directly impacted by it. But, even so, this last half-term will long live in my memory – because of roller-coasters!
The first roller-coaster of half-term was of the emotional variety. On the Sunday night we had what turned out to be the second false-alarm transplant call for my wife. There's plenty that could be said about that very long night that we spent in the Harefield hospital, and its aftermath. But I want to focus instead on the other roller-coaster of that half-term. My day off that week was spent at Thorpe Park – which has roller-coasters of the very literal variety!
If you've not been there lately then I'll need to describe the Stealth ride to you. It claims to take you from 0-80 in less than 2 seconds, and up to a height of 210 feet! I was persuaded to go on it partly because the whole ride takes barely 15 seconds. But what a 15 seconds! You're shot along this track at great speed, and then catapulted straight up into the air. At the top you just about stop, for long enough to realise that all you can see is the ground, 210 feet beneath. The track isn't even visible as you then plunge downwards, at over 80 mph, with a slight twist just to add to the fun. And then you have to try to stand up and walk away from it with a grin!
Of course any experience like that demands reflection – and my reflection was at least partly theological, believe it or not. It took me a while to get there – as it would do, after having your whole life pass before your eyes. But that ride did remind me in some ways of our series this Lent - really!
Now, like every analogy, this one will break down at some point. But I want to stick with it for now, because I think it's helpful. It's not just that this series has been relatively short – though it has been. It's more that it started on such a high note. On that first Sunday we were instantly catapulted to a dramatic high point, with Isaiah's awe-inspiring vision of God in the Temple. There we were, straight into being confronted by the reality of God's holiness, and how at least one person responded to encountering it. For Isaiah – as it must be for us – it was a life-transforming experience. Not only did he meet God for and as who He truly is, in all his glory. In that moment Isaiah also came to know himself for who and what he truly was in the presence of God. And that, for him and for us, was a deeply humbling experience.
In terms of that roller-coaster, I think I'd want to say that Isaiah caught a glimpse of the ground far beneath at that point. The contrast between himself and the holiness of God was at least that vast and that scary. And I also think that we shared something of that experience last week, when we looked at the holiness of God the Holy Spirit. John spoke of how the Spirit who is holy, just as God the Father is holy, sees into even the dark corners of our hearts. It's there that the magnitude of the contrast between ourselves and the holy God is most stark. God knows our deepest motivations, even when we manage to say or do the right things. He knows our thoughts. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. And the contrast between his holiness and us is far greater than a 210 foot drop!
If you missed either of those sermons, or Adrian's on the holiness of Jesus, they're all on our blogsite. They're well worth reading, and re-reading, time and again. Above all, we need to keep in constant view the nature of the holy God of the Bible. As I said that first week, the word 'holy' is used to describe God more than all the other adjectives in the Old Testament put together. So I'm strongly encouraging you to keep on coming back to his holiness long after this Lent is over. The reality of God's holiness is absolutely central to the Christian faith, because everything else is based on it. And, in case you've missed it, holiness is precisely what God calls his people to also!
That call came in our 1 Peter reading. 'Be holy because I am holy,' Peter instructed churches across modern-day Turkey. Of course he was quoting God's words, rather than pointing to his own example. And he was quoting God's words from the Old Testament. You see, from the very beginning of his encounters with humanity God has never done anything less than call people to holiness. Peter was quoting God's issuing of the call to holiness when he gave his people the law that he wanted them to live by. It was against the standard of his own holiness that God measured his people throughout the Old Testament. It was precisely because of their failures to be his holy people that God judged them. And it was then in order for us to become his holy people that God sent his holy Son, Jesus, to die for us.
Now in case you've been wondering where God's holy Son fits into the roller-coaster image, here he is! Jesus is like the track that guides us back down to where we are meant to be – God's holy people! Peter's reminder of God's call to holiness applies just as much to us today as it did to those first believers. This is who and what God wants us to be too. In his holy Son, God has given us the perfect, holy example to follow. And I believe the image of that being an essentially downward journey is exactly right, for many reasons. There's the example of Jesus himself – who humbled himself to become human. He gave up his rights as God, and was obedient – even to the point of death.
Jesus is the example of costly, sacrificial, self-giving, obedient love that God has given us to follow as his holy people. Thinking on that example may well change our experience of Easter this year. On Palm Sunday next week, think of what Jesus could have chosen. He could have accepted the adulation of the crowds, and chosen the easy route to glory that the Devil had first offered him during his temptation. Then, as you go through Holy Week, be challenged by what Jesus chose instead. He chose that route to the cross which he walked for you and me. As I said: costly, sacrificial, self-giving, obedient, holy love, even to the point of death. There's holiness: God's way, all the way.
And, in case you missed it, these are the two other main reasons that Peter put to support his call for us to be holy. Yes we are to be holy because God is holy, and we are his people. That should be enough in itself. But we are also to be holy because the God we pray to isn't just our loving Father but also our judge. God has adopted us as his children: he wants us to grow in the family likeness. But, as Isaiah experienced, God judges all people by the same standard: on the basis of what each has done. And so we are to live the rest of our lives in reverent, or holy, fear.
In case that's not enough Peter also reminded his readers of the price that was paid for our freedom. It wasn't with things that can be destroyed, like silver or gold. No, it was with the most precious substance ever: the blood of God's holy Son, Jesus shed on the cross. And of course this was no after-thought on God's part: he had planned it from before the creation of the world! That's how much we are worth to God; that's what he was willing to pay for us; that's how much he wants us to be his holy people!
So what does it mean for us to be God's holy people? And how are we to be that? In this part of his letter Peter gave one specific concrete example – and warned us that it all takes hard work! He wrote that holiness is, to some extent, an active choice on our part. We are, Peter said, to have our mind prepared for action. We're to keep alert, be self-controlled, and keep focused on the sure hope we have in Christ. We're to be obedient and to make the right choices for the right reasons in all that we we do, and in how we do it. Anyone who calls themselves a Christian doesn't have the excuse of ignorance any more. We know what God wants: now we have to choose to do it!
Obedience is where holiness starts, and continues – as per the example of Jesus. As God's holy people we are to obey what God has told us. That means, as Peter said, not allowing our lives to be shaped by any desires that we know go against what God wants. Deep down we know what they are, even if it may sometimes be convenient to pretend that we don't. But now we know that we can't fool God – because he sees into our hearts. So, how much better instead is it to ask for the help of his Holy Spirit to be holy in what we do, and how we do it. His help is always on offer, though it isn't often comfortable or easy to have!
An essential part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to make us holy by leading us to repentance. I've said before that the Christian life is never less than a life of repentance. To be God's holy people is to become like him, and to be set apart for him. On our own human level we are to be holy as God is holy: in our character, our conduct; our desires; our decisions; and our delights. And a key part of that is recognising the ways in which that is not true of us at the moment. The ways in which it isn't true should, and will, change over time. But the only way they will change is by repentance. Again as Peter said here, we need to purify ourselves by obeying God's truth.
We must learn how to be God's holy people by becoming ever more trustful, obedient, patient, dependent, and willing in our relationship with God. That's hard work, at which we will often fail. But when we do, we can repent, and then get up and try again to follow the track that has been laid for us by Jesus. It's there to take us down into that holiness into which God has called us. And one of the ways in which that holiness is expressed is by how we love God, and one another, Peter said. So there's a test of the state of your holiness as we reach the end of Lent. How deeply, sincerely, earnestly do you love God and your neighbours?
Well, this Lent has been a right roller-coaster ride. We have been to the heights; we have caught a glimpse of the ground far beneath; we have seen the tracks down and along which we can travel deeper into the holiness of God, as his holy people. This ride may not reach 80mph; and it will last far longer than 15 seconds. But we can choose not to get on it at all. Or we can choose to say once we get to Palm Sunday that it's all over. But think what we will miss if we choose that. We will be walking away from the central truth about God, and from our main calling as his people: 'be holy because I am holy'. Today we can choose instead to stay on this ride, for the rest of our life. My prayer is that we will each choose to do that. So may having encountered God's holiness be the life-changing experience that He wants it to be. And may we now each keep on growing downwards into his holiness. Amen.
Half-term may now seem quite a while back, especially for those directly impacted by it. But, even so, this last half-term will long live in my memory – because of roller-coasters!
The first roller-coaster of half-term was of the emotional variety. On the Sunday night we had what turned out to be the second false-alarm transplant call for my wife. There's plenty that could be said about that very long night that we spent in the Harefield hospital, and its aftermath. But I want to focus instead on the other roller-coaster of that half-term. My day off that week was spent at Thorpe Park – which has roller-coasters of the very literal variety!
If you've not been there lately then I'll need to describe the Stealth ride to you. It claims to take you from 0-80 in less than 2 seconds, and up to a height of 210 feet! I was persuaded to go on it partly because the whole ride takes barely 15 seconds. But what a 15 seconds! You're shot along this track at great speed, and then catapulted straight up into the air. At the top you just about stop, for long enough to realise that all you can see is the ground, 210 feet beneath. The track isn't even visible as you then plunge downwards, at over 80 mph, with a slight twist just to add to the fun. And then you have to try to stand up and walk away from it with a grin!
Of course any experience like that demands reflection – and my reflection was at least partly theological, believe it or not. It took me a while to get there – as it would do, after having your whole life pass before your eyes. But that ride did remind me in some ways of our series this Lent - really!
Now, like every analogy, this one will break down at some point. But I want to stick with it for now, because I think it's helpful. It's not just that this series has been relatively short – though it has been. It's more that it started on such a high note. On that first Sunday we were instantly catapulted to a dramatic high point, with Isaiah's awe-inspiring vision of God in the Temple. There we were, straight into being confronted by the reality of God's holiness, and how at least one person responded to encountering it. For Isaiah – as it must be for us – it was a life-transforming experience. Not only did he meet God for and as who He truly is, in all his glory. In that moment Isaiah also came to know himself for who and what he truly was in the presence of God. And that, for him and for us, was a deeply humbling experience.
In terms of that roller-coaster, I think I'd want to say that Isaiah caught a glimpse of the ground far beneath at that point. The contrast between himself and the holiness of God was at least that vast and that scary. And I also think that we shared something of that experience last week, when we looked at the holiness of God the Holy Spirit. John spoke of how the Spirit who is holy, just as God the Father is holy, sees into even the dark corners of our hearts. It's there that the magnitude of the contrast between ourselves and the holy God is most stark. God knows our deepest motivations, even when we manage to say or do the right things. He knows our thoughts. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. And the contrast between his holiness and us is far greater than a 210 foot drop!
If you missed either of those sermons, or Adrian's on the holiness of Jesus, they're all on our blogsite. They're well worth reading, and re-reading, time and again. Above all, we need to keep in constant view the nature of the holy God of the Bible. As I said that first week, the word 'holy' is used to describe God more than all the other adjectives in the Old Testament put together. So I'm strongly encouraging you to keep on coming back to his holiness long after this Lent is over. The reality of God's holiness is absolutely central to the Christian faith, because everything else is based on it. And, in case you've missed it, holiness is precisely what God calls his people to also!
That call came in our 1 Peter reading. 'Be holy because I am holy,' Peter instructed churches across modern-day Turkey. Of course he was quoting God's words, rather than pointing to his own example. And he was quoting God's words from the Old Testament. You see, from the very beginning of his encounters with humanity God has never done anything less than call people to holiness. Peter was quoting God's issuing of the call to holiness when he gave his people the law that he wanted them to live by. It was against the standard of his own holiness that God measured his people throughout the Old Testament. It was precisely because of their failures to be his holy people that God judged them. And it was then in order for us to become his holy people that God sent his holy Son, Jesus, to die for us.
Now in case you've been wondering where God's holy Son fits into the roller-coaster image, here he is! Jesus is like the track that guides us back down to where we are meant to be – God's holy people! Peter's reminder of God's call to holiness applies just as much to us today as it did to those first believers. This is who and what God wants us to be too. In his holy Son, God has given us the perfect, holy example to follow. And I believe the image of that being an essentially downward journey is exactly right, for many reasons. There's the example of Jesus himself – who humbled himself to become human. He gave up his rights as God, and was obedient – even to the point of death.
Jesus is the example of costly, sacrificial, self-giving, obedient love that God has given us to follow as his holy people. Thinking on that example may well change our experience of Easter this year. On Palm Sunday next week, think of what Jesus could have chosen. He could have accepted the adulation of the crowds, and chosen the easy route to glory that the Devil had first offered him during his temptation. Then, as you go through Holy Week, be challenged by what Jesus chose instead. He chose that route to the cross which he walked for you and me. As I said: costly, sacrificial, self-giving, obedient, holy love, even to the point of death. There's holiness: God's way, all the way.
And, in case you missed it, these are the two other main reasons that Peter put to support his call for us to be holy. Yes we are to be holy because God is holy, and we are his people. That should be enough in itself. But we are also to be holy because the God we pray to isn't just our loving Father but also our judge. God has adopted us as his children: he wants us to grow in the family likeness. But, as Isaiah experienced, God judges all people by the same standard: on the basis of what each has done. And so we are to live the rest of our lives in reverent, or holy, fear.
In case that's not enough Peter also reminded his readers of the price that was paid for our freedom. It wasn't with things that can be destroyed, like silver or gold. No, it was with the most precious substance ever: the blood of God's holy Son, Jesus shed on the cross. And of course this was no after-thought on God's part: he had planned it from before the creation of the world! That's how much we are worth to God; that's what he was willing to pay for us; that's how much he wants us to be his holy people!
So what does it mean for us to be God's holy people? And how are we to be that? In this part of his letter Peter gave one specific concrete example – and warned us that it all takes hard work! He wrote that holiness is, to some extent, an active choice on our part. We are, Peter said, to have our mind prepared for action. We're to keep alert, be self-controlled, and keep focused on the sure hope we have in Christ. We're to be obedient and to make the right choices for the right reasons in all that we we do, and in how we do it. Anyone who calls themselves a Christian doesn't have the excuse of ignorance any more. We know what God wants: now we have to choose to do it!
Obedience is where holiness starts, and continues – as per the example of Jesus. As God's holy people we are to obey what God has told us. That means, as Peter said, not allowing our lives to be shaped by any desires that we know go against what God wants. Deep down we know what they are, even if it may sometimes be convenient to pretend that we don't. But now we know that we can't fool God – because he sees into our hearts. So, how much better instead is it to ask for the help of his Holy Spirit to be holy in what we do, and how we do it. His help is always on offer, though it isn't often comfortable or easy to have!
An essential part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to make us holy by leading us to repentance. I've said before that the Christian life is never less than a life of repentance. To be God's holy people is to become like him, and to be set apart for him. On our own human level we are to be holy as God is holy: in our character, our conduct; our desires; our decisions; and our delights. And a key part of that is recognising the ways in which that is not true of us at the moment. The ways in which it isn't true should, and will, change over time. But the only way they will change is by repentance. Again as Peter said here, we need to purify ourselves by obeying God's truth.
We must learn how to be God's holy people by becoming ever more trustful, obedient, patient, dependent, and willing in our relationship with God. That's hard work, at which we will often fail. But when we do, we can repent, and then get up and try again to follow the track that has been laid for us by Jesus. It's there to take us down into that holiness into which God has called us. And one of the ways in which that holiness is expressed is by how we love God, and one another, Peter said. So there's a test of the state of your holiness as we reach the end of Lent. How deeply, sincerely, earnestly do you love God and your neighbours?
Well, this Lent has been a right roller-coaster ride. We have been to the heights; we have caught a glimpse of the ground far beneath; we have seen the tracks down and along which we can travel deeper into the holiness of God, as his holy people. This ride may not reach 80mph; and it will last far longer than 15 seconds. But we can choose not to get on it at all. Or we can choose to say once we get to Palm Sunday that it's all over. But think what we will miss if we choose that. We will be walking away from the central truth about God, and from our main calling as his people: 'be holy because I am holy'. Today we can choose instead to stay on this ride, for the rest of our life. My prayer is that we will each choose to do that. So may having encountered God's holiness be the life-changing experience that He wants it to be. And may we now each keep on growing downwards into his holiness. Amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 5:53 am
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