November 5th, 2017
Devotional
“Revival: Longing for Holiness” - 1 Peter 1: 13-16
Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com
Monday: “Prepare your Minds” - 1 Peter 1: 13a
The passage from 1 Peter that we will be exploring this week seems to hold two things in balance - accepting Christ as Savior and living into what that salvation looks like. For United Methodist these two things are natural to our theological history. We believe in different types of grace that build upon one another - justifying grace - when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior and sanctifying grace - when we grow in our relationship with Christ. We believe in two different types of holiness, personal and social. Believing in a personal relationship with Jesus that leads to discipleship that transforms the world is even in our corporate mission statement.
Yet, for many people this may or may not come naturally to them. For some folks its just about their personal relationship with Jesus. For others it is about doing good works, but they forget that Jesus is the foundation of those good works. Personal faith that is communally lived out is not always the norm.
I think Peter understands the tension in his call. He tells listeners to prepare their minds. Not just to prepare their minds for what they are going to hear. And not just to prepare their hearts and minds for accepting Christ. But to prepare themselves for action as well. Our belief in Christ is not just to be held internally in our heads and our hearts, but it it also to be put into action in the world around us.
What does faith in action look like in your life?
How do you live into the tension of a personal faith in Jesus that is lived out in community?
Prayer: God, at times we have missed the point of faith. We think that it is just about us and you. Or we forget about you at all. Revive in us the spirit of 1 Peter and the spirit of the early Methodists, who called us to personal and social holiness in our faith. Who called us not to just accept you in our lives and then forget you, but rather to have our whole lives transformed by you. Transform us again, we pray. Amen.
Tuesday: “Hope on the Grace” - 1 Peter 1:13c
What would it look like to have a faith that is set upon the hope of the grace of Jesus Christ? In a way, its a funny question isn’t it. It makes us want to reply that we don’t know what it looks like because thats just how it is. Its just part of faith.
But I don’t think that the answer is as simple as that. We all know Christians who walk around bemoaning everyone and everything - that, my friends, is not hope. We also know folks who declare that Jesus just needs to comes back at this moment and sweep us up into eternity. That is a type of hope, but not the full hope that is built upon the grace of Jesus Christ.
To hope is to feel a sense of expectation that a certain thing will happen. Its a feeling of trust. As Christians we a have a sure and certain hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. But at times we can forget what that hope is in. Its not just about eternity, though that is important. It is also about the right now. That Jesus has forgiven us and freed us to live lives filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit right now. Its not just about the future Kingdom of God, but the Kingdom of God that reigns right now. Our hope in Jesus is not just about what will be in the future, but also what is in the present moment. That is our hope in Jesus - that all things will be well.
How would you describe your hope in Jesus Christ?
How are hope and grace related?
Prayer: Lord, we hear the words of Julian Norwhich that all things shall be well, but we know that they can only be well in you, precious Lord. Help us to claim this hope and promise in our lives, not just for the future, but for the present as well. May all manner of things be well, O Lord. Amen.
Wednesday: “Obedient Children” - 1 Peter 1: 14
Obedience is hard in our current context. One of the statements that I have heard quite a bit as a pastor is that people wished that God would speak to them today like God did to some folks in the scriptures. To which I usually reply, if God spoke to you, would you obey?
We would like to think that it would be easier to know God’s will and obey it if we could just hear God. And that may be true. But I think its equally as true that even if God did speak to us directly, we could still struggle with obedience, because we don’t like to give up control. The idea of being submissive to God is not always easy.
Yet, Peter tells listeners to be obedient children. To not follow our own desires and selfish ways, but instead to eagerly follow God. Why? Because we are no longer living in ignorance. We can no longer say that we do not know God or know Christ. We can’t just follow our own way, when God has provided the way for us. However, knowing the way and following it can often becomes two different things if we struggle with submission.
Do you struggle with obedience? Why or why not?
Prayer: Lord, sometimes we think that our ways our better than your ways. We don’t want to be obedient. We wished we could still live in ignorance - going about our own way and following our own desire. Forgive us, we pray. Set us on the path that leads to life and life abundant in you. Amen.
Thursday: “Holy” - 1 Peter 1: 15-16
It is easy to acknowledge and call God holy, set apart, exalted. It is harder to think of ourselves as becoming holy. Or moving toward perfection in Christ. But Peter admonishes us to be holy, set apart in our actions. Why? Because what we do and say matters. It is a reflection of the holy God who has called us and who uses us in the world to be refections of the glory of Christ.
Both the Methodist and Evangelical Brethren Church (which combined to become the United Methodist Church) come out of what is known as the holiness tradition. The holiness tradition lifted up salvation found in Jesus Christ, but then went on to say that faith is to be put in action. We are to be moving towards living a life that is completely given over to Christ.
Somewhere over the course of time we have lost the meaning of the holiness movement and being holy. Some folks claim that we can never truly be holy, or without sin, so why even try. But Peter is asking us, pleading with us, to try to live a holy life, even if we fail from time to time, for the sake of being God’s ambassadors in the world around us.
What does holiness look like in your life?
What does being holy mean to you?
Prayer: Lord, we thank you that you never let us stay like we are. Thank you for calling us forward in a life of holiness. Thank you for encouraging us to grow in our faith and move on towards perfection. Let us reclaim the roots of holiness in our lives, we pray. Amen.
Friday: “For the Glory of God” - 1 Corinthians 10:31
As Peter calls us on towards holiness, the apostle Paul puts some flesh on what that may look like for us. Paul writes in today’s scripture verse to do everything that we do for the glory. Sometimes it can be hard to wrap our minds around the word “everything”. We wonder if there are some things that can just be for us, and not for the glory of God. But Paul takes even the most basic of tasks - eating and drinking - and says that even those are to be done for the glory of God.
So what does that mean for us today? I think it asks us to examine our hearts and see where our intentions are at. Do we recognize that God is with us every moment of every day? Nothing we do or say is apart from the holy God who loves us and calls us. Therefore, we are to live lives that are pleasing reflections of the love of God in this world. No matter what we do.
How can you live your life for the glory of God?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for inviting us to be part of your plan for this world. Thank you for inviting us to examine our hearts, our actions and our words and seeing if they are pleasing to you. Remove that from us which is displeasing and let us overflow that which is pleasing into the world so others may come to know you. Amen!
Saturday: Preparing for the Word
You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Revival: Crisis of Faith” - Romans 4: 3-5, 5: 1-2
Family Activity: Make a list of the things you do from the time you get up in the morning to when you go to bed at night. How can what we do during the day, no matter how basic, please God?
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