Sermon 20th August 2017 Phill Vickery
I have been impressed over recent years by a number of people I have come across who are as they put it dwelling in or living with over a period of time. That is reading and studying a passage over a period of time to see what God is saying to them through them. We are going to do this over the next couple of times I preach to see what God has to say to us as a fellowship.
The passage I have been led to is 1 Peter 4 verses 1-11.
This speaks about our acceptance and management of God’s grace and blessings and the cost of that grace in terms of Christ’s suffering and the suffering we experience ourselves.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German martyr and theologian coined the phrase ‘cheap grace’ to describe the religious status quo, respectable Christianity practiced by many in the German Church during the years leading up to and around the second World war which led to their acceptance of inequality and of Nazism and their treatment of the Jews and other minority groups without opposition. This passage talks about cost and action the activity of being a Christian in our interaction with others. Calling us to be intentional and serious about our Christian activity.
Let’s read it.
1 Peter 4:1-11
Good Stewards of God’s Grace
4Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,* arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), 2so as to live for the rest of your earthly life* no longer by human desires but by the will of God. 3You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.* 5But they will have to give an account to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.
7The end of all things is near;* therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Felly, am fod y Meseia wedi dioddef yn gorfforol, byddwch chithau'n barod i wneud yr un peth. Mae'r rhai hynny sy'n barod i ddioddef yn gorfforol wedi troi cefn ar bechod. 2 Yn lle byw gweddill eich bywydau yn ceisio bodloni eich chwantau dynol, gwnewch beth mae Duw eisiau. 3 Dych chi wedi treulio digon o amser yn y gorffennol yn gwneud beth mae'r paganiaid yn mwynhau ei wneud – byw'n anfoesol yn rhywiol a gadael i'r chwantau gael penrhyddid, meddwi a slotian yfed mewn partïon gwyllt, a phopeth ffiaidd arall sy'n digwydd wrth addoli eilun-dduwiau. 4 Maen nhw bellach yn meddwl ei bod yn rhyfedd iawn eich bod chi ddim yn dal i ymuno gyda nhw nac yn cael eich cario gyda'r llif i'r math yna o fywyd ofer. Felly maen nhw'n eich rhegi a'ch enllibio chi. 5 Ond bydd rhaid iddyn nhw wynebu Duw, yr un sy'n mynd i farnu pawb sy'n fyw a phawb sydd wedi marw. 6 (Dyna pam y cafodd y newyddion da ei gyhoeddi i'r rhai sydd wedi marw. Er eu bod nhw wedi'u cosbi yn y bywyd hwn ac wedi marw fel pawb arall, byddan nhw'n cael byw gyda Duw drwy'r Ysbryd!)
7 Bydd popeth yn dod i ben yn fuan. Felly cadwch eich meddwl yn glir ac yn effro wrth weddïo. 8 Yn bwysicach na dim, daliwch ati i ddangos cariad dwfn at eich gilydd, am fod cariad yn maddau lot fawr o bechodau.Croes 9 Agorwch eich cartrefi i'ch gilydd – bod yn groesawgar, a pheidio cwyno. 10 Mae Duw yn ei haelioni wedi rhannu rhyw ddawn neu'i gilydd i bob un ohonoch, a dylech wneud defnydd da ohoni drwy wasanaethu pobl eraill. 11 Dylai pwy bynnag sy'n siarad yn yr eglwys ddweud beth mae Duw am iddo'i ddweud. Dylai pwy bynnag sy'n gwasanaethu pobl eraill wneud hynny gyda'r nerth mae Duw yn ei roi. Wedyn bydd Duw yn cael ei ganmol a'i addoli drwy'r cwbl, o achos beth wnaeth Iesu Grist. Ie, fe sydd biau'r anrhydedd i gyd, a'r grym hefyd, a hynny am byth! Amen!
Today we are looking at verses 7-11
be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
10
I can remember when my children were children going to church on Christmas Day, we had developed a pattern of meeting for breakfast at 9.00 am for a family service and the children were asked to bring their favourite gift to show off, they would have happily brought all of them and share their joy in what they had received.
Contrast that to the typical reaction of Christians when asked to talk about the gifts and talents that God has given them to take up their part in the mission and purpose of the church.
Most of us are very good at spotting gifts in others but not in our own lives.
Call it British reserve, modesty, why is it?
Do we think that God’s manifold grace is poured out on all humanity but misses us out, everyone else gets a gift other than me?
We all have a gift or gifts of some sort. We need to be serious about it and find it and use it.
Use it in the safe environment of the church where, ‘love covers a multitude of sins’ a multitude of mistakes.
When babies take their first steps they have to experiment and attempt and often fall down. If we do not let them try they will not learn quickly, we just need to give them a safe space to try it out, soft carpet, not too many sharp edges and a loving mum or dad to encourage and help back up when they fall over.
Unlike my first attempts of riding a bike, top of a hill, bike too big, just got on and careered down, narrowly missing several trees, before I fell over.
But at least I tried and eventually was able to ride it.
We need to allow each other space to make mistakes, to always give encouragement and not condemnation, to always build one another up, that way we begin to strengthen each other, to build up the gifts that are there at their beginning and grow together in the process.
We, the Church are called the Body of Christ and will grow together towards maturity by exercising our gifts together.
Be hospitable, verse 9 encourages us to be hospitable to one another,
Eat together, visit one another, meet up, do things together, this implies times other than Sunday about our relationship that are not just mere colleagues in an organisation but brothers and sisters in Christ.
How strong are these links in this fellowship? If they are not strong we need to practice.
Not just in food but in other activities, food is just an easy one and was particularly natural to the recipients of Peter’s letter where hospitality was their way of life, but if we examine it a bit deeper, Peter was saying to Jews entertain and be entertained by gentiles, gentiles be entertained by and entertain Jews, with all of the politics and rituals that are broken by these actions so it wasn’t always that easy. Rich and poor, slaves and masters, old and young, all of these taboos were being broken,
‘Without Complaining’ doing it happily. Not complaining about having to cook differently for vegetarians, meeting at different times to suit families or singles,
Giving way to each other doing things because they gain and build relationships, not counting costs in time, money, energy, reputation, differences.
Can we extend our hospitality to people outside the church as well? Hospitality was a wider concept than just cooking and entertaining, it was about meeting needs and caring for the sick and needy, many of these things have over time been taken over by the state, who now because of costs have reached a point where they are not able to do it adequately. They are complaining.
Although we have lost much of the art of hospitality in this culture, people still understand a welcoming smile and time given to them and this is an essential part of any meaningful outreach we do.
Be Serious and Disciplined
The activities of loving one another and using our gifts for one another and as outreach does not come naturally, our default nature is often selfish. It therefore needs up to be intentional and actively do these things.
God does not just do things for us we have a part to play.
We are stewards of God’s grace. Not just recipients. A steward is someone who manages a piece of land, a resource on someone else’s behalf.
We are called to be good stewards of God’s manifold grace.
We have some control over it, we are given the ability to use it wisely or not.
We could keep it all to ourselves (some churches do).
We could deny its power and fail to invest it just burying it in the ground like the person in the parable of the talents.
Or we could, as a group, share the risk and share our wisdom, make decisions together, encourage and support each other as we develop and use the grace that we have and find that God enables His grace to grow in our activities as we grow in relationship with him and with each other. Carrying out God’s mission and building God’s kingdom where we are.
That is called church, and involves our serious, and disciplined involvement, without complaining because it is about grace, about love, about growth and about relationships, God’s grace, our love, our growth, our relationships.
Our church with God.
You can hear and see preaching this sermon at Bethel Baptist Church (Pontyclun) on Youtube just search by following this link.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awF7Z9kqji4