March 3 sermon

Here is the sermon from our midweek service:

Midweek Lenten Service 3
March 3, 2010
1 Peter 1:3-5
This is it???

In the name of Jesus, amen. The time was coming when everyone would be reminded why he was the king. He was timeless, his followers spanned generations. This would be his greatest moment. The dancers had gotten ready, the venue was prepared, and tickets had sold out in minutes. This would be the performance of a lifetime, something that no one would forget. It would cement the legacy of the king, the king of pop. For Michael Jackson these concerts would be imperishable, undefiled, and unfading for all time. This was going to be it!

But it wasn’t, was it? It didn’t happen. He died before HIStory could be retold. The greatest performance there was ever going to be ended up as a movie made up of rehearsals for the greatest performance ever. Now the movie is going to be the highest grossing musical movie ever, but it is not the legacy that Michael Jackson was looking to have. It was not the perfect ending to an imperfect career. And some people were angry. Some people were confused. How could this happen to my idol? Some were lost in a flood of emotion: “This man meant so much to me, he touched my life.” And some were just apathetic to the whole situation: “What a shock. Another celebrity dying before his time.” The king of pop was perishable, he was defiled by the controversies in his life and his legacy will fade. This is it???

Is that like our story? If you were to wrap up your life in one story, just one story, what would it be? What would be the one big story that makes sense of all the other little stories? Countless little stories fill our lives. We go to work in the morning and come home at night, but as we advance in our careers, we seem to get home later and later at night. With each promotion comes more work. When we are offered to work on a salary, we give up the opportunity for overtime at time and a half. How do we define ourselves? Some people go big and try out for American Idol or dream of having their own reality show. Some go small and just hope to leave a little something for their kids. Some of us just want enough stashed away so that we can go see the world and then post our pictures on the web so everyone can see what we are doing. Other people go on mission trips to do something of value in the world. We are all searching for that thing that gives life meaning. We hope it will be imperishable, undefiled, and unfading for all time. What is our story?

The two thieves that were crucified with Jesus had a story. Each of us has a story. Your stories are not mine and mine are not your neighbor’s stories. Each of us has our own stories yet our individual stories overlap. That was certainly true of the thieves. The overlap was in their life of crime, their condemnation, and their execution. But in the end, each thief was defined in a dramatically different way.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Christ?” Save yourself and us! That thief’s defining story is cynicism, death, and eternal death.

The other criminal rebuked him, “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The second thief has simple story: confession of sin, forgiveness from Jesus, the promise of paradise. This is it, not with a curious question mark but with an exclamation point. This is it! This is the big story that brings all of our little stories together. This is the defining story that helps us understand who we are and where we are going.

Our life together is defined by the incredible story we heard in our 1 Peter lesson. Let me read it for you one more time. Because of the loving acts of God, you and I have a resurrected Savior who gives us hope and heavenly inheritance.
It used to be in this nation that going to church was a social norm. America was overtly Christian and most people, whether they were churchgoers or not, most people knew their Bible stories. Today all kinds of stories are being told in America and the Christian story is no longer the privileged story. Perhaps our situation is similar to the situation of the recipients of Peter’s letter. The people Peter wrote to were not people of privilege. They had never been the majority party and they had no hope of becoming so.

Rather than being depressed and resigned to this situation, we should live as they did. Amid all the stories swirling in our fractured and fragmented society, Peter encourages us to live together in the story that defines us. The apostle Peter would yearn to have us immerse ourselves in the story of God’s mercy, his acts of loving-kindness to you.

In his great mercy he has given us a new birth. The resurrection of Jesus our Lord is our story and it is a story of hope. It is a new birth into a living hope, a story about living with a goal- to an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade- kept in heaven in for you. And our story is a shielded story. We are protected by God through our faith. Faith is like a fortress and the teachings of Jesus that are the foundation of our faith guard and keep us safe. Surrounding ourselves with these teachings of faith is the way the Spirit of God keeps us safe for eternity.

You and I and the world are in the same position as those thieves on the cross. Michael Jackson too. Where is my imperishable, undefiled, and unfading life? We sang about our life earlier. This is it: Jesus, may our hearts be burning with more fervent love for You; May our eyes be ever turning to behold Your cross anew. Till in glory, parted never from the blessed Savior’s side, Graven in our hearts forever, dwell the cross, the Crucified. Truly this is it, amen.