Midweek Lenten Service Sermon

Lenten Midweek Service 4
March 10, 2010
1 Peter 4:7-11
Who am I?

In the name of Jesus, amen. The end of all things is at hand! Is that the best way to start a sermon? How many of us pay attention to the nut jobs who carry signs that say ‘The end is near’? Do we think the message is less nutty when it is the apostle Peter saying that the end of all things- all that we have seen, heard, experienced, all the people we have known, loved, cried with and laughed with- was near? Do you just shrug your shoulders and move on, doubting that it was even true? People have been saying that the end of the world has been around the corner for centuries, yet you and I are still breathing. But the end is near. Tonight’s service is sandwiched between two memorial services. There is real injustice in this county, this state, this country, this world. There is pain and sickness and death and Peter’s words are terrifyingly real. Each of our own days is numbered.

To think about the end of all things, let’s consider a sinking ship. We may think that when a ship begins to sink, the noble call of “Women and children first” is something oddly hopeful in a dire situation. In the midst of danger, people are looking out for others over and above their own needs.

There is a famous story about the HMS Birkenhead. It was a British warship that was transporting army personnel and had about 20 women and children on board. The ship struck a large rock off the coast of Africa and began taking on water and the end was near. What did the captain say? “Ever man for himself.” Seems perfectly reasonable- you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Self-preservation is a basic human instinct, maybe even a God-given human instinct.

But what followed was not a mad rush of people trying their best to run just a little faster than the next. It was not a chaotic dash for the lifeboats. The soldiers and the commanding officer refused to heed the ship captain’s call of ‘Every man for himself’. They were afraid that if they rushed for the life boats the women and children would be swamped.

I’m not recounting this historical story to lift up the nobility of men or to say that women and children are helpless and need burly strong men to save the day. I simply want us to see that in a time of peril, there were people who considered the lives of others above their own.

During such perilous times there seem to be two types of people: Those who are only looking out for themselves and those who recognize the need to look out for others. Who am I? Who are you? When you know the ship is sinking, that your life is in danger, that the end is near, you have to ask yourself: are you only looking out for #1 or do you owe something to the people around you?

We are in perilous times. This world is like a sinking ship and the end of all things is drawing close. When will it all be over? When will Jesus return to judge all people? When is not given to us to know. But we do know that it is at hand. As we’ve said in the previous weeks, the people Peter wrote to were people that were living in desperate situations. They faced all sorts of trials and persecutions because of their faith. We know the natural response to such circumstances-every man for himself. But instead Peter points them to Jesus. And to each other. Be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. We too, when this storm-tossed and sinking world becomes too much for us to bear, can look to Jesus our Savior and to one another as the brothers and sisters of Christ that we are.

Once our rebellion against God wrecked this perfect creation, God could have easily abandoned us to drown in a sea of our own destruction. But that is not what happened. Instead, our Father promised a savior who would save, a redeemer who would rescue. Living among us Jesus did not seek to save his own life, but willingly sacrificed it for us so that our sins would not be held against us and so that we could hold fast to the hope he gives us in his resurrection. He has power over this world and even death. Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection we need not fear the end, but look forward to it!

Yes. We look forward to the end. The end of the world is at hand, but it has not come yet. Until our Lord returns, we still find ourselves aboard a sinking ship. Not every moment is bad, in fact, God blesses us with many wonderful moments and pleasures in life. For me the good far outweighs the bad and I suspect I’m not alone. But we’re still surrounded by peril and danger. So who are we? Are we just a collection of individuals who only care about ourselves? Or are we children of God, gathered together by him a community that supports and upholds one another? Are we together in the sunshine and the peaceful times only? Or are we present even when the waves of life batter us?

And why has Jesus saved us? So that he might set us adrift in a lifeboat that aimlessly floats along? Or has Jesus saved us for something better?

Even on the cross, in his dying woes, Jesus knew that we would need each other. He had taught his disciples to depend on one another and he urged them to go out and make disciples, to spread the good news of forgiveness and hope, to build the church to be a refuge for the community of believers. And so Jesus told John, take care of my mother because she is now your mother. And to Mary, Jesus said, you have someone to love and care for when I am gone.

And so the answer to our sermon title is that I am a community. We are a community. A caring community that is self-controlled and sober-minded and a community that loves earnestly. We show hospitality to one another without grumbling. We are a family brought together by God to serve each other using the gifts of God. In that book Life Together, here is a key, a challenging, and a comforting thought:

“Nobody is too good for the meanest service. We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and cancelling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps- reading the Bible. When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God’s way must be done.”

Isn’t it wonderful to know that even though the waves of this life continue to batter us and the world is slowly succumbing to the corruption of sin, Jesus has shown himself powerful and victorious over these things? In his mercy he does not abandon us. He strengthens us to be members of the community that care more for each other than for our own self. In Christ’s love, we do not fear that the end is at hand, for the end is in the Lord’s hand. We are the Lord’s. That is who we are. SDG