What a joy to be together on our journey in the Renew Together series.

Renew Together.  I love that word, a hand-carved mission.

This week we are looking at the intention of embracing God’s call.

Embracing God’s call.

Last week was the decision.  This week’s the intention and next week is the action. The decision of knowing God’s call.

Have you got an intention to answer God’s call? Have you got an intention?

I’m just going to refresh your mind as we read through our passage. But just before we do, one or two comments about 1 Peter, because today we’re going to move out of chapter two and into chapter three. We’re going to note that Peter takes a number of, or makes a number of references to, the call of God, even within 1 Peter.

We’re going to capture one or two of those. 1 Peter was written to Christians who were experiencing various forms of persecution. Maybe somebody’s sitting there thinking, oh, that’s me.

Maybe some of us feel a wee bit like that. It’s written to men and women who stand for Jesus Christ, made them aliens and strangers in the midst of the pagan society in which they lived. Again, maybe one or two of us feel a bit like that.

Our stand for Jesus Christ makes us a bit of an alien in the pagan society in which we live. It’s addressed here to Christians scattered through five provinces of the peninsula of Asia Minor. The area today is known as Northern Turkey.

Churches in those provinces were made up of both Jews and Gentiles. The epistle is rich in references to and quotations from the Old Testament. Read 1 Peter and see how many references you can find to the Old Testament. It’s a great little exercise to do. The warmth of Peter’s expressions, combined with the practical instruction he gives, makes this epistle a unique source of encouragement for all believers today, for all believers who live in conflict with the culture that’s around them. And maybe we feel a bit like that today.

We are standing for Christ. We are standing up for God in our society. Maybe we feel as though we’re in conflict with our culture to a degree.

The purpose then of 1 Peter was to encourage Christians to face persecution so that they can share the true grace of Jesus Christ, and it could be shared out with other people. Peter thoughtfully links doctrine and practice together.

There are some broad statements that can be made about 1 Peter, and we’re not going to get into them today. One of them is this.  New birth gives a living hope to those in persecution. And that comes right at the beginning of chapter 1.

And this is from 1 Peter chapter 1. And some of you know I love this little passage from 3 to 9. Under this heading, new birth gives a living hope to those in persecution.

New behaviours are required to demonstrate the grace of God in the unbelieving hostile world.  It’s another one of the themes in 1 Peter. Another one is new responsibilities are placed on the leaders and the members of the body of Christ that we should stand together as living stones against the tide of persecution that’s around us today. And today, those who read 1 Peter are encouraged to lift their eyes from the present problems and trials and behold the amazing concept provided by the eternal perspective.

And maybe that’s something we all should grasp hold of a little greater than we do. Something of the eternal perspective that is here around us and maybe upon us. Today we’re just going to concentrate a little bit on some verses where Peter mentions this concept of being called.

Peter closes this portion of the letter of encouragement with moving to the exaltation for his readers to practice holiness.  1 Peter 2: 9-10.

I think there are two things we must notice as we come through these couple of verses. Firstly, who we are. We’re a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.

And then secondly, the result of who we are. And the result is that we can show others his goodness. And they were called out of darkness into his wonderful light.

And we now have an identity. We’re God’s people. And we had no mercy, but now we have God’s mercy.

Peter reminds him that the contrast with the disobedient who are destined for destruction, you are God’s chosen people.

God’s chosen people. At Mount Sinai, God told Moses to tell the people, you will be a kingdom of priests, you will be a holy nation. And now believers in the church are called a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.

Yes, that’s who we are in Christ Jesus. Exactly who we are. We’re a chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own possessions.

Christians are special people. Christians are special people because God has preserved them for himself. And while these descriptions of the church are similar to those used in Israel and in the Old Testament, there’s no way that this indicates that the church replaces Israel or assumes the blessings promised to Israel yet to be fulfilled in the millennium to come.

Peter used similar terms here to point out a similarity of truth. As Israel was a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. So today believers are chosen priests, holy and belonging to God.

Similarity doesn’t mean identity. God’s purpose in choosing believers for himself is so that they may declare the praises of him before others. And anyone walking in here this morning would be in absolutely no doubt that we have been declaring the praises of God before each other today.

And so today we’re going to see how Peter uses the word calling in a couple of other places in the epistle. 1 Peter 3:8-9

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

That is what God has called you to do. He will grant you his blessing.

Last week, Iunisi talked about making a decision to know God’s call.

Today, we’re here talking about having the intention to embrace God’s call. Next week, Ross will be there to challenge us about taking an action and stepping into God’s call. Firstly, we know God’s call.

Secondly, we embrace God’s call. And thirdly, we step into God’s call. There’s one verse we’ve skipped over and it’s a verse in 1 Peter 2:9

“As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

God called us out of darkness into his wonderful light so that we could show others the goodness of God. Now in chapter three, and we must love one another because that is what God has called us to do. In a sense, this is what God has called us to do.

Five positive statements and all of these fit under what God has called us to do.

Finally, five positive qualities, five positive attributes to show.

• We should be of one mind,
• we should sympathize with each other,
• love each other as brothers and sisters,
• be tender hearted and
• keep a humble attitude.

What does it mean that we should be of one mind, anybody?  Unity and harmony, togetherness.

You know, Ross and I don’t think exactly the same about every verse of Scripture, about every biblical truth. We have little differences. We don’t accentuate our differences because there’s such a huge amount of unity that we do have.

There’s so much of common thinking that is there.  And that’s the attitude we should all have to be of one mind.

What about the next one? Sympathize with each other.  Empathy.  Mourning with others.

Love each other as brothers and sisters. Oh, this is a good one. I love this.  Some of you are thinking, oh, you don’t know my brother. You don’t know my sister. I’ve got three big brothers.

One’s in heaven and the other two are still here, one in Christchurch, one in Wellington.  You know, we’ve got to love each other as brothers and sisters. You know, brothers and sisters do anything for each other. They really do.

That’s the pattern we have from Scripture. Well, we’re to have a brotherly love and a sisterly love for each other.

Tenderhearted. Thinking the best of people.  Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and thinking the best of them.

And the final one there is to keep a humble attitude, right? Whoa. If I stand up and say I’m humble, I’ve got it wrong right from the beginning.  Having a humble attitude. It’s not thinking of yourself as better than others. It’s thinking of others as better than yourself.

We could have a whole sermon on humility, couldn’t we?

And then after the five positive things we are to do because we’re called of God, there are two negative things. 

• Don’t repay evil for evil.
• And don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you.

We don’t give back to other people what people give to us.  Instead, pay them back with a blessing.

How about that? What’s the best way to get on with your enemies? Bless them. Pray for them. Love them.

That is what God has called you to do and He will grant you His blessing.  Do you want God to bless you? Then bless your brothers and sisters. And don’t retaliate evil for evil and don’t retaliate insult or don’t repay evil for evil and don’t retaliate insults when people insult you.

Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus and the church to Ephesus, he brought a similar challenge, a similar comment. And we shouldn’t be surprised when we read the Bible and we find out that Peter and Paul come through exactly the same emphasis at different stages.

Not exactly the same words, I’m not saying that, but the same emphasis, the same truth is there. And it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s Peter writing or Paul writing, the same theme, the same thrust, the same truth, the same message is coming through. There’s a lovely little verse.  It’s a beautiful little verse. And this is from Ephesians 4:1. And who’s talking? Paul is talking.

And Paul is saying this, “…as a prisoner of the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” You see, if we’re going to step into the call, then we’ve got to live a life worthy of the calling. Because if our lives don’t add up with our message, it’s all over. So we’ve got to love one another.

We’ve got to be sympathetic with one another. All those one another things that we were talking about a moment ago. That’s the way we’ve got to live with each other.

Then we can go out and step into the call. So firstly, we’ve got to make a decision.

Now our intention is to love one another. Our intention is to embrace the call.  Embrace the call. And then next week we’re going to step into it.

“…for God called you to do good.” This is actually second Peter chapter two, verse 21. Beyond where Iunisi was talking to us last week. Later in chapter two, there’s just one little comment in verse 21.

“…for God called you to do good. Even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”

There’s that call concept again. “…for God called you to do good.”

Another couple of Bible quotes where we set our intention in relation to the call of God.

Romans 8: 28. “…for we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

2 Timothy 1, 9. “…for God saved us and called us to live a holy life.” And he did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan before the beginning of time.

To show his grace through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1: 15-16. “…but now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

For the Scriptures say, you must be holy because I am holy.”

Just to make sure that you don’t think I’m off the Old Testament. How about a reference now to Isaiah 43:1. Isaiah has this to say, “…and now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.  I have called you by name. You are mine.” And there are other references in the book of Isaiah and in the other Old Testament books as well, where the whole concept of God calling us is there. We’ve seen clearly from Iunisi and we’ve seen it clearly this morning as well.

Those verses from 1 Peter. Live a life worthy of our calling. Any Bible verse that reminds you of that phrase, to live a life worthy of our calling? We read it together just a moment.

Ephesians 4.1. Our intention as we embrace God’s call, one is to live a life worthy of the calling.

Secondly, it’s to show the goodness of God. It’s to show others the goodness of God. Does your life, this is a bit of a challenge, isn’t it? Does my life, does your life show others the goodness of God?

Does your life show others the goodness of God? Does my life show others the goodness of God? 1 Peter 2:9 and 10 are the verses that Iunisi had for us last week and they really fit in with that, showing to others the goodness of God. Let’s take one more step together. And my third statement is to share in God’s glory.

I love this verse. It comes from 1 Peter 5:10-11 this time, and where Peter uses this word called again.

In his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory by the means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever.

Have you got some forsaking that needs to happen in your life? Are you holding something against somebody else? Are you not loving people the way you should love people? You love people as long as they do what you want them to do. I get myself into trouble with that sort of talk, don’t I? Forsaking all, I trust him.

It’s not the strength of your faith, but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Tim Keller was an American Presbyterian pastor, preacher, theologian, apologist, and an author.

He’s a man now who’s in God’s hands. But he made that statement. Grace and mercy. Grace is when we get the good things we don’t deserve, and mercy is when you are spared from the bad things you do deserve. God is generous with both.

And you, in your heart before God, can answer to God as to whether you need more of his grace or more of his mercy today.  I’m going to leave it with you. But I challenge you in your prayers and in your heart before God to say, maybe it’s both you need.  Which do I need, more grace or more mercy? If we were going to summarize in just one word, what would it be for our text, for our discussion today?

Intention.