Open House 1 Peter 4:7-11 Communion Meditation Dr. Greg Anderson April 3, 2016 Riverdale Baptist Church Whitehorse, Yukon
Introduction 1 A while back I had a rare experience. Someone in the congregation approached me and asked if I would please give a message on the phrase from this morning s Scripture reading: love covers over a multitude of sins an endearing phrase, a phrase of hope for those of us who have some acquaintance with a multitude of sins. As I said it was a rare experience for me to be asked such a thing Now I don t think this is due to my congregation not having questions about various Scripture texts And I don t think it is due to my congregation feeling I am unapproachable Rather, I suspect I do not get such requests because my congregation feels I am busy enough and they do not need to bother their pastor with such matters. Well, as I am now revealing to you, it is certainly not a bother! In fact, at the heart of such requests is that which is at the heart of this particular reading and at the heart of our worship today centered around the Lord s Table. Text As we will see in a moment this reading has to do with a certain kind of familial relationship in the local church. At the heart of familial relationships is intimacy opening the windows and doors of our lives so our friends can come in for a visit. The first 6 verses of 1Peter 4 concern the relationship between the Christian and the surrounding culture, wherein the Christian has changed their behavior and is being persecuted for it. Then, in verses 7 to 11 the concern is the relationship between Christians in the local congregation. Why is this important? Last week I mentioned how our national publicly funded television station profiled a supposed Christian atheist, a pastor, on Good Friday You may have noticed how this week, following Easter, the main Canadian news magazine, MacLean s, profiled the front cover story with this title: Did Jesus Really Exist: The science is in New memory research is casting doubt on the few things we thought we knew about Jesus. Now a growing number of experts think he didn t exist at all.
The reason 1Peter is concerned about the relationship between Christians in the local congregation is because in an increasingly hostile public environment 2 To practice and grow in Christian faith we really need one another s support. Our passage begins with the theological warning: The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. The Christian world view is that God gives this life as a gift and will call us to account for how the gift has been used. It is not possible to understand one s life in this way without a daily practice of prayer, of communication with God. But because prayer is not a cultural value and because inebriation of one form or another is often a cultural value The Christian is called to alertness and sobriety. The rest of the passage, v. 8-11 expands on this opening sentence Indeed, the passage ascends, verse by verse, explaining how our relationship with God that is what prayer is about actually comes about The passage begins with prayer and ends with God s grace being dispensed to his praise How, how do we pray and how do we re-present God s grace? Fundamentally, indicated by the above all in the next sentence. v.8 Is to love each other deeply, so deep that love will cover a multitude of sins So the goal is to be a community of love Remember, one of the first names for Communion, the Lord s Table, Eucharist was the love feast. Deep love will cover our sin that otherwise would separate us. Now remember, the NT is written to be heard and before hearing love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins we would hear this: 2:24 He (Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. So when we come to 4.8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. It must mean:
The application of Christ s sacrifice which perfectly covered over our sin before God is not just 3 The individual faith in Christ for this gift But also living with Christ s gift in practical daily relationships with fellow believers Almost all of the ethical sections of the New Testament can be boiled down to these 3 words: Love one another And this is the case because all the theology of the New Testament can be boiled down to these 26 words: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The rest of our passage, 1 Peter 4.9-11, explains how the deep love occurs (which allows us to fully experience the dealing with sin provided for by Christ, occurs.) Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God s grace in its various forms. The idea behind Offer hospitality is to maintain with your Christian congregation an open house You know about the open house? You are trying to sell your home, so on a particular weekend, you clean the whole place up, make it look as good as possible, and advertise to the whole city they can just drop by at their convenience, enjoy a cup of coffee and a cookie and poke around in all the rooms. I had a friend in Vancouver who led a large ESL class for mainly women from Mainland China. The highlight of the class was when he invited the whole group over to his home for a meal. He purposely welcomed them to poke around in all the rooms, take a peek in the closets, rummage through the dressers so they could see how we in the West really live. Those women were just thrilled to have such an opportunity. However, such hospitality as the open house comes with major challenges which gives rise to the grumbling! We treasure our privacy. There are all kinds of good reasons why it is inconvenient for people to just show up at the door. And let s face it we all find some others in the congregation a bit awkward, We are not so sure about people disturbing our peace. But this is where the deep love happens.
4 Deep love blossoms where there is intimacy and to welcome people into our home is to welcome them into a place that nurtures intimacy. It is this kind of hospitable intimacy that allows for what 1Peter 4.10 says: Remember, I said this passage ascends one step upon another (we are close to the top) Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God grace in its various forms. Do we want to discover and experience God s gifts to us, come to us through Christ and the agency of the Holy Spirit? Application Begin with recognizing it is Christ alone who has suffered once for sins to bring us to God Continue with recognizing when you belong to Christ you are now a steward of God s grace And hospitality, opening the windows and doors of our lives to allow friends into our home, Is the environment within which God s grace is enjoyed by others. This is what the Lord s Table is all about. Foremost, this meal speaks of the suffering of Christ once for sins to bring us to God, As it is written... the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ... the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ... But this comes to us as we exercise faith around the most notable symbol of hospitality The meal table and remember the first time it happened It began with the host washing the feet of the guests there cannot be a more vivid expression of intimacy in the open home. As we eat and drink, as Christ s love covers a multitude of sins May we learn to welcome each other to our tables and practice deep love for one another So that, as our passage concludes: So that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.