The Measure of a Sermon, 2

This last Sunday I faced a fairly simple and straightforward passage: 1 Peter 3:8-12.  It is a call to grace filled relationship: humility, unity, brotherly love, and the like.  It is a call not to take revenge.  It is an application of Psalm 34 and the pursuit of life.  How does the Gospel fit into this?  How can people see the Savior with faith and apply his work to their own lives?

God gave us grace to see this as we discussed the passage.  The general pattern would be to preach an outline, to define each idea as clearly as possible, to illustrate it clearly.  The goal would be people walking away with a clearer understanding of their duties.  But is that what Peter had in mind?

Here is what we found: The cross is the center of the passage -- starting in 2:13 and going through 4:6.  The Savior's sacrifice is there twice (2:21-24 and 3:18).  We asked: How is Peter reflecting on the cross here?

The passage is about relationship -- and so is our redemption. How do we tie those two together?

It seems that Peter is calling them to relate to fellow Christians and to non-believing opponents in the same way that God has related to us.  As I preached this I developed the meaning of the text and also pointed out that what Peter was defining was impossible for us.  Then I noted that Peter is describing the Savior's relationship with us.  We then spent considerable time meditating on the death of Christ and its fruit entirely from the perspective of relationship. 

The question was this: How did God respond to us when we were offensive?  How did God respond to us when we are rebels?  We looked at the life of Jesus and considered how he treated his followers (who were, like us, stupid) and his enemies (who chased him his entire public life).  It was amazing to consider the amazing, utterly grace filled, response of Jesus to his enemies and his friends.

I concluded with this: every difficulty in relationship is a window into our Savior's love, into his grace.  We then applied this to various issues in relationship.

I have preached moralistically for years when I came to texts like this -- and seen deep conviction.  But I was not prepared for the depth of the Spirit's work as we turned our thoughts to the Savior and let the light of the cross shine into our hearts, especially in this area of relationships and conflict. 

I am learning that people need and want a clearer glimpse of Jesus, that brings them assurance.  i am also seeing that they want the conviction that comes from reflecting on his love for them.

The measure of as sermon is this: do people come away seeing Jesus more clearly?

Comments

[Ann]

"I am learning that people need and want a clearer glimpse of Jesus, that brings them assurance. i am also seeing that they want the conviction that comes from reflecting on his love for them."

The whole post was excellent as usual. Yes, that is what I want. My husband and I have been searching for a Christ centered church in our area for two years. I think we found it this morning! Praise the Lord! In the mean time, I have been greatly encouraged by your blog and others.

[Thabiti]

Mark,
1 Peter is one of my favorite books and this sounds like a powerful, Christ-centered sermon. Is it available on-line anywhere?

How did you treat the imperatives in this passage? You're absolutely correct that this passage occurs in an extended meditation on the Lord's sacrifice, but these are also imperatives. How did you balance the emphasis here?

Thanks for pointing us to the Savior!
For Him,
Thabiti

GDL:
We are not yet online, though that may be soon. If you want a CD you can e-mail the office @gracechurchsd.org with "info" as the name.

Yes, it is an imperative, but it seems powerfully rooted in the realities of the Gospel. I do not think the Gospel makes it any less imperative -- it actually speaks in a more heart-melting way.