Pay Close Attention: A Sermon Based on 1 Peter 1:13-25

As they climbed down the side of the ship side by side, our hero and his trusty sidekick share a few words about the mystery they were trying to solve.

In this version of the famous comic book, our caped crusaders were trying to play the whole thing straight, without the campy and goofy treatment that they were given in the 1960’s TV series.

But maybe it seems the writers just couldn’t help themselves, and figured it just wouldn’t be right to have Robin in the scene with Batman and not reference the well-known signature catch phase he was so strongly associated with.

So as they repel down the hull of the ship, suddenly Boy Wonder blurts it out….

” Holy Rusted Metal, Batman.”

Stunned by the remark, and almost embarrassed to respond, the Dark Knight exclaims “What did you say?”

Look here, Batman, this rusted metal has holes in it. This metal is holey.

We like to use the word “HOLY” are part of our humor, I think, because the word “holy,” in contemporary thinking, unless you are using is as part of a joke, is for many people a bad word; makes them feel unconfortable.

Holiness is not thought of as a virtue, even amongst church people, but as a vice.

Most people would be embarrassed to be thought of being though of as a person who acts “holy” by their peers.

Heaven forbid, we might be seen as “holier than thou”.

So we say “Holy Cow” and “Holy Smokes”

But we really ourselves don’t want to be associated with the word Holy.

People might think we are “Holy Rollers”. We want to keep that “holy” business away from us….

But do you what?

The bible tells us in no uncertain terms, ” you must be holy in everything you do”.

In today’s reading we have a command that is given in both the Old and New Testaments, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

And there are no ifs, ands, or buts, about it.

Did you know that? Most people don’t.

A 2006 study reported that barely one-third of Americans agreed that “God expects His faithful to be holy in everything they do “

And that’s probably because when they are asked what is means to be “holy in what we do”, the most common answer given was “I don’t know”.

And it’s easy to not do what is expected, when you don’t know what expected. Right?

It’s something I’ve always loved watching with the children that we have raised in our homes. And something I remember from my own childhood. It’s something you will see with almost every child.

The an axiom of childhood, something kids instinctively know….If you don’t pay attention, you can’t be blamed.

I can remember Mom giving us brothers detailed directions in what she wanted us to do. But I would be playing some “Star Wars” adventure in my head at the very same time.

So then I’d come home after school, pick up all the trash from the front porch and put in on the front lawn, and then I’d wash the dog. The whole time continuing to fight Darth Vader with my imaginary light saber.

Then, to my surprise, Mom is yelling at me. I hadn’t taken out the trash to the trash can , nor had I raked the leaves on the front lawn, nor had I washed the car .

And as she’s yelling at me in her frustration, I defend myself by saying “I just didn’t understand! I wasn’t paying attention!”

She’d respond “Maybe the night in your bedroom will help you pay more attention next time.”

In my head I’m rejoicing! “You mean the bedroom I have to stay in instead of doing any more chores, where I can relax and play with my Star Wars toys. That’s a good Idea!”

Next time, I still won’t be paying attention!

That’s what I think many of us hope to do with “holiness”. It sounds hard. It sounds like something we rather not be a part of. We’ve never really understood what’s expected anyway. Our minds are on other things that seems like much more fun, and beside, we’ll just plead ignorance on judgment day about the whole thing cause we weren’t paying attention…..

Today we’re going to read about holiness in 1 Peter Chapter 1:13-25 [From the NLT – New Living Translation]

It’s about what’s expected…and I urge you…as does Peter here.. to pay close attention to the Word of our Lord:

13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

We’ll start by again making two important distinctions. I’ve pointed them out a few times recently, and came back to them often, because it’s essential that we carefully divide these two doctrinal issues from each other.

Before all else, Peter tells us that followers of Christ can “l ook forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you”

He makes it clear that our call to Holiness is separate from our salvation.

” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you” and that ransom was “the precious blood of Christ”.

So salvation is a done deal when you trust Christ. It’s what He did for you. You cannot do any Holy works and earn yourself a way to heaven. As Jesus said, as he was dying for you and me, “It is finished.”

So we should get that idea of holy works, out of our heads. Salvation doesn’t come from works, it comes from faith.

But then we notice that scripture speaks clearly of “what comes next”.

And that is where living the holy life comes in.

What comes next is…because of this gracious salvation…Peter tells us…”So you must live as God’s obedient children.”

In gratitude, yes. Because we love Jesus and want to please him, yes. Because he commands us to do so, yes.

But also because from verse 17 ” He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him”.

So we see that salvation, and this “judgment and reward” that Peter speaks are two separate things.

If you have Christ as your savior, your eternity in heaven is secure, but there is still the judgment seat of Christ that one must face.

And I hope if for no other reason than this reason alone, we pay close attention.

And ‘close attention” is really at the heart of what it is to “act in a way that is Holy, and act as God expects”

It really means we must know what God wants and pay close attention to it.

Of course, we cannot be God. Only He is truly and completely Holy, but we are expected, even commanded to, pursue God’s holiness in every way.

It’s what we do when we ask ourselves in EVERY occasion. What would Jesus do?

How would God see this? If we had God’s eyes and heart, how would He respond.

I like to see this as part of what I’d call “prayerful living”.

It’s a life where we acknowledge that every moment belongs to God, and we seek to stay in contact with him at all times and in every way.

In other words, every last thing we do, every thought we have, every breath we take is anchored to Jesus Christ.

So when we are chopping vegetables, or changing the oil, taking a shower, or getting the mail….it’s all in the presence of Jesus, and though it all we are talking with him, and meditating upon His Word, and worshiping Him and glorifying Him is all that we do.

That’s were holy living exists. In the midst of that.

It’s how Jesus lived. And if we want to be like Jesus. Peter tells us to be prepared to be holy, just like Jesus.

Peter tell us clearly: To be holy is to be in every way the opposite of being “common” or “profane.” As God is holy in that He is “utterly different and distinct from His creation”, so His people must also be utterly different and distinct from the world.

1 Peter 2:9 from the King James Version reads:

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We are to be that. Separate from the world, while living in it.

We are to be holy in all our conduct. Holiness is not just Sunday morning behavior. Holiness is a way of life that affects everything we do. It’s a whole lifestyle, rather than just following some list of rules.

We are to be holy by not being conformed to our former lusts.

So we see that Holiness is the choice. Rather than live as our culture encourages us to, we must live as God requires.

Going beyond just doing what God wants, but desiring those things in which He delights.

We are to be holy by imitating God.

As Jesus said this with absolute clarity in Matthew 5: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”.

That’s a big one, it’s it? But it from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself.

Always seeking his perfection. Conducting ourselves in a manner that imitates Him.

We must love what He loves and hate what He hates.

We are to be holy by obeying God’s Word.

And this high standards of holiness is set down by God in His Word.

That is why Peter quotes from the Old Testament Law. We are to be obedient, and that obedience is directed toward His commands and standards as set down in His Word.

Yes, in our former days of unbelief, we were ignorant, we were not paying attention, but now God’s Spirit dwells within us. Now it’s a whole new story. A whole new day. A whole new life. Now, ” you must be holy in everything you do”

Again, this is big stuff, isn’t it?

Seeking to living the holy life is tough. It’s demanding. It requires us to pay close attention.

And some would say it is simply impossible.

They would say “I can’t do that.”

And if you thought that….You be absolutely right. You can’t.

Jesus tells us “be Holy, as your Father in Heaven is holy”. And he expects that. He commands that. And it can be accomplished.

But you can’t do it alone. We must trust Jesus and keep a close eye on Him. We have to pay close attention, not so much to ourselves, but always to Jesus, because it’s He that brings about Holiness though us.

He can do what we cannot, when we trust Him fully. And He can bring about this holiness in ANYONE who trusts him, no matter how far off the path we seem to be.

I’ll end with a story.

Charles Finney was preaching in a great revival in Detroit. After the service one night a

man said, “I want you to go home with me, Mr. Finney.”

Some who knew the man said to Finney, do not go.” But he went. When they came to the man’s house, the man walked in last, locked the door and pulled a revolver from his pocket.

He said, “Do not be afraid, Mr. Finney, I am not going to shoot you. I heard you preach tonight about the Lord Jesus Christ. This revolver has killed four men. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Mr. Finney replied, “The blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.”

The man answered, “Ah, but you do not understand, Mr. Finney. Down below this

apartment where you are sitting there is a saloon. I have helped send men down the road to hell; I have helped men to rob their own little babies of food and milk. Is there any hope for a man who would run a saloon?”

And Mr. Finney replied, “The blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin!”

The man continued, “But you do not understand. I have been a gambler all of my life. I

have spent my life taking money from people illegally. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Mr. Finney said, “The blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.”

He persisted, “Across the street from this establishment there is a little home where there

is a wife I have abused; a little girl who is disfigured. One night in a drunken stupor, I came home from gambling and drinking. She ran to put her arms around me and in my drunkenness I pushed her away from me, she hit the heater and is hopelessly disfigured. Is there any hope for a man like that?”

Mr. Finney said, “The blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin!”

Mr. Finney left. The man stayed awake and prayed all night.

When morning came, his wife said to the little girl, “Tell daddy it’s time for breakfast.” She went upstairs and said, “Mama says it is time for breakfast.” The man said, “Maggie, darling, I do not want any breakfast this morning.”

She ran back downstairs and said, “Mama, Daddy said he did not want any breakfast this

morning” The mother said, “You made a mistake, you heard him wrong. Go back up there and tell him it is time for breakfast.”

” I told him that Mama, and I do think something is wrong with Him. It didn’t sound like Daddy he all…..he called me darling !”

In that moment, the man came down, and wept “Oh Wife, Oh Daughter”

“I have sinned against you both like few men have ever sinned against anyone, but last night I accepted the truth. I heard the truth about Jesus. The blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all my sin.

My wife, you have a new husband. My daughter, you have a new daddy.”

The man was right. There was NO HOPE for a man like him. He couldn’t turn his life around and live like God wanted him too. He couldn’t save himself, no matter how you define that word.

But Jesus could. And Jesus will, if you let him.

Our call to holiness is not a bad word, or something boring or cumbersome. Holiness is a badge of honor. We seek God’s holiness because he tells us it is NOT impossible.

Nothing, and no one is impossible, for Him.

Jesus tells “there is nothing that compares to the power and value of My blood, and what has been and is being accomplished through it.”

Nothing.

Be Holy, for I am Holy.

Amen

©2011 Timothy Henry


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