March 1, 2009
First Sunday in Lent 1
Saved through Water
1 Peter 3:18-22a
A Fear Bubble
We're in a Fear Bubble
My mother’s broker called me this week.…to calm my fears, I think. “We are in the middle of a ‘fear bubble,’” he said.
“Just as we had a ‘housing bubble’ and an ‘oil bubble’ and ‘technology bubble’, we are having a ‘fear bubble.’ And one day that bubble will pop,” he said, “and market prices will go back to normal.”
And I started thinking about what he said from the viewpoint of a pastor, and it occurred to me that “fear” is not bad as long as we fear the right thing and not the wrong things.
“We are fear, love and trust in God above all things,” Martin Luther said in his little catechism.
And by “fear,” he meant “fear” as in “every child should have a healthy ‘fear’ of his or her mother.” Where things go awry is when we fear the wrong things rather than the one true God.
Fearing the Wrong Thing
Our reading from 1 Peter picks up on something Jesus said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too will it be in the days of the Son of Man”(Luke 17:26). Jesus was talking about the Great Flood.
And how was it back in the days of Noah? People feared the wrong thing, 1 Peter says. They were either intimidated or they were seduced by earthly powers and by the evil spirits who seemed to be “in control” but who were “out of control.”
And so the bible tells us that “the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great.” And “that the earth was corrupt…and filled with violence.” “And God was sorry that he had made humankind,” that’s what the bible says, God was “sorry.” And “it grieved God’s heart.”
And God said, “I will pop the bubble. And I will wipe out humanity from the earth.” And God sent the Great Flood to wipe everybody out.
God’s Heart is Changed
God said, "Never again will I destroy that way"
“But God remembered Noah” and his family. And God waited patiently during the building of an ark, so that eight persons might be saved through water.
Eight. Only eight. The body count of those wiped out was way too high.
And so, God had a change of heart. And God said his great ‘Never again!’ “Never again will I destroy every living thing as I have done.” And God put his war bow in the sky as a sign of that promise. The rainbow.
Which brings us to Jesus, now doesn’t it? What we have instead of that Great Flood is Jesus. That is the point that 1 Peter wants to make.
What we have in place of that Great Flood is Jesus. God pops the bubble of our misplaced fears, not with a flood of water (a flood of judgment) but with a gentle washing of forgiveness and a flood of heavenly grace.
And where that grace begins is not with a change in the human heart; although, by that grace, hearts ARE changed. But rather it begins with a change in the very heart of God. God does not repay evil for evil, abuse for abuse. God repays evil with a blessing. The blessing of Jesus on the cross. His death & resurrection.
Jesus Suffers Once for All
Jesus suffered for our sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order that he might lead us back to God.
He was put to death in the flesh by a cruel crucifixion. Yet God raised Jesus again in that same bodily flesh to rule in an exalted sphere where the Spirit and power of God is displayed without any hindrance or human limitation.
Not only does Jesus take on our “death sentence” but he also gives to us his “Life sentence.”
A Confidence in Christ
And that gives to us a confidence “in Christ” that changes and transforms our heart in any place and time.
“Do not fear what they fear,” 1 Peter tells us in the verses immediately before the passage that we read today. “Do not fear what they fear. And do not be intimidated! But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.”
“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.”
Christians have no reason to fear the powers and the forces of this world, when Christ has already won the battle by his death and resurrection. And when even the evil spirits that were so restless back in the days of Noah must kneel to his majesty.
Saved by the Flood of God’s Grace
Saved through a flood of God's grace
And we share in it through our baptism into his death and resurrection. We are connected to Christ, when we are bathed by his grace and washed by his spirit. We are saved by water, the flood water of his grace.
And no longer is it just a few. Noah and his family. Eight people. A measly eight. “For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away (far away from God),” Peter said in his very first sermon.
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is a gift for all.
Led by the Spirit to a Tender Heart
And what a gift that is!—the Holy Spirit. We are not led and driven by our fears. We do not surrender to the evil spirits of our times. Or to the bubbles that get created by greedy people grabbing for more. Or to the sinking feeling that comes from feeling that this world is absolutely out of control.
We put our “fears” (yes, our fears), our faith, our hope, our trust in Christ. We “fear, love and trust in God above all things.” And we have a unity of spirit, genuine love for one another, sympathetic compassion, a tender heart, a humble mind.
We turn from every evil. And we seek to do good and to pursue peace. We do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse. But, rather we do what Jesus did and repay evil with a blessing. For it is for this that we have been called. Called by the Christ who loves us and who gave himself for us.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man.” We are saved by water. Indeed we are—the cleansing flood of God’s great grace.
© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster