Who are you? When asked to introduce yourself what do you say? Would it be positive or negative? What defines you? It is your role in someone’s life - mother, wife, daughter, sister or friend? Is it your career - nurse, teacher, doctor, artist, lawyer, dentist, shop assistant or office worker? Is it what you like to do in your spare time – a baker, cyclist, runner, cinema goer, knitter, walker or musician? Who are you?
In Peter’s first letter, he was writing to Christians scattered in across territories in an area of Northern Turkey . They were living with the threat of persecution and discrimination. Peter’s purpose was to encourage them to endure. To help He calls them to give themselves entirely to God and reminds them of who they are.
Does his description match in any way how you define yourself? Do you have a Biblical view of who you are? And does it matter if you do or not?
So what does Peter say? You’ll find it in 1 Peter 2 verses 9-12 – “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
Who are this scattered bunch of Christians and what does Peter mean?
Firstly, they are a chosen people. Peter is making the radical claim that those who believe in Jesus Christ constitute a new race. Not through random chance or any merit or goodness of their own. Instead it was because they have been born again into God’s new kingdom. God chose them to come together to be his people; a new family and a new community.
Secondly, they are a royal priesthood. In the same way as the priesthood in the Old Testament was a group set apart to live pure lives, serving God and his purposes. So believers in God’s new community are to think of themselves as set apart from the world, to live and work for God’s purposes.
Thirdly, they are a holy nation. They are more than just a family and a new community. They are now a holy nation. A nation not based on ethnic identity or geography, but on allegiance to their heavenly king. A nation set apart to be distinctive in the world. A nation set apart to show the world the holy character of God.
Finally, they are God’s special possession. As God’s chosen people, royal priesthood and holy nation they are belong solely to God and are incredibly important to him. He loves them with a fierce, jealous, protective love.
What an incredible new identity, no longer are they a group of Christians scattered across Asia Minor from diverse walks of life. Instead they are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special possession. And this is what Peter wants us to realise about ourselves. As we have been born again into the same living hope as these Christians, this is our new identity. We are not just a group of women brought together by this church, coming from a wide assortment of backgrounds. Instead we are chosen, royal, holy, a priesthood, a nation and God’s special possession.
And this should be an encouragement to you. Often we can think that because we are just…a mum, a student, retired (fill in the blank yourself), that we are ordinary, insignificant and sometimes not worth much. But God totally disagrees. In his eyes we are extremely significant, we are extraordinary and worth a huge amount.
So why did God give this new identity? Look back again at the end of verse 9, “that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” God forgives and redeems his people for his own sake. He gave us this new identity so that we might declare his praise to the world around us. This change does have huge and awesome benefits for us but none of our Christian privileges are given to us purely for our own gain. We’re God’s special people to show the world who he is and to bring more people to him. The change in our lives from darkness to light should cause us to praise God and to speak of him to the world, declaring to all what he has done for us.
In verse 10 Peter sums up the change that has happened in the lives of the Christians he was writing to. Once they were not a people, once they had not received mercy. But now they are a people, now they have received mercy. Now they are God’s people, with a new identity and a new home, welcomed into his new Kingdom.
So why was it so important for the Christians Peter was writing to, that they grasped rightly who they were? Why is it important for us grasp who we are? Well, because this new identity changes who we are in relation to the world around us. According to Peter we have become foreigners and exiles. Our earthly home is no longer our true home. We no longer belong. We have become citizens of a new homeland, not something we earned or acquired by passing a citizenship test, but because we have been born again. And as members of another kingdom we are now foreigners here. With values, lifestyle and priorities which will be radically different from the surrounding culture. We should/will live differently.
So what characterises that different lifestyle? In the next four brunches we will look at how we behave distinctively in specific circumstances. But in these verses Peter gives us two guiding principles which can help us to live rightly and distinctively. Peter does not want us to separate ourselves instead he wants us to be a fully fledged member of society. His guidelines help us to live out our lives as God’s chosen people in a kingdom that is not our own.
So what are his two principles?
Firstly, resist sin – “‘I urge you, to abstain from sinful desires.”
Sounds simple! However, this is often easier said than done. While we live in this world we can so easily drift with the flow of society, adopting its values and behavioural norms. We no longer see some behaviour as sin or against God. Therefore to resist sin we must know God’s word and check whether what we are doing is in line with his will. Discerning what is right and wrong is one thing, but the real battle comes resisting the temptation to sin! This happens everyday and we need to be on guard to ensure we don’t fall. For each of us the particular sins we need to resist will be different but it is important we take time to examine our hearts.Secondly, do good – “Live such good lives among the pagans”.
What Peter is getting at here is that, as Christians, we should have a reputation for our good behaviour and, in particular, the practical expression of that in doing good deeds. What are ‘good deeds’ – the scope is limitless!
It is important that we are clear on this. We don’t do good deeds to be seen, we do them because we want to do them for people, but inevitably they will be seen, there will be an impact. People will ask: ‘Why are you doing this? What’s the reason? And what’s the answer we’re ready to give when someone asks us that? The answer: “Because I’m a Christian!” Peter’s challenge is that there should be a consistency in our lives which results in non-Christians observing our good behaviour and being provoked or challenged to think about what it might signify.
Peter also makes clear that their reaction might not always be positive. Some will harden their hearts. Some will be indifferent, antagonistic. But some will respond when they see our good deeds.
Peter’s letter should encourage us, as we reflect on all the privileges that are ours in Christ, but it should also inspire us, that as Christians we really can make an impact in the world, that God uses our distinctiveness to point people to Jesus! The way we live really matters!
Christians are to be known within the world for what they are against but also for what they are for. The purpose behind our godly behaviour is that non-Christians will see it and glorify God. The sustained witness of a godly life shining like a beacon in the darkness is incredibly powerful and can sometimes by itself be a means of drawing people into God’s kingdom.
