April 28, 2023

From Petering Out to Confident Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By God’s great mercy God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

So begins the first epistle that bears Peter’s name. It is a rousing and assertive statement of faith and confidence. As I mentioned in this past Sunday’s sermon, many believe this introductory passage is part of what was once a sermon preached to the newly baptized. This introduction sets the tone for people to be confident in their faith even in difficult times, as difficult times both test and strengthen one’s faith.

There is a bit of irony in this assertion, however, given Peter’s personal history. Peter is presented in the gospels as a tempestuous, zealous, and at times abrupt man. He is sometimes portrayed as speaking and doing before having thought though the consequences of his actions and words. Such is the case when Jesus told his disciples they would all abandon him. Peter was quick to assert that though others may desert Jesus, he would not. (Mark 14:26-31)

We know the story, Peter, in spite of being forewarned, denies Jesus three times and is nowhere near our Lord as he died. Peter’s story is so iconic that we refer to something starting off well and then fading out as “Petering out” in reference to Peter’s failure to live into the expectations he created.

Easter Sunday and the Sundays that follow are great expressions of our faith and hope in God’s magnificent love revealed in the dying and rising of Christ. But the challenges of our world, and the issues which confront us in our personal lives, often dulls our “alleluias” and diminishes our confidence in God’s victory over the forces in the world that seem so daunting. And we know this, as there is no shortage of global and personal challenges in the experience of our congregation today.

Let us pray for ourselves and each other that we may remain hopeful and confident in God’s victory that gives us all a “new birth into a living hope.” Or as this passage concludes:

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

This was the reason given for being confident in hope, reflected in the life of one whose faith was tried, failed, and then restored—the belief in God’s relentless love for us all. 

May this inspire a confident hope in us as well.

~ Pastor Todd