The Rev. Herbert G. Hand
Faith Anglican Church
March 30, 2008
Series:
Drawing Close to the Living God
Title:
Purified by Fire
Text: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Throughout
the history of God’s Church, we’ve found several powerful symbols which speak
to the truth of our faith:
One of the earliest Christian symbols was the fish.
The Greek word for fish is ichthus (k÷èýò), which was an acrostic for the Greek
words Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
During times of severe persecution during the 1st
and 2nd centuries, Christians would draw a fish on the ground
and spell ichthus in the middle of the fish. If the other person was a
Christian, they’d immediately know.
Today, many Christians still display a fish on their cars,
in their homes, or at their place of business, to subtlety tell others to whom
they belong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthus
Today, the most prevalent Christian symbol is the
cross. The cross speaks of the sacrificial death of Jesus for the
cleansing of our sins.
At Easter time, the butterfly and the cocoon have become a
powerful symbol reminding us of Jesus death, his burial in the tomb, and his
glorious resurrection.
Several
years ago on a beautiful Spring day, a man found a cocoon. Day after day,
he checked it until a butterfly began to emerge.
That day
he watched for hours as the emerging butterfly struggled to force its fragile
body through that tiny hole.
All of a
sudden it stopped. It appeared that the butterfly could go no further.
So with
good intensions, the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of tiny
scissors and snipped open the cocoon. The butterfly then easily crawled out.
But it
was deformed: it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man
continued to watch the butterfly, hoping that, at any moment, the wings would
open up and the body would contract. Neither happened!
Tragically
that butterfly spent the rest of its short life crawling around with a swollen
body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.
What the
man, in his misguided kindness, did not understand was that the butterfly’s
struggle to get out of the cocoon, was by God’s design, necessary to force the
fluid from its body into its wings.
Without the struggle, it would never fly.
Without the struggle, it was doomed to deformity.
Without the struggle, it could never fulfill God’s plan
and purpose for its life.
The same
is true for you and me.
Yet, as
Christians, when we face struggles:
Often we try to free ourselves from the struggle without
God’s help.
We try to avoid the pain, without learning from it.
We become bitter, instead of better, as God intended.
Of course
as compassionate Christians, when we see someone going through a struggle:
We instinctively want to help them.
We want to help carry their burden.
We want to lessen their pain.
We want to reduce their struggle.
And we should, but we should help in a way that allows God
to strengthen them through the struggle.
When
Jesus told his disciples he had to go to the cross, St. Peter:
22...took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!...This shall
never happen to you!”
Matthew
16:22 (NIV)
Peter
wanted to rescue Jesus from the pain, the shame, and the struggle of the cross.
Without
the cross of Jesus, we would still be dead in our sins.
Thanks be
to God, that Jesus endured the pain, the shame, and the struggle of the cross.
You and I
will not be raised up and nailed to a cross, but Jesus did say,
23...“If anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me
will save it.
Luke 9:23-:24 (NIV)
Like the
butterfly, if God allowed us to go through our lives without any struggles,
[without any crosses to bear], it would cripple us....We would never learn to
fly!
(Author Unknown)
II.
Purified by Fire
Roughly
thirty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Peter wrote what we now know
as the First Letter of Peter. He had thirty years to reflect on the
benefit:
Of going through struggles, not escaping from them.
Of going through struggles, not around them.
Of going through struggles, in absolute dependence upon
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our
Epistle reading this morning is from First Peter chapter one. Please turn
with me to the 6th verse. Peter said,
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may
have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in
praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)
The
people were greatly rejoicing in their spiritual new birth, through the death
and resurrection of Jesus.
They were
greatly rejoicing in their heavenly inheritance.
They were
greatly rejoicing in their faith in Jesus.
Yet, in
the midst of their faith-filled rejoicing, Peter acknowledged the fact that in
this world, they:
“...had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”
Jesus had
forewarned his followers of the difficulties they would face due to their
faithfulness to Him.
In Luke
chapter 14, Jesus told them to count the cost of following Him.
In
Matthew chapter 10, Jesus said,
17“...they will hand you over to the
local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18On my account you
will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the
Gentiles.
Matthew 10:17-18 (NIV)
23When [not if, but when] you are persecuted in one place, flee to
another...
Matthew
10:23 (NIV)
In
Matthew chapter 24, Jesus went on to say:
9“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and
you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many
will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
Matthew 24:9-10 (NIV)
Throughout the world, Christians know this to be
true. More Christians have been put to death for their faith in Jesus
Christ in the last 100 years, then in the previous 19 centuries combined.
In Luke
chapter 12, Jesus said,
52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each
other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be
divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and
daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law
against mother-in-law.”
Luke 12:52-53 (NIV)
The priorities and loyalties of a Christian are so alien
to our surrounding culture, it can’t help but bring division with those who do
not serve the Lord.
In John
chapter 15, Jesus puts it all in perspective. He said,
20Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his
master.’
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know
the One who sent me.
John 15:20-21 (NIV)
In other words, don’t take it personally when others
criticize you, attack you, slander you, injure you.
Know it or not, they’re not really fighting against you,
they’re fighting against God.
As you go
through – not around – “all kinds of trials,” what should your response be?
In Matthew chapter five, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
tells us. He said,
10Blessed [or happy] are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed [or happy] are you when people insult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in
the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew
5:10-12 (NIV)
Rejoice, that the level of your faithfulness to Jesus has
resulted:
In the struggle you now face.
In the insults you now endure.
In the hardships you now suffer.
The
Era of Nero
First
Peter was written during the infamous persecutions of the Roman Emperor
Nero. So when he said, “though now for a little while you may have had to
suffer grief in all kinds of trials,” he would have in mind these persecutions.
In 64
A.D., when 2/3 of
First century Roman historian Tacitus in his book Annals
said,
“In their very deaths they were
made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild
beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and
when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights.”
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/christians.htm
Christians were literally covered
with oil and burned like tikki torches during Nero’s dinner parties.
That’s
the context in which First Peter was written.
Peter
went on to say in the next verse, verse seven,
7These [trials] have come so that your faith—of greater worth than
gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may
result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:7 (NIV)
When you
face struggles, do you get better or bitter?
Do you trust Jesus through the struggle?
Or do you become bitter that He didn’t immediately deliver
you?
If He sniped away the cocoon too early:
You’d be doomed to deformity.
Your wings would never unfurl.
You’d never become the mature man or woman God designed
you to be.
Perpetua
A century
and a half after Nero, on March 7, 203 A.D., “five catechumens [including
Perpetua] were seized and cast into prison...” at the city of Carthage, in
Northern Africa.
At that
time “All [Roman]...subjects were forbidden under severe penalties to become
Christians,” much like those in Muslim countries today.
These
five were new converts, who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
Perpetua’s
father begged her to recant, so she could come back to her family and her
baby. Even though she was terrified, she refused to deny her faith in
Jesus.
God gave
her “a vision, in which she saw herself ascending a ladder leading to green
meadows, where a flock of sheep was browsing, assured her of her approaching
martyrdom.”
Perpetua
and the others were baptized in jail.
Then they
were condemned to be “torn to pieces by wild beasts...”, but they were pleased
to suffer for the sake of Christ.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06029a.htm
Their
faith in Jesus was “proved genuine.”
As you
and I face lesser struggles, may our faith be “proved genuine.”
Your
Hut Is Burning
I read a
story this week about the only survivor of a shipwreck.
He washed
up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed fervently for God to rescue him,
and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but he saw none.
He
managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the
blistering sun, and to store his few possessions.
He was
barely surviving.
Then one
day, after scavenging for some food, he found his little hut in flames, dark
smoke billowing up into the sky.
Everything
was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to
me!” he cried.
He spent
a restless night in bitterness and despair.
Early the
next morning, he awoke to the blast of a ships horn, as it a approached the
island. It had come to rescue him.
“How did
you know I was here?” he asked his rescuers.
“We saw
your smoke signal,” they replied.
What
seemed like a tragedy, in reality was for his benefit and blessing.
III.
Conclusion
As you
face trials, struggles, and the cocoons that press in upon you:
May you cling to Jesus.
May you put your full trust in Him.
May you become like pure gold, refined by fire.
And may your faith be proved genuine.