“Set Apart and Prepared”

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-22

5th in a 5 week series on living as the Church of Jesus Christ.

As we have been considering the qualities and blessings of the Church over these past 4 weeks, the importance of an active and honest faith has become quite obvious. The new life that we experience in Christ means that it is no longer about us; it is no longer about the world; it is no longer about what we can obtain or earn or deserve. The Christian life is all about Jesus and what he does and brings to us.
But when we deny what Jesus has done, and yet try to claim the salvation that is granted in his name, it is given the name that it so richly deserves – “cheap grace”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book “The Cost of Discipleship” addresses the contrast between the cheap version of grace and the far more costly one of Jesus Christ. He wrote:

"Cheap grace [false, unBiblical perversions of God's word, translated {as} "Grace"] is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.

"Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

"Costly grace, Biblical grace, is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has, (Matthew 13:44) It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. (Matthew 13:45) It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble. (Matthew 5:29-30) It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. (Matthew 4:18-22)"
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship”

If Peter had known of the expression “cheap grace”, he might have added that it is also grace without the Church. I think we have all known someone, at some point in time, who told us that they could worship God very well without going to Church. Well, I’m here today to tell you that this is not only a cop-out, it’s an impossibility! Worship is what the Body of Christ does in unity and not as an individual who is caught up in themselves. Ignoring the Church is paramount to ignoring Jesus and all that he has given to the world.
So, if that is what “cheap grace” is all about, what might “costly grace” entail?

Read 1 Peter 3:13-16

This section is what Peter’s epistle is all about. From the first moment that Jesus took to the highways and byways to share his good news with our world, the message and the Messenger has been despised and mistrusted. This can manifest itself in many and sundry ways – ways that range from ridicule and false teaching, to violent persecution of those who profess Jesus as Lord. There is absolutely no reason for this, but it happens just the same. People should welcome the goodness that comes to from the Church, but as often as people of God try to reach out in Christian kindness, the response of the world is just the opposite.
The world’s response to this kind of hatred and torment would be to run from it, but we are told not to fear the same things that “they” fear, and to stay the course. Peter tells us that even if we have to suffer for the good that we do, it will ultimately bring God’s blessing to us. Jesus told us this same thing in his Sermon of the Mount – Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Jesus knows – he knows very well!
So put him first in your hearts, and when the world comes at you, let them know who gives you a hope that overcomes all fear, who gives you the capacity to love even when you are hated, who fills you with a vision and focus of a peace that always sustains you in those trying times.

Read 1 Peter 3:17-19

Now we get to the “costly” versus the “cheap”. Jesus laid it all on the line for us, and never hesitated, never deviated, never even considered taking a different path. It was his death on the Cross, the shedding of his blood, that broke the strangle hold – the “death grip” - that sin has on our lives. He took our rightful place in death so that we could approach the throne of Almighty God in new and glorious life. Grace was costly to Jesus, but he knew that it was worth every second of agony and separation from the Father to have us with him in eternity.

But here’s the rub! If we demean all that he did for us, or if we ignore the significance of it all, or it we take his life’s actions lightly, then we have “cheapened” both his humanity and his Spirit! If we aren’t willing to follow his example right up to our own Calvary, whatever and wherever that may be, then we have missed – we have snubbed - the point of his entire teaching. That’s what Bonhoeffer meant when he wrote “Cheap Grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate”. Without discipleship, without the cross, we are also without Jesus, and that cheapens our life to the point of worthlessness!

Read 1 Peter 3:20-22

Evangelist Greg Laurie wrote:
“Jesus did not command the whole world to go to church. Jesus commanded his Church to go to the whole world.”
--Evangelist Greg Laurie

His Church has been given a message for the world, and it is his disciples who are to do the carrying. Remember the parable of the Talents? (Matthew 25:14-30) Those who did the will of the Master were rewarded far beyond their wildest imagination, while the one who sat on his “message”, who buried it to keep it out of sight, lost everything he had been given. Everything!
Peter refers to the water of baptism as a sign of our “pledge of good conscience toward God.” This is another area that we have “cheapened”. We have our children baptized, we answer “I will” to all the vows, and for many, they think that is where it all ends. We get baptized, and never darken the door of the church again. We join the church, and believe that belonging is more than enough. Grace without discipleship is meaningless!

Where has the Church failed? Is it because we haven’t put enough emphasis on our life in Christ? Is it the church who has been the culprit in cheapening God’s grace? If I have been guilty of this transgression, then let me be perfectly clear – if our life is to reflect the fullness of a life in Christ, if we are to be a sign of just how costly and valuable grace really is, if we are going to follow Jesus as his disciples, then we need to begin acting as though we are disciples of Jesus. And that means that we acknowledge and accept and submit to the authority of Almighty God. It isn’t that we allow Jesus to have that authority – he already has it! Our responsibility is claim it.
Peter mentioned the fact that “authorities and powers” are submissive to Jesus. That is true – he has that power over all of creation – it’s just that the authorities and powers of earth haven’t understood that yet, haven’t admitted it yet, haven’t accepted it yet, haven’t rejoiced in it yet, but one day, whether they want it or not, it will come to pass. And if they haven’t come to that realization before that Day appears, it will be a sad day, to say the least.

If we set Jesus above all else in our lives, he will set us above all else in Creation. If we claim all of Jesus, including his Cross, he will claim us as his own. If we will turn away from our sin, it is then that we can be cleansed by the hard-won, the “costly”, forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And we need to begin taking our baptism and our Communion seriously and devotedly, and not just as “the thing to do”.

When we set Jesus as the pinnacle and focus and purpose of our lives, he sets us up in his. When we become one in the Lord of Salvation and Creation, it is then that we are prepared to be his Church, to be his messengers to the world!
The Church has this obligation to the One who is the power and authority behind her. Remember the final quote in our piece from Dietrich Bonhoeffer? “It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him."
Do you hear him calling you? He is, you know! Leave your “nets”, your dependency on the things of earth – leave them far behind this very day, and be the most committed disciple of Jesus Christ that you can possibly be.