Walk with the Lord

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the third Sunday in Lent, the 12th of March, 2023, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, today is the third Sunday in Lent, our time for prayer and contemplation, and to look deep within ourselves to see if we are walking through this life in a way that is right with God.  And while the Lenten season represents the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, praying, and being tempted by Satan, we’ll be using this time to walk alongside Jesus, with the cross as our final stop on this journey.  To walk with Jesus is to follow in His steps, so I’ll be continuing our series focused on just that - walking in Jesus’ steps.

Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were the first two disciples personally chosen by Jesus, hand-picked to follow Him.  And follow their Master they did, throughout His ministry on earth.

Before Jesus issued that invitation, Peter and Andrew were simple fishermen.  Based on the times and their occupation, they would have received only a basic education.  And Peter was quite often very emotional in his response to things that happened or the words that  someone said.  His tongue got him into trouble more than once, and even with Jesus, who rebuked his disciple on occasion.

All this changed, though, once he witnessed the risen Jesus, once he finally understood the words his Lord had so often spoken.  As he settled into a leadership role, Peter’s emotional responses became more thoughtful and reasoned, as if he were saying to himself, “What would Jesus do here?”, before making any decision.  And his speeches, his sermons, even his writings become more eloquent and purposeful.  Like Paul a little later, Peter indeed became a new creation, a new man in Christ.

What we have of Peter’s writings in our Bible are two letters he either penned or dictated (which is more likely), both written within about three years before his execution by Rome under Nero.  He addressed his first letter to “the pilgrims of the Dispersion”, or as another version put it, to “God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners”.  After Jesus was arrested and crucified, His believers began to scatter, fearing for their own lives.  Peter and a few other of the apostles wrote letters to be passed from city to city, from church to church, to where these early Christians had fled.  These believers did not have it easy in their new lives, and many found themselves in servitude to new masters.  Please listen and follow along to the message that the Apostle Peter shared with them, in the 2nd chapter of his 1st letter, verses 18 through 25, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

18 You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you — not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased when, conscious of His will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.

21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps.

22 He never sinned,

nor ever deceived anyone.

23 He did not retaliate when He was insulted,

nor threaten revenge when He suffered.

He left his case in the hands of God,

who always judges fairly.

24 He personally carried our sins

in His body on the cross

so that we can be dead to sin

and live for what is right.

By His wounds

you are healed.

25 Once you were like sheep

who wandered away.

But now you have turned to your Shepherd,

the Guardian of your souls.

--1 Peter 2:18-25 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to free us from the bonds of death.  Thank You for the instructions and encouragements we find saved in our Bible.  This shows the great love and mercy You have for us.  Father, please forgive us when we just don’t spend enough time reading our Bible to better understand Your word and Your will for us.  Forgive us when we fail to please You by our actions and interactions with others.  Please help us do good, even if it brings us suffering.  

And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who are so willing to carry out his evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Show us how to be completely free from the world even as we live within it.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.

During the 2021 Boston Marathon, that grueling 26.2 miles endurance race, a runner stumbled and fell near the finish line.  This is a rather common and ordinary occurrence at a marathon - many runners fall from fatigue and dehydration.  But what happened when this runner fell was extraordinary, and newsworthy.  Three other runners stopped beside the fallen one, lifted her up in their arms, and carried her on to the finish line.  She was utterly exhausted and unable to get off the ground on her own, so they picked her up and upheld her with their strength.

Sometimes we are like that runner.  We've fallen, stumbled, gone as far as we can go.  The three persons of God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - find us there in our fallen state, unable to stand on our own.  They lift us up, uphold us in Their strength and mercy, and carry us on to the finish.

God sent His Son to run the race of faith for us.  From the manger to the cross, from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, from death on the cross to new life eternal on that third day - Jesus has finished the course of salvation for us.  By God's grace we are saved through faith in Christ Jesus.  Though we are unable to pick ourselves up, dust off our sin, and cross the finish line of salvation on our own, God is more than able.  Upheld by the promises of the Father, carried in the nail-scarred hands of the Son, and revived by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, we are brought to the finish line of salvation and carried into everlasting life.  Praise be to God!

As I mentioned, these early Christians fled home to new lands, to live among new people and their gods.  Sometimes they found themselves in servitude to these people, these new masters.  Our passage opens with Peter speaking specifically to these good folk who are now serving others, telling them to be obedient and patient, and to endure whatever befalls them.  Just as Christ suffered for us, we must continue to do good even if it causes us to suffer.

Now we seldom think of ourselves as slaves of some master, and indeed those terms are not looked upon kindly by most folk today.  But not all masters are human, and not all slavery is forced.  Sometimes even the best of us allow ourselves to become slaves of the world.  We try to conform to the world and its ways so as not to appear different, to be laughed at or scorned, or worse.  We start serving public opinion and the worldly viewpoint rather than sticking to biblical instruction.  The chains of our slavery rub us raw, causing us to hate one another, to desire what others have, to lust after what the world says will set us free.

Jesus freed us from the bonds of our sin, He broke our chains with His sacrifice, but too often we gladly, willingly take them back up and shackle ourselves back to our old, sinful nature.  We forget that when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master, we became His slaves.  We intentionally chose to be in servitude to Him.  So it behooves us to walk in His steps, following His example, living as He lived.

And Peter gives us a great example of how Jesus lived so that we can follow in His steps.  Jesus never sinned, nor deceived anyone.  He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered.  Instead, He left everything to God.  And most importantly, He sacrificed His life, just for us.  We don’t need to sacrifice our physical body for Christ, but we can make of ourselves a living sacrifice, serving our Lord and doing good in all things.

Jesus leads - it's up to us to follow His lead.  Peter emphasizes that part about doing good.  He points out that not only may the position we find ourselves in life cause us to suffer, but doing good may also bring us suffering.  Jesus was very familiar with this.

I’ve repeated this a lot lately, but please listen to what Jesus told us, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in the 9th chapter and 23rd verse of his Gospel account...

23 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.”

--Luke 9:23 (NLT)

To follow Jesus we must be willing to deny ourselves, give up our own ways, and take on the attitude and example of Jesus – do things His way.  Off with the old; on with the new.  Sounds easy, but we all know it is far from it.

Fortunately, we don’t have to do all this on our own.  For one thing, we have each other to lean on.  We can look to one another for help and encouragement, for love and support and prayers.  In chapter 4 verses 9 and 10 of his Book of Ecclesiastes, wise King Solomon reminds us that...

9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

--Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NLT)

Jesus is our best friend.  He is always there, ready to help.  Those folks who don’t know Him, who try to go through life without Him, they are in real trouble.

And as we believers know, Jesus is God.  King David, Solomon’s father, knew all about suffering, and also about depending on God for help.  In verse 4 of his 23rd Psalm, David acknowledges God’s help when he encourages us with the words...

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

--Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

As believers, no matter what we go through, no matter what we may have to face in this life, God is always with us.  Jesus promised to never leave our side, to be with us even to the end of the age.  We just need to put aside any fears, not worry about what this world might think of us or do to us, and trust in God as we strive to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.  We need to keep doing good and patiently endure any suffering that may result from it.

This is what God called us to do, just as He called His own Son Jesus to suffer for us.  Jesus is our example.  Let us walk with the Lord.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our personal Friend and Redeemer, our very best role model.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for always being with us.  You help us and reach out for us when we stumble and fall.  Thank You, Father God, for upholding us in Your strength.  We know it pleases You when we do good, Father, even if it causes us to suffer.  But sometimes we just can’t force ourselves to patiently endure and keep doing what is right when the whole world seems against us.  Forgive us, please Father, when we falter, when we hesitate out of fear of disapproval.  Forgive us when we allow the world to creep in and take over our lives again.  Please, loving Father, help us endure, trusting always in You.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what we face.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You are our example.  You show us how to live by how You lived.  You never tried to deceive anyone.  You didn’t retaliate when someone did or said something to hurt You, nor did You threaten them in return.  You put everything in God’s hands and willingly carried out His will.  Lord, please help us live as You lived.  Remind us of Your own unconditional, sacrificial love for others.  Help us walk with You through our days on this earth.  Help us follow in Your footsteps.  Help us to seek out the lost in Your name and introduce them to You.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.