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1 Peter 1:1-2 "Pilgrims"
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappacocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” (1 Peter 1:1-2)
Peter, the fisherman who Jesus called to follow Him, in
Galilee. The same apostle who led the early church in Jerusalem and
preached the gospel to the first gentile, Cornelius, wrote this letter
to be circulated around the churches of Asia Minor. His address is quite
interesting. He makes out his letter to the “pilgrims of the Diaspora”.
The word for pilgrim literally means a wanderer, someone who walks around.
It is translated a “stranger” in some bibles. We might call
them refugees, or homeless, or gypsies. It means people who are not
locals, but foreign, not part of the society, but on the outside looking
in. Transients, just passing through.
Let’s explore this idea a little bit. What does it mean for us
to be strangers? First, it means that we have another homeland. Our
citizenship is not of this earth, we are citizens of the kingdom of
heaven. Second, it means that we should not get too comfortable. We
need to be ready to move on. We should not become so attached to the
life we have hear that we are not ready to go as soon as we hear our
true King call. And third, we are different from those who we live amongst.
We are strange! We are not of this world, our values are different,
our goals are different.
The word “Diaspora” literally means those who are scattered.
Perhaps you have watched demonstrations in Korea or Israel on the news.
The crowds are very large until the police start firing the tear gas
and rubber bullets. And then suddenly everybody starts to run in every
direction to get away. This is what happened to the church when Paul
started to persecute them. They scattered. But this also is part of
who we are as the church. We are the “scattered” strangers.
This intrigues me because I find that usually strangers do not scatter
but cling to each other. I remember working with foreign students at
college in the U.S. I would walk into the lunch room and see all the
Japanese sitting at one table, all the South Americans sitting at another
table. It is natural for strangers to congregate together. In Tokyo
the area around Hiroo is like this as well with the foreigners all huddled
together in one place.
Recently there has been a tendency in the church to build larger and
larger congregations. To gather more and more Christians in one place.
The idea is to promote Christian unity, to gain strength in numbers,
to increase excitement for evangelism and prayer. But it is very difficult
to sustain this arrangement. I think the reason why is that God has
built into us a "scattering" mechanism.
What is the good of scattering? We don't usually think of "scattering"
as a good thing. But there are a couple of reasons why we are scattered.
First, if all of our friends, everyone we know are already Christians,
then how do we reach the lost? God throws us out into the world so we
can be salt and light. Without scattering we are just like the lamp
that somebody put a basket over. The basket is very well lit, but it
does nobody else any good. Second, it keeps us from mistaking the church
for the kingdom of God. If the church becomes so big, so all encompassing,
so normal for us. We forget that we Christians are the strangers. We
start to assume that we are normal and everybody else is the stranger.
When this happens we tend to get very judgmental about those around
us. We start to accuse them of their sin, as if God's way was normal,
instead of showing mercy and love to those lost in darkness. We condemn
them for their ignorance, instead of loving them into the light. So
God throws us out into the world, so that we realize once again that
it is we who are the strangers, pilgriming towards the kingdom, through
this dark land.
So we are scattered strangers. Often exposed to the hostility of the
world. Often the target of ridicule. We look different, we act different,
and the world knows it. We are exposed because we are not a force of
power in the world. We are not united together so that we could form
an army. We cannot force the world to listen to us. We are scattered.
But Peter adds one more adjective onto this apt description of the Christian.
He says that not only are we strangers, not only are we scattered, we
are also elect. We have been chosen. Sometimes the world would try to
make us believe that we are mistakes, we are rejects, because we do
not conform to the rest of society we are worthless. But, we are not
God-forsaken, we are God-chosen. Hand picked.
One of my key verses of the Bible is 1 Peter 2:5 "you also,
as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
God is in the process of building His church, and He does it by building
stones together one by one according to His plan. We are living stones,
but not stones that the world would expect. They look at us and see
the cracks, the misshapen parts, the weakness of our rock, the crookedness
of our lines. They look and reject us, "This stone is inferior,
it can't be used. But we have been chosen by God, according to His foreknowledge.
According to His plan. God has a blueprint for the church that He is
building and on that plan it calls for a stone exactly like you. In
fact God chose you so that He could shape you so that you would fit
in that spot.
"In sanctification of the Spirit". The Holy Spirit, is God's
stonecutter. First, God walks through the quarry, and points out to
the Spirit, see that stone, the one with the crack right through the
middle, the one with impurities and flaws, that is the one I want. Then
the Holy Spirit gets to work, initially just to cut you away from the
other rock that surrounds you. But then when He at last has you free
from the earth, He starts shaping and chiseling. He cuts away the impurities
and earth that still clings until you are ready for placing into that
heavenly building. Then God takes you and places you perfectly into
that spot for which you were chosen. And instead of falling out or tilting
the wrong way, you fit just right. You are obedient to the plan of God.
But maybe you are thinking, but what about this crack right through
my heart? Won't it weaken the building? What will happen when other
stones are placed on top of me? Maybe I will break under the pressure!
But last of all Jesus sprinkles His blood over you, it is the mortar
that holds the wall together. It is also the blood of purification.
It makes all things new, clean, whole. Your broken parts are made whole
by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We are scattered pilgrims. Ridiculed and rejected by the
world, powerless to defend ourselves, too few to make up a majority.
But chosen by God according to His plan, to be shaped by His master
craftsman, so that we will fit perfectly into His church and be made
whole by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is who we are as Christians.
Peter finishes his address by praying for them, "Grace to you and
peace be multiplied." A blessing. Grace is getting what we do not
deserve. As scattered strangers, we deserve to be rejected. How can
we expect to be chosen? And yet that is exactly what God has done. As
flawed stones, how could we expect to be picked for God's temple? And
yet this is what God has done for us. Marvelous grace.
Peace be multiplied! It is always easiest to pick on the weak, the minority,
the strange, the foreign, the different. In the world we see this all
the time, from ijime (hazing) in the schools to genocide in Bosnia.
As scattered strangers we are also become the target of the world. Let
peace be multiplied. A final benefit of being scattered strangers is
that it forces us to rely on God for protection, rely on God for peace.
Peace is not normal for us, it is only by God's mercy.
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