What’s Next: Remember, Praise, & Love – What’s Next Part II

Sermon Title: What’s Next: Remember, Praise, & Love

Good News Statement: Jesus sets us free

Preached: Sunday, April 23, 2023 at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): 1 Peter 1:17-23 Today’s scripture reading comes from Peter’s first epistle to the followers of Christ: chapter one verses seventeen thru twenty-three. In this particular passage, we are reminded that we have been purified by the living and enduring word and hope of God which comes from are willingness to worship Him.

¹⁷ If you invoke as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s work, live in fear during the time of your exile. ¹⁸ You know that you were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. ²⁰ He was destined before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. ²¹ Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your trust and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart. ²³ You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

 

Psalm 116

Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness

¹ I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. ² Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. ³ The snares of death encompassed me;  the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;  I suffered distress and anguish. ⁴ Then I called on the name of the Lord, “O Lord, I pray, save my life!

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

A circuit-riding preacher trained his horse to go when he said, “Praise the Lord,” and to stop when he said, “Amen.” The preacher mounted the horse, said “Praise the Lord,” and went for a ride in the nearby mountains. When he wanted to stop for lunch by a mountain stream, he said, “Amen.” He took off again, saying “Praise the Lord.” The horse started heading toward the edge of a cliff on a narrow mountain trail. The preacher got excited and said, “Whoa!” Then he remembered and said, “Amen,” and the horse stopped just short of the edge. The preacher was so relieved that he looked up to heaven and said, “Praise the Lord!”

Last week, I began the message by stating, “Everything is different now.” After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when we are shouting “Praise the Lord,” everything seems different. Jesus is no longer in the tomb; he is no longer confined by strips of linen; and he has been resurrected. Everything is different now. “Praise the Lord.” We have been given a fresh start, a new beginning, and a deeper hope that, by his great mercy, has given us a “new birth.” Everything is different now, because he lives more fully in our heart. Everything is different now because Jesus is out there and he certainly isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. He has given us a living hope to keep moving forward. “Praise the Lord.”

First Peter wrote, “By his great mercy he 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…” (1 Peter 1:3-5). Christ, through his resurrection, has given us a living hope that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It strengthens our faith, inspires us to share the good news, conquer all forms of fear, overcome days of frustration and stress, and to put our words into action. This hope is as sure as the air we breathe, as sure as the light we see, and as sure as the love that lives within our heart. This hope is living and it needs you to help it to come more alive. This hope leads us to being set free because everything is different now, “Praise the Lord.”

Today, we explore the words of First Peter; and as we do so, we need to ask ourselves, “What’s next?” We have been given this living hope—this grace, mercy, and forgiveness—through the resurrection of Christ, but what’s next. What is Jesus calling us to do as a disciple and as a church? What comes next is realizing that we have been set free—we have been given salvation by the grace of God to remember our freedom, give praise, and offer love to our neighbors.

Body:

Last week somebody sent me a story in which sets the stage for what First Peter is telling us in his letter. The story begins, “Recently, I had to tell the adults, I was going to have to take a break from my volunteering as my cancer numbers showed I was out of remission and I had to now take care of myself. Many tears were shed as it was one or the hardest things I have done as a theory team. The last day, before Easter break, a group of students brought to me handmade cards and care packages. The cards were priceless; much better than any Hallmark card. It was time to leave and two high school gentlemen offered to carry my packages. I explained to them I had hit a roadblock with my cancer and I was going to be gone for a while.” We never have enough time…[i]

Life isn’t always fair. Life isn’t always great. Life isn’t always easy or perfect or even the way we have planned. Life is filled with twists and turns, highs and lows, mountains and valleys, making and changing plans, and sometimes putting things on hold. It’s in those moments, when life gets blurry, that we realize we need more time or want more time. We feel desperate, possibly lost, and abandoned. However, it’s in those moments that we cherish what Christ has given us: cards, gifts, memories, items that are priceless, people that love us. We find a way to remember the resurrection of Christ: a new beginning, a hopeful way forward. The author of First Peter is challenging us to live out the resurrection of Christ by means of remembering, praising, and loving as we become set free from the bonds and chains that keep us tethered to an object placed far away from God.

When it comes to being set free, we must remember: we must remember what Christ has done for us. From the text that we read earlier, the author of First Peter shares that  “you were ransomed” and that “through him you have come to trust in God” (1 Peter 1:18, 21). A part of our response to being set free is to remember what life was like before we experienced this freedom. Before we found ourselves living in the promises of God, we may have been lost, experiencing pain, being overwhelmed, stressed, and bombarded by chaos, not having a lot of hope and not experiencing a lot of faith and not being able to turn our unbelief into belief (Mark 10). Without the ability to be set free, we may have given into the snares of the devil more easily than what we do now. But because we have been set free from the temptations and challenges that chain us to the wiles of the devil, we realize that Christ sacrificed himself for the ransom of many (Mark 10:45), so that many would be released from whatever is weighing them down.

You may feel like the devil is still weighing you down, but because Jesus rose from the grave, you have been set free: you have been given the strength to face tomorrow. But you must remember what Jesus did for you so that you can remain free. To keep this freedom, we must remember that we have come to trust God. King Solomon wrote in the third chapter of Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (Proverbs 3:5). God has put His trust in us, Jesus has demonstrated what trust looks like, and now we must remember to trust in God with our whole heart. To be set free means to trust and believe in the salvation of the cross, to remember what he has done and continues to do for us.

On the road to Emmaus, two individuals, who are talking with each other about all the things that had happened during the past several days, “how [the] chief priests and leaders handed [Jesus] over to be condemned to death and crucified…” (Luke 24:20), were approached by Jesus, “but their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:16). Because they were kept from recognizing Jesus, they saw him as a stranger. Cleopas asks Jesus, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” (Luke 24:18). Of course Jesus knew what had taken place, he was there, he was the victim hanging on the cross, but these two men don’t remember what Jesus prophesied, that he will rise again.

Luke continues the story, “As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:28-31). Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus. They remembered. Because they remembered, they were set free from any doubt or disbelief that they had about Jesus not rising from the grave. That same hour they got up and proclaimed “The Lord has risen indeed…” (Luke 24:34). “Praise the Lord.” The call to remember as a response to our salvation is a call to be honest about where we’ve been and where we’ve come from. Through the resurrection of Christ, we remember what Jesus has already given us so that we can live out his mission and purpose today in the form of salvation. Remembering means to be set free.

After we take to time to remember what Jesus has done for us: his teachings, parables, offering us unconditional—agape—love, sacrificing himself for our sins and trespasses, appearing before us,  and promising to be with us “throughout the ages” (Matthew 28)—we can begin to offer praise. Praise is the second thing that we will do in response to our salvation. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 116, “I love the LORD because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live… Gracious is the LORD and righteous; our God is merciful. The LORD protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you….You have loosed my bonds” (Psalm 116:1-2, 5-7, 16).

Psalm 116 is an act of worship mingled with a way of living one’s life in all its power and grace and joy. There is exuberance in these verses that cannot be denied. It’s important to not skip over that joy. There is praise in the words of the Psalmist: “I love the LORD, the LORD has heard my voice, I live because of the LORD, Gracious is the LORD, the LORD is merciful, the LORD protects, and the LORD has saved me.” These are words of praise, words of joy, and words of being set free. The author of First Peter states, “You have been born anew” (1 Peter 1:23). Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been given a praise that sets us free, that makes us new; but are we keeping that praise to ourselves or are we shouting it from the mountain tops? Are we keeping this praise within our walls or are we sharing it on the streets? Are we putting this praise on a shelf or are we putting this praise into action, allowing this praise to move us forward?

I am reminded of a story that I read online involving The Duke of Wellington and praise. The story goes like this: The Duke of Wellington, the British military leader who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, was not an easy man to serve under. He was brilliant, demanding, and not one to shower his subordinates with compliments. Yet even Wellington realized that his methods left something to be desired. In his old age a young lady asked him what, if anything, he would do differently if he had his life to live over again. Wellington thought for a moment, then replied. ‘I’d give more praise.’” Through the resurrection of Christ, we have been given the opportunity to give praise for what Jesus has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us. This praise sets us free so that we can give more praise to God for getting us through life’s many obstacles. When was the last time you shouted “Praise the Lord” and gave thanks for being set from by the resurrection of Christ? From this praise we offer love to those around us.

Peter is keen to point out in these verses just what has been done for us—about the lengths that Christ has gone through, the cost that was paid, the new start that has been given, and the new life that awaits for us. What Christ has done through his resurrection has set us free to  return the love that he has given us. The author of First Peter notes in verse twenty-two, “Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). In other words, all that has been done for you and in you is, in essence, to fill you with love that comes from God; therefore, let it come out! Praise the Lord. Remember what he has done for you.

Peter argues that the only response to being ransomed by love is to love in return; to love extravagantly, he says, and love deeply, and love in service and in attitude and in presence. We are set free in order to love. The deeper truth is that the new creation that we have become is one of loving to the grace within us. We are not free to hate because of the obligation this new life has laid upon us. We are not free to hold grudges because we have been born anew of imperishable seed, Peter argues. We are set free to love, genuinely and deeply, not out of obligation or routine. But because that is what the resurrection of Christ calls us to do: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39). We need to return to the love of Christ: pray with conviction and meaning, read scripture, be in communion with others, and to be who God has called us to be.

The resurrection of Christ sets us free to return to the love that Christ gave us from the cross. If we can’t love the way that Christ needs us to love and find a way to return to his love, even when life is against us and nothing seems normal and things are just okay, then we are nothing more than the “creaking of a rusty gate” (1 Corinthians 13:1, MSG). The resurrection reminds us to remember, give praise, and share the love of Christ in all that we do, in all that we say, and wherever we go.

Conclusion:

The story that was shared with me last week ends with these words: “We made it to my car and one of those gentleman asked ‘Do you have 15 seconds? I want to pray for you, over you and for the hope of Easter.’ We joined hands and prayed in the parking lot. It felt like the wings of the Holy Spirit covering us in the parking lot. The other young gentleman said when you are not here, it is our time to think about you.” This person ended their story by saying, “You truly make me happy when skies are grey.  It will be okay….” (Kim Harmon).

The resurrection of Christ is not just a day or another event or a photo that we place in an album and look at once a year. The resurrection of Christ is every day, in every person, and everywhere we go. And through the resurrection of Christ we are called to remember what Christ has done for us, give Christ praise for what he is doing for us, and share the love that he has given us with those around us today and tomorrow.

So what comes next? What comes next after the resurrection is the will to always have hope, to have the strength to remember, the ability to give praise, and eagerness to love as Christ loves. We have been set free, our chains are gone, and we have been loosed from the bonds of yesterday. We are set free to be happy when skies are grey. We have been set free to know that things are okay. We have been set free to smile when the tears are done falling. We have been set free to experience Christ’s powerful and transforming love. We have been set free to be the disciple and church that God needs us to be. We have been set free to “Praise the Lord.”

How are you going to remind yourself that you have been set free? How you going to remember what Christ has done for you? How are you going to give Christ praise and glory? And how are you going to love, genuinely and deeply? Christ has set you free by his resurrection, so what are you going to do about it? Every second count, the time has come to remember, praise, and love the resurrection of Christ and all that the resurrection of Christ is doing for you and for those in your life. Be the resurrection and live out Christ’s resurrection. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty we are free at last.” Praise the Lord!” Let it be so, Amen.

Closing Prayer:

Let us Pray: Dear Jesus, you have freely given us the ability to always have hope in all that we do, but now we pray that you help us remember everything that you have done for us, that you give us the willingness to give you praise, and that you put in us a love that reminds us that things are okay. By your resurrection, O Jesus, guide us to new beginnings as we become your disciple and do what you have called us to do as we become set free. Amen.

 

Benediction:

I challenge you this week to remember what Jesus has done for you. I encourage you to give Jesus praise for what he is doing for you. I invite you to receive his love and to share his love. The time has come to put his resurrection into action and to do what Christ is calling you to do. Have hope, give praise, and offer love, and remember that you have been set free to do the work of the Lord.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go, living and experiencing  the resurrection of Christ in your life. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

[i] In each day there are 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds-and every one of them is a precious gift from God. Time is something we feel we never have enough of, yet we give it away so easily. Someone once said, “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”