I want to begin this morning with a little, “what if.”  What if your house was on fire and you only had three minutes to get things out of it before it became too unsafe and everything else would be destroyed?  What would you get?  Would you make sure to get the car out of the garage?  What about your flatscreen television, would you get that?  Would you run back into a burning house to get stashed money or jewelry?  I thought about this scenario a lot this week and I’m certain I know what I’d get.  Assuming the cats got out on their own, Natalie has a cabinet filled with pictures of the kids.  These are irreplaceable as they’re photos of the kids on sports teams, with Santa and school pictures and the like.  The thing is, they’re irreplaceable whereas just about everything else can be replaced?

  We continue this week our archaeologist-style excavation of the first section of First Peter.  I continue to be amazed at this particular portion of the Bible as it contains information that it vital to the lives of Christians and it does so in a very succinct manner.  Over the past two weeks, we’ve looked at this passage twice already.  We talked about what does it mean to consider oneself an exile?  Paul alerts us in Philippians 3:20 that “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” to remind us that this world that we can grow so comfortable in, isn’t our home.  Isn’t it good, especially this week to see the events in Uvalde Texas and know, we’re not from here?  I mean, isn’t it good to realize that some of the dark stuff that happens here isn’t part of who we are?  That doesn’t divorce us from the need to figure out how to stop events like Uvalde, but it should give us some hope that, in the future, school massacres aren’t part of the equation. 

  Life in exile is something the people of God have dealt with before, thankfully so we know what we’re supposed to do.  Many, many years ago, when the Jews were living in exile in the land of Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah gave them these instructions – Jeremiah 29:7 – “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”  That is to say that while we’re in exile here, we’re called to be the same good stewards of creation that God has been telling us to be since we were first in the Garden of Eden.  We can be grateful not to be a part of the insanity but, at the same time, we are called to seek the welfare of the place where we are at. 

  We also looked at what does it mean to be born again?  This is such a consequential part of being a Christian.  That there is a time and a place where you simply come alive in the Gospel.  Things are different and you know it.  What being born again doesn’t mean is that you’ll find yourself suddenly perfect.  That’s sometimes one of the reasons why we deny new life in us.  We know what we do.  IT’s hard to square new life with whatever sin we’re nursing in our hearts.  But Paul notes that this dynamic will go on throughout our lives.  There is no being completely free of sin as our bodies here just are broken.  Thankfully, First Peter provides us comfort in that regard as well.  “According to God’s great mercy,” he has “CAUSED US” to be born again into a living hope.  That is to say that GOD caused our salvation, not us.  This is the most fundamental move a Christian can and must make.  Our salvation is 100%, entirely, completely, absolutely, totally from God.  That is to say, we have nothing to do with it.  This is one of the hardest things to realize about being a Christian.  It’s the most foundational and it is also the most difficult because it cuts against every iota of pride we have crammed into our bodies.  Because God caused our salvation through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, it necessarily means that we had and have nothing to do with our salvation.  God chooses us.  That we are here this morning is thus a reflection not so much of our rectitude natures but instead exhibits the glory of God’s great mercy.  Everyone here has been called, claimed in new birth by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Awakened to the Gospel, you’ve responded exactly in the manner appropriate – you’ve come to worship a Father God who has saved you, though you deserve it not.

  That, I believe, is the hardest part of being a Christian.  That to fully embrace the belief is to fully embrace your own brokenness.  We are sinners, that is the unfortunate fact.  Everything good that we do isn’t a reflection so much of our will as it is God’s will being expressed through us by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  So, we’re exiles, but we’re exiles that have been born again into a living hope by God’s great mercy.  Thank you, God!  We do not deserve this salvation that You’ve shared with us yet, through the blood of Jesus Christ, You’ve provided for us with incredible provision and mercy.  This has come about through an event we talk quite a bit about.  This new birth that was caused by God happens through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Just as He is raised from death back to enteral life, so too are you raised from death into new life in Christ because you are totally and completely in Jesus Christ.  As He has risen, so have you.