Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church

2023 Easter 4 H Jubilate Sermon

Jubilate

1 Peter 2:11-20

April 30, 2023 anno Domini

Jubilate – shout for joy. That’s the exhortation of today’s introit. This is the Lord’s command for you. “Shout for joy” Jubilate. But this joy is a different joy. This is an expectant joy – a shout because something great is about to happen. It’s the joy talked about in the Gospel reading where Jesus speaks of a woman about to give birth – her shout of joy might be the groaning of labor, at the great gift of life she is about to receive. So, this “jubilation” which the Lord commands, might not be fun, happy, or even pleasant, but it is good. 

Saint Peter doesn’t use the word joy in today’s Epistle reading, but his words teach us what our lives of expectant joy should look like.

Let me set the stage for Peter’s letter. Peter’s letter is a general Epistle to the church. It wasn’t written to any particular congregation, but rather to the Christians scattered outside of Israel in Asia Minor. In the earliest years after Christ’s ascension Christians were considered “sort of” Jews, Jews plus an actual Messiah, and so they had a protected status in the Roman empire. But Rome was recognizing that the Christians weren’t sort-of Jews. Christianity would soon be illegal. The Roman Emperors would set their sights on persecuting Christians. The Government was about to turn against the Church. They would go from good standing to enemy, from protected to persecuted. Sound familiar? Sound like a reason to shout for joy?

Peter instructions on how to live in a time a persecution are built on baptism. In baptism God chose you as His child. He cleansed you of your sins in the blood of Christ. He saved you like He saved Noah and His family in the ark. In your baptism God plucked you from the flood of death and destruction of the world and put you safely into the Ark of the Church. He saved you from sin and evil for righteousness and life. God’s election, His vote for you, when He sent His Son to the cross and baptized you into His family makes a difference in your life – now and for the future. Your baptism by God is the reason to shout for joy and to live as St. Peter admonishes, because your life, your place, your person is completely different from the world.

This is how Peter begins the exhortation of the text, “Beloved” – that’s baptismal language. You ought to marvel at that Word of God. God loves you. He loves you in this way – He sent His Son to die for your sins. He loves you in this way. In your baptism He chose you, washed you clean in the blood of the Lamb, drowned your enemies, and raised you to a new life, eternal life, resurrected life in a new and glorious body on the last day.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles.  The word sojourner means someone who lives beside the house. A sojourner isn’t at home or in his home. An exile – means someone who is beside the people. It is sometimes translated “alien.” It doesn’t take us too long in Minnesota to determine that, “you’re not from around here.“

As a Christian you are not from around here. You live here, but this isn’t your home. In the world you live for yourself and your belly. In Christ you abstain from the passions of the flesh because they will destroy your soul – a soul redeemed by Christ’s blood and washed clean in baptism. In the world, you are the most important person. In Christ, you fear God above all and love your neighbor as yourself.  In the world you seek power and pleasure for you. For the beloved baptized child, life is service and sacrifice. The world lives by lies. Baptized Christians live by the truth.

Is that how you live? Do your neighbors look on you as a stranger and alien or do you fit right in with the world?  Do they witness you “shouting for joy” in expectation of Christ’s imminent return or do they see you moping around, grumbling like the rest of the world because you’re not getting what you want? Repent. As Luther urges us in the catechism – return to your baptism every day, die to yourself and the world through confession, and be raised by forgiveness to that new life.

I’m currently reading a 140-year-old book on preaching. I know, you wonder how I can fall asleep at night with such excitement. One of the little gems I have learned from the book is that pastors should be specific in their sermons when encouraging their flock to good works.

St. Peter gives specifics after he gives a general instruction. “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” The unbelieving world considers you evil if you believe what we believe.

  • that there is sin and God defines it.
  • that there is one way to heaven and His name is Jesus.
  • that there is one true God, and the rest are fakes and liars.
  • that life begins at conception and unborn infants are human.

We’re in the world’s crosshairs, but let’s not give them any easy targets by sinning. That’s Peter’s general command.

Then he gives specifics – be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him. Instead of joining the chorus of grumblers, slanderers, and haters of the government, let us pray for them. Pray for their repentance. Pray that they would believe in Christ. Pray that they would govern as if life mattered, not for your sake, not so you get your way, but for the Lord’s sake. Think of Jesus during his trial. They had nothing to accuse Him of. They had to lie about Him and He let them. God didn’t intervene but let Him suffer for our salvation. You belong to Christ. He saved you. He rules the world for you. Believe that. Act like a Christian – a little Christ. Shout for joy because the resurrection is coming your way soon.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Many Christians falsely believe that forgiveness is God’s permission to sin. Is that why the blood of God was shed on the cross? So you could freely sin, fool around with death, and regularly dine with the devil?  Would a slave whose shackles had just been broken off, whose hands were set free to work, and his feet free to run, make his first stop a machine shop to have the shackles welded back on? You have been forgiven so don’t sin. Your life is secure with Christ so live in fear of God and in love for your neighbor. The Devil has nothing on you and nothing for you, so stop inviting him over to play.

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect. This is the irony of being Christian – you’re free, and yet you should be a good slave, even of a sinful, evil master. Wherever God has placed you, you are under someone else’s orders. We are all under the government. Husbands are under Christ and wives are under husbands and children are under parents. Students are under teachers and teachers are under principals. And sadly, because of sin, whoever is over you may be unjust. You may be a good worker and your boss is a jerk. You may be a good kid and your mom is an alcoholic. What should you do? Work hard Love your mom and pray for her. Don’t steal from your boss because he steals from you. Don’t slander your husband because he slanders you.

The joy which our Lord commands is not an easy joy or a fun joy. It is a difficult joy. It is like the expectant joy of a woman in labor. Our jubilation involves pain, tears, and suffering. But we shout for joy, because we are baptized into Christ and in the resurrection, we will no longer remember this anguish. Jubilate. Shout for joy. In the name of Jesus. Amen.