The Test

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, April 19, 2020.  The Bible verses used are 1 Peter 1:3-9.

            It’s been said that there are no happy endings to stories, just good stopping places.  If you think about your life, you might realize the truth of that statement.  And as we look at the story of Jesus’ life, we can realize the truth of it, too.

            We tend to look at Easter as the happy ending to Jesus’ story.  I mean, yes, we know that he appeared to his disciples a handful of times before he ascended to heaven, but that’s just the afterglow, that short part of the story you always have right after the climax.  The story really ended with Jesus appearing to the women at the tomb and showing them that he was raised from the dead, right?

Well, not really.  Because at that point, nobody knew what Jesus rising from the dead really meant.  They were thrilled to see him, obviously.  But they were also confused, and also a little scared.  Could it really be true?  How had it happened?  What was going to happen next?  So many questions, and so few answers.

We, of course, have had two thousand years to think about it.  So, we feel like we have a few more answers.  And after he had some years to think about it, Simon Peter came up with some answers, too.  Those answers are in our Bible reading for today.

He starts out with a statement of praise to God.  And you know, we’re tempted to skip over that part.  We say, yeah, yeah, they always say stuff like that in the Bible, let’s get to the important part.  But we should not do that.  What God the Father did in sending the divine Son, Jesus Christ, to earth is awesome!  And what the Son himself did in allowing himself to be killed and rising again to give us the chance for salvation and eternal life is awesome, too!  We should praise God for that.  We should constantly be grateful to God for that.  God would not have had to do it.  God could have given us the punishment we deserve for our sins.  Instead, “in His great mercy”, as Peter says, God chose not to do that.

What did God give us instead?  Listen to what Peter says.  God gave us “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Jesus talked about being “born again”.  Sometimes, as Christians, we tend to look at this as some sort of magical, mystical, inexplicable thing.  It’s not.  Peter explains it here.  We received that new birth, that second birth, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If we accept Jesus as the Savior, we get that second birth.  You, and I, and everyone who has accepted Jesus as the Savior is, in fact, born again.

It’s not magical or mystical, but it is incredible.  It wonderful.  The most wonderful thing imaginable.  A new birth into a living hope.  And, Peter says, “into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.”

          We--you and I--get an inheritance from God.  What does that mean?  It means you and I are God’s children.  Because that’s who receives an inheritance, right?  You don’t leave an inheritance to strangers, other than in a murder mystery or something.  And it’s pretty rare that you’d leave an inheritance even to friends.  You leave an inheritance to your children.

        When we accept Jesus Christ as the Savior, when are born again, when we receive that new birth, we are born again, we are born as children of God.  And you know, that’s something we say all the time, too, but think about it.  Think about what an incredible thing that is.  We’re not slaves of God.  We’re not servants of God.  We’re not employees of God.  We’re children of God.  We mere human beings, as weak and inadequate and sinful and unfaithful as we can be, are children of God.  Think of the love God must have for us, that God would call us His children and give us an inheritance.  It’s unbelievable, really.  But it’s true.

         It’s an inheritance that’s kept in heaven for us.  That’s further proof that, when we accept Jesus as the Savior, we go to heaven.  Because how else could we claim our inheritance?  If that’s where it is, and if it’s ours, then we have to go to heaven to claim it.  And that’s pretty cool, too.

         But then Peter talks about us going through trials.  It seems like Peter and Paul and all the other people who wrote the New Testament always have to put that part in there--going through trials.  We wish we did not have to do that.  We wish that when we accept Jesus Christ as the Savior our troubles would be over.  But we all know that’s not how it works.

         But Peter reminds us that those trials will not last forever.  He tells us that “now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials”.  And he also tells us why we have to do this.  He says, “so that the proven genuineness of your faith...may result in praise, honor, and glory when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

         None of us likes going through hard times, of course.  But it’s when we go through hard times that we find out how real our faith really is.  It’s easy to have faith when things are going well.  It’s easy to say we trust God when life is going smoothly.  But when we hit the bad times, when things are not going well, when things are not going right and we cannot see how things are going to go right, that’s when we find out whether we really have faith.  That’s when we find out whether we really trust God.

         We have trials.  Our faith gets tested.  But if we can pass the test, then we know.  We know our faith is real.  We know that we have enough faith to trust God even when things are not going well.  We know that we can say, “God, I don’t know what’s going on here.  I don’t understand it.  I don’t know why you’d allow things to happen the way they are.  But God, I trust you.  God, I know you’ve got reasons for allowing this to happen this way, even though I don’t understand them.  So I’m going to keep trusting you.  I’m going to do the best I can, and I’m going to have faith that you’re going to bring me through this.  Even if I don’t see how, I’m going to have faith that you will.  I’m going to trust you.”

         That’s when, as Peter says, we have proven the genuineness of our faith.  And that results in praise, glory, and honor to God.  And it also fills us--you and me--are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

         Now, we may not feel that joy when we’re going through the trials.  We might--sometimes people do--but a lot of times we don’t.  And that’s okay.  When we’re in pain--and I’m talking about all kinds of pain, physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, any kind of pain--when we’re in pain, it’s pretty hard to feel joy.  When we’re going through a really hard time, and we don’t know how we’re ever going to get out of it, it’s pretty hard to feel joy.

         We just finished celebrating Easter.  When Jesus went through what he went through--being arrested, being beaten, being mocked, being tortured, and finally being killed--do you think he was feeling joy?  I doubt it.  He may, in the end, have felt satisfaction.  He may have felt a sense of accomplishment that he had done what he was sent to the earth to do.  But joy?  I suspect not.

         All of us are going through a lot right now.  We’re going through something we’ve never experienced before.  The effect of it is different for all of us--for some of us it’s easier, for some of us it’s harder.  For some it’s really hard.  And so, you’re probably going through a lot of ups and downs.  And you may be having some trouble feeling joy right now.

         And that’s okay.  Let yourself feel what you feel.  It’s okay.  God understands.  If you need someone to talk to, try find someone.  You can always talk to me if you want.  And of course, you can always talk to God.  God will understand.

         And remember, too, that nothing in this life is permanent.  God is permanent.  God is forever.  But nothing else in this world is.  That means that what you’re going through is not going to last.  It’s going to go away at some point.  Things will change.  Things will get better.

         But through all this, keep trusting God.  Keep having faith in God.  Know that God is there.  God sees what you’re going through.  God sees what we’re all going through.  And God will act in God’s way and in God’s time.  And it will result in praise, honor, and glory to God.

         And in the end, when we keep our faith strong, we will feel that joy.  We will feel, as Peter says, an inexpressible and glorious joy.  The trial will be over, and we will have passed the test.  We will feel the joy that comes from knowing God is with us.  And we will give praise, honor, and glory to God.