This Is It??? (1 Peter 1:3-5) Lenten Midweek 3, 2016

1.             In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  As we continue our sermon series on our “Life Together” as a body of believers in Christ Jesus our Lord we look to the words of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-5, which says, “³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  The message is entitled, “This is It???” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
   
   
2.             The time was coming when everyone would be reminded why he was the king! He was timeless, his followers were from all generations. This would be his greatest moment. The dancers were getting ready, the venue was set, tickets were sold, and the dates were confirmed. This would be it! The finale. A capstone to remind everyone why he was the king. It would be a performance of a lifetime. The concert was called the most important pop comeback in history and ironically followed the previous tour called the HIStory world tour. For Michael Jackson it would be his legacy. This Is It!
   
   
3.             What? That wasn’t it? It didn’t happen? You’re telling me that he died before HIStory could be retold and cemented? Yep, that’s what happened. The greatest performance ever ended up as a movie made up of rehearsals for the greatest performance ever. True, it was one of the highest grossing musical movies ever, but it wasn’t the legacy that Michael Jackson was looking to have. It wasn’t the perfect ending to an imperfect career! Some were angry when he died back in June of 2009. How could this happen to our idol? Some were lost in a flood of emotion: “This man meant so much to me, he touched    my life.” Some just were apathetic to the whole situation, “Go figure, another celebrity dying before his time...” But all in all he was perishable, he was defiled by the controversies in his life and his legacy will fade. This is it???
   
   
4.             Is that our story too? If you were to wrap your life up in one story, what would it be? What would be the one big story that makes sense of all the other little stories? Our lives are filled with countless little stories. We go to work in the morning and come home at night.  Each year seems to get us home a bit later. Each promotion comes with more work, a salary is great, but it also means you don’t get overtime anymore. Everyone is looking to put their little stories into the context of the big story of their lives. Some of us go big and try out for “American Idol,” others go a little smaller and just hope that we can leave a little something to our kids. Some of us just want enough stashed away so that we can go see the world and put some pictures on the Web so people can see what we’ve done. Others of us go on mission trips to do some good in the world. We all are searching for that thing that gives life meaning. We hope it will be imperishable, undefiled, and unfading for all time. This is it?
   
   
5.             Two thieves were crucified with Jesus. Each thief had his own story, just as each of us has our own stories. Your stories are not my stories. Your stories are not your neighbor’s stories. Your stories are not the stories of your spouse or the stories of your children. Each of us has our own stories and yet our individual stories overlap. That was certainly true of the thieves. The overlap in their stories was their lives of crime, their condemnation, and their execution. But in the end, each thief was defined in different ways.  Luke 23:39 says, “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ?’ Save yourself and us!’” That thief’s defining story is cynicism, death, and eternal death. But the other thief’s story reads this way in Luke 23:40-43, “The other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”
   
   
6.             What’s this thief’s story? It’s a simple one: Confession of sin, forgiveness from Jesus, and the promise of paradise. This is it, not with a question mark but with an exclamation point. This is it! This is the big story that brings all our little stories together. This is the defining story that helps us understand who we are and where we’re going. St. Peter had this story in mind when he wrote to Christians scattered in Asia Minor, what we know today as Turkey. In his first letter to these Christians, Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”  Their “life together” was defined by that incredible story. So is ours. Because of the loving acts of God, you and I have a resurrected Savior who gives us hope and a heavenly inheritance. “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
   
   
7.             There’s insight in this text for living as Christians today. In the past America was an overtly Christian nation. Going to church was a social norm. Most people, whether they were churchgoers or not, knew their Bible stories. Today all kinds of stories are being told in America. Today the Christian message is no longer the privileged story. Our situation is, in some ways, similar to the situation of the Christians to whom Peter was writing. They weren’t people of privilege. They’d never been the “party in power” and had no hopes of becoming so. So how should we live? The same way they did. Amid all the stories swirling in our fractured and fragmented society, Peter encourages us to live together in the story that defines us. He would have us long to be immersed in the story of God’s mercy, his acts of loving kindness to you. “In his great mercy he has given us a new birth.” Our story is about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wow, doesn’t that give us hope! “…a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Our story is about living with a purpose, a goal, “to an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.” And what can keep you in this greatest story of all? “…through faith [you] are shielded by God’s power that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” Faith is like a fortress. As the walls of a fortress keep people safe within, so the teachings of Jesus Christ in God’s Word keep us safe. That God sent him to die for our sins, that his resurrection gives us hope, that we have a heavenly future… Surrounding ourselves with these teachings of faith is the way the Spirit of God keeps us safe for eternity.
   
   
8.             You, I, and the world are in the same position as those thieves on the cross. Michael Jackson too. Where is my imperishable, undefiled and unfading life? Should I close this sermon by quoting lyrics from “This Is It?” We know that is not where it’s at. Let me close with the lyrics that have brought us our “Life Together.”  The third verse to the hymn, “Jesus, Refuge of the Weary,” says, “Jesus, may our hearts be burning with more fervent love for You; May our eyes be ever turning to behold Your cross anew Till in glory, parted never from the blessed Savior’s side, Graven in our hearts forever, dwell the cross, the Crucified.” (Lutheran Service Book, 423, v. 3) This is truly it! Amen.