Sermon on 1 Peter 4:7-11, for the 7th Sunday of Easter 2018 (1 YR lectionary), "Who am I?"
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today’s reading from 1 Peter asks the question of how are we to live our lives, while the end of the world is in view. And by that, I mean that ever since Jesus ascended into heaven, we await His coming return at any time. Our attitude should be “always ready.” Today I want you to reflect on this question as we wait for the coming end: “Who am I?” The answer wraps us up in our identity in Christ, our future in Him, and who we are to be here and now. When the apostle Peter declares to us from the pages of Scripture that the “ end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded, for the sake of your prayers ”—what’s our reaction? Does a 2,000 year old warning seem to lose its urgency? Do we scoff and say: “ Where is the promise of [Christ’s] coming? For ever...