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“Your Faith and Hope Are in God” 1 Peter 1:17-25 *Click for Audio* Pastor Kevin Vogts Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Third Sunday of Easter—April 26, 2020 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Today’s message is based on the Epistle Reading from 1st Peter, which we consider verse-by-verse under the theme “Your Faith and Hope Are in God.” “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.” Fifteen years ago, I was privileged to spend two weeks in Kenya on a mission trip with Rev. Matthew Harrison, the President of our denomination and a friend of mine. We did not hit the typical tourist spots, but traveled across the country visiting dozens of Lutheran churches and hundreds of pastors and seminary students; lots of church members in their homes, some of which were simple huts made of mud or dung; and many other ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya, especially some of the many orphanages that they operate. Today, the world is reeling under the effects of the coronavirus. Back then it was the HIV crisis, which hit Kenya hard, and tragically left the country totally overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of orphans, because both parents had died of HIV. It was already a poor country and a challenge for them just to feed all these orphans. Our Missouri Synod took this on as a special project and helped build orphanages across the country that cared for thousands of orphans. Most of these children remained orphans and lived in orphanages all their lives, because there were just too many to be adopted. We hit a milestone a few years ago when some of the first orphans our Synod started sponsoring as infants graduated from college, cared for all their lives by the generous support of you, the members of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. If you ever wonder where your mission offerings go, there’s a good example. One of the orphanages I visited was a mud hut with dirt floor, the whole thing about the size of our church’s new Heritage Room. Eleven children lived together in that one room. One of them was 11 years old and had lived there eight years, since he was three. I was confused when I went inside, because the building was only one room, but it was completely empty, except for a half-dozen bowls in the corner. “Where are their clothes, their toys, blankets, pillows, personal possessions?” I asked. The kindly woman who cared for them said, “They have nothing, except the clothes they are wearing.” There were only those half-dozen bowls in the corner, and even with those they had to take turns eating, because there weren’t enough bowls to go around. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the EMPTY way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.” Compared to those orphans in Kenya, our lives, and the lives of our children, certainly do not seem EMPTY, but very full. Full of all sorts of activities, full of all sorts of things. And we’re constantly cramming in more and more, more activities into our already crowded calendars, more things into our already crowded homes. Our lives seem so full; and yet often they are really so empty. Empty, because what truly gives life purpose and meaning is crowded out. Our lives are like a glass that can only hold so much. We keep pouring in more and more, and eventually God gets crowded out of our overflowing lives. He just floats out the top and away, displaced by other things. We didn’t plan it or intend it that way; God just got crowded out. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.” Our lives seem so full, and yet often they are really so empty. As Jesus said, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” On the other hand, the lives of those orphans in Kenya seemed so desperately empty, but the surprising thing is their lives were actually truly full. That orphanage I described was built on the grounds of a Lutheran congregation, with the church building about 100 feet to one side of the orphanage, and about 100 feet on the other side, directly adjacent to the church property, was the local public school. Imagine a simple hut located where our cemetery sits, with the church on one side, and school on the other. The orphans’ lives revolved around those two institutions on either side of the little hut where they lived, the church on one side and the school on the other. And the reason the orphanage building was so simple, and their possessions so meager, was because you have to pay a fee to attend public school in Kenya, something most orphans never got a chance to do. But, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya wisely scrimped and saved and put everything they could raise not into THINGS for the orphans, but into paying that all-important annual school fee, so that they could get an education. Believe it or not, those orphans thought it odd that we should consider them deprived. They didn’t feel deprived. They were proud, and considered themselves blessed, because among the hundreds of thousands of orphans in Kenya, they had someone paying for them to go to school, and that’s what really matters. Their lives seemed so empty, and yet really they were so full. On the other side of the orphanage was the other building that made those orphans feel especially blessed. They felt so privileged and thankful, they were so excited and enthusiastic, to be a part of the church. Along with the other children of the church they had a wonderful choir that sang for us that day. They were all so eager to learn about God and worship him. The irony is, our lives seem so full, and yet often they are really so empty. Their lives seemed so empty, and yet they were really so full. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” Peter purposely contrasts silver and gold, which seem so precious, with what he calls “the precious blood of Christ.” With this contrast he is saying, don’t focus your lives on what only appears to be precious, the empty, glittery things of this world. But, focus your lives on what truly IS precious: “the precious blood of Christ,” Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for you. The book of Revelation says, “He loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,” John writes, “and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. . . and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin.” Paul says in Romans and Ephesians, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. . . In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Your sins are all forgiven because God’s own Son paid the penalty for you, by his perfect life, his sacrificial death, and his resurrection. As the book of Acts says, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins in his name. . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” Those orphans I encountered in Kenya are a beautiful example of what Jesus means when he declares, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” Not at abundance of things, but an abundance of forgiveness and salvation, an abundance of faith and hope. Put your faith and hope, focus your life and the lives of your children, not on the empty things of this world. Like those orphans in Kenya, make your lives and lives of your children TRULY full. “You were redeemed from the empty way of life . . . your faith and hope are in God.” Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

“Your Faith and Hope Are in God”
1 Peter 1:17-25

Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Third Sunday of Easter—April 26, 2020

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today’s message is based on the Epistle Reading from 1st Peter, which we consider verse-by-verse under the theme “Your Faith and Hope Are in God.”

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.” Fifteen years ago, I was privileged to spend two weeks in Kenya on a mission trip with Rev. Matthew Harrison, the President of our denomination and a friend of mine. We did not hit the typical tourist spots, but traveled across the country visiting dozens of Lutheran churches and hundreds of pastors and seminary students; lots of church members in their homes, some of which were simple huts made of mud or dung; and many other ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya, especially some of the many orphanages that they operate.

Today, the world is reeling under the effects of the coronavirus. Back then it was the HIV crisis, which hit Kenya hard, and tragically left the country totally overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of orphans, because both parents had died of HIV. It was already a poor country and a challenge for them just to feed all these orphans.

Our Missouri Synod took this on as a special project and helped build orphanages across the country that cared for thousands of orphans. Most of these children remained orphans and lived in orphanages all their lives, because there were just too many to be adopted. We hit a milestone a few years ago when some of the first orphans our Synod started sponsoring as infants graduated from college, cared for all their lives by the generous support of you, the members of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. If you ever wonder where your mission offerings go, there’s a good example.

One of the orphanages I visited was a mud hut with dirt floor, the whole thing about the size of our church’s new Heritage Room. Eleven children lived together in that one room. One of them was 11 years old and had lived there eight years, since he was three.

I was confused when I went inside, because the building was only one room, but it was completely empty, except for a half-dozen bowls in the corner. “Where are their clothes, their toys, blankets, pillows, personal possessions?” I asked. The kindly woman who cared for them said, “They have nothing, except the clothes they are wearing.” There were only those half-dozen bowls in the corner, and even with those they had to take turns eating, because there weren’t enough bowls to go around.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the EMPTY way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.” Compared to those orphans in Kenya, our lives, and the lives of our children, certainly do not seem EMPTY, but very full. Full of all sorts of activities, full of all sorts of things. And we’re constantly cramming in more and more, more activities into our already crowded calendars, more things into our already crowded homes.

Our lives seem so full; and yet often they are really so empty. Empty, because what truly gives life purpose and meaning is crowded out. Our lives are like a glass that can only hold so much. We keep pouring in more and more, and eventually God gets crowded out of our overflowing lives. He just floats out the top and away, displaced by other things. We didn’t plan it or intend it that way; God just got crowded out.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.” Our lives seem so full, and yet often they are really so empty. As Jesus said, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

On the other hand, the lives of those orphans in Kenya seemed so desperately empty, but the surprising thing is their lives were actually truly full. That orphanage I described was built on the grounds of a Lutheran congregation, with the church building about 100 feet to one side of the orphanage, and about 100 feet on the other side, directly adjacent to the church property, was the local public school. Imagine a simple hut located where our cemetery sits, with the church on one side, and school on the other. The orphans’ lives revolved around those two institutions on either side of the little hut where they lived, the church on one side and the school on the other.

And the reason the orphanage building was so simple, and their possessions so meager, was because you have to pay a fee to attend public school in Kenya, something most orphans never got a chance to do. But, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya wisely scrimped and saved and put everything they could raise not into THINGS for the orphans, but into paying that all-important annual school fee, so that they could get an education. Believe it or not, those orphans thought it odd that we should consider them deprived. They didn’t feel deprived. They were proud, and considered themselves blessed, because among the hundreds of thousands of orphans in Kenya, they had someone paying for them to go to school, and that’s what really matters. Their lives seemed so empty, and yet really they were so full.

On the other side of the orphanage was the other building that made those orphans feel especially blessed. They felt so privileged and thankful, they were so excited and enthusiastic, to be a part of the church. Along with the other children of the church they had a wonderful choir that sang for us that day. They were all so eager to learn about God and worship him.

The irony is, our lives seem so full, and yet often they are really so empty. Their lives seemed so empty, and yet they were really so full.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” Peter purposely contrasts silver and gold, which seem so precious, with what he calls “the precious blood of Christ.” With this contrast he is saying, don’t focus your lives on what only appears to be precious, the empty, glittery things of this world. But, focus your lives on what truly IS precious: “the precious blood of Christ,” Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for you.

The book of Revelation says, “He loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.” “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,” John writes, “and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. . . and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin.” Paul says in Romans and Ephesians, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. . . In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Your sins are all forgiven because God’s own Son paid the penalty for you, by his perfect life, his sacrificial death, and his resurrection. As the book of Acts says, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins in his name. . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

Those orphans I encountered in Kenya are a beautiful example of what Jesus means when he declares, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” Not at abundance of things, but an abundance of forgiveness and salvation, an abundance of faith and hope.

Put your faith and hope, focus your life and the lives of your children, not on the empty things of this world. Like those orphans in Kenya, make your lives and lives of your children TRULY full. “You were redeemed from the empty way of life . . . your faith and hope are in God.”

Amen.

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