Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

Dear “elect exiles” (1 Peter 1:1),

 

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you” (1:3).

 

 

Why so much rejoicing when one little sheep is found (Luke 15:1-8)? Why do we get worried when some one little child is lost? It is not only that they are away from home, but also that they are in danger. When they are apart from the parents who care for them, our primary concern is not that they might go without food and companionship but, first and foremost, without protection. It is both sad and scary that there are people in this wicked world who will hurt others, some even targeting children. So when a child gets lost at a busy park or shopping mall, we search frantically and when we have found them, there is great rejoicing.

 

That is the way that the saints of God should feel about those who have gone missing from their church family. It is not just that they are away from this community, but that they are in danger. Not only are they without the divine care and nourishment that God provides for us through His Word and Sacraments, but there is some one out there who wants to harm them as horribly as some evil people seek to harm little children. The one who is after those missing from the church is the one who is the source and inspiration of all manner of evil in the world.

 

In today’s Epistle reading we have one of the most terrifying verses in all of Holy Scripture. “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking some one to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Even though lions are fascinating and wondrous creatures of God, they are extremely dangerous. Whenever I go to a zoo, I always hope to see some of the big cats: lions, tigers, panthers, and cougars. I think they are beautiful. They move with slow precision. Their eyes seem to notice everything. And they have huge, impressive muscles and paws and teeth.

 

One time, an animal keeper was giving a talk about taking care of the big cats. She said that all the animals know every keeper and their habits just as much as the keepers know the animals. The big cats study all the workers and know their regular routines and how they move. And while they do sometimes seem to build relationships of affection between animals and keepers, we always have to remember that they are animals and it is in their nature to hunt and kill. So the keepers and workers never enter the enclosure with the big cats. They always have two people knowing exactly what they are doing and where they are. They always close and lock and double check every gate whenever one is opened and closed.

 

While it is cool to have a few verses in the Bible here and there that talk about lions and bears and even dragons, we cannot forget the aspect of danger that God is warning us about when He compares the devil to these creatures. He does not say that the devil sits majestically in an enclosure with its muscles rippling in the sun for you to admire. No.

 

“Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking some one to devour.” He is prowling on the hunt, sneaking through the undergrowth so that you do not see him coming. He is not calm and quiet but roaring in order to scare you into doing something foolish without thought and put yourself within his reach. He is not on display for you to look at and admire. He seeks to devour you, to kill you, to tear you apart, to destroy you for his own gratification.

 

That means that the devil wants you to go to hell. He wants to take the children of God away from Him and have them suffer in the excruciating pains of the lake of fire that God created for his eternal punishment. When the children of God get lost, when they go missing from the church, we are not just saddened that they have left us and our fellowship. We miss them. We wish they were here. We want to have them back. But sometimes we forget that they are in true spiritual danger.

 

St. Peter writes about this in his first epistle, particularly noting that suffering and persecution and anxiety cause people to go missing from the gathering of the church. He knows the extreme danger that this presents to Christians who, when going through hard times, decide to take a break from the church and be by themselves for a while. He gives the grave and dire warning, “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking some one to devour.” He is on the prowl for easy prey: wounded, hurt, suffering children of God. His eyes narrow upon them. He licks his lips, drawing his tongue over those huge teeth. He digs his claws into the ground and tenses up his rippling muscles, ready to pounce.

 

And yet alongside this most frightening verse of the Scriptures Peter gives us one of the most tender and comforting. Instead of trying to lose yourself when you are under the pain of sufferings, Peter directs you to the comforting and consoling salvation that is yours within the arms of the Church. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

 

“He cares for you.” What more precious words can the apostle give to those who are suffering and full of anxieties. The mighty God cares for you. Cast all your anxieties upon Him. Throw them all upon God. Don’t think that you will overburden Him. Let Him have it all. Pray not as a duty or an obligation, but to unload upon Him. That is what true prayer to this mighty God is all about. This is the God of your salvation. Tell Him you need saving. Tell Him what you are suffering. Tell Him what makes you anxious. Let Him know how upset you are about these things and how afraid you are. Because the alternative is to hide yourself from Him and His family, the Church. The alternative is to become a missing child of God, and that puts you in greater danger.

 

It is humbling to admit that you need saving, that you are suffering under the weight of guilt and shame and weakness, caused by the sins you have committed and the sins that others have committed against you. You are hurt and scared. But as God Himself bids you to do through His apostle, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” He is not going to crush you under that hand. That mighty hand will shelter and protect you. With that mighty hand He will scoop you up and exalt you at just the right time.

 

At just the right time, God sent His Son (Galatians 4:4) into the world to share our sufferings and woes. Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world in His physical body, bearing the weight of all guilt and shame and suffering as He died for you on the cross. And the mighty hand of God lifted Him out of the tomb and exalted Him far above all rulers and powers, far above the devil who prowls around seeking to devour you.

 

In this Jesus you find your rescue and refuge. His cross is the place to cast all your anxieties. For the care of God for you is most clearly seen in the sacrifice of His Son for your salvation, from sin, from fear, from suffering, and from the devil. He cares for you this much and at the right time He will lift you up from all that weighs you down and share the glory of the resurrected and ascended Jesus with you, as His dear child.

 

The Bible tells us that this will happen at just the right time (not when we think it is the right time, but at the right time ordained by your caring God and Saviour). You see, there are benefits for you and for other children of God that come from the sufferings you experience in this life. Our epistle lesson today reminds us that suffering is humbling. It gives an opportunity to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. It reminds us that we cannot save ourselves and directs us to look to the one thing that can save us, that mighty hand of God for our salvation. That diverts us from the danger of going off on our own where the devil who seeks to devour us is on the prowl. It forces us to cast our anxieties upon the mightiest of our allies, our loving heavenly Father, and to trust in His care.

 

Our sufferings also have a sobering effect upon us. They keep us from getting delirious with the delights of this life and, rather to see this world for what it really is—a place fallen into wickedness, from which we hope to be delivered after we have enjoyed all of the blessings that God has to bestow on us even now. That inspires us to stand firm, not on our own two feet, but in the confidence of a God who cares for us; in the faith that we confess together as the Church. And together as the Church we know that we are never suffering alone. Our brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world share in the same things that afflict us, and they share in the same deliverance that God has given us in Christ Jesus.

 

So our sufferings also testify that we have been called by a God of grace to belong to His family. He has done everything for our salvation in Christ Jesus His Son. It is ours by grace alone, completely due to the love He has for us. We have been called to be united in the Church as one body with Christ Jesus being our head. And as One we gather together to live in all of the means of salvation that God dispenses through the Church. Here we see the glorious effect of being called into this gathering in His name. His glory is forever, and His glory He shines upon us.

 

Martin Luther explained Peter’s injunction upon us to be sober and watchful as nothing more than to “always take pleasure in God’s word, remember it, meditate upon it and diligently cling to it, thank God for it, and pray that you may understand it better and lay hold on it more firmly. Where that is done the body remains in a fine sober and watchful state and you gladly go to church, hear God’s word, and let nothing keep you away” (Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude). It is to keep at heart these two verses juxtaposed in our Epistle reading: one most frightening and dreadful, and the other most comforting and precious.

 

“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10-11).

 

“Peace to all of you who are in Christ” (1 Peter 5:14).