1 Peter 3:18-22
First Sunday in Advent - 3 December 2017
Vicar Nathanael Jensen
Well, we’ve made it to December. Are you ready? Are you ready for Christmas? Do you have all the decorations up—the tree, the lights, the stockings? Do you have all the present bought and parties planned? I’m guessing you’re probably not completely ready, but that’s ok. You still have 22 more days. You can be on guard for the best gifts and stay alert for the best deals. You can write a list and schedule everything out so you’ll be ready in time for Christmas.
But today we consider a much more serious “Are you ready?” In the Gospel lesson, Jesus reminds us that he will return, but we don’t know when it will be. So he warns us, “Do the task the master has assigned you. Be alert! Be on your guard! Don’t get caught sleeping!” There’s no putting this off until next week. We need to be prepared today and every day. And you can be sure he’s talking specifically to you because he says, “What I say to you, I say to everyone, ‘Keep watch!’”
And we do keep watch. You’re doing it right now. By being in God’s Word and living in his promises, we’re keeping watch. But it’s hard. But it’s hard to keep it up consistently. It’s hard to keep it up constantly. It’s especially hard because we often get so engrossed by all our own tasks. Just think about those Christmas preparations. How twisted it is that sometimes even our Christmas preparations can actually take our attention away from Christ as we get focused solely on lights and gifts and parties. And that’s just one example of the many tasks of our own which fill our time and consume us. Our list of tasks, including work and school and entertainment and so on, can get so long that the task the master has given us keeps getting pushed to the bottom, or doesn’t even make the list at all.
And when we let our lives get so filled up with our own tasks, we sometimes think we’re too busy, or we don’t really have the time or the energy to keep watch. Or we don’t really think we need to, as if it’s something we’ve already completed, or a weekly check off the list, and then all our time and attention can go to bigger, better things.
We might not say it out loud, but that doesn’t mean we don’t think it in our hearts and see it play out in how we manage our time: God’s Word just isn’t as important as all the other stuff I’ve got going on. Anyways, one or two hours a week is good enough, right? It’s not practical for me to spend more time reading and studying stuff that happened thousands of years ago when I have so many other tasks and commitments to get done right now—that’s what’s really important.
The truth is, we sometimes view the practicality of God’s Word the same way the people in the days of Noah viewed the practicality of a giant boat in the Middle East. We often consider our need to be in God’s Word the same way they considered their need to be in the ark. The world keeps spinning and we don’t want to be left behind, so there’s just not that much time for God’s Word.
But that’s why Jesus tells us to keep watch. Because there’s going to be a time when the world does stop spinning—when the whole world will look up and see him come, ready or not. And the world we cling to and are so busily a part of will be destroyed—not with water like in the days of Noah—but with fire. And we’re in danger of being in that fire, both on that day and for eternity. Why should he treat our spiritual sleepiness, our lack of watchfulness, and our indifference to his Word any differently? None of us has kept watch perfectly. We’ve all failed at faithfully, consistently, and constantly caring about and carrying out the Lord’s task because we’ve been too concerned with our own tasks. Along with the rest of the world, we may be getting ready for Christmas, but if we haven’t been getting ready for Christ to come, we’re not ready at all.
But the Word which we’re guilty of neglecting is the same Word that gives us hope. That’s why this morning, we’re taking a look at the apostle’s creed, that is, the Apostle Peter’s creed. I’m calling it the Apostle Peter’s creed because these verses are a confession of faith, and you’ll see how a lot of what we confess in the Apostles’ Creed echoes what Peter mentions here. In just five verses, Peter packs in a ton of doctrine—doctrine, that is, Biblical teaching. And just like all Biblical teaching, it’s doctrine that’s worth studying. Because it’s practical. Because it gives us hope. Because it helps us keep watch by pointing us back to Christ and by pointing us forward in Christ. Be prepared to follow along that back and forth pattern as we consider Peter’s words.
Peter begins by pointing us back to Christ’s humiliation—when Jesus humbled himself and did not make full use of all his divine power and authority. Peter says, “For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.” In the Apostles’ Creed, we flesh it out a little more, confessing that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He suffered once for sins—for your sins, for my sins—for all the times we’ve been more concerned with our own tasks than him and his Word. He stayed focused on his task—the reason he came to earth and was born in the first place—so that he, the only righteous one, the only one right in God’s eyes, could suffer for us unrighteous and unholy ones.
But this also points us forward in Christ. Jesus’ purpose in doing this and the real result which he accomplished was to bring you to God, to present you to God as a righteous one, without sin. That means so much for you right now, today. Your sin no longer separates you from God. And it gives you hope for the future, for since he suffered for your sins, you won’t have to suffer or be separated from God, but you will be brought to live with God in perfect bliss forever.
Peter continues by pointing back. “He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” Jesus’ death and burial marked the end of that suffering, the end of Jesus’ humiliation. And then he began his exaltation. Having suffered for sins, having removed them, having made us righteous and brought us to God, Jesus now made full use of his divine power and authority once again and made his victory known.
And while the English translation isn’t the clearest, that’s what this passage is saying. He was put to death in his regular body—a part of his humiliation. But he was made alive, now with a spiritual, glorified body—still a physical, human body, but now glorified, just as our bodies too will be glorified when he returns.
And then “he went and preached.” He made a proclamation. He made it to “the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” This is what we are referring to when we confess that “he descended into hell.” He didn’t go there to suffer. No, his suffering was complete. He went there to tell them that he had won. It was like his victory celebration on their home turf, as he demonstrated that he could barge on in there, and death and hell and the devil had no power over him.
And that points us forward in Christ too. Because for us who are in Christ, death and hell and the devil have no power over us. If hell had no hold on Jesus, then it has no hold on us who are in Christ.
And while Peter is on the topic of Noah and the flood, he points us back to something very important which helps us keep watch. He points us back to the water. For those who disobeyed and ignored God’s patience and Noah’s call to repentance, the water destroyed them. But for Noah and his three sons, and their wives—those eight people, that water saved them. It lifted the ark, keeping the safe and afloat, away from that destruction.
The same is true pointing forward to Jesus’ return. For those who disobey and ignore God’s patience and his calls to repentance—who see no need for keeping watch—it will be a day of destruction. But for us, it will be a day of salvation, when God saves us and brings us to him.
And we can be sure this is true as we’re pointed back to our baptisms. Just like water saved Noah, the water of baptism now saves us, because baptism is “not the removal of dirt from the body.” It’s not just some kind of sacred shower or bath. No, it’s something much, much more. Baptism is “the pledge of a good conscience toward God.” It’s not you making a pledge to have a good conscience—none of us could keep that. Baptism itself is the pledge that you have been given a clean conscience in God’s sight. Because baptism is something that God does for you. He’s the one making that pledge or promise to you.
As Peter says, “It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” In baptism, you are connected to your risen and glorified Savior who has already suffered for all your sins and washed them away. You are connected to him who was made alive, meaning that you too have been made alive, given new spiritual and eternal life in him. The resurrection demonstrated Jesus’ complete victory over sin, and that victory is applied personally to you in baptism as you are connected personally to him.
So looking back and daily remembering your baptism helps you keep watch. Because whether you were baptized 80 years ago or last week, God’s pledge to you is the same. There’s no need for fear or guilt. You have a good conscience toward God. None of the devil’s accusations can stand against you because you are connected to Jesus and his new life. And so you are ready.
But Peter gives us even more assurance as he points us back again to Christ’s exaltation. Having mentioned Jesus’ resurrection, he also mentions his going into heaven, his sitting at the right hand of God—just like we confess in the Apostles’ Creed—the third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
But by pointing us back, Peter is again pointing us forward in Christ. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees that we too will rise. His ascension assures us that he has gone to prepare a place for us and will come back to take us to be with him. And his sitting at the right hand of God—not a place, but a position of power and authority, even over angels, authorities, and powers—means that he is Lord and King over all, ruling for our good.
That’s why we recall these truths every week in the creed. Because they’re not just things that happened in the past. They are real and practical and mean something for us each day right now. They mean something for us for eternity. That’s why we want to learn and relearn and continue to study doctrine. The teachings of God’s Word are the foundation of our entire lives as Christians. They serve as the basis of everything we say, think, and do. They impact every single aspect of our lives. There really is nothing in the world more worth our time or more practical or more important. What better task could there be than looking back at what God has done for us, pondering what God still does for us, and looking forward to what God will do for us! That’s keeping watch!
Just before these verses, Peter also reminds us to keep watch by saying, “Always be prepared to give a reason for that hope that you have.” And that’s what the verses we’ve been studying explain. What Jesus has done for you is that reason! So this Christmas season and always, don’t lose sight of that. Keep watch. As you make your Christmas preparations, don’t let the busyness and all your daily tasks keep you from staying focused on that reason for the season, the reason you have hope. Lights will burn out. Trees get thrown out. Present get tossed aside. But God’s Word and its importance and practicality and hope remain the same.
So don’t wait until the New Year to make being in his Word a priority. Do it now as we begin this new church year. Take advantage of these extra worship services. Keep coming or start coming to Bible Class. Get into that daily Bible reading. Grab a new Meditations booklet and read it. Talk to me or pastor about learning or relearning and reviewing with our Bible Information Class. Take Pastor Peter’s encouragement to dig into some doctrine and prepare to be amazed at how practical it is and how prepared it makes you—to face the ups and downs of everyday life, to share the reason for the hope that you have with your family, friends, and neighbors this Christmas season, and for Jesus’ return.
In Jesus Christ, you’re ready, so use God’s Word, the wonderful tool God has given us to stay ready. Keep watch. Keep watch for the same Christ who suffered for your sins to make you righteous, who declared his victory over death, hell and the devil, who connected you to his new resurrected life in baptism, who ascended to heaven to prepare a place for you, and who sits at the right hand of God ruling all things for your good, to come soon to take you home. Amen.