Exiles In the World (1 Peter 1:1-2)

Bible Passage: 1 Peter 1:1-2

In the early days of the church, the believers faced a lot of opposition and persecution because of their faith in Jesus. This led to many being forced to leave Jerusalem for the surrounding provinces. Peter was the leader of the Jerusalem church, and he felt a burden of responsibility for those from his congregation who had been scattered. This is a letter that he wrote to them to express his pastoral care and to help them understand who they are in God and how they can live out their Christian identity in places that hold very different values to them.

Identity in God: In this introduction to the letter, Peter mentions all three members of the Trinity as he outlines to the believers who they are through the gospel. He describes them as the elect, who have been chosen by the foreknowledge of the father. This sermon is not the place to go too deeply into the metaphysics of how predestination relates to human responsibility and free will, but it does offer us a clear encouragement and affirmation that our salvation is no accident, and that God the Father looks on us with love, wants us and has chosen us for relationship with him. He also mentions how they have been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. This speaks of his death on the cross, and that through it they have been forgiven and cleansed of all their sin. Because of what Jesus has done for us, believers are now totally pure and blameless in his sight. Finally, he mentions the sanctifying work of the Spirit, a reminder of the ongoing work of God in the lives of his people to continually help us grow and become more like Jesus.

Exiles in the World: Peter uses the language of ‘exiles’ in describing the believers in relation to the world. This is a good word, because it emphasises both the reality that they are living in the world and the truth that this world is not their ultimate home but they belong somewhere else. The language picks up on a big Old Testament theme, where God’s people were captured and taken to Babylon and needed to learn what it was like to live for God in a context where this was not the norm for those around them. Books like Jeremiah, Daniel and Esther explore this tension in detail, and Peter wants the believers to reflect on what it is to be in the world but not of the world. As exiles, we are not to totally remove ourselves from the world, nor become just like the world, nor be antagonistic towards it, but rather to love and serve it while at the same time recognising that our true home and identity lies elsewhere.

Living for Jesus: Peter’s summary of the calling on these elect exiles is to be “obedient to Jesus”. There are lots of pressures that come with being in the world, and there can be temptations to compromise and go along with the ways of the world, or to step back from faith in order to be seen to fit in. Peter reminds the believers that Jesus is the true north star that cuts through those pressures, and in any situation we face, the question we are to ask is what obedience to Jesus would look like in that situation. Peter describes this as the very purpose we have been chosen and sanctified for, and as we live lives that look like Jesus, we will be living out our new identity in the world.

Potential Applications:

• Many people might not have a grasp on their identity with God. You could offer prayer for anyone who struggles to believe these truths about themselves.
• Some might not yet have responded to the gospel. Offer the opportunity for people to put their faith in Christ and be part of this people that Peter is describing.
• The passage offers a challenge for how we live in the world. Some might be giving in to the temptations of the world, and others might have removed themselves into a ‘Christian bubble’ (possibly even both). Invite people to think about what the temptations of living in the world are for them, and how they could be increasingly ‘in the world but not of the world’.